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Manufacturing’s present, future on display at Hannover, ProMat; Headlines Online
Digital Hannover Messe: Hermes Award winner, Partner nation, innovation
The 2021 Hannover Messe Digital Edition is the 74th Hannover Fair, picking up online where the cancelled 2020 exhibition left off. Online, 1250 exhibitors from 250 countries are joining 500 speakers covering topics relevant to the industry of the future, explained Stephan Weil, prime minister of Lower Saxony, the German region where the fair is located.
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Weil also welcomed Indonesia as the 2021 partner nation and thanked Dr. Angela Merkel, German chancellor, for 15 years of attendance and support. This is Merkel’s last year in office.
Indonesia, partner country for the 2021 Hannover Messe, was described as the largest maritime country in the world, with vast cultural diversity and many hardworking, adept and creative young people. The country has embraced Industry 4.0 initiatives to connect and accelerate growth.
Dr. Angela Merkel, chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, praised Hannover Messe organizers for educating more than 60,000 participants in the 2021 digital platform.
She praised 70 years of diplomatic relationships with Indonesia, and expressed concern for recent heavy rains and floods there on top of the pandemic.
Merkel encouraged the need to get a handle on COVID-19 infections, expressing the importance of precau-
HERMES AWARD Bosch Rexroth’s new subsea valve actuator SVA R2 is the world’s first electric actuator to replace conventional hydraulic cylinders in the same installation space with field-proven safety technology, and it won the Hannover Messe Hermes Award for 2021. The integrated electric control provides precise motion control. With condition monitoring and safety spring, SVA R2 achieves up to Safety Integrity Level SIL 3 according to IEC 61508 and IEC 61511. Courtesy: CFE Media screen capture from 2021 Hannover Messe Digital Edition
tions, vaccinations and testing, warning of possibility that more virulent strain might spread before the virus is contained. She said Germany is the largest international donor of vaccines at more than 2 billion, adding that the pandemic has shown a need
Manufacturing’s present, future on display at Hannover, ProMat
FOR THE SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR, Hannover Messe was unable to have an in-person event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, at least, a virtual event was able to occur with many attendees able to experience something close to what would have been the real-life event. While not perfect, the annual event showcased a bright future for the manufacturing world. ProMat, a state-side event that used to be held in tandem with Automate every other year, also highlighted some bright points. Here are some of the highlights (if reading from the digital edition, click on the headline for the full story) for improvements in crisis prevention, resilience, supply chains, and diversification of trade. Eliminating monopolies helps, Merkel said; Germany has invested $1 billion Euro in micro electronics manufacturing.
Balancing budgetary deficits in Germany and the European Union can be helped with better use of data and digital strategies, she added.
Dr. Michael Meister, German parliamentary state secretary, said digital ecosystems create new business models and new use cases for technologies. He announced three finalists for the Hannover Messe Hermes Award as Bosch Rexroth for a new subsea valve actuator SVA R2 is the world’s first electric actuator, Phoenix Contact for NearFi technology that enables contactless transmission of energy and data, and Pilz for myPnoz, a new type of modular safety switching device with batch size of one.
Dr. Jochen Köckler, chairman of the managing board, Deutsche Messe AG, announced the winner as the electric subsea valve actuator (left). See more follows about the two finalists. ce
Headlines
online See also p. 6.
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ProMatDX: Robots streamline warehouses
Robotics enabled with artificial intelligence (AI) is a low-risk option to ensure social distancing and employee safety and allow business continuity despite labor shortages, explained Mark Messina, chief operating officer, Americas, Geek+ America, in a ProMatDX session called “Making the shift: Adapting robotics to streamline your operations.”
Messina suggested seven reasons AIenabled robotics helps in warehouse (intralogistics) operations. 1. An increasingly unpredictable market makes it difficult to adjust logistics operations built on fixed infrastructure. 2. Robotics and AI bring flexibility to the supply chain. 3. With AI-driven robotics solutions, many time-consuming and redundant tasks of warehouse employees, like walking to find goods, can be reduced by letting sorting staff stay at workstations while robots bring the goods to them. 4. Robots that are controlled by software that manages movements with intelligent scheduling and task distribution can flexibly move to and from the shelves of ordered goods autonomously, which streamlines operations. 5. Without needing fixed guidance systems on warehouse floors (other than simple QR code stickers), implementation is easy with robots and shelving racks deliverable to almost any location at short notice. 6. Scalability platforms meet fluctuating demand, so businesses can adjust the number of workstations, robots, and working hours to meet peak periods, avoid disruptions and secure business continuation. 7. AI-driven robots are a good investment as it allows businesses to scale operations in line with business growth and avoid slow return on investments (ROIs) that can be characterized by some big-iron, bolted to the floor storage and motion control, like static shelving and conveyors. ce
Compiled and edited from articles written by Mark T. Hoske, content manager, CFE Media; Chris Vavra, web content manager, CFE Media.
“ALL COMPANIES WANT to leverage digital solutions in the digital transformation journey. To do that, companies need to address cybersecurity. Cybersecurity is the foundation for digital transformation,” said Tom Marshall, global cybersecurity marketing manager, Schneider Electric, in the presentation “Cybersecurity – Solutions for operational resiliency.”
Many companies either don’t realize the risks and are leaving themselves open to attack. Marshall cited some alarming stats including: 1. A ransomware attack occurs every 14 seconds. 2. Almost 50 days typically pass between breach discovery and reporting dates 3. More than 90% of malware is spread by email. 4. The average cybersecurity breach costs $3.8 million. 5. Most, 70%, employees don’t understand cybersecurity. 6. Neither do companies: 2% of an information technology is used for cybersecurity.
The manufacturing skills gap is often talked about when it comes to younger workers not joining the field. There is a similar skills gap when it comes to operational technology (OT) and cybersecurity, said Dee Kimata, director cybersecurity offer management, Schneider Electric.
Cybersecurity awareness and vigilance remain a problem with many companies not sufficiently funded or aware of what needs to be done to stop a cyber attack. Courtesy: CFE Media screen capture from 2021 Hannover Messe Digital Edition
“It’s a very niche skillset and in very high demand as OT cybersecurity attacks grow,” she said. The demand is only going to increase, she said, because malicious attackers realize going after OT is fertile ground. “More malicious actors are getting interested in the field of OT cyber, Four methods can help, Kimata said.: 1. Leverage managed service experts. 2. Start with cybersecurity controls and best practices with the biggest impact. 3. Create a multi-year strategy to improve risk posture year-over-year. 4. Address the basics to mitigate most risks. This requires culture change and more cybersecurity expertise to counter small budgets and bolder attackers. ce
