Unique and customized safety
For the myPNOZ safety module, Pilz has created a complete, automated system, from ordering to commissioning. With the simple and intuitive myPNOZ Creator online tool, customers can configure the solution to their specific requirements and myPNOZ is then delivered in one-off batches, pre-assembled, tested and ready for installation.
Industry 4.0 means much more than simply optimizing existing processes. This is demonstrated by myPNOZ, the latest safety solution presented by Pilz (industrial automation specialist), which has achieved a real milestone in digitization.
It is a complete safety system, consisting of a main module with up to 8 freely combinable expansion modules, to control the functions emergency stop of a machine, mobile guard, light curtain, IIIA/C two-hand button and enable button.
Within the integrated online tool myPNOZ Creator users can therefore “assemble” their own customized solution, choosing from a wide range of available options.
myPNOZ Creator: from automated creation to ordering
In myPNOZ Creator you can define the number, type and logical connection of security functions, depending on the customer’s system requirements. Based on this data, Creator automatically calculates the required modules and the sequence of insertion. Thanks to the connection order, the connection logic of the safety functions is already defined and no programming knowledge is required. In addition, a validation option is available through simulation, along with comprehensive documentation.
Once these steps have been completed, the configured product can be ordered directly via the online application.
The myPNOZ safety module is supplied pre-assembled and ready for installation, making it extremely easy to assemble and configure. The specifications and all other information are managed with an automated workflow, without the need for further entries, from the order to the production up to the shipment.
Also for this last aspect Pilz aims at decentralization: the product can be realized, as usual, in the production sites or, if necessary, it can be manufactured, configured and subjected to final testing directly in the delivery depots, starting from a semi-finished product. The customer receives “his” myPNOZ in a very short time, ready for commissioning and the assembly in the electrical panel is the only operation that requires the use of a screwdriver.
Creating security made to measure
As Thomas Pilz, manager and partner of Pilz GmbH & Co.KG, explained, in designing the new system and better governing the complexity, the company took a fresh approach, with the aim of creating safety in a simple way, doing simulations safely and placing an order quickly.
«For our myPNOZ, we not only developed new relay hardware but also revolutionized the approach to the Pilz product, both for the customer and for us as suppliers. With respect to customer benefits, we have restructured the automation paradigm to make it more convenient. myPNOZ offers, in fact, a completely new customer experience in terms of selecting, ordering and installing industrial components. In addition, the support offered by the tool simplifies the selection and ordering phases, avoiding sources of error - an aspect of fundamental importance for safety modules, whose purpose is to protect people and machines. The advantages from the supplier’s point of view are no less significant. In fact, thanks to myPNOZ Creator and the networking of all the production processes involved, we are perfectly able to control the complexity underlying a customized product».
Interaction between automation, IT and OT. As Thomas Pilz points out, the prerequisite for the one-off production of products with a large number of variants - such as myPNOZ - is the interconnection of automation, OT (office technology) and IT. «What is interesting is that digital business models see not only the responsibility for product development but also the involvement of the IT department. In fact, every time we talk about Industry 4.0 in the company, it is essential to involve the IT department from the very beginning».
