Festo releases their Productivity Master to illustrate digital manufacturing
by CM Staff
By leveraging industry-standard networks, Festo can create a data stream from individual sensors to remote IO, servo drives, controllers and the cloud.
Festo’s Productivity Master shows how digital manufacturing can change the value experience for customers.
MISSISSAUGA — Festo’s Productivity Master shows how digital manufacturing can change the value experience for customers, making it feasible and more cost-effective to offer individualized products created by a fully automated process, from order placement to delivery. The Productivity Master purportedly connects all handling hardware and software to create a digitalized production line that can be monitored by anyone from anywhere.
“We enable customers to select and size their products online, add them to a shopping cart, view their pricing and delivery in real time, and track their products throughout the supply chain,” says Nigel Dawson, Head of Business Development Electric Automation at Festo.
The Productivity Master manages the balancing act between mass production and making a customized product. All components, axis mechanics and software are planned as a complete system. Since all parts fit together, the engineering time to develop such a system is shortened and process reliability enhanced. The first production line was designed in record time using Festo’s digital engineering tools, with digital twins included.
This initial Productivity Master layout, used for demonstration purposes, produces personalized USB memory sticks. It employs a cloud-based concept for registering and storing customer data, complying with data protection regulations. This allows the memory sticks to be completed with a personalized design and content.
By leveraging industry-standard networks such as EtherCAT, OPC-UA, IO Link and MQTT, Festo can create a data stream from individual sensors to remote IO, servo drives, controllers and the cloud. “This technology-neutral approach has a major impact on energy efficiency and sustainability,” adds Dawson.
Festo’s IoT gateway securely connects the machine to the cloud so operators can retrieve production and diagnostic data.
“It doesn’t matter if the product weighs a few grams or 100 kg – being a technology-neutral company, Festo has the product range to do this,” says Dawson.
