Increasing sensor intelligence SICK

INCREASING SENSOR INTELLIGENCE

SICK AG is a global leader in the design and manufacture of advanced sensors and sensor solutions for industry. The company has been a pioneer in many of the manufacturing areas it serves, including factory automation, logistics and process automation. It continues to set the standards for the broad manufacturing industry and its latest innovative technologies will be on display at the forthcoming Hannover Messe Trade Fair, as Philip Yorke reports for Industry Europe.

SICK AG was founded in 1946 by Erwin Sick who had received a license from a US local authority to operate his engineering company. His commitment to innovation paid off when he invented the accident-prevention curtain in 1952, which was launched at the Hanover Machine Tool Trade Fair the same year. Since then the company has pioneered many of the world’s major product advances in factory automation, logistics and process automation.

Today it has a global presence with over 50 subsidiaries in addition to a global network of sales agencies. In 2015 it recorded sales of more than €1.3 billion. It currently employs over 7500 people worldwide.

Stepping forward

SICK AG has a major presence at the forthcoming Hanover Trade Fair this year and will be presenting its next step towards ‘Industry 4.0’. Using an example of a value-added process, the company will demonstrate the sensor features that lead to greater flexibility for machine operators. As a result, visitors to the exhibition will be able to experience these significant enhancements first hand.

The exhibition will also highlight the challenges relating to Industry 4.0 and the appropriate solutions engineered by SICK AG, from its unparalelled perspective. The latest products on display are actively enabled for communication, ensuring that they can establish links with the world of data. With the aid of a cloud provider, the data that is collected is compiled and then evaluated and visualised accordingly.

The challenges involved in Industry 4.0 cannot be overcome without the large volumes of data captured and pre-evaluated by SICK AG sensors before they are sent out in the world of data. SICK sensors guarantee transparency at every stage of the value-added process and they are also backwardly compatible. Industry 4.0 sensors can be used in existing automation architectures, but they can also communicate with higher level systems.

Delivering advanced ‘Sensor Intelligence’

When asked what SICK’s main aims were at Hanover this year, the company told Industry Europe: “We want to strengthen our ‘Sensor Intelligence’ brand by presenting ourselves as the global technological leaders and experts in the field of Industry 4.0, and by presenting SICK as a solution provider that not only offers components, but also a wide portfolio of products, systems and services for individual requirements and applications.” n

For further details of SICK’s innovative products and services visit: www.sick.com