Mr. Ege, two years ago Michael Collet, then Managing Director of Development, emphasized in an interview that Lapp would have to move towards active components in the future and also master the software if it wanted to be part of Industry 4.0 in the future. What has happened in this regard since then?
Ege: The topic of Industry 4.0 is still important to us. However, we are still in the analysis phase in this regard. What we are clear about, however, is that Lapp will not be launching its own active components on the market, but rather upgrading or further developing our existing passive products in this direction - for example, Ethernet cables, which we ultimately see as the backbone of Industry 4.0, as the relevant communication protocols such as TCP/IP and OPC UA, for example, run on these cables. Nonetheless, we are also considering launching active components in certain test markets, which we will then bring to market together with partners.

Which active components are you thinking of?
Ege: The most obvious ones at the moment are of course unmanaged routers, which ultimately dock directly onto our patch or Ethernet cables. This is the first stage of the roadmap that we have set ourselves. Apart from the topic of Industry 4.0, however, we currently see even more urgent growth potential for us in fields that are closer to our DNA and which we naturally want to exploit first - for example in mechanical engineering with the classic Ölflex servo cable and also in the field of connectors. In addition, in the food industry and railroad technology, which we want to tackle intensively next and expand into a strategic business.

Coming back to Industry 4.0, Lapp has been involved in SmartFactory KL for two years now - what have you learned so far?
Ege: The networking with the various players within the SmartFactory was and is certainly very good. However, I also believe that the idea of Industry 4.0 has not yet taken hold in the industry! There are initial approaches, but wherever it goes beyond company boundaries and we come up against security barriers - i.e. firewalls - it still stops at the moment.

This is one of the lessons we have learned from participating in the SmartFactory.

The components for Industry 4.0 are there - in other words, it can be networked and a lot is happening within company boundaries in this regard. However, for me, Industry 4.0 starts when I can network along the value chain from the raw material to the end customer. And as far as this is concerned, a lot still needs to happen or it will take some time!
To give a concrete example from our field of activity: Of course, we have ideas for an 'intelligent' cable, for example for predictive maintenance. However, in order to be able to implement this consistently, our customer's end customer would have to provide us with data. The questions that arise are: Does he want this? Or rather: What added value would he get from it? And what exactly should the cable 'speak'? As things stand today, we have not yet moved beyond the discussion point.

In other words, you are not currently actively promoting the topic of 'intelligent' cable?
Ege: Not at all. You have to know that a few years ago - when the topic of Industry 4.0 was not yet present at all - we launched an attempt to bring a 'talking' cable to the market based on RFID technology. There were also plenty of established sensor systems back then, for example for integrating temperature or humidity measurement into the cable, or strain gauges for detecting length changes in the cable. However, we didn't find any sustainable use cases for this at the time, or only in niche or special applications such as mining. That's why we abandoned the 'talking' cable path back then.

The environment has changed with Industry 4.0 and in the context of big data. In this respect, we believe that it is now worth revisiting the topic at this level in a different market environment - especially in the data cable sector. Think, for example, of data packets that are transmitted via an Ethernet cable in a drag chain and change over the duration of the run - we can now measure and detect this using modern high-frequency measurement technology. We can then compare this real data with our database, which we have filled with test data over the years, and thus make predictions, for example: This cable will last another two months and then needs to be replaced. And that line signals: I'm OK and can run another five million cycles.

The decisive factor in all of this is that there must be real added value for the customer. Otherwise, they will not be prepared to pay more for such a solution.

Where else do you see development potential in the area of cables and wires?
Ege: What is currently under development, for example - to return to the topic of servo cables - are single-cable solutions, i.e. the combination of power and decoder data on one cable.

We have already had a solution for the Hiperface solution from Sick in our portfolio for some time. From the fall, we will also have a cable/connector combination available that is tailored to this. And with our Booksize connector, we are, as far as I know, currently the only manufacturer apart from Siemens to offer such a hybrid connector.

However, if you only have one cable and one connector for power and data, but at the same time the data to be transmitted is becoming ever more 'sensitive' and the currents ever higher, the demands on the shielding inevitably increase. The same applies to the increasing bending and alternating cycles in drag chains.

We see further challenges with the jacket material. Here we have to manage the balancing act of further optimizing the costs for the user on the one hand, while taking the normative requirements into account on the other. One keyword here would be CPR - a construction materials regulation that has been in force in Europe since
July 1 in Europe and declares cables and wires in connection with buildings to be construction products - and therefore other fire protection regulations apply.

From cable to wireless. Wireless communication is another trending topic in automation. Do you see a serious threat to Lapp's traditional business area here?
Ege: No. We do see this trend and are therefore working intensively on wireless technologies. There are certainly one or two applications that will be implemented wirelessly in the future and in some cases already today, for example via Bluetooth or WLAN - primarily if they are not safety-critical or uncritical in terms of data rate. Ultimately, however, such solutions will require a power supply or power line - even if these will certainly be different lines. And it will certainly be a long time before a servomotor can be operated inductively, for example.

Nevertheless, we are also considering implementing certain parts of a transmission - for example in a drag chain - wirelessly. Ultimately, this is part of our philosophy - namely to transmit data and currents. To date, of course, this has primarily been done by cable; however, we certainly cannot and will not close ourselves off completely to the topic of wireless.