Digital Transformation in the Manufacturing Domain

During SPS IPC DRIVES Italia, in Parma, Camozzi Automation and Camozzi Digital presented a digital innovation concept applied to manufacturing 4.0. A production system was showcased, created in partnership with SAP and based entirely on the smart and interconnected components developed by Camozzi. The trade fair was a good opportunity to showcase the innovations included in their product portfolio too.

by Silvia Crespi

At SPS IPC Drives in Parma, Camozzi Automation presented new performing solutions with a multi-technological approach resulting from the combination of pneumatic, proportional pneumatic and electrical technologies. At the same time Camozzi Digital confirms its role as a System Integrator of the highest standing for application solutions regarding manufacture 4.0. Operating in synergy, the two companies in the Brescia-based group are capable of providing IoT solutions for the integration among hardware and software in the smart factory.

Hardware/software integration for the smart factory
At the trade show the Industrial IoT showcase, created in partnership with SAP, which as been an excellent partner for the Camozzi Group for the past twenty years, was outstanding. The group has always invested in the digitization of the internal industrial processes. After the adoption of SAP systems in 1988, in 2011 development activities were started, linked to the use of enabling technologies for the implementation of industrial cyber physical systems. The creation and distribution of high added value solutions, presented as from 2015 at the most important trade shows worldwide dedicated to the manufacturing domain, allowed the Camozzi group to share and pass on to clients the result of a digital process which characterized the last twenty years of its history. Specifically, the demo showcased in the Digital District envisages the installation of sensors on a bottling machine which communicate with SAP Cloud Platform so as to collect data in real time ensuring in the meantime the possibility of taking timely action, in case of faults, to prevent machine downtimes. In the showcase, SAP Leonardo services are also used; these allow to develop applications for the analysis and the creation of more evolved scenarios. The information gathered by the connected machines may also feed machine learning algorithms which allow to carry out predictive maintenance and increase the predictive quality, that is, help machines to become increasingly autonomous in creating high quality goods using what they learn by means of the incoming and outgoing information from the production process. Besides, combining the data thereby gathered with the transaction part of the IT systems, the company may act on the back end and improve operations. The cooperation among SAP and Camozzi is an example of a process of digital transformation linked to the emerging technologies which are changing the methods of production and business management, not just in the manufacturing industry. We went into further detail with Pietro Rusconi, Enterprise Architect at SAP Italia: “The demo of the bottling machine on show – he stated – is a typical example of integration among our activities. Our objective was to show how SAP Leonardo aims at the creation o a brand and a portfolio around which the potential of SAP’ innovation revolves. Innovation is not just seen in terms of 4.0 integration, but in terms of block chain, machine learning and, in general, of how much SAP’s experience may bring added value to manufacturing contexts such as this one. Particularly, this machine was developed using our foundation, that is, the collection of information deriving from Camozzi systems not just to populate an object, that is, the real-time behavior of the production line’s asset, but to go beyond. The use of this information and the application of the concepts of machine learning and predictive maintenance actually allows us to understand not just the machines’ current behavior, but also the future one, based on algorithms and predictive models. In other words, the demo shows how forecasting and what-if analyses may be used to foresee the evolution of production and the plant’s future behavior, based on the history of the functioning during the previous hours or days. We are trying to integrate this evolution within a model of IoT Industry 4.0 which goes beyond data collection, going as far as extracting the benefits of this collection. For this purpose SAP offers a series of libraries and functions which allow a rapid integration of predictive scenarios within their process”. Rusconi concluded by highlighting the advantages obtained by means of the partnership with Camozzi Group: “The advantage of the synergy with Camozzi is that the data we are provided with are already smart. It is not necessary for SAP to know the various devices in detail, since the information we obtain from Camozzi is already mediated and inserted in a protocol which we already know. Integration is therefore considerably simplified. Besides the software platform, SAP offers services to all those who wish to implement this type of logic. Such services accompany the client in an analysis of the situation, by means of a design thinking logic and of the possible implementation of our solutions within such scenarios.

Electromechanical actuation, the other focus of the presence at the fair
The product offer at the Camozzi Automation stand was focused on electromechanical actuation, a domain where a strong growth is foreseen during the next few years. In this respect, actuators driven by recirculating ball screw stand out, in the two additional 80 and 100 sizes conceived for installations where the forces required and the masses to be moved are very high. Within the same family, there are the 5V Series axes where, by means of specific mechanisms of return to Omega, it is possible to move only the axis while keeping carriage and engine steady. The range is completed by the stemmed electromechanical ISO15552 6E series cylinders, drives in two versions, DRWB and DRCS, and two lines of brushless engines, the MTB series, enriched with the 1kW size, and the MTS Stepper Series, now available in the NEMA 34 version. Within these categories, versions with IP65 protection class have also been presented: these are for use in critical environments, characterized by the presence of dust or strong water jets. Among innovations, the new RPA actuator, dedicated to the plastic molding sector, for the extraction of molded details. In the section dedicated to traditional pneumatics, the main product was the valve island range, enriched with the new Cabinet version, HC series island, which stands out for the great ease of installation on board the machine. Important innovations were also showcased regarding air treatment, with the introduction of the PR2 precision regulator, the natural evolution of PR104, which allows to reach a maximum flow of 2500Nl/min. Regarding proportional technology the main innovation concerned the range extension of proportional regulators which will broaden to include a new high flow proportional electronic regulator.