PETpla.net Insider 11+12 / 2017

39 TRADE SHOW REVIEW PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 11+12 Compressed air control and Industry 4.0 At Drinktec 2017, compressor manufacturer Kaeser continued to focus on intelligent control, in response to the demands and needs of industry 4.0 applications. The German company, which is based in Coburg in Bavaria, has more than 100 representative branches or trade partners worldwide. It introduced its Sigma Air Manager 4.0 on a huge touch screen at the trade fair. The software, which is an integrated element within the compressed air system, takes over control tasks and manages safe transmission of process data from the system during operation and in real time, including “Sigma Smart Air”, its latest service, which is available as an option. This facili- tates the analysis of usage parameters via remote diagnostics; in response to the results, it sets up preventative, needs-based maintenance intervals, which will help to extend the machine’s life. Kaeser predicts a reduction in service costs of up to 30%, as well as reduced down time and increased reliability of supply. The system intelligently con- nects available components and sends all transmitted compressor data to the operator in numerical and graphic form. Energy con- sumption and exact cost details for individual processes can be produced, and required changes to system-specific functions can be carried out in real time. The energy report is produced by Air Manager 4.0 in accordance with ISO 50001. The system controls four compressors in the basic version; optional soft- ware upgrades can scale it up to manage up to 16 compressors. The interface, following the cur- rent trend to portray highly com- plex systems in easy to under- stand and transparent ways and make operating them easier, offers an easy-to-use reduced layout. The same interface can be accessed as an HTML site on end devices such as laptops, tablets or smartphones. www.kaeser.de