Imagine you’re a soft drink maker. You receive an irate email from a consumer saying the neck of a bottle splintered when they tried to twist off the lid. They sent a picture of the barcode, along with a shot of the broken bottle. Now, you have a problem. You’re aware of the issue and […]
Using the Digital Twin to Revolutionize Design, Production and Performance
Jonas Ljungberg, System Engineer The Digital Twin is revolutionizing processes along the entire value chain. It enables individual process stages to be seamlessly linked and validated prior to investing in physical prototypes and assets. What isn’t always realized about the digital twin, however, is that it is far more than a virtual representation of a […]
Siemens Automation Enhances Wind Power Output
Renewable energy is rapidly becoming the dominant form of power generation. And wind power lies at the forefront. Worldwide wind capacity reached more than 600 gigawatts at the end of 2018. Some countries are now generating more power from wind than from other energy sources. With an annual growth rate of around 10%, there is […]
Design and Create Great HMI Visual Solutions
According to Apple founder Steve Jobs, “Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works.” This is one of the guiding principles outlined in a series of videos by user experience expert Oliver Gerstheimer of Siemens. The goal of the series is to teach others great HMI design. From […]
Functional Safety Simplifies Development of Collaborative Robotic Workcells
There was a time when adding a robot to a manufacturing line meant losing floorspace to the robot enclosure and changing the workflow. Today, a new trend is underway – collaborative robotics. Collaborative robotic workcells are designed to permit direct interaction of human beings and robots. In this new paradigm, robots no longer lay claim […]
TIA Portal Simplifies Rockwell to Siemens HMI Conversion
Control conversions happen all the time when new tooling is replaced in plants. The process takes time and costs money. From the OEM and integrator perspective, the goal is to make the conversion as transparent as possible so that the experience of configuring and commissioning is the same. Siemens designed the Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) […]
PLC with Integrated Connectivity and Safety Makes Robotics Accessible for Even Small Businesses
Manufacturers often assume that only large operations with deep pockets can benefit from robotics. In reality, small-and medium-sized businesses can benefit significantly from adding a robot or two to their operation. With the aid of the Siemens SIMATIC S7-1200F fail-safe programmable logic controller (PLC), organizations can integrate robots into their line to enhance product quality […]
Siemens Automation and Controls Bring Big Savings to Automotive Supplier
Name just about any large auto manufacturer on the planet and the likelihood is that BWI Group supplies them with chassis, suspension, and brake products. With headquarters in Beijing, China, the company has more than 5,000 employees, 16 technical centers and factories worldwide, and annual sales approaching $1 billion. But expansion meant the company had […]
A Machine Builder’s Approach to Providing IIoT Data Analytics
By Eric Lund, Burr Oak Tool, Inc. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has been on the radar now for a year or two. Yet companies still wonder what the best implementation approach might be. As a veteran machine builder, I have been watching evolving trends with regard to digitalization, automation and IIoT in order to […]
How to Improve Overall Equipment Effectiveness
Those operating manufacturing plants face a real challenge. How can they best evaluate the ability of their equipment to perform well at the lowest overall cost? Many vendors offer potential solutions. These can be summed up as methods to digitize data to make it more useable, ways to gather more data, or systems that analyze […]
