Safety, commitment and advantage

In an information-packed event, B&R, Comau and Heidenhain proposed updates and experiences with industrial safety, particularly the contribution of automation

Evolving laws and the outcomes of R&D at the various stages of automation are encouraging a recovery of demand for safety solutions, which must be updated in order to comply with the law, but also – the organizers of “Safemotion Experience” argue - in order to enhance the productivity and economy of solutions adopted by a concern. The series of encounters at Safety in Motion, organized between June 18th and July 2nd in Milan by B&R, Comau and Heidenhain has thus recalled the attention of operators to the performance of automation solutions, in addition to their safety. The three concerns, which represent differing and complimentary links of the supply chain and are made partners through past collaboration, have thus played the integrated competency card in order to deliver to the market useful and updated information, which indeed was much appreciated by participants.

Integrated and open systems «Things are heading toward enhancement of comprehensive process performance thanks to systems open to industry standards, interconnected and secure, smart and integrated, without requiring dedicated systems», explained Marzio Grattieri, B&R’s commercial manager of industrial automation, at the end of the event.

Oscar Arienti, commercial manager of Heidenhain Italiana’s automation division (measurement, control and drives), comments: «Safe joint supervision of the process by our functional safety encoders and controllers, and the possibility of operating at the limits of current technology, in increasingly contained spaces, without compromising any aspect of safety issues. This is the safety we have developed by starting with the principles of product reliability and quality measurement, as demonstrated during these events».

Effective communication With a logical and straightforward sequence of presentations, the speakers analyzed aspects having to do with the safety of machinery and individual components, and each of the three partners showcased its own capacity for operating safely and enhancing the performance of production processes.
The question of how joint action of safety technologies simplifies the process of machine certification and can concretely enhance a system’s effectiveness was answered thanks to real world applications illustrated by Alfa Automazione, Sidel with Tetra Pak and other excellent concerns operating in Italy. The well-received centerpiece of the talks was an address by an expert from iCEpi - a recognized Italian certification agency - which delivered to the assembly important information and practical advice for meeting safety compliance standards.

The large audience in attendance confirmed the effectiveness of this formula, and the real interest in the topics proposed, to the organizers’ satisfaction. Nicoletta Ghironi, marketing & communication manager of B&R Industrial Automation, comments: «During these meetings, we have demonstrated that safety is not an abstract concept or simple imposition of regulatory prescriptions», adding «In Milan and in Bologna we have taken the stage with concerns that have created winning applications».

«The issue of safety is central to the world of robotics - claims in turn Alessio Cocchi, Marketing Manager at Comau Robotics – in that one of the areas of development will be, along with performance, that of human-machine cooperation. Comau is treading this path and  the attention obtained from the public in this event is further confirmation that we are heading in the right direction and that, with B&R and Heidenhain, we are bringing the market the best technology».

The added value of partnerships
In industry, the quality of products and services is indispensable, and that which “makes the difference” are often good business and personal relationships between different collaborators in a project. B&R is convinced of this and is careful to cultivate relationships in the industry. In addition to the safety-dedicated event organized together with Comau and Heidenhain, two other partnerships exemplify this.

With MgM Robotics, a Turin concern specialized in robotized solutions, B&R collaborates in order to offer custom solutions that are optimized for each application. The decision of MgM to use B&R’s exclusive automation technology has led the two concerns to develop joint research projects. The foundation is the use of B&R PowerPanel touchscreen control panels, as well as B&R drives and CPUs for robot controllers, in order to take advantage of the potential of the POWERLINK real time Ethernet protocol and integrated safety technology. Today, customers of both concerns can count on a close team supplying all around support, with the same attention to user satisfaction.

With Datalogic, B&R has recently strengthened a partnership already well on its way, with an agreement that provides for the use, on Datalogic’s part, of B&R’s high performance and low consumption 910 Automation PCs on its new UX vision processors. In such a way - the two partners declare - the most advanced and high performance vision platform currently available was created.
Indeed, B&R’s 910 automation PCs, equipped with third generation Intel® Core™ processors and a wide range of video interfaces, are extremely well-adapted to the most challenging applications, for example where high speed, high resolution scanning and analysis is required. Combined with Datalogic’s powerful IMPACT software, the new vision computer is capable of managing up to 4 USB cameras
Low consumption, high performance industrial PCs