Representative End User Clients
Representative Automation Clients
Representative Software Clients
Keywords: Siemens, Achema, Digitalization, Industrie 4.0, Process automation
At a media round table at the Siemens complex in Karlsruhe, Germany, Eckard Eberle, CEO of Siemens Process Automation Business Unit offered a preview for the Siemens presence at the ACHEMA show in Frankfurt, Germany, 15-19 June.
Siemens at ACHEMA 2015
Siemens focuses on digitalization and use the slogan "From Integrated Engineering to Integrated Operation – Discover the Potential of Digitalization". "On the basis of our existing range of products and services for electrification and automation, we are promoting digitalization within the process industry. This is because digitalization permits the integration of individual process steps over the entire plant lifecycle – from engineering and operation, through to continuous optimization." explained Eckard Eberle, "In order to implement the Industrie 4.0 project in the process industry, we focus on three action fields: the digital plant, modularization and production optimization."
Siemens sees the creation of an integrated data landscape as the main driver for a digital plant. Their approach consists of providing data consistency across the whole lifecycle: from engineering with the Comos computer aided engineering tool, commissioning using the Simit simulation platform, to operations using the Simatic PCS 7 process control system and XHQ Operations Intelligence supporting real-time corporate decisions. XHQ Operations Intelligence, originally acquired from IndX, collects, connects and presents operational and business data in real-time. The software aims to generate "smart data" from "big data", capturing data from a wide variety of sources, and bringing it together in one management cockpit.
Industry-specific solutions
On their booth Siemens will highlight two major applications. For the pharmaceutical industry, a modular Chemical API batch plant will demonstrate the interaction of engineering and production planning software with versions of automation systems and process instrumentation for sterile production. The second exhibition setup is a separation column for chemical production, to illustrate integrated data communication. These two demonstrations should be very interesting if they succeed to demonstrate to the public how digitalization works in real applications
Product introductions on the booth will include the Flender N-Bipex coupling as part of the company's Integrated Drive Systems (IDS), aiming at the economical and energy-saving operation of pumps, fans and compressors. The extended, modular Siprocess GA700 gas analyzer is designed to reduce emissions and optimize processes where raw materials are used.
Siemens also sees new digitalization opportunities in the automation of biochemical and biological processes. As an example the company mentions process monitoring and control of a bio-fermenter with PCS 7 Lab and Sipat.
Conclusion
At the Hanover trade show in April Siemens emphasized the importance of the so-called 4th industrial revolution for the discrete industries. with the slogan: "On the way to Industrie 4.0 – Driving the Digital Enterprise". In certain process industries many aspects of Industrie 4.0 have already been applied e.g. by the extensive use of DCS and MES systems. In other sectors e.g. with stable continuous processes the concept might be considered less applicable. In general the concept has not the same coverage in the process industry as it has in the discrete sectors, and Siemens' focus on digitalization could prove to be appropriate for ACHEMA. We are eager to discover if Siemens process industry solutions will have the breadth and depth to convince the critical and conservative public.