Mr. Miermans, what strategy is Keba pursuing in terms of robotics, and what role does the drag&bot software acquired with the company of the same name in February 2022 play in this?

Filip Miermans: Robot programming must become simpler because the robots themselves
robots themselves need to become simpler and more flexible. Operation is becoming easier, but robot specialization is increasing: many end customers have complex requirements and high quantities. However, flexibility in production and batch size 1 are also important - and this is precisely where the drag&bot software comes into its own.
drag&bot is a software solution for the simple operation and programming of industrial robots. It can be used to integrate, operate and program robots from a wide range of manufacturers and to add grippers and cameras via a standardized graphical interface in order to implement robotic solutions. Users can implement or adapt robot applications quickly and independently, even without expert knowledge or extensive training. Employees in production can also quickly integrate their robots into other tasks elsewhere in production without too much knowledge. This counteracts the shortage of skilled workers, which is likely to increase rather than decrease in the future. drag&bot is expandable; new drivers can easily be written to add hardware, robots, grippers or cameras. However, it is also possible to add new software functions - so it is no problem at all to integrate third-party AI functions. However, what we were missing until now were functions such as a PLC connection, system visualization or safety technology. With the Kemro-X modular system, we can add exactly that, resulting in a complete and well-rounded solution that can be seamlessly integrated.

What role does the "Kemro X" automation platform play in Keba's range of products and solutions?

As a complete automation system for hardware and software, Kemro X covers everything that industrial companies need for their smart factory: All mobile and stationary panels, drives as well as hardware variants and also the engineering tool are integrated into it. The system is structured in modules that can be used like smartphone apps. Modules from Keba as well as customer-specific or Linux-based standard modules can be used. Thanks to the Linux-based openness, customers can integrate their own software modules and software from third-party providers and thus protect knowledge. The open system architecture makes it possible to use different systems without users being aware of this. It also allows the necessary inter-process communication. Following the principle of a modular system, Keba has developed a comprehensive range of software units that an industrial company can use for all automation projects: from engineering tools to simulation tools.

What's new in the Kemro X automation software platform?

The software management and the expansion of the modular system with the AI module are new - we see a need among customers, so we have expanded the hardware to optimize processes using AI. We have also pushed ahead with Keba's typical easy-to-use approach, with software modules that are easy to integrate and simple software roll-out approaches to make us more flexible in the long term. Another important aspect is industry solutions - thanks to our in-depth knowledge of specific industries, we can also offer data interpretation based on process knowledge combined with data science: in other words, not just generating data, but also deriving models, which is only possible if industry and process knowledge is available. Keba can take this step: developing models based on data, which can create new features for end customers.

Your company has announced that it will be paying particular attention to OPC UA as an IIoT communication technology in the future. What concrete steps will follow?

As far as connectivity is concerned, we are standardizing our interface world with a focus on OPC UA and the corresponding information models with the aim of "Plug & Produce". OPC UA is a very important topic that we are pushing ahead with. However, standardization is not just about OPC UA, which is purely a communication topic. It's about much more, about standards in general - with a particular focus on IT interfaces, which are becoming increasingly important, especially as this is where the biggest bottlenecks are for machine manufacturers. Keba's aim is to always focus on standards and not on proprietary interfaces. We offer openness, and customers can decide for themselves how they start with which components - and when and how they add which components.

SPS 2022: Hall 7, Stand 470