Technical articles

Digitalisation and Industry 4.0 are changing the world of production. Shorter innovation cycles, a growing number of variants, lot size 1 and a more efficient use of production plants and resources are all forcing companies to use innovative technologies in their intralogistics. Of special significance in this context is the communication between the many sensors, actors and the IT infrastructure. In this interview about new trends, experts discuss the role played by wireless communication and its potential for creating new business models.

Quelle: elektro AUTOMATION (03-04/2020)

Position switches used to monitor the step treads of part of the light railway system in the city of Bielefeld were increasingly failing, making higher levels of maintenance necessary. The operator MoBiel started looking for an alternative solution – and found one very close by. Following a successful test phase, the trains are now being successively fitted with long-life position switches.

Source: messtec drives Automation (04/2020)

Various steute switchgear series are currently being tested in real-life conditions on the island of Helgoland. The results are used to improve the development of new product series.

Source: konstruktionspraxis (03/2020)

In these times of flexible product manufacturing, processing, storage and consignment, the flow of information needs to be equally flexible. This impacts everything within the system, right down to the individual sensors and switches at field level. Especially for assembly and intralogistics applications, wireless networks are becoming increasingly popular, for example eKanban systems.

Source: etz (03/2020)

Flexible production and materials supply mean that communication must also be flexible, not to mention mobile. A wireless network caters to just this set of requirements, not only requiring minimal power, but also being simple to configure. The company dpm Daum & Partner is one of the first to use such a network. This automated guided vehicle (AGV) manufacturer uses wireless technology to facilitate automotive factories free of assembly lines. The same wireless network has also been successfully tried and tested for eKanban systems. Read on for more information.

Source: f+h (11/2019)

»Vision E« is a system developed by dpm Daum & Partner especially with electric car manufacturing in mind. Details include not only special safety technology, but also the use of a steute wireless network which can »wake up« individual AGV as required.

Source: logistik journal (11/2019)

In "smart" production and intralogistics concepts, software and identification systems can be crucial to success. Manufacturers of such systems are currently profiting from this trend. At the same time, however, they are faced with the challenge – like their customers – of becoming a provider of smart solutions.

Source: materialfluss - PORTRÄT EINER BRANCHE (2019/2020)

steute Technologies is known as an expert for safe switchgear in complex and demanding applications. But over the last few years the company has also grown to become a systems provider. Today's customers can profit from complete solutions which range from sensors via Gateways to integration in ERP systems. In an interview, Stefan Schmersal, Acting Partner at steute, gives insights into the market, his own solutions and business strategies, as well as the challenges steute will face in the future.

Source: open automation (05/2019)

A new series of emergency pull wire switches demonstrates the benefits of modular construction in electromechanical switchgear. This switchgear series can withstand extreme ambient conditions, can be used universally and is highly versatile with regard to installation, mounting and integration in existing equipment.

Source: Der Konstrukteur (7-8/2019)

Petrol, natural gas and liquid gas are typical products handled using loading systems manufactured by Emco Wheaton. These loading systems are frequently to be found at the end of a process chain, at production sites or logistics stations like fuel depots or, in "ship to shore" applications, at ports.

Source: Chemietechnik (6/2019)

At its Neuhof-Ellers site near Fulda, the company K+S Kali mines raw potash and magnesium salts at depths of down to 800 metres. The atmosphere in the flotation plants which separate the potassium chloride from the rock salt and other mineral salt constituent parts is extremely corrosive. Trust is therefore placed in "Extreme" emergency pull-wire switches which have been thoroughly tested and which allow the plants to be switched off very fast should a dangerous situation occur.

Source: Schüttgut (4/2019)

Automated guided vehicles (AGV) which are resting can be woken up by remote control and then sent back to sleep when they are no longer needed. This is made possible by a low-energy wireless system including a "deep sleep" mode which is already used by several renowned AGV manufacturers and which is also responsible for communication between the vehicles and their control centre.

Source: materialfluss (06/2019)