TPI March 2024

More productive processes Industry suppliers are also increasingly leveraging the potential of automation for their own processes. AS-Schneider, for instance, significantly boosts its productivity through a high degree of automation. Collaborative robots (cobots) are set to take over simple and repetitive activities in the assembly department: employees are freed up and lead times shortened. Cobots could be used for laser marking, tape winding of screw plugs, greasing of valve tops and drying after pressure testing. “Productivity increases could amount to between ten and 15 per cent,” explained a spokesperson for AS-Schneider. Valve and actuator industry components are absolutely essential for plant automation. Air Torque for instance experienced an increasing demand for actuators as an essential part of automation. Depending on the control medium, the company is noticing different trends emerging. “With electrically driven actuators, the integration of control, monitoring and maintenance functions has been state of “The bulk of the market (US$76bn) will then consist of the automation of process industries such as the chemical or oil & gas sectors, followed by production environments such as automotive or semiconductor manufacturing with US$32bn in volume,” explained the McKinsey report – software will increasingly be used to automate factories. The current challenges facing the valve industry are numerous. More than ever, competitive pressure, the energy crisis, supply chain risks, sustainability and the growing shortage of skilled workers call for effective solutions. But there is an effective way to make these hurdles more manageable with the help of automation. More and more companies are relying on automation and the automation of industrial production will continue to accelerate due to new technologies and vendors, according to analysis by McKinsey & Company. The market for industrial automation will therefore grow by almost four per cent annually to over US$115bn by 2025. Cloud and Industrial lnternet of Things (IIoT) solutions in particular are leading the way. Valve and actuator industry are essential for the future of plant automation By Messe Düsseldorf

the art for some time – take predictive maintenance for example,” reported a spokesperson for Air Torque. And in addition to the increasing digitisation and networking variance of valve actuators in pneumatic actuators, there is a clear development towards a modular attachment of logic and control elements. A game changer Bar pneumatische Steuerungssysteme sees a trend towards greater automation in gas applications, triggered by conversions to LNG, hydrogen plus methanol for fuel production and CO 2 capture in high-emission industries. According to bar, industries such as shipbuilding, storage and gas removal, the transport and distribution sector are also open to automation. The chemical industry, on the other hand, sees its competence rather in its own production performance and expects ready-made automation solutions adapted to process technology. Digitalisation is considered a game changer in automation. As the spokesperson for Bar stated, it provides important momentum. Depending on focus, the relevance of data can therefore be used for production measurement or predictive maintenance.

Thanks to a high degree of automation, AS-Schneider was able to render its manufacturing processes more productive. Simple and repetitive tasks during assembly could now be taken over by collaborative robots

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March 2024 TUBE PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL