Industrial Ethernet Week - HARTING attracting IIoT pioneers
The IoT is the crucial technology for bringing assets onto the internet, thereby creating the foundation for the digital twin. At the same time, the digitalisation of processes and the digital connection of assets present major challenges for industrial users. What are the next necessary steps for your own company and which technologies should you rely on for the successful networking of your own machines? What strategies are other companies pursuing on the markets? In order to clarify and provide answers to these and other exciting questions, HARTING invited guests from February 21 to 23 to the second Industrial Ethernet Week. Every year, pioneers and thought leaders from industry and IT convene and deliver the right answers on the road to IIoT.
The first day of the event kicked off with a focus on industrial transformation. To elucidate on these issues we had invited experts from Schaeffler, Microsoft and IoT Use Case to our forum in Espelkamp. As a starter, Matthias Hafner from Schaeffler gave an overview of how machine parks can be globally networked and what requirements this entails. The aim of networking is to provide a simultaneous overview and access to machine data and control in case adjustments need to be made. And not just for one single plant or one country, but worldwide.
Under the heading of "Make the Metaverse real!", Max Morwind from Microsoft took the visitors on an excursion into future virtual factories. To bring this Metaverse to life, more and more data is being collected, processed and shifted from the machine world into cloud platforms. This development means that IT and OT are increasingly converging - and IT solutions are playing an ever more important role in industrial production.
Madeleine Mickeleit, CEO and co-founder of IoT Use Case, showed just how this additional networking of data can increase process reliability and prevent failures. Successful use cases were presented in which smart sensors are able to already detect potential faults and warn the operator before a total failure occurs. Using vivid examples, the attendees were able to learn how small investments in additional machine monitoring pay off very quickly.
Factory Installation
On the second day, the focus was firmly on the factory installation. Guests from Fluke Networks, Beckhoff, EPlan and HARTING presented connectivity solutions for cabinet-free machines and edge computers, testing equipment for trouble-free network performance and the right infrastructure for future factory automation data networks.
The participants were able to follow live just how field-terminable connectors are assembled and how they are tested for use in data networks. At the end of the second day, Timm Hauschke (EPlan) and Max von Behren (HARTING) showed how vital the availability of design data is for installation technology.
Spotlight on device design
The third day was all about the development of future device generations. Single pair Ethernet is one of the focus topics that developers should have in mind. The space- and resource-saving data infrastructure entailing only one pair of copper wires offers tremendous potential for materials savings. Thanks to SPE, in future, higher data rates can be transmitted efficiently to machines at field level. After Matthias Fritsche (HARTING) had given an update on the current development status, our guests from Analog Devices and Sparkfun held the floor. Michal Brychta (Analog Devices) and Kirk Benell (Sparkfun) cast a light on the possibilities of power transmission via SPE and how the maker scene is using SPE for innovative applications.
One trillion options - with the right data
Miniaturisation is exerting increasing pressure on the PCB design of devices. More compact devices are in demand, while space should be used more efficiently. This also presents new challenges for connectivity. Modular connectors that can be adapted to requirements provide solutions here. Ansgar Thomas (HARTING) gave an overview of har-modular and the degree of freedom developers enjoy thanks to over a trillion possible combinations of the individual modules. Configured online from as from unit quantity or batch size 1 and delivered simultaneously with data set.
Speaking in the last slot, Dr. Uwe Knorr from Supplyframe and Max von Behren (HARTING) showed how vital the right data is for efficient PCB design. Developers spend a large part of their working time searching for the right components and integrating the right development data. The simplified provision of necessary data for PCB design is capable of delivering tremendous optimization potential. HARTING is already making all the relevant development data for each product available so as to provide users with the best possible support.
1.600 registrations in over 60 countries
The second staging of the Industrial Ethernet Week went down as a total success. In line with the HARTING Technology Group's self-image as an enabler of the IIoT, the 2023 event once again brought thought leaders for Industrial Ethernet solutions together and stimulated lively exchange.
