MOTORS: Air or liquid cooling of motors: which one is best? LINEAR MOTION: How to optimise the costs of linear pro le rails SCIENTIFIC AND MEDICAL: Flower-inspired satellite relies on tiny motors Drives&Controls AUTOMATION FOR MANUFACTURING INSIDE 6KDSLQJ WKH IXWXUH ZLWK WHFKQRORJ\ MAY 2025 www.drivesncontrols.com
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50 CONTENTS n Drives & Controls is a controlled circulation publication. If you live in the UK and want to subscribe phone 0333 577 0801 or fax 0845 604 2327. Alternatively for both UK and overseas subscriptions please subscribe online at www.drivesncontrols.com. If you have any enquiries regarding your subscription, please use these numbers . The content of this magazine, website and newsletters do not necessarily express the views of the Editor or publishers. The publishers accept no legal responsibility for loss arising from information in this publication. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced or stored in a retrieval system without the written consent of the publishers. Paid subscriptions UK: £110 per annum Europe: £145 per annum Rest of World: £180 per annum Printing: Warners Midlands PLC., PE10 9PH ISSN 0950 5490 Copyright: DFA Media Group 2025 NEXT ISSUE The June issue of Drives & Controls will contain a look at what’s happening in the world of communications, networking and security, and reports on developments in mechanical power transmission and smart warehouses. UPDATE 12 Comment 13 ABB Back to Basics 44 Gambica Column 54 New Products 56 Design Data and Multimedia 57 Products & Services IN DEPTH Follow us on X @DrivesnControls Drives Magazine Web site www.drivesncontrols.com Follow us on LinkedIn @ Drives & Controls Join us on Facebook Drives & Controls Drives& Controls REGULARS DfAmedia group 38 28 26 24 5 54 DRIVES & CONTROLS MAY 2025 Vol 41 No 5 Editor Tony Sacks t: 01732 465367 e: tony@drives.co.uk Production Manager Sarah Blake t: 01233 770781 e: sarah.blake@dfamedia.co.uk Marketing Manager Hope Jepson t: 01732 370340 e: hope.jepson@dfamedia.co.uk Financial Finance Department t: 01732 370340 e: accounts@dfamedia.co.uk ADVERTISING Sales Director and DFA Direct Damien Oxlee t: 01732 370342 m: 07951 103754 e: damien.oxlee@dfamedia.co.uk Sales Manager Sara Gordon t: 01732 370341 m: 07505867211 e: sara.gordon@dfamedia.co.uk Italy Oliver & Diego Casiraghi e: info@casiraghi.info t: +39 031 261407 f: +39 031 261380 Managing Director Ryan Fuller t: 01732 370344 e: ryan.fuller@dfamedia.co.uk Reader/Circulation Enquiries Perception-MPS Ltd t: 01825 701520 e: cs@perception-sas.com HEAD OFFICE DFA Media Group 192 High Street, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1BE t: 01732 370340 f: 01732 360034 e: info@dfamedia.co.uk www.drivesncontrols.com 5 News A round-up of the latest business and industry developments from around the world. 16 Technology Cutting-edge innovations in motion, power transmission, controls and related technologies. 24 Machine-building The EU’s AI Act, published last year, could have significant implications for machine-builders. A compliance specialist outlines the background to the Act and examines how it will affect machine-builders. 26 Industrial Safety There are a variety of technologies available to help ensure safety on factory floors. An expert explains some of the key options on offer. 27 Motors A new facility in Sheffield for testing high-speed rotors is intended to put the UK at the forefront of designing and building high-performance machines. Plus we examine the pros and cons of liquid versus air colling for motors, and look at how to optimise the thermal performance of flat DC motors. 36 Linear Motion When a car parts manufacturer was experiencing frequent failures on a conveyor line, it looked for an alternative. It opted for a linear transfer system which has resulted in a 10% increase in output, as well as eliminating the shutdowns. Plus, how to optimise the costs of profile rails. 40 Scientific and Medical A UK-developed thermal imaging telescope due to be launched next year will open up new ways to combat global warming and increase building efficiencies. A motor-driven unfolding mirror will reduce its size and boost its commercial viability for a variety of applications. 46 Smart Manufacturing Week June will see the industrial world converge at the Birmingham NEC, as Smart Manufacturing Week 2025, including the Drives & Controls exhibition, will explore the latest developments in drives and technology, IIoT, maintenance, AI and digital transformation. 42 Average net circulation January to December 2023 44 46 Subscribe for your FREE copy now 18,942 16
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NEWS n 5 Siemens and Accenture create 7,000-strong group to ‘re-invent’ manufacturing SIEMENS AND ACCENTURE are forming a jointly-run business group that will employ 7,000 people helping industrial customers to develop software-defined products and factories, thus “re-inventing” engineering and manufacturing. The Accenture Siemens Business Group, which builds on a longstanding relationship between the partners, will codevelop and jointly market systems that combine automation, industrial AI and software from the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio, with Accenture’s data and AI capabilities. The new group will work with clients in industries such as machinery, aerospace, defence, automotive, consumer goods, electronics and transportation. It plans to introduce engineering services that will reinvent engineering and R&D models. It will also help www.drivesncontrols.com May 2025 clients to create global engineering centres, and to develop softwaredefined products. It will optimise their use of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and speed the adoption of Accenture’s and Siemens’ software-defined vehicle (SDV) framework for car-makers. New manufacturing services will support clients in implementing, harmonising and migrating manufacturing execution systems to track and control manufacturing in realtime. By applying IT principles, the group will advance clients’ AI-powered shopoor operations and automation. It will also help clients to mitigate and prevent cyberthreats to operational technology (OT) and critical engineering and manufacturing systems with a security platform and services including Accenture’s Managed Extended Detection and Response platform. Announcing the venture at the Hannover Messe, Roland Busch, Siemens’ president and CEO, predicted that the new venture will help customers to shorten cycle times and cut costs: “By strengthening our partnership, we combine the unique capabilities of two market-leaders – Siemens’ technology, access to data and deep domain knowledge in software, automation and industrial AI, with Accenture’s power to apply data and AI in engineering and manufacturing. With the new business group, we will empower customers in all industries to supercharge their entire value chain by embedding AI at the core of their businesses.” “Engineering and manufacturing are the next digital frontier,” added Accenture’s chair and CEO, Julie Sweet. “The Accenture Siemens Business Group scales the power of automation, data and AI to help clients re-invent their products and how they make them. Together with our long-standing partner Siemens, we will increase speed and eciency, reduce cost and strengthen the digital core, which is essential for continuous reinvention and the creation of new value.” Siemens CEO, Roland Busch: shortening cycle times and cutting costs ‘With the new business group, we will empower customers in all industries to supercharge their entire value chain’ SEW-EURODRIVE HAS FORMED a strategic partnership with Schaeffler to expand their digital services. They expect maintenance teams to benefit. The two companies see the tie-up as a digital extension of the close integration that already exists in the mechanical design of SEW-Eurodrive products such as motors that use Schaeffler bearings. For example, SEW-Eurodrive will use Schaeffler's Optime wireless condition monitoring system to provide information on the health of machines and bearings. Data will be collected via wireless vibration sensors and transmitted to a gateway via a mesh network. This information is then sent to the Optime cloud, where it is analysed and converted into values and alarms. The data can be used by SEW’s DriveRadar APPredict platform to provide data on temperatures, oil condition, and other key parameters. Users will be given recommendations for action and alarms, based on Schaeffler's expertise in rolling bearings and machine dynamics, combined with SEW’s experience of drive technologies. “The integration of our Optime solutions into the DriveRadar APPredict solution from SEW-Eurodrive significantly expands the possibilities of predictive maintenance,” explains Schaeffler’s Head of Predictive Maintenance Industrial Lifetime Solutions, Dr Philipp Jussen. “Combining our shared digital skills with SEW-Eurodrive’s service expertise gives customers more precise and comprehensive information that helps prevent unplanned downtimes.” “Schaeffler is the ideal partner for us, as we operate in the same industry and complement each other perfectly,” adds Tobias Nittel, head of SEW-Eurodrive’s Corporate Solution Centre for Electronics. “This collaboration allows us to provide innovative digital solutions that optimise production processes and increase maintenance efficiency.” SEW-Eurodrive partners with Schaeffler to expand digital services
n NEWS May 2025 www.drivesncontrols.com 6 GLOBAL SALES BY the German automation supplier Beckho slumped by 33% in 2024, dropping from €1.75bn in 2023 to €1.17bn. This was a sharp change in fortune for a company that has usually achieved doubledigit annual increases in sales, and expanded at an average annual rate of 15% between 2000 and 2023. The company’s founder and owner, Hans Beckho , says that he had expected the dramatic drop-o in sales in 2024 because many customers had over-ordered during 2023 and “their warehouses were full”. He reports that incoming orders are now showing signs of recovery and expects the 2025 sales gures to be much better. “We have gone through the valley and are now moving upwards again,” he said at the Hannover Messe. “This is my sixth crisis in 45 years of business and almost all of them have followed a very similar pattern,” Beckho explained. “You can be sure that there will be a recovery, but you have to tackle the crisis head-on and see it as an opportunity for innovation and optimisation.” During 2024, there was a small decrease in Beckho ’s global workforce to 5,300 – including around 2,000 engineers. Despite the downturn, the company invested €80m in research and development last year – a similar amount to recent years. “We are intent on further expanding our position as a global automation technology company,” says Beckho . “We remain dedicated to our mission of evolving our portfolio with strong developments every year and introducing revolutionary new technology every ve to seven years.” At Hannover, Beckho unveiled several new and enhanced product lines, including: n a new generation of TwinCat PLCs with built-in chatbot functions (see page 20); n new multi-touch panel PCs with improved user-friendliness; n a new system to measure and analyse energy consumption; n an expanded portfolio of EtherCat Box modules for integrating intrinsically safe signals; n a machine vision camera connector that integrates up to 64 cameras directly into the TwinCat architecture; n an updated version of the TwinCAT 3 Motion Designer drives software with more functions and device options; and n a series of “vision unit illuminated” (VUI) compact cameras that incorporate illumination and focusable optics, simplifying installation and commissioning. Beckhoff’s revenues plummet by 33%, but are expected to rebound pWEG is expanding its capacity to produce LV motors in Italy. It is investing around €4m, most of this going on a new 6,600m² factory due to start operations in the rst half of 2026. The Milan plant will be around 22km from the WEG’s existing LV motor factory that it acquired when it bought the Cemp brand from Regal Rexnord in 2024. WEG operates two factories as well as a commercial branch in Italy, employing around 320 people. pEquipmake, the Norfolk-based developer of motors and drivetrains, has secured a £5m investment from Caterpillar Venture Capital and signed an agreement to develop drivetrain systems for Caterpillar. The investment ends plans for a possible sell-o. Equipmake has also won a £650,000 order from Sweden’s CorPower Ocean to develop a generator and silicon carbide inverter system for its wave energy technology. pKempston Controls has signed an agreement with Mitsubishi Electric to distribute automation products including VSDs, motion controls, PLCs, HMIs and robots. Kempston will also invest in training, technical and service support, and stock. It plans to target new markets including pharmaceuticals and food & beverage. Kempston employs 300 people and has distribution sites in Northamptonshire and Hudderseld, as well as manufacturing sites in Manchester and Holyhead. pABB Motion is taking a minority stake in a US-based AI start-up, UptimeAI, with the aim of transforming how customers manage the health and performance of motors, drives and related assets. The partners plan to combine machine learning (ML) and expert systems to provide insights into the health and performance of rotating equipment, thus improving failure prediction and health forecasting, and optimising maintenance. pDavenham Switchgear, the Irish LV switchgear manufacturer, is setting up a production site in Nottingham to target the large-scale datacentre market. The 9,290m2 facility is the Dublin company’s rst site in the UK. It is due to become operational later this year, will employ more than 100 people. Davenham, which has annual revenues of around €120m, was acquired last year by the French group, Legrand. The company has been operating for around 40 years in Ireland, where it employs around 350. pMclennan has formed a partnership agreement with US-based Lin Engineering, a subsidiary of the Moons’ group of motion control manufacturers. Lin’s range includes rotary stepper motors, linear actuators, brushless DC motors, micro DC motors and frameless torque motors, as well as paired gears and AGV/AMR drive wheels. NEWS BRIEFS NIDEC DRIVES HAS appointed Laurent Babaud as president. He has more than three decades of experience in motors and drives at Nidec, including leading European sales for Leroy-Somer and Control Techniques, serving as president of SSB Wind Systems and, most recently, leading Nidec Conversion’s global marketing, sales and European operations. Babaud follows Miles Ackerman who was appointed interim president of Welshheadquartered Nidec Drives last year, succeeding Anthony Pickering, who was promoted to president of Nidec’s Motion Platform. Nidec Drives was formed last year by the merger of Control Techniques and KB Electronics. “The appointment of Laurent is an exciting development for Nidec Drives,”says Pickering. “With his knowledge of the drives industry and his leadership skills honed within the Nidec Group, I am convinced that he has the passion, enthusiasm and tenacity required to lead the Nidec Drives business forward, driving new phases of strategic growth and long-term development. Babaud says he is “honoured to step into the role of president at Nidec Drives... I am ready to start writing the next chapter.” Hans Beckhoff: We have gone through the valley Nidec Drives appoints Babaud as president
NEWS n WEG has appointed Gustavo da Silva as its UK managing director, succeeding Patrick O’Neill, who is retiring after 28 years with the company. Da Silva, a mechanical engineer, began his career as a trainee at WEG’s headquarters in Brazil more than 20 years ago. He previously served as sales manager for High Voltage Solutions (HVS) in Europe and the Middle East. Jane Robinson has been appointed vice-president for business development at IntelliAM, the Yorkshire software company that specialises in AI for manufacturing. Ian Wild has been appointed as VP of product and Owain Lewis has been appointed as VP of data engineering. IntelliAM, founded in 2023, counts six of the world’s top 12 food and drink producers among its customers. ABB ANNOUNCED PLANS to spin o its robotics division as a separate company that is due to start trading during the second quarter of 2026. ABB Robotics has around 7,000 employees. Its 2024 revenues of $2.3bn represented about 7% of ABB’s group revenues and it had an operational EBITA margin of 12.1%. It has delivered double-digit margins in most quarters since 2019. “ABB Robotics is a leader in its industry and there are limited business and technology synergies between the ABB Robotics business and the remainder of ABB divisions, with di erent demand and market characteristics,” explains ABB CEO, Morten Wierod. “We believe this change will support value creation in both the ABB Group and in the separately listed pure-play robotics business.” ABB’s board will propose the 100% spin-o of the robotics division to its AGM in 2026. If shareholders vote in favour, the spin-o will be done through a share distribution, with ABB shareholders receiving shares in the company to be listed as a dividend in-kind in proportion to their existing shareholding. “The board believes listing ABB Robotics as a separate company will optimise both companies’ ability to create customer value, grow and attract talent,” says ABB chairman, Peter Voser. “Both companies will benet from a more focused governance and capital allocation. ABB will continue to focus on its long-term strategy, building on its leading positions in electrication and automation.” From the rst quarter of 2026, the ABB’s Machine Automation division, which together with ABB Robotics currently forms ABB’s Robotics & Discrete Automation business, will become a part of the Process Automation business. The Machine Automation business holds a leading position in the high-end segment for systems based on PLCs, industrial PCs, servo motion, industrial transport systems, vision and software. ABB Robotics has manufacturing hubs in Europe (Sweden), Asia (China) and the US. Its portfolio includes industrial robots, collaborative robots and AMRs (autonomous mobile robots). More than 80% of the o ering is software/AI enabled. ABB plans to spin off its robot division because of ‘limited synergies’ ABB Robotics has a strong presence in automotive manufacturing 9 www.drivesncontrols.com May 2025 EVENTSSensor+Test 2025 Nuremberg, Germany 6–8 May, 2025 The show describes itself as “the leading international trade fair for sensor, measuring and testing technology”. Its organisers say it is “in demand like never before because we oer exhibitors a platform where they are not only seen, but also appreciated.” In 2024, 383 companies from 29 countries took part. There will be areas focusing on condition monitoring and calibration. www.sensor-test.de/en AutomationUK 2025 CBS Arena, Coventry 7–8 May, 2025 The automation, robotics and vision show is organised by Automate UK, formerly the PPMA Group of Associations, which encompasses Bara and Ukiva. The two-day event incorporates the previously separate Vision UK show, raising the prole of the machine vision and automation sectors in an integrated event. Jake Hall, “the manufacturing millennial”, will make a keynote presentation in his rst UK speaking engagement. www.automation-uk.co.uk CWIEME Berlin 2025 Berlin, Germany 3-5 June, 2025 The exhibition for the coil winding, electric motor, transformer and generator industries, returns to its Berlin venue and is expected to attract more than 550 exhibitors and around 6,500 visitors. Last year’s Start-Up Zone brought together ¤edgling companies and their latest technologies. This year’s Innovation Zone will expand on this and provide a platform for cuttingedge technologies, including AI and machine learning, predictive maintenance and monitoring, IoTenabled tools, smart sensors and data analytics. https://berlin.cwiemeevents.com/home Smart Manufacturing Week 4–5 June, 2025 NEC, Birmingham More than 450 exhibitors and 13,500 visitors are expected at the two-day event that includes the Drives & Controls show, Smart Factory Expo, Maintec, the Air-Tech exhibition, Fluid Power & Systems and the Design+Engineering Expo. Running concurrently are the Manufacturing Digitalisation Summit, the Industrial Data and AI Summit, and the Automation & Robotics Accelerator Symposium. www.smartmanufacturingweek.com 2025 OT Cybersecurity Summit 17-19 June, 2025 Brussels, Belgium This event, organised by ISA, will focus on strategic OT (operational technology) cybersecurity based on the ISA/IEC 63443 standards. It will include various technical tracks, training courses as well as a cyberescape room. https://otcs.isa.org
n NEWS May 2025 www.drivesncontrols.com 10 THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT and industry must agree to boost investment in training and upskilling of both existing and future workers if the UK is escape its economic and productivity crisis, says an independent panel of experts that has been analysing the situation for ve months. The Industrial Strategy Skills Commission, set up last November by Make UK, has brought together businesses, educators and policy-makers to create a blueprint on how to train new and existing talent for British industry. Their conclusions have been published in a report aimed at solving the UK’s economic and productivity crisis by delivering a highly skilled workforce, trained in the latest technologies. UK manufacturing, the report argues, is in crisis, experiencing a dramatic demand for upskilling at the same time as the pipeline for workers and teachers is declining. Companies, it suggests, face a bleak landscape – an ageing workforce with early retirement on the rise, coinciding with a dramatic drop in apprenticeship starts – which have plummeted by 42% since the apprenticeship levy was introduced nearly eight years ago. The answer, the Commission believes, is for government and industry to agree a “Skills Covenant” that would include short-term measures such as creating £1.4bn of ringfenced skills funding. This would be raised by combining £800m from unspent employer contributions to the Growth and Skills Levy (currently being spent elsewhere by the Treasury) with revenues from the Immigration skills Charge – more than £650m last year – and spending it on providing skills as was intended when the charge was introduced. This combined total of £1.4bn could fund 40,000 new engineers, going a long way to lling the 55,000 skills gap in the sector, which is currently costing the UK economy an estimated £6bn every year. In turn, says the Commission, manufacturers will boost training through a workforce exchange, in which they will second sta to education providers. The sector will also develop an electronic work skills “passport”, which will move with employees as they change roles, and will keep a record of all of the qualications they gather during their careers. The 33-page report points out that a “dramatic” decline in the number of education providers oering high-value courses is exerting extra pressure. Many of these courses have become nancially unsustainable. Make UK believes that urgent legislation is needed to revise funding bands from the current £27,000 to £35,000. This would reect the real cost of delivering courses in engineering and skilled technical manufacturing. Rules should also be amended, the organisation suggests, to allow training providers to draw on levy funds for capital investment in machinery and equipment, making it easier to set up capital-intensive subjects such as engineering. The lack of training availability is also hampering the urgent need for upskilling across the sector. Make UK research shows that more than half of manufacturers intend spending more on upskilling and retraining their employees in the coming ve years – essential to growth and making inroads in the 55,000 skills gap in manufacturing. To boost essential retraining, it argues that employers should have access to a tax rebate for investment in accredited skills training in key sectors and occupations identied by the Industrial Strategy Skills Council. “Modern manufacturing and engineering are major drivers of the innovation needed to capitalise on the AI revolution and deliver on the Government’s growth agenda across new green skills technologies and opportunities,” says Robert Halfon, co-chair of the Industrial Strategy Skills Commission. “Yet all of this is at risk if we do not urgently ensure our skills system is properly t for the 21st century. “It is critical that we remove the barriers for Britain’s innovative companies from oering skills and apprenticeships, so that the new Growth and Skills Levy provides enough quality apprenticeship opportunities that lead to progression and good employment outcomes,” he adds. “That is why nancial incentives through a skills tax rebate, cutting bureaucracy and ringfenced skills funding will make a huge dierence. The skills covenant will put skills and apprenticeships rst and foremost in the minds of government and business.” £1.4bn of existing money could be used to train 40,000 new engineers ROCKWELL AUTOMATION has announced that it is working with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to help accelerate the digital transformation of manufacturing. They say that combining Rockwell's automation technologies and industry expertise with AWS's cloud capabilities will help manufacturers to drive their digital progress more effectively. “Manufacturers need flexible, scalable, and secure solutions to navigate today’s industrial challenges,” says Nicole Denil, Rockwell’s vice-president of global market access. “By collaborating with AWS, we are unlocking new opportunities for AI-driven insights, edge-to-cloud connectivity, and industrial automation advancements. This allows us to meet customers where they are and enable them to run on their cloud platform of choice.” As part of the relationship, Rockwell is expanding its FactoryTalk Hub softwareas-a-service, making its DataMosaix industrial DataOps software and Fiix computerised maintenance management system (CMMS) available via AWS’s Marketplace. More FactoryTalk Hub components will be added later this year. “Our collaboration with Rockwell Automation combines AWS’s cloud computing leadership with Rockwell's industrial automation expertise to deliver more comprehensive and powerful solutions,” says Ozgur Tohumcu, AWS’s general manager of automotive and manufacturing. “Together, we’re empowering manufacturers to make faster decisions and optimise operations, by transforming operational data into actionable insights . “We're not just deploying technology – we're creating a pathway for industrial enterprises to become more agile, efficient, and competitive in today's rapidly evolving industry." Commission co-chair Robert Halfon: it’s critical to remove barriers Rockwell works with AWS to transform manufacturing
NEWS n OMRON HAS FORMED a strategic partnership with the manufacturing IT giant Cognizant to integrate OT (operational technology) and IT for manufacturing customers worldwide. They plan to combine combines Omron’s portfolio of more than 200,000 OT products – including controls, servomotors, sensors, safety equipment and robots – with Cognizant's IT capabilities, including cloud, AI, IoT, and digital twin technologies. They believe that this combination will deliver “a unique, one-stop solution for digital transformation”. Together, the companies plan to oer consultancy, on-site implementation, operation and maintenance services. They are targeting sectors include industrial manufacturing, automotive, semiconductors, electronics, life sciences and consumer goods. Products from Omron’s Industrial Automation Business (IAB) will gather eld data for Cognizant's Asset Performance Excellence (APEx) platform and its OnePlant Industry 4.0/5.0 maturity assessment tool. This data, combined with management information, will help to analyse manufacturing IT issues and prioritise improvements. Announcing the tie-up recently in Germany, Omron Corporation’s president CEO, Junta Tsujinaga, predicted that the combined business could be worth 50 billion yen ($345m) within ve years. He also believes that Cognizant’s strength in Europe will help Omron to expand in the region. Omron currently employs around 2,000 people in 28 European countries. Tsujinaga identied several issues that he believes are holding back the integration of OT and IT, with the result that Industry 4.0 has not achieved its full potential yet. These challenges include the “walls”between manufacturing and IT that hinder collaboration between these two worlds, problems with digitalising old machinery, and incompatible data formats used by dierent machines. He said that Cognizant’s strengths in areas such as consulting, manufacturingfocused IT, and using AI for management, complement Omron’s strengths in collecting and delivering data from shopoor devices. Together, they hope to oer a platform “that controls everything” and frees OT from existing bottlenecks. This “virtual control platform” (VCP), operating on the edge, will integrate multiple industrial PCs on industrial sites and link Omron’s shopoor technologies to Cognizant IT systems. It will deliver precision synchronisation and “real-time orchestration” of shopoor activities. “Omron is the only manufacturer of control equipment in the world that owns all the equipment used in the production line,”Tsujinaga pointed out. “Cognizant, on the other hand, is one of the world's leading global IT services companies supporting the digital transformation of a wide range of industries with advanced digital technologies such as AI, IoT, and cloud. “Through this partnership, we will promote the integration of IT and OT to solve urgent issues faced by manufacturing sites, such as signicantly improving productivity, reducing operational losses, and speeding up management decisions.” Cognizant CEO, Ravi Kumar S, says that the partnership wants to re-invent manufacturing. He adds that “clients are looking for a strategic partner with deep industry and domain expertise, end-to-end capabilities and the ability to manage complex technologies at various layers of digital factory. “Omron’s expertise in OT data and systems, combined with Cognizant’s digital manufacturing and IT/OT integration capabilities, will enable manufacturers to make quicker, more reliable decisions using real-time data,” Kumar predicted. Omron, founded in 1933, currently employs around 28,000 people worldwide and had sales worth ¥819bn (€5bn) in the year ended March 2024. Automation accounts for almost half (48%) of its revenues. Cognizant employs around 336,800 people worldwide, helping customers to become data-enabled and data-driven. Its headquarters are in the US and it generated global revenues worth $19.7bn in the last nancial year. www.omron.com/jp/ja www.cognizant.com Omron and Cognizant ‘revolutionise’ manufacturing with $345m tie-up Partners: Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S with Omron’s president and CEO, Junta Tsujinaga
DOWNTIME: A MASSIVE BURDEN THAT WE NEED TO CONFRONT Manufacturers in the UK and Europe will lose more than £80bn in 2025 as a result of unplanned downtime, according to new research by the IT consultancy, IDS-Indata. It estimates that the automotive sector alone could lose more than £12bn. The study places the blame on a combination of factors, including ageing machinery, increasing cyber-threats, regulatory and compliance bottlenecks, labour shortages and skills gaps, and outdated OT (operational technology). There are wide variations in the severity of shutdowns between di erent sectors of industry – and what they cost each sector. For example, the food processing companies typically experience multiple minor stoppages, each lasting 1-3 hours, and totalling an average of around 442 hours every year. The hourly cost of this downtime is a relatively modest £18,000-25,000, but the total annual bill in the UK is estimated to be £4-5bn. The automotive sector, by contrast, typically experiences 20-25 incidents every month, each lasting around 3-4 hours, and costing £1.6-2m per hour of downtime. Across Europe and the UK, the total annual bill amounts to £1012m, according to IDS-Indata. The packaging industry experiences lots of short disruptions, typically lasting 30 minutes to a couple of hours and costing £10,000-30,000 per hour. In the UK alone, the total annual bill comes to £3-5bn. So what can be done to reduce the interruptions and cut these costs? This is one area where AI could deliver real, tangible benets. Siemens and ABB have both recently launched generative AI tools that they claim will reduce downtime (see pages 16 and 21). Siemens says that its Industrial Copilot tool will cut maintenance times by an average of 25%, while ABB asserts that its tool will help to resolve most technical support issues “within minutes”,. Predictive maintenance is far preferable to reactive maintenance. Knowing when machinery is likely to fail, and planning maintenance at convenient times to tackle issues before they become catastrophic, is much better than having to cope with unplanned shutdowns. This, in turn, means that we need e ective real-time monitoring and data analytics. There has been considerable progress in both of these areas in recent years. Returning to the IDS-Indata study, the company’s chief information security ocer, Ryan Cooke, points out that the gures “highlight the critical need for manufacturers to invest in predictive maintenance and digital resilience. “Downtime is not just an inconvenience,” he says. ”It’s a multi-billion pound problem impacting supply chains, production eciency and protability.” And it is a problem that we cannot a ord to ignore. Tony Sacks, Editor n COMMENT Follow us on LinkedIn @Drives & Controls Follow us X Drives&Controls & rives Join us Facebo Drives & C on X @Drivesn Forthe D on ok Controls Controls latest news visit Controls the Driv www.driv ves & Controls we vesncontrols.com
Drives&Controls & BACK TO BASICS n SPONSORED BY We could be using water to generate heat and power Using drives to improve the e ciency of water industry processes is an important step on the path to net-zero. However, it is only a single step in a wider journey. ABB’s Martin Richardson explores whether there are other ways we could be harnessing water’s energy. Improving energy e ciency is a major strand of the water industry’s ambitious plans for decarbonisation by 2030. However, e ciency alone will not deliver the transformative changes required to achieve net-zero within the required timeframes. Flowing water is already harnessed as a renewable energy source in the form of hydroelectric power, but building hydro capacity at scale often requires complex engineering and substantial investments. It can also take decades for these projects to be completed, and we simply don’t have that kind of time before 2030. E ciency is important of course, but water also has a vast potential for additional energy generation, both in terms of heat and ow. There are locations all over the country where gravity is already moving water, and there are almost certainly more places where we could add turbines to harvest energy from water that is already owing. The UK’s rivers also store huge amounts of heat, relatively speaking. Of course, one has to be careful about the environmental impact of extracting large amounts of heat from waterways, but with advances in heat pumps, the potential and the technologies are available to take advantage of a resource that’s already accessible. Water from disused mines is often warmer than surface water and, with the right set-up, this heat could be extracted and fed into a district heating system, as could heat extracted from wastewater treatment processes. The world’s largest CO2-based seawater heat pump recently came online in the Danish city of Esbjerg. This facility uses renewable energy from wind farms to extract heat from the North Sea, and could supply around 280GWh of district heating annually, covering the heating needs of about 25,000 homes. This was obviously a large and complex project requiring buy-in from numerous stakeholders, but my point is: if other countries are making these things happen, then why can’t we, even at smaller scales? If we’re serious about sustainability, then we need to take bold action, and we have to explore all possibilities to reduce carbon emissions and energy usage. Using drives to save energy is an important part of the wider journey, but there’s more we could be doing to harness water’s energy generation potential. ABB will be exhibiting at the Water Equipment Show on 15 May, 2025, at Telford International Centre. Short Lead Time Full Factory Support ory Supp Great Style, Price & Function , Price & Function Front Sheet Customisation Available sales@lamonde.com | www.lamonde.com +44 (0)20 3026 2670 vice pert Ad Quality Products: Ex re & Support Arm Systems HMI Enclosure port Arm Lamonde Automation Limited
Pioneering Safety for Modern Automation As industrial automation evolves, so do the demands on machine safety systems. In an environment where uptime, e ciency, and compliance must align, safety solutions can no longer be seen as add-ons. They must be intelligent, fully integrated, and network-ready. That’s where EUCHNER’s MGB2 Modular guard locking system sets the standard. With the latest addition of EtherNet/IP with CIP Safety connectivity, the MGB2 now supports all major eldbus protocols, including PROFINET/PROFIsafe and EtherCAT (P)/FSoE, making it one of the most adaptable and future-ready safety solutions available. Modular Design. Scalable Safety. The MGB2 isn’t a one-size-ts-all solution. Its strength lies in its modularity, built around a rugged locking module, congurable control submodules, and the MBM bus module for seamless integration into your networked control architecture. Each locking module can be populated with submodules oering a range of functions: pushbuttons, selector switches, emergency stop devices, LED indicators, and the CKS2 RFIDcoded key submodule for secure access. This exible design makes the MGB2 suitable for everything from compact single-door stations to complex, multi-door safety networks. Installation remains quick and intuitive thanks to standardised interfaces and plug-in components, helping integrators reduce engineering time and ensure consistency across applications. Now Supporting EtherNet/IP with CIP Safety The introduction of CIP Safety over EtherNet/IP enables deeper integration into a wide range of industrial environments. It ensures compatibility with leading automation platforms and brings robust, certied safety communication into the MGB2 ecosystem. The MBM bus module serves as the intelligence centre of the system, aggregating inputs from connected submodules and transferring it securely over EtherNet/IP. This ensures safe, real-time communication and enables secure access to safeguarded areas, even during high- risk or complex operations. By embedding SMART Ethernet-based safety protocols into its design, the MGB2 helps users reduce wiring complexity, simplify diagnostics, and meet the most current industrial safety communication standards. Real-Time Diagnostics and System Transparency A standout feature of the MGB2 is its advanced diagnostic capability. All system data, such as lock status, submodule input, or fault signals, is available directly via the network or through the EUCHNER expands the MGB2 Modular platform to support all major eldbus protocols The Ultimate in Guard Locking – Now with CIP Safety on EtherNet/IP COVER STORY ZZZ HXFKQHU FR XN VDOHV#HXFKQHU FR XN 6PDUW 6DIHW\ IRU ,QWUDORJLVWLFV 3URWHFW SHRSOH UHGXFH GRZQWLPH DQG VLPSOLI\ DFFHVV ZLWK 5),' DFFHVV VPDUW LQWHUORFNV VDIHW\ QHWZRUNV OLJKW FXUWDLQV DQG PRUH 6FDODEOH VDIHW\ EXLOW IRU IDVW PRYLQJ HQYLURQPHQWV
device’s built-in web server. This level of transparency enables faster troubleshooting, better predictive maintenance, and reduced downtime. Operators and engineers gain a clear, real-time view of safety system status across their operation, making the MGB2 not just a safety solution, but a productivity tool. CKS2 – Secure Access for Safer Interventions The CKS2 RFID-coded key system enhances the MGB2 by adding intelligent, user-specic access control. Integrated as a submodule, it plays a vital role in managing short-duration interventions such as cleaning, inspection, removal of blockages or jams, and minor maintenance. The CKS2 supports lockout/tagout, operator authorisation, and key transfer, making it a multi-role safety device. It ensures that only authorised personnel can access hazardous areas, and that machinery remains in a safe state throughout the intervention, boosting both safety and traceability without compromising operational ow. Engineered for Compliance and Beyond The MGB2 and CKS2 are designed not just to meet current safety regulations, but to anticipate future ones. The platform meets Performance Level e (PL e) and SIL 3 requirements in accordance with BS EN ISO 13849-1 and BS EN IEC 62061, providing peace of mind for even the most demanding applications. EUCHNER’s robust engineering and use of industrial-grade materials ensure a long service life with minimal maintenance. This durability reduces total cost of ownership and supports uninterrupted safety compliance over the long term. Simpli ed Integration Across Systems Thanks to its now universal eldbus compatibility, the MGB2 Modular integrates seamlessly across mixed automation landscapes. Whether you're standardising on a single protocol or managing legacy and modern systems in parallel, the MGB2 connects without compromise. By unifying safety communication, diagnostics, and access control into one platform, it simplies engineering, speeds up commissioning, and helps minimise system complexity. It's one solution, purpose-built for many challenges. The EUCHNER Edge At the core of EUCHNER’s approach is a commitment to innovation, reliability, and realworld performance. The MGB2 Modular with CIP Safety isn’t just a locking device, it’s a complete, networked safety and access control system that evolves with your operation. Whether it’s a small machine cell or a largescale manufacturing line, EUCHNER equips engineers with the tools to build systems that are safer, smarter, and more connected. With decades of experience in functional safety, EUCHNER remains a trusted partner across industries and continents. Step Into the Future of Industrial Safety The enhanced MGB2 Modular range represents a new era in machine safety, one where intelligent guard locking and access control are integrated seamlessly into your automation strategy. It oers not only compliance, but control, insight, and long-term value. If your operation demands exibility, integration, and performance in a single safety platform, it’s time to make the move to EUCHNER. Want to learn more? Email: sales@euchner.co.uk or call the Safety Technology Centre on +44 (0)114 256 0123. EUCHNER. Safety engineered. Performance delivered. 6FDQ WKH 45 FRGH WR YLHZ RXU SURGXFWV DQG VHUYLFHV RQ RXU ZHEVLWH
n TECHNOLOGY May 2025 www.drivesncontrols.com 16 SIEMENS HAS ANNOUNCED a version of its Industrial Copilot generative AI-based assistant that supports every stage of the maintenance cycle, from repair and prevention, to prediction and optimisation. It says that the development will redene industrial maintenance strategies by helping users to move beyond traditional maintenance practices toward an intelligent, data-driven approach. Initial pilot applications have shown that the Industrial Copilot for Maintenance can cut reactive maintenance times by an average of 25%. The maintenance tool is one of a suite of Industrial Copilots that Siemens is developing for users in discrete and process manufacturing. It extends the company’s existing Senseye Predictive Maintenance technology with two new packages that oer generative AI-driven insights to enhance decision-making and eciency: n An Entry package that provides a cost-eective introduction to predictive maintenance, combining AI-powered repair guidance with basic predictive capabilities. It is designed to help businesses to transition from reactive to condition-based maintenance, oering limited connectivity for sensor data collection and real-time condition monitoring. With AI-assisted troubleshooting and minimal infrastructure requirements, companies can cut downtime, improve maintenance eciency, and lay the foundations for full predictive maintenance. n A Scale package, designed for enterprises wanting to transform their maintenance strategies. It integrates Senseye Predictive Maintenance with full Maintenance Copilot functions. It allows customers to predict failures before they happen, improve uptime, and cut costs with AI-driven insights. It oers enterprise-wide scalability, automated diagnostics, and sustainable business outcomes. The package will help companies to move beyond traditional maintenance practices, optimising their operations across multiple sites, while supporting long-term eciency and resilience. “This expansion of our Industrial Copilot marks a signicant step in our mission to transform maintenance operations,” says Margherita Adragna, CEO of customer services at Siemens Digital Industries. “By extending our predictive maintenance solutions, we’re enabling industries to seamlessly shift from reactive to proactive maintenance strategies and drive eciency and resilience in an increasingly complex industrial landscape.” www.siemens.com A UK CONSORTIUM has developed a prototype rare-earth-free synchronous reluctance motor which uses aluminium hairpin windings instead of copper, resulting in a robust, low-cost and sustainable alternative to conventional permanent magnet machines. Called the Alumotor, it has been designed to remove up to 60% of the cost of a standard motor. The motor has been developed by a consortium led by the environmental and engineering consultancy, Ricardo, and including Aspire Engineering, Brandauer, the Warwick Manufacturing Group, Phoenix Scientic Industries and Global Technologies Racing. The project has been funded by the government’s Innovate UK organisation. The oil-cooled, 214kW motor operates with a maximum eciency above 92%, and is designed to power light commercial and o-highway vehicles, although it could be scaled to suit other applications. The 400V motor is intended to address issues related to the environmental impact of materials for electric motors. As well as removing up to 12kg of rare-earth magnets, it is free from other critical raw materials such as cobalt. “We are excited to be at the forefront of testing aluminium-hairpin windings, and are achieving strong performance data that will support future go-to-market activities,” says Dr Dragica Kostic-Perovic, Ricardo’s chief engineer responsible for the Alumotor project. “This is a signicant development, showing true innovation, and supports our reputation as experts in the design and development of future sustainable technologies.” www.ricardo.com/en Low-cost, rare-earth-free UK motor uses aluminium windings Generative AI tools can cut industrial maintenance times by 25% Siemens’ generative AI tools support every stage of the maintenance cycle The Alumotor is claimed to remove up to 60% of the cost of a standard motor.
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n TECHNOLOGY May 2025 www.drivesncontrols.com 18 A US MOTOR DEVELOPER called Conifer has raised $20m in seed funding to commercialise its “magnet-agnostic”axial- ux motor and powertrain technologies, including a proprietary tool-free, software-driven method of manufacturing. Founded by former Apple and Lucid Motors engineers, the San Francisco company has spent the past two years developing and validating its technologies. Conifer has invented a compact axial- ux motor with a proprietary stator technology that uses widely-available ferrite magnets to achieve high eciencies and power densities, said to be comparable to those of rare-earth-magnetbased motors. This cuts costs and reduces dependence on foreign supply chains. If an application needs it, Conifer's motors can use neodymium-based magnets to double their power densities. This can reduce stator core sizes by 95% and eliminate the production of scrap steel. The motors can be used either to power vehicles, or for stationary applications. Conifer has a vision of powering 10 billion new applications by 2040. The company reports that it is attracting signicant interest for stationary applications such as HVAC, industrial automation and pumping. The IE5-ecient motors are said to be half the length and weight of induction machines of a similar rating, and can act as drop-in replacements for motors with the same IEC/Nema frame size. Prices of the electronically commutated motors are similar to those of induction motors. Conifer is launching a pilot program for partners with stationary applications. It is oering the stackable motors in three ratings: 1.5hp/1.1kW, 5hp/3.7kW and 10hp/7.5kW. Their torque ratings range from 3-19.8Nm, they weigh 10-51kg, and their rated speed is 3,600 rpm (5,000 rpm peak). The $20m funding will be used to expand the stationary product lines, and to deliver production versions of the company's rst product – a geared in-wheel powertrain for small on-road and o-road vehicles, such as two-wheelers, small four-wheelers, lawnmowers and tractors. Conifer says it is rethinking powertrains “from the ground up”. Powertrains – comprising motors, inverters, gearboxes and control software – can account for up to 30% of total vehicle system costs. Current vehicle powertrains rely heavily on rare-earth elements and tool-heavy manufacturing processes, where any design changes can result in months of delay and add signicant costs. “We took inspiration from battery cell design and manufacturing,”says Conifer co-founder, Yateendra Deshpande. “Given our modular motor design, for the rst time, motors can be manufactured at scale without expensive tooling, using a fully parameterised softwaredriven process. Our process allows a single production line to create motors of various sizes under 25hp (18.6kW), while reducing manufacturing costs for the key winding step by over 90%. Integrating with our modular inverter, gearbox and exible software layers, helps us deliver customer requirements cost-eectively and rapidly.” Conifer is targeting applications such as lawnmowers, tractors and power tools currently served by more than a billion petrol-powered engines. Manufacturers of these products wanting to create electric versions are often limited to inecient and failure-prone hub motors. Conifer's drop-in, geared in-wheel powertrain is designed to address this problem. It is said to deliver high eciencies and continuous power densities. Users who have tested it in real-world conditions have reported increased ranges, lower parts costs, and the ability to rely on local supply chains. Conifer plans to start shipping production versions of these in-wheel systems later this year. “Our mission is to make electrication and automation both exciting and practical at scale,” says co-founder, Ankit Somani. “It's dicult for customers to get their ideal powertrain, which simultaneously solves for longer range, meets specications in the smallest volume possible, and is cost-eective. They also don't want to be stuck managing multiple vendors and an unreliable supply chain.” www.conifer.io pSiemens’ Industrial Copilot has won the Hermes Award, made annually by the organisers of the Hannover Messe for a cutting-edge innovations. The AI-powered Copilots assist people working in industry and are designed to enhance e ciency by eliminating repetitive tasks and boosting productivity. Siemens oers a suite of Copilots spanning areas from design and planning, to engineering, operations and maintenance. For example, a Copilot for Siemens' TIA Portal engineering platform allows engineers to write precise, reliable code faster. pMitsubishi Electric has announced a 3.3kV, 1,500A high-voltage insulated-gate bipolar transistor (HVIGBT) module for large industrial equipment such as inverters. The XB Series module is said to cut total switching losses by around 15% compared to earlier models. By adopting proprietary diode and IGBT elements, as well as a unique chip termination structure, moisture resistance has been improved to help to raise inverter e ciency and reliability. www.mitsubishielectric.com pPI (Probus & Pronet International) is reporting “moderate growth” for its technologies in 2024 compared to previous years. Some 9.7m IO-Link nodes were put on the market in 2024, taking the total to 61m. An additional 3.1 million ProSafe nodes took the total to 28.7m. The number of Pronet nodes increased by 9.5m, to give a total of 78.8m installed Pronet products. The growth in the number of Probus devices was “moderate”, with 1.1m devices being sold – 800,000 of them to the process sector. pThe International Society of Automation (ISA) has published ANSI/ISA-95.00.01-2025, (IEC 62264-1 Mod), Enterprise-Control System Integration − Part 1: Models and Terminology as the latest update to its ISA-95 series of standards that describe the integration of logistics systems with manufacturing control systems. The new standard, also known as ISA-95 Part 1, summarises the scope of the manufacturing operations and control domain, discusses how physical manufacturing assets are organised, lists functions associated with the interface between control and enterprise functions, and describes information shared among these functions. It is an update to the 2010 version. www.isa.org/standards-and-publications/ isa-standards/isa-95-standard The US-based Association for Advancing Automation (A3) has released its vision for a National Robotics Strategy aimed at ensuring that the US maintains its leadership in robotics and automation. The vision provides a roadmap for strengthening US competitiveness, innovation and workforce readiness. Its priorities include establishing a central Robotics O ce and Robotics Commission to strengthen US competitiveness in robotics, drive innovation, and support workforce development. It also calls for tax incentives to accelerate robotics investment and innovation. www.automate.org/a3/advocacy-principles TECHNOLOGY BRIEFS Conifer says that its axial-¢ux motors can be half the weight and length of equivalent induction motors US developer raises $20m for ‘magnet-agnostic’ axial-flux motors
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