Maintenance Matters Problem Solver 18 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk June/July 2025 SICK appeared at Smart Factory Expo 2025 in Birmingham (4-5 June) showcasing a range of intelligent solutions designed to assist businesses with digital transformation, including the new SIG300 intelligent IO-Link Master, IO-Link Wireless Gateway, the TDC-X next-generation telematic data collector and a smart compressed air solution. The SICK stand at Smart Factory Expo demonstrated how businesses can harness sensors to unlock the power of their data, with SICK’s next-generation connectivity solutions and digital innovations designed to create safer, smarter, more flexible, self-optimising manufacturing systems. With decades of experience in detection and an extensive portfolio of high-performance digital products that offer wider options for solutions across different industries, the company demonstrated the possibilities of new data integration products such as the SIG300 intelligent IO-Link Master, the new IO-Link Wireless Gateway and the powerful and secure TDC-X plant management tool at Smart Factory Expo 2025. SICK’s digital solutions connect the dots to turn sensor data into actionable insights, positioning the company as a full solution provider. On show was the recently launched, powerful and compact SIG300 intelligent IO-Link master. Offering smart connectivity for seamless energysaving solutions, the state-of-the-art IIoT device forms a bridge between OT and IT. It has a total of eight ports, can process up to 102 digital signals and features EtherNET/IP, PROFINET and EtherCAT fieldbuses, alongside the leading IoT communication protocols (MQTT, OPC UA and REST API). Enhancing solution integration and data availability as part of the move towards smart factories, the IO-Link Wireless Gateway (WIM) is easy to install and commission without the need for expensive cabling, giving industrial operations greater freedom and flexibility. It features IO-Link and other protocols, delivering access to a wide range of data for predictive maintenance, improved efficiency, real-time monitoring and data-driven decision making. SICK’s TDC-X next-generation wireless edge solution for telematic data collection is a robust solution suitable for the most demanding end-to-end IoT applications in harsh environments, including factory, logistics and process automation. The IP67-rated device provides powerful edge computing and multi-sensor data acquisition, acting as a wireless gateway with IoT functionality and support for SICK Digital Cloud Services. The stand also featured SICK’s smart compressed air solution, which detects leaking compressed air connections for a lower carbon footprint. The SICK smart solution features intelligent connectivity for data transparency and eight pre-defined values for easy commissioning. It presents visual information on leaks, excess usage and waste, as well as the anticipated annual cost saving per factory, production hall, line or machine. SICK’s Strategic Solutions Manager Eugene Lawrence and Strategic Product Manager for Integration Products Johannes Haeringer spoke at the show about how intelligent sensors are enhancing digital solutions. They outlined how the company’s digital initiatives form three digitisation pillars: Ready-to-use solutions, Digital toolbox and C? - Competence and Consulting. They explained how the company produces fast installation, user-friendly out-of-the-box solutions and product packages that cover everything from the sensor to the gateway, software, and service & support. The second digitisation pillar is the wide range of flexible and compatible digital products that comply with industry standards to deliver tailored solutions that meet specific customer needs. The large and expanding range of intuitive digital tools from SICK includes the Field Analytics visualisation and analysis platform, gateways, SICK NOVA foundation software for configurable machine vision solutions, the SICK AssetHub, IO-Link Masters, and SICK Augmented Reality Assistant (SARA). And finally, SICK’s digital consulting team provides support from the beginning of a project to end of lifecycle, identifying pain points, evaluating potential resolutions and implementing the right digital solution to save development time and add maximum value. The industry presentation at Smart Factory Expo 2025 also featured realworld examples of how SICK sensor technology enhances businesses and supports digital transformation. These include a battery production facility that has invested in a foreign object detection system from SICK using Ranger3 cameras and encoders. It has prevented production deficiencies, reducing service effort, making production more efficient, cutting waste and delivering significant cost savings. Meanwhile, a German beverage manufacturer has used SICK’s smart compressed air monitoring solution to identify the means of saving one million m? of compressed air per year and reducing compressed air usage by almost 60% within a period of eight months by addressing a small problem on its machines. For further information please visit: www.sick.com Digital sensor solutions demonstrated for enhanced monitoring and efficiency Solutions designed to unlock the power of sensors and data were on show at the SICK stand at this year’s Smart Factory Expo, aiding businesses in the process of digital transformation. PWE reports.
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