Building the factories of the future Uniting the

BuILDING ThE FaCToRIES oF ThE FuTuRE

Operating as a subgroup within the VDMA Robotics + Automation Association, VDMA Machine Vision unites more than 115 member companies supplying machine components and systems for a wide range of industry applications. Victoria Hattersley talks to Anne Wendel, Director of the Machine Vision Group, to find out exactly how it supports its members, and how the emergence of Industry 4.0 will be shaping their future development.

Machine Vision is an exciting technology: it enables machines to see and to comprehend. Cameras generate images that are automatically analysed by software. Machine vision systems perform quality tests, guide machines, control processes, identify components, read codes and deliver valuable data for optimising production. VDMA Machine Vision unites more than 115 members split into two broad groups: component manufacturers and systems integrators. The component manufacturers produce machine components such as cameras, optics, lighting, software and more besides; the system integrators then take all these components and make a complete solution.

The machine vision industry in Germany and throughout Europe has been recording high growth figures for some years. According to the latest VDMA Machine Vision Market Survey, its turnover in Germany reached another record high of €2.2 billion in 2016 – an increase of 9 per cent on 2015. Indeed, apart from the year 2012, sales have been rising continuously since 2010, and between 2012 and 2016 the turnover rose by an average of 10 per cent per annum.

Machine vision is constantly capturing new fields of application – including those beyond the arena of manufacturing – always striving for higher quality, efficiency and product safety. To give some idea of how the machine vision technology is used beyond the factory, we can look at how the London Underground today relies on machine vision. Within the network, an automated track monitoring system analyses image data that are acquired by two camera systems mounted on passenger trains. One camera system is mounted on the bogie to provide information on the wheel-rail interface, and the other is mounted at the end of the carriage to provide a 4’ view of the running rails and conductor rails. Image data is collected during the passenger train’s normal working hours, uploaded by wi-fi and analysed at night. The maintenance of the network’s 1000km of track is then conducted during the four-hour night closure period, which minimises any disruption to services.

How members benefit

VDMA Machine Vision’s activities include producing and disseminating statistics and market studies, standardisation, marketing services, public relations, sponsoring important industry events, and holding its own networking events at regular intervals.

Ms Wendel explains that the association’s work is broadly built around three key pillars: Networking, Services and Representation of Interest. With the first of these, it regularly arranges networking events such as the European Machine Vision Summit – a highly interactive event – workshops or members’ assemblies. A good example of the representation of interests is the VDMA Machine Vision Pavillion at the SPS IPC Drives. This kind of joint representation is a far more powerful thing for members: their ability to make new contacts is greatly enhanced as part of a larger collective than if they were, as Ms Wendel says, “tucked away in a small booth in the corner where nobody can see them.” VDMA Machine Vision will also host the Vision Expert Huddles – a novel presentation approach whose goal will be to bring industry experts together to exchange ideas, including a panel discussion on machine vision.

And of course, as she points out, while it’s important to promote communication between other Machine Vision companies, it is also often useful for them to connect with companies from other areas of the VDMA. “Many of our members have strong links with producers from the medical or food production sectors, for example. VDMA has working groups for topics of common interest for its more than 3200 members, such as additive manufacturing, medical equipment, mobile machines, battery production or e-Motive. There are also five regional offices in Germany and one in Austria that connect companies in their regions. So the VDMA membership enables companies to not only gain new clients through our marketing services, but also to find new partners.”

When it comes to services, VMDA has over 600 dedicated staff members worldwide, assisting members with the daily running of their business. “We have various cross-sectional departments and competence centres, such as Foreign Trade, Legal Services, Future Business, Technical and Environmental Affairs and so on, so if there are any problems the VDMA members can always call on them and ask for support and assistance Also, if there are new directives coming up in Brussels or when there are consultations on issues that affect our members, VDMA keeps the members informed of these.”

As for the representation of its members’ interests, as mentioned above VDMA has offices in Berlin and Brussels which exist partially to seek consultations with policymakers and, where necessary, will work to influence the decision-making process in order to ensure its members’ concerns are taken into account. Without such a voice operating on their behalf, companies within the mechanical engineering industry would be very much at the mercy of EU policymakers who may not even be aware of the challenges they face.

The rise of Industry 4.0

One of the major topics driving not only the machine vision sector but the world of manufacturing as a whole, is Industry 4.0. For those of our readers unfamiliar with this term, the idea behind this is based on the ‘Smart Factory’, in which every single process is interconnected. According to VDMA, factories of the future will be designed to yield maximum benefit from the lowest possible consumption of material and energy. Interconnected and more flexible production processes will pave the way for new business models. Machine vision has a pivotal role to play in this because it offers solutions to meet these challenges.

VDMA is at the forefront of the drive for the Smart Factory; it is one of the partners in the German platform Industry 4.0 (Plattform Industrie 4.0), the goal of which is to continue the government’s high-tech strategy and to support its implementation in Germany.

The VDMA accompanies and supports its members on their paths to Industry 4.0 with diverse activities in the three core fields of information, knowledge transfer and networking. When it comes to implementation, interoperability, connectivity and standards are key factors.

Ms Wendel tells us: “In order to ensure that people, machines, production resources and products can directly communicate with each other you need a common communication architecture. VDMA and many other players from the industry support OPC UA. In the course of the AUTOMATICA trade fair, VDMA Machine Vision and the OPC Foundation signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the preparation of a Machine Vision Companion Specification for OPC UA.”

During the discussions, it was noted that camera interfaces and standards for communication and networking of various machine vision components within the system are already there. What is missing is a generic interface for machine vision systems and user level. The scope of the OPC UA companion specification is not only to complement or substitute existing interfaces between a machine vision system and its process environment, but also to create horizontal and vertical integration capabilities to communicate relevant data to any authorised process participants, right up to the IT enterprise level.

As Ms Wendel says, “You need a lot of information and data to make the smart factory happen. The idea behind this companion specification is to verify and process what is seen in the factory and transmit the result. Most significantly, this is not just a case of detecting issues within the production process and beyond; quality control will also evolve into production optimisation, which will allow the integrated systems to react flexibly.”

Industry 4.0 will be one of the key areas of interest at VDMA’s upcoming 5th European Machine Vision Summit, which will take place on 29 September. Rather than a typical conference, the summit has been designed more as a place for European machine vision executives to work together on issues that are decisive for the future. Two main topics have been chosen this year: day one will be focused broadly on machine learning, while day two will be looking at the digitisation of industry.

According to Anne Wendel, “We measure the success of such events by their ‘take-home’ value. So if our members come away inspired and with an idea that they can implement in their own company, we have done our job.”

meeting future challenges

With such huge changes taking place in the way factories and supply chains operate – not just in Europe but throughout the world – it is clear that companies operating within the machine vision sector will have a number of challenges to face as they learn to adapt.

The rapid growth of the industry in the past decade could in itself represent a challenge as well as an opportunity, as members must push themselves to meet demand and further growth. According to Anne Wendel, one way in which this may be accomplished is through consolidation of the industry. She explains: “VDMA Machine Vision is largely dominated by small companies with around 80 employees. Increased demand will need to be addressed and this could be achieved if companies join together – or are even bought by a single entity – so they combine strengths when it comes to export functions, sales, marketing and so on.”

This may also help the smaller members of the group to address another challenge: a growing number of competitors from abroad. “New competitors are coming up on the horizon all the time – in Asia, for example – and this is not just in the area of Machine Vision technologies. We also have to think about other areas that are will be increasingly competing for the same clients – such as other sensor technologies, or computer vision, smart phones and so on. But we still believe machine vision in Europe will have the leading edge in the future.”

There is, however, a great deal to be positive about moving forward. For 2017, the association predicts that further growth of at least 10 per cent is feasible, given the development of the VDMA monthly incoming order and turnover statistics. Exports have been the main driver for growth in recent years, and Ms Wendel says that VDMA Machine Vision intends to continue supporting its members in conquering new markets. n