New products, solutions and services from the Digital Enterprise portfolio, which are designed to enable the merging of the real and virtual worlds, will be the focus of the over 4,000 square meter stand at SPS IPC Drives. As at the previous Hannover Messe, Siemens wants to use the trade fair motto 'Digital Enterprise - Implement now!' to make it clear that the technical requirements for Industry 4.0 are in place and demonstrate this with specific developments and applications - including from the fields of additive manufacturing and robot integration. This also includes the opportunities and possible applications of artificial intelligence. With Industrial Edge, Siemens is presenting a decentralized data processing concept close to the machine and the manufacturing process, which is seen as the ideal complement to cloud computing with Mindsphere.

Digitalization live

A showcase illustrates the implementation of the digital enterprise concept in mechanical engineering. For example, industrial software and automation are seamlessly integrated in a machine for the quality inspection of bottles - with a shared data model. This holistic approach is demonstrated from the perspective of a machine manufacturer along the entire value chain: from the machine concept and simulation to engineering, commissioning and operation through to services. According to Siemens, users benefit from shorter development and production times, flexible and fully automated manufacturing concepts and efficient processes thanks to the digital twins of product, production and performance. At the same time, high quality and compliance with strict safety standards are ensured. The connection to MindSphere in turn enables the continuous collection and analysis of machine data.

Modular production

Being able to react quickly to changing market requirements is becoming increasingly important for competitiveness in sectors such as the pharmaceutical and fine chemicals industries. This is possible with modular production systems. In this area, Siemens is presenting flexibly combinable modules that are equipped with so-called MTPs (Module Type Packages). Thanks to the standardized interfaces and protocols, these machines and sub-systems can be easily integrated into an overall system. How this works will be demonstrated at the trade fair stand using the example of a centrifuge (separator) from GEA: This is already equipped with its own control system and MTPs and can therefore be easily integrated into a higher-level control system.