International Magazine for Industrial Furnaces 02 I 2017 · heat processing. 2-2017 . 49. ITPS provides a. holistic view. on thermo process technology. T. he ITPS event is now setting

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ISSN 1611-616X

02 I 2017

Vulkan-Verlag

JASPERGesellschaft für Energiewirtschaft und Kybernetik mbH / Bönninghauser Str. 10 / D-59590 GesekeTelefon: +49 2942 9747 0 / Fax: +49 2942 9747 47 / www.jasper-gmbh.de / [email protected]

Setting The Standards For Highest Efficiency In Thermal ProcessingSetting The Standards For Highest Efficiency In Thermal Processing

Chip Dryer (Drum Furnace), capacity 3 t/h with 2,25 MW burner system Chip Dryer (Drum Furnace), capacity 3 t/h with 2,25 MW burner system

PROGRAMRead all about the program of ITPS 2017

INTERVIEWDr. Gunther Kegel, CEO of Pepperl+Fuchs and president of VDE

FACTS & FIGURESITPS 2017 at a glance: Venue, organizers and all important facts

International Magazine for Industrial Furnaces Heat Treatment & Equipment

www.heat-processing.com

ITPS-Special on pages 47-64

48

Powered by

The Key Event for Thermo Process Technology

www.itps-online.com

InterContinental Hotel Düsseldorf, Germany

27-28 June 2017

Organized by

492-2017 heat processing

ITPS provides a holistic view on thermo process technology

The ITPS event is now setting up home in Europe for the second time, after a visit to India and the US last year.If the first event had already been a huge success thanks to the

great moment of the debate between the Industry and the Euro-pean Commission presented by the talented Cathy Smith, our next event of June will be focused on the meeting between the user of thermal processes and the manufacturers.

As you will see, the programme of the June event will be divided in two highlights: During the first day, we will focus in a transversal way on the economic views but also on innovation in the market of thermal treatment. Some questions such as thermal treatment 4.0 or digitalization of the data will be debated pragmatically, well beyond the general considerations.

Day two will focus on the technological challenges that users of

thermal equipment coming from various sectors (e.g. foundry, car industry, aviation) are facing. The issue of the nature of the technolo-gical developments expected by the sector will also be approached.

In short, a program with a holistic view on the industrial sectors using thermal treatments and during which you will have once more the opportunity to meet some customers and suppliers in your field.

As President of CECOF, I am looking forward to meeting you in Düsseldorf, being sure of the enrichment and the quality of the contacts and information you will collect during these two days.

Sincerely,

René BrandersFIB Belgium / CECOF President

INTERNATIONALTHERMPROCESSSUMMIT

ITPS EDITORIAL

heat processing 2-201750

ITPS – The Key Event for Thermo Process TechnologyEvery four years, thermo processing specialists meet in

Düsseldorf at the leading global showcase THERMPRO-CESS, to exchange opinions on technological and indust-rial innovations. The International Thermprocess Summit (ITPS) tying in with this trade fair offers a complementary platform for information interchange as well as for mee-tings between industry specialists. Executives from plant manufacturers and customers’ sectors have an opportunity to discuss relevant strategic topics.The ITPS conference and its accompanying exhibition were successfully created as a joint endeavour by Messe Düsseldorf, the Thermo Process Technology (TPT) Assi-ciation within VDMA (the German Machinery & Plant Manufacturers’ Association), the European Committee of the Industrial Furnace and Heating Equipment Associ-ation (CECOF) in Frankfurt and the German trade maga-zine heat processing (issued by Vulkan-Verlag in Essen). In 2013, the event was attended by delegates from 16 countries from all over the world.After its successful launch in 2013 in Düsseldorf and follow-up events in India and the USA the ITPS can be considered the most relevant high-level conference for the industrial thermo process technology, addressing international decision makers from the thermo process plant sector and the respective customer industries.Yet again, ITPS 2017 will be a bridge builder between

industry, research and government, bringing all the rele-vant stakeholders to the same table. The program will include topical issues such as energy and resource effici-ency, new business models created under the advance of digital networks in production processes, innovative solutions and best cases in the key engineering sec-tors of automotive, electrical, aviation and mechanical engineering.

PROGRAMThermo process technology is not merely essential for a large number of the major areas of industry – it is more than just that: it plays a crucial role in determining the properties of individual products and all industrial manufacturing operations. This is true primarily of the automotive and aviation industries, the glass, ceramics and cement industries, metal production and processing as well as the chemical and petrochemical sector. A number of global challenges need to be tackled at the same time: the general economic and political conditions around the world, climate protection, carbon footprint, energy and resource efficiency – to mention just the most important ones. Friedrich-Georg Kehrer, Global Portfolio Director, Metals and Flow Technologies at Messe Düsseldorf, empha-sises: “This is precisely what the two-day ITPS focusses on, offering the thermo process industry and its stakeholders

ITPS INFO


© Thomas Rauen for ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel GmbH, WS Wärmeprozesstechnik GmbH

Without doubt – with our thousands of references Tenova LOI Thermprocess is the leading group for Heat Treatment Furnaces.

Cutting edge innovation and a thorough understanding of every aspect of the thermal process continues to drive our success.

Being the best is not only a commitment to continuously improve our environmentally friendly Furnace Technology, but it is also a promise to you, our customers who made us what we are today.

Tenova LOI Thermprocess, the furnace business of Tenova.

LOI Thermprocess GmbH Am Lichtbogen 29 45141 Essen (Deutschland)Tel. +49 (0)201 1891.1 [email protected] www.tenova.com

FOLLOW THE LEADER IN MOST MODERN FURNACE TECHNOLOGY

Dusseldorf, Germany27.–28.06.2017Booth A1

Shanghai, PR China19.–21.07.2017Hall W1, Booth 1C08


ITPS INFO

Without doubt – with our thousands of references Tenova LOI Thermprocess is the leading group for Heat Treatment Furnaces.

Cutting edge innovation and a thorough understanding of every aspect of the thermal process continues to drive our success.

Being the best is not only a commitment to continuously improve our environmentally friendly Furnace Technology, but it is also a promise to you, our customers who made us what we are today.

Tenova LOI Thermprocess, the furnace business of Tenova.

LOI Thermprocess GmbH Am Lichtbogen 29 45141 Essen (Deutschland)Tel. +49 (0)201 1891.1 [email protected] www.tenova.com

FOLLOW THE LEADER IN MOST MODERN FURNACE TECHNOLOGY

Dusseldorf, Germany27.–28.06.2017Booth A1

Shanghai, PR China19.–21.07.2017Hall W1, Booth 1C08


a customised program. As was already the case at the pre-miere in 2013 and the subsequent events in India in 2014 and in the USA last year, we are again expecting high-level decision-makers to be among the visitors.”The organisers have succeeded in engaging the inter-nationally renowned expert Prof. Ernst Ulrich von Weiz-säcker for the opening keynote talk. After graduating in physics, von Weizsäcker has gained an international reputation which is partly due to his political activities and above all to his expertise in environmental protec-tion and conservation. From 1984 to 1991 he headed the Institute for European Environmental Policy and then became the President of the well-known Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. He has been Co-President of the Club of Rome since 2012.Such high-profile international speakers as Professor Dr Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker (Club of Rome / keynote address), Dr Paul Rübig (EU Parliament) or Dr Richard Mark Soley (Indust-rial Internet Consortium) guarantee an exceptionally attrac-tive program. The two-day conference will, for example, be dealing not only with scientific and practical aspects of thermo process technology but also with the general global, economic and industry policy conditions. The impact of digitisation on industry will be presented, in addition to the latest news from selected industrial customer groups (e.g. car manufacturing and the metal processing industry) and new business models.Prof. von Weizsäcker’s 40-minute keynote talk is therefore being anticipated with eager anticipation, as it will be about the consumption and industrial production of non-CO2-based industries. The second speaker on 27 June will be Dr. Paul Rübig, Member of the EU Parliament since 1996 and also a permanent member of the EU Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. His presentation on “The Future Political Framework for Energy-Intensive Production

in Europe” should meet with an equal amount of interest. The next subject area will be economic dri-vers, e.g. the situation on commo-dity markets and the global econo-my. Two further highly competent experts will be Christian Kastrop, Director of the Policy Studies Bran-ch at the OECD Economics Depart-ment and Eugen Weinberg, Head of Commodity Research at Com-merzbank AG. Kastrop’s talk will revolve around the “Current Global Economic Situation and Forecasts”. Weinberg, who is considered to be Germany’s best-known commodi-ties analyst, will be talking about “Commodity Markets and Their

Relevance to Global Industrial Production”. The event continues in the afternoon with talks on innovation, digitisation and new business models, whereupon the second ITPS day will focus above all on best cases and innovative solutions in application industries.The conference will be held at the InterContinental Hotel on Königsallee and anchored by the well-known presenter Cathy Smith together with René Branders, President of CECOF.

EXHIBITIONThe exhibition held at the same time in the foyer of the InterContinental Hotel is an ideal addition to the high-quality conference programme.The second pillar of the Thermal Process Summit will be the accompanying trade exhibition in the foyer of the InterCon-tinental Hotel, where information can be obtained about the latest technologies during breaks.In addition to high-quality information supplied, ITPS provides an outstanding opportunity for in-depth networking. Con-tacts between decision makers and experts of the participa-ting companies are established and maintained. Companies have the opportunity to present themselves to participants at the exhibition held in conjunction with the summit or to achieve heightened awareness during the event and in con-nection with marketing through various forms of sponsorship.

REGISTRATIONA detailed summary of the complete programme of ITPS 2017 and the registration is available online at www.itps-online.com. The tickets for the two-day con-ference cost EUR 950.00 plus VAT. Members of VDMA Metallurgy and CECOF (European Committee of Indus-trial Furnace and Heating Equipment Association/Frank-furt) are entitled to tickets for the reduced price of EUR 800.00 plus VAT.

ITPS INFO


Facts & FiguresDate: 27.06. – 28.06.2017Venue: InterContinental® Hotel DüsseldorfKönigsallee 59, 40215 Düsseldorf, Germany

Attendance fee:€ 950 – Regular rate€ 800 – Preferential rate for members of VDMA & CECOF€ 800 – Preferential rate for heat processing subscribers

Please register online! http://www.itps-online.com/registration

ORGANIZERSMesse Düsseldorf GmbHStockumer Kirchstr. 61/ Messeplatz40474 Düsseldorf, Germanywww.messe-duesseldorf.de

CECOF – The European Committee ofIndustrial Furnace and Heating Equipment AssociationsVDMA e.V. Thermo Process [email protected]

Vulkan-Verlag GmbHheat processingwww.heat-processing.com

ITPS FACTS

INDUSTRIAL FURNACES FOR HEAT TREATMENT

CODERE SA Route de Miécourt 12 | CP 147 CH - 2942 Alle | Suisse T +41 32 465 10 10 | F +41 32 465 10 11 [email protected]

www.codere.ch

Heat treatment processes in high precision :

Hardening Carburising Carbonitriding Nitriding

Tempering Annealing Bainitic hardening


Program

09:00 Welcome René Branders, FIB Belgium / CECOF President Moderator: Cathy Smith, SpeakEasy

Global challenges and policy impacts

09:10 Keynote Consumption and industrial production in

non-CO2 based economies Prof. Dr. Ernst von Weizsäcker, Club of Rome

09:50 Policy lecture The future political framework for energy

intensive production in Europe Dr. Paul Rübig, European Parliament

10:30 Refreshment break / exhibition visit

Economic drivers

11:00 Global economic situation and forecast Nigel Pain, OECD

11:30 Commodity markets and their relevance for global industry production – Developments on the demand and supply side

Eugen Weinberg, Commerzbank

12:00 Lunch break / exhibition visit

Innovation, digitization, new business models

13:30 Keynote Disruptive developments in the “mobility”

industry and their implications for produc-tion

Prof. Dr. Aldo Ofenheimer, Virtual Vehicle

14:10 The Internet of Things – A new paradigm for the industry

Dr.-Ing. Gunther Kegel, Pepperl + Fuchs / VDE President

14:40 The Industrial Internet: Creating ties throughout the value chain

Dr. Richard Soley, Industrial Internet Consortium


Panel discussion

16:00 Digitization and its long-term impact on industrial production and new business models

Amongst others with Dr. Gunther Kegel, Prof. Dr. Aldo Ofenheimer, Dr. Richard Soley

17:30 Open forum / exhibition visit

19:00 International barbecue at Landhaus Freemann with shuttle service at 18:30

June 27, 2017

PROGRAM DAY 1

Program

ITPS PROGRAM


Powered by

09:00 Welcome Cathy Smith, SpeakEasy

Trend lectures

09:05 Trends in materials development Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Kaysser, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht

09:45 Industrial furnaces – Status and research challenges

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Herbert Pfeifer, Department of Indus-trial Furnaces and Heat Engineering,

RWTH Aachen University


Innovative applications, part 1

11:00 Requirements on heat treatment in the automobile industry Dr. Clemens Franz, Daimler

11:30 Heat treatment in a time of changes Dr. Dieter Müller, Eifeler Werkzeuge

12:00 Lunch break / exhibition visit

Innovative applications, part 2

13:30 German foundry industry – Challenges and innovative solutions Dr. Christian Wilhelm, BDG – German Foundry Association

14:00 Energy balance of the integrated route Dr. Jens Reichel, Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe

14:30 Aspects of heat treatment in aluminum industry Dr. Alexander Wimmer, Neuman Aluminium

15:00 Farewell René Branders, FIB Belgium / CECOF President

15:15 End of event

June 28, 2017

PROGRAM DAY 2

Prog

ram

www.itps-online.comFurther information:

ITPS PROGRAM


ITPS SPEAKER

Dr. Timo WürzManaging Director

VDMA Thermo Process Technology, Foundry Machinery, Metallurgical Plants and Rolling Mills

General Secretary CECOF, General Secretary CEMAFON, Director EUnited Metallurgy

“The ITPS is a true f lagship event of

the thermo process industry. Informa-

tion exchange and networking with

partners and customers at its best.”


Powered by

Organized by

27 and 28 June 2017Messe Düsseldorf

www.itps-online.com


Welcome: Moderation:

René BrandersFIB Belgium / CECOFPresident

Cathy Smith Speak-Easy

ITPS SPEAKER

Dr. Clemens FranzDaimler

Nigel PainOECD

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang KaysserHelmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht

Dr.-Ing. Gunther KegelPepperl + Fuchs / VDE President

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Herbert PfeiferRWTH Aachen University

Dr. Jens ReichelThyssenkrupp Steel Europe

Dr. Dieter MüllerEifeler Werkzeuge

Prof. Dr. Aldo OfenheimerVirtual Vehicle

Dr. Richard SoleyIndustrial Internet Consortium

Eugen WeinbergCommerzbank

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ernst von WeizsäckerClub of Rome

Dr. Paul RübigMember of the European Parliament

Dr. Christian WilhelmBDG

Dr. Alexander WimmerNeuman Aluminium


ITPS INTERVIEW

Lord of the ThingsWhether Industry 4.0 will prove to bring export success to German automation en-gineers is by no means certain for Dr. Gunther Kegel, head of Pepperl+Fuchs and pioneering ZVEI thinker. His credo: needed now, and urgently, on the road to the IIoT, the Industrial Internet of Things, are open standards and work at full steam on a totally new automation infrastructure. Sensor systems will play a central role in this, but only provided they can evolve further from simple measuring devices into highly networked data sources.

The Internet of Things – A new paradigm for the industryLecture by Dr.-Ing. Gunther Kegel, Pepperl + Fuchs / VDE PresidentITPS 2017, June 27, 14.10, Düsseldorf


ITPS INTERVIEW

German industry are currently in Industry 4.0 fever and are in gold-digger mood. Many users in the production and process industries are asking themselves what be-nefits using the new technologies will really generate for them. Do you have an answer now?Kegel: A whole series of answers, at least in theory. But in practice, out there in the field, no really satisfactory ones, in most instances, I’m afraid. There’s a core of truth in this criti-cism: the uncertainty that is noticeable in some cases when examining new topics, such as the “Internet of Things”, is in many instances self-made, and in some cases we have to blame ourselves for it. In the past, many manufacturers have focused too intensively on marketing, and have failed to re-ally explain their technologies better, in other words, to com-municate to the users exactly where the specific benefit for them, the added value, can be found.

And precisely, in euros and cents, if possible...?Kegel: Yes, we must, inevitably, reach this point. In some sec-tors, such as Asset Management, for example, and in Predicti-ve Maintenance, in particular, we are now so well advanced that we can develop genuine business models. For Industry 4.0, and/or Smart Sensors, whether in production or in the process indus-try, we are lacking basic experience, the data and figures that we need to do that. This, for example, is why we are currently performing large-scale project tests with major process-in-dustry companies to attempt precisely that: convey data from field level, from the sensor or actuator, up to the Cloud and to analyse there the value of this data. But to do this, we need - data. And not just a couple of items, but “big data”.

Which, of course, brings us to your familiar, classical business …Kegel: Yes, as a manufacturer of sensor solutions, we need user feedback, particularly as far as the field of in-plant com-munications is concerned. Let’s assume that a smart sensor is not just a “simple measuring device” but is, instead, a data source, which means, in fact, that we have to roll out IP-based communications right up to every sensor, into the very last corner of the field. Because, if I intend to use this data really rationally, I need every sensor reading as directly as possible and with maximum depth of data.Take a smart sensor-system module, equip it with an IP in-terface, and you’ve got the Internet of Things! It doesn’t really sound all that complicated…Sawka: Oh, but it is! The control and data-acquisition infra-structure currently in use frequently passes only a fraction of the data on and upward, whether for bandwidth reasons or due to the internal networking system. The data that I am then lacking may not be important for this particular applica-tion, but it could be precisely the data that I could use for a new business model or a new application.

The complexity of a granular-structured sensor network with IP-based communications is, it is true, significantly gre-ater, but it’s the only way I can receive uncompressed data. In other words, only if I transmit the in some cases incredi-ble volumes of data that my sensor system supplies to me directly to the cloud solutions can I generate reliable mo-dels. And only then can I start, at all, to talk about Big Data.

So: cables to the sensors, and off into the field. Where’s the problem?Kegel: The first challenge is safety. The chemicals and process industries attach very specific conditions, such as explosion safety, for example, which has to be implemen-ted, to the use of such sensor networks. A special physical link, which transmits IP communications and energy on two wires and is, what is more, also intrinsically safe, is then needed, so that this is also possible in Zone 1. Because this is where the actual “music” is playing in the field of the con-version of matter. In our estimation, 20 to 30 percent of the data would have to be transmitted directly from the explo-

sion-endangered zone.But if I then use the old

4 to 20 mA HART commu-nications system, I won’t

get the bandwidth and data volume that I need to trans-form my sensor into a data source.

So is IIoT only really for greenfield projects?Kegel: No, we’re developing a special physical layer for IP communications with the industry, and this will meet the requirements and fulfil the conditions of the process in-dustry and the corresponding Namur recommendations.

But irrespective of how, a highly networked measuring technology harmonised with the new Smart and Big Data requirements is thus needed if new, smart, busi-ness models are to be implemented. Isn’t completely new thinking by manufacturers and users then also ne-cessary for this?Kegel: In some ways, yes: we have, for example, the instrumentation technician, who regards a sensor as a measuring-signal transmitter, the readings of which, just a millisecond later, are no longer valid; who thinks in closed analog control loops, using 4 to 20 mA commu-nications. This technician has problems understanding that the very same sensor is now intended to conti-nuously generate data, i.e. measured values, plus a time stamp and other information, which can be transmitted via IP and then evaluated by IT specialists. We need the know-how contributed by both, however: of the person who builds the sensor and understands its physics, and the knowledge of the IT people, who know how to use this mountain of data rationally.

“The first challenge is safety”


ITPS INTERVIEW

Then you can perform an error analysis for profiling pur-poses even months later, and you will then be glad of the stored terabytes of measured data.

So the analog and the digital world are set to visibly merge, in metrology.Kegel: Yes, that is my conviction - although there are still one or two people who refuse to believe it!

And how long will this process take?Kegel: On the basis of present-day knowledge, no one can really say whether it will take two, three, five or even ten years. It won’t be possible to change everything overnight, of course. Industry 4.0, or the “Internet of Things”, firstly presupposes a totally new infrastructure, and this must be optimally designed for the generati-on, transmission and processing of data. The number of sensors must also increase significantly, in order that I actually have all the raw data available that I can then evaluate. Equipping a steam cracker with sensors may be sufficient to assure safe and efficient operation, for example, but this sensor system is not enough to permit complete modelling. It would then also be difficult to generate a so-called “digital twin”.... and to lift the plant, in simulation terms, to a totally new level of planning, productivity and efficiency.Kegel: That’s why it’s a good idea to undertake, even now, in lighthouse projects, “deep dives”, i.e. to equip a plant by way of example with sensors, to then network it and test it, to determine what is rational for Industry 4.0 and what is not, and ask the question: What new potentials does the data that I now have open up?

Then I can consider whether it is transferable and whe-ther it would generate benefits for me. Only then can the business models make their entry and be tested using the data obtained. Even Return on Investment can then be de-termined, at least for this one project.

How deep have you dived up to now?Kegel: At the moment, we’re still only in “storytelling” mode. There are great “use cases”, enormous potentials and stories, but we still have to ask ourselves what it will all add up to at the end of the day. In Germany, we simply have only very few reliable, smart business models that would show me clearly what input and what benefit is associated with what costs, all on the basis of existing available data.

In what industry do you think IIoT concepts will genera-te the greatest changes? Where will the next revolution come from?Kegel: The approaches in chemicals I’ve just mentioned are definitely trailblazing, but I would expect changes with a severely disruptive character more in manufacturing in-

dustry. Here, we will have even shorter life-cycles and pro-duction equipment will have to be even more quickly ad-aptable to new products, i.e., even more flexible, and there will, here, quite possibly also be an entirely different and possibly totally new future sensor technology.

All intelligence packed into the chip, and ever smaller sensors, down to micro level: will this be Sensors 4.0?Kegel: Yes and no - in five years’ time, the sensor of today will, essentially, still look the same as it does now. As long as we continue to produce real things, products that are intended to earn money, miniaturisation does not genera-te any added value for us. Tomorrow’s pressure sensor will, indeed, communicate much more smartly, and be much more intelligent, but it will still be a pressure sensor.

The picture is different in the case of sensor systems in-volved with the position of things and with availabilities: it may well happen that, wherever we nowadays use simple sensors that detect the presence or absence of things, we will in the near future be using three-dimensional sensors which will draw us a complex and precise image of their surroundings. This will also be possible, inter alia, because the costs of manufacturing such optical sensors are now more or less in free fall. LED and laser technology have, for example, made gigantic leaps in recent years, and can now be installed in the form of components in extremely small spaces and at extremely low cost. Even now, we have optical sensors that are capable of very quickly registering complex geometries and surfaces, and also signal proces-sors that can handle signals at the immense rate of 250,000 per second. Only a few years ago, all this was totally incon-ceivable and would also scarcely have been affordable.

But that’s still not Industry 4.0 ...Kegel: True - but my example illustrates how sensor tech-nology is creating, under the umbrella of Industry 4.0, so to speak, important technical preconditions for comprehen-sive networking. We have already noted that Industry 4.0 is the German route to the Internet of Things or, to put it more precisely, to the Industrial Internet of Things. The special thing that we set ourselves was: ensuring, via open standards, that there will be three-dimensional communi-cations: horizontally, along the value chain, vertically, up to the business model, and in the time direction, along life-cycle. Open standards and three-dimensional networking. When I’ve got them, I can start to talk about Industry 4.0.

If we work on the basis of this definition, Industry 4.0 has not come about yet, even given the most fantastic lighthouse projects. Because: we still have no binding standard that really openly defines these three dimensions of communication.

So we still have a whole lot of standardisation work in front of us, even if the marketing people claim that we’ve already passed the finish line.


ITPS INTERVIEW

But it will probably be possible to implement all the requirements immediately only on the famous “green-field”. What is the route of choice for existing facilities?Kegel: One way is, for example, to use existing standar-dised interfaces, such as IO-Link, and elevate them to IP level. We do this at Pepperl+Fuchs, using our Smart Bridge technology.

This is why the subject of IO-Link will also undergo a kind of renaissance, because it is an interface for simple sensors that can be expanded relatively easily to IP-based communication. So once I have the IO-Link data in my business application, it is available, and I can handle it ex-actly as if I were communicating IP-based. In addition, the IO-Link interface manages without additional costs, is al-ready well established in the automation industry, and is already in use in many production operations.

So it would be a good move to say: Ok, let’s firstly take an existing standardised interface, like IO-Link, and then we’ll put IP communications on top of it at some time, ef-fectively as an intermediate step.

And what is the benefit?Kegel: As long as many people still do no want to give up their hard-wired structure, this is one way of passing the raw data directly upward, via side routes, such as Smart Bridge, to which I can connect any number of sensors and actuators, without interrupting hard-wired communica-tions, which will continue to operate via analog or binary interfaces. In manufacturing, this is possible using IO-Link, and using Wireless HART in the process industry. This will also be a rational route for many Industry 4.0 applications. The costs for such a “double” infrastructure should not be underestimated, of course, but it is possible even now to transfer data to a higher level, the IP level, using this method. The long-term aim is, however, to transmit data directly from the field via standardised interfaces for the three above-mentioned dimensions into a possible Cloud-based application, and to then work with it. That will only be the first step, however.

And the second?Kegel: It will be just as important to also give some thought to the contents of the administration shell, in order that I can, in the end, simply plug the components together, with the sensors and actuators configuring themselves, depending on the particular application, and being capa-ble of communicating with one another. Then I put at the very top a service, depending on the application, and the devices then report for duty and perform their respective tasks for this particular service, without it being necessary for the engineer to teach the devices the functions indi-vidually every time. All this is perfectly conceivable, and would open up totally new potentials.

Is the autonomous plant the mission that you see for Industry 4.0?Kegel: When I look into the future, what I see is: in the long term, only the “thing” will remain in the plant. The sensor and the actuator, I’ll no longer need all the rest. I’ll then connect them with correspondingly high-performance digital interfaces into a computer world. Whether that will have a cloud-based or a fog-based structure is irrelevant for the time being. And precisely here, the control system, or a control unit, will then only take the form of a software application. Because: what does a control system do to-day anyway? It receives sensor data, makes a decision on the basis of defined criteria, and then outputs data for the actuators. Why should I have to do this on a decentralised basis, why do I have to do it using dedicated hardware, when I can link all the devices, with the security and real-time capability I need, to a large IT system? Why can’t I then simply install my applications there, and leave the system, or rather the things, to do the rest?

Out with control systems, out with hardware, out with classical production management systems, out with decentralised modules - it looks to us like pretty stormy times are approaching ...Kegel: Well, we’ll see. I only know: If we’re not prepared to invest time and brainpower in the onward development and shaping of these things, and of the topics of interfaces and administration shells, in particular; if we fail to agree on common standards, then the Internet of Things will fol-low a relatively linear course of development in industry, a course on which potentials for optimisation will at some point drop off. But nice digitisation projects alone don’t bring real benefits. The avalanche effect we want will only materialise if we manage to make reality of networking of smart components via common standards, because then much more will be possible and we will be able to think in totally new categories. But, above all: if we do it right, we could significantly boost the competitiveness of German industry with Industry 4.0.

“In the long term, only the

’thing’ will remain in the

plant.”


Register now and join the high-level event ITPS!The congress is a must-see for all decision makers and opinion leaders in the thermo process industry.

The participation fee includes:

• Congress participation

• Exhibition access

• Lunch and refreshments on both days

• Conference proceedings

Attendance fee:€ 950 – Participation fee€ 800 – Preferential rate for members of VDMA & CECOF€ 800 – Preferential rate for heat processing subscribers

All prices are per person and shall be understood plus value-added tax.

Online registration is open at http://www.itps-online.com/registration

www.itps-online.comFurther information:

ITPS BOOKING


Exhibitors:

• ABP Induction Systems GmbH

• Elster GmbH (Honeywell Thermal Solutions)

• Himmelwerk Hoch- und Mittelfrequenzanlagen GmbHTübingen

• IBS Industrie-Brenner-Systeme GmbH

• ITG Induktionsanlagen GmbH

• Linn High Therm GmbH

• LOI Thermprocess GmbH

• Lumasense Technologies GmbH

• WS-Wärmeprozesstechnik GmbH

Contact:

Companies that are interested continue to have an opportunity to book exhibitor and sponsor pa-ckages and benefit in addition from participation in the conference free of charge. The documents for exhibitors and information about participati-on in the exhibition can be obtained from Messe Düsseldorf.

Jennifer DübeltMail: [email protected]: + 49 211 4560 520Web: www.itps-online.com/exhibition-and-spon-sorship

ITPS EXHIBITORS

NEWS xxxx

64 heat processing 4-2012

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The Key Event for Thermo Process Technology

www.itps-online.com

InterContinental Hotel Düsseldorf, Germany

27-28 June 2017

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Documents

International Magazine for Industrial Furnaces 02 I 2017 · heat processing. 2-2017 . 49. ITPS provides a. holistic view. on thermo process technology. T. he ITPS event is now setting