Mechanical Technology March 2015

⎪ Innovative engineering ⎪

Industry 4 – towards integrated automation

The term ‘Industry 4’ originates in Germany and has been adopted by Festo to signify a holistic production automation revolution embracing the full suite of modern technologies. Peter Middleton talks to Russell Schwulst (left), business development manager for Festo South Africa, about this fourth industrial revolution.

I nternet connectivity is creating a host of remote communication and automation possibilities for machines, and several labels have emerged to describe these: the Internet of things; the Internet of services; Smart factories; Smart manufacturing; and the Industrial Internet . The term ‘Industry 4.0’ originates from a project in Germany to promote computerisation in the manu- facturing industry. It signifies that a fourth industrial revolution is taking place – the first being mechanisation using water and steam power; followed, second, by the introduction of mass production and electric power; and third, digital automa- tion using electronics and IT. Festo believes that another fundamen- tal transition is now taking place. The real world and virtual reality continue to merge; and modern information and communications technologies, such as the Internet and wireless communication, are being combined with traditional in- dustrial processes to significantly change various areas of production. This is the trend encapsulated by ‘Industry 4.0’.

A common communication protocol

“The first key feature of Industry 4 is about machine to machine communica- tion. This is a fundamental shift and the starting point of the revolution. Modern automaton systems all offer data com- munication protocols such as Profibus, ProfiNet, Can bus, Open DeviceNet and a host of others, which are used to enable two-way communication between con- trollers and machines being controlled. Industry 4 enables individual system devices to communicate with each other, while whole production systems and sites communicate with enterprise management systems (EMSs) and other production optimisation management programmes,” begins Schwulst. A key goal of Industry 4 is, therefore, to develop a standard protocol that will enable all devices and machines from all suppliers to be interconnected and to communicate with each other. “Siemens has its Profibus as a proprietary PLC language, while Alan Bradley’s equiva- lent is DeviceNet. This means that, by

Each terminal block is automatically tested and certificated before leaving the facility. choosing a PLC supplier or a preferred communication protocol, one is imme- diately limited in term of connectivity to a set of machines and control equipment that has also adopted that same protocol. “So the ongoing challenge we have is to create and agree on a common communication protocol and/or com- munications platform that would allow all components and devices to be ad- dressed and understood by all controllers, PLCs, SCADAs, computers, tablets and cellphones,” Schwulst tells MechTech . “Industry 4 cannot reach its full potential for integrated automation with the mix and match communication pro- tocols that are currently available. For pneumatic valves for example, there is an ISO standard required by all automotive OEMs for use in their factories. It means that the manufacturer can physically take one valve off and fit a competitor valve to the production line, and both will fit and work. At component level, every item is interchangeable, because of ISO standardisation,” he points out. “An agreed International standard has yet to be put in place for the control communication side and for wireless communication for Industry 4,” he adds. Intelligent decentralised control The networking principle, via a combina- tion of automation and control protocols, wireless communication and the Internet, “could allow devices all over the world to be connected”, says Schwulst and

Towards Industry 4 and to cater for the increasing demand for customised production solutions, Festo South Africa has installed a new state-of-the art terminal block assembly facility. Festo valve terminals, servomotors and stepper motors are all now available with embedded controllers.

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Mechanical Technology — March 2015