MDA AUG-SEP 2018 FINAL AUG-SEP 2018 DIGITAL | Page 32

Article New Requirements for Machine Safety in Industry 4.0 Industry 4.0 would be inconceivable without functional machine safety. But the digital transformation poses new challenges for experts in safety technology. They need to keep up with the rapid pace of technical developments, even in terms of standardisation. At the same time, safety technology needs to become an integral part of every system, not only to protect the employees from injuries, but also as a tool to increase production efficiency. Siegfried Rüttger The modular safety controllers from the PSC product range from Schmersal provide the option of individually configuring flexible protection systems based on software. O ne of the key objectives of Industry 4.0 is improved efficiency, which can be achieved through predictive maintenance, for example. This should also enable improved production planning, Siegfried Rüttger Project Manager for Industry4.0 at the Schmersal Group Wuppertal. [email protected] 32 | August-September 2018 | Global MDA Journal longer running times and increased machine availability. This requires the components used in the machines to be able to generate data and information. Based on the machine and production data read on an ongoing basis, predictions can be derived on the status of the system. As a rule, these are used to