Degree of automation

In today's industrial landscape, automation and digitalisation are playing an increasingly important role. Worker assistance systems are a simple way to implement this trend and represent the first stage of possible automation within industrial production. They are devices or systems that support or guide the worker. They are designed to optimise the interactions of man and machine, increase efficiency and minimise errors. The areas of application of modern assistance systems are diverse and are adapted to your specific requirements.

Worker assistance systems consist of various key components:

• Sensors
• Data processing and analysis
• Communication interfaces
• Human-machine interfaces

Automation solutions are crucial for manufacturing sectors to increase their efficiency, quality and competitiveness in industrial production. A semi-automated system is a production system that combines human labour and automated technologies to optimise production processes. In contrast to fully automated systems, in which machines and robots work largely independently, semi-automated plants still require human intervention and supervision. Partially automated plants and systems enable adaptation to changing requirements, they manage complex tasks, but where human intelligence and flexibility are still required. Partial automation marks the first step towards more extensive process automation.

Partially automated plants are characterised by the following features:

• Human-robot collaboration (HRC)
• Flexibility
• Cost savings

The automation of production steps within an industrial manufacturing environment is a key issue in today's world of production. Single plant, as one of the main components of this automation process, plays a crucial role in increasing efficiency, quality and cost savings. Single equipment refers to specialised machines or systems that are used to automate a specific production step within a larger manufacturing process. This production step can be many and varied, from the assembly of components to quality inspection or the packaging of end products, a wide variety of processes can be automated.

Advantages of process automation using stand-alone equipment:

• Increased efficiency
• Improved quality
• Cost reduction
• Flexibility
• Occupational safety

Industrial production has made considerable progress in terms of efficiency and automation in recent decades. The highest level of process automation in this context is so-called "interlinked production". This innovative and forward-looking method of increasing productivity while reducing production costs has revolutionised manufacturing processes. Interlinked production, also referred to as "networked production" or "integrated production", is a comprehensive concept for the complete automation and optimisation of manufacturing processes in industry. This highly developed method takes into account all aspects of production, from material procurement and production to quality control and logistics, production steps are seamlessly linked.

Interlinked production is characterised by several key features:

• Real-time communication
• Automation
• Flexibility
• End-to-end transparency
• Data analysis and optimisation