Smart Manufacturing

Grundfos' new iSOLUTIONS Asia MN Website

Grundfos digital lab to boost adoption of intelligent water solutions

Global pump manufacturer Grundfos yesterday inaugurated its digital lab in Singapore – the first of its kind by the industry leader in Asia-Pacific – as a strategic initiative to drive greater adoption of intelligent water solutions in the region. The lab will showcase Grundfos’ range of iSOLUTIONS products, which leverage intelligent technology to deliver optimal performance, greater energy efficiency and reliability. These products are used for a wide range of applications across sectors – from water distribution and wastewater treatment by water utilities, pressure boosting and heating, ventilation and air conditioning in commercial buildings, to industrial applications such as washing, cleaning and industrial cooling. Key solutions on showcase include the Grundfos SMART Digital XL DDA and DDE dosing pumps, which enable accurate chemical dosage across numerous production processes including drinking water, wastewater treatment, and industrial processing, reducing chemical consumption by 5 to 19 per cent. The lab also demonstrates the Grundfos Remote Management – a secure, internet-based system, which intelligently monitors and manages water flows in pump installations through the interconnectivity of pumps, sensors and meters. Kim Jensen, Regional Managing Director of Grundfos Asia Pacific region, said that establishing a dedicated lab in the region is a demonstration of the company’s confidence in Asia-Pacific’s digitalisation potential, as well as recognition of Singapore as the hub for this digital transformation, thanks to its Smart Nation ambitions. Asia-Pacific is poised for digital growth – by 2021, approximately 60% of the region’s GDP will come from products and services created through digital transformation[1]. Through the lab, Grundfos seeks to demonstrate the value of intelligent pump solutions, with the aim of driving greater uptake among its wide customer base, which range from utilities and government agencies to property owners and major industries. Kim Jensen said, “Pumps do not exist in isolation. We believe that […]

ASIA’S mega trade deal moves on without India

India’s exit makes the pact smaller but clears the path to implementation. After seven years of talks, hopes were high that Asia’s largest proposed free trade deal would finally be ratified by the end of 2019. Then India announced it was quitting. The 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and their six trading partners — Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea — met in November 2019 to conclude negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). But domestic opposition and concerns over the potential impact on local producers led India to pull out. “When I measure the RCEP agreement with respect to the interests of all Indians, I do not get a positive answer,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told other RCEP leaders at the 35th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok, Thailand. “Therefore, neither the talisman of Gandhi nor my own conscience permits me to join RCEP.” India’s withdrawal deals a blow to RCEP but does not necessarily spell disaster for the bloc. If some observers are right, it might even speed up the signing of the pact by removing the deadlock in negotiations between India and China. UNADDRESSED CONCERNS RCEP would improve market access for products, services, and capital within Asia Pacific and become a major force in global trade. With India, it would have accounted for more than 28 percent of global trade. But India was long convinced the terms of the pact would disadvantage the country more than it would benefit it. India runs trade deficits with most of the 15 RCEP members. But it was particularly wary of China, which accounts for a massive 60 percent — or about US$57 billion (€51.8 billion) — of India’s total trade deficit in 2018. It was afraid that joining RCEP would create a de facto trade pact with China […]

Hitachi’s Omika Works recognised as “Advanced 4th Industrial Revolution Lighthouse” by the WEF

Hitachi is first Japanese company to be listed. Hitachi Ltd. has announced that the Omika Works, which manufactures information control systems for social infrastructure systems and industries, was recognised by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a Lighthouse advanced factory. The Omika Works is a factory showcasing Hitachi’s Lumada solutions which combines OT, IT and products. It has been solving issues and creating new businesses by mobilizing its technologies and expertise in a variety of fields leading to total optimisation and sophistication in the entire value chain which were recognised by WEF. The Omika Works is the first factory of a Japanese company to be recognized as a manufacturing Lighthouse. There were sessions for Lighthouse at the WEF Annual Meeting (the Davos Conference) held in Davos, Switzerland in January. Since 2018, the WEF has been recognising and announcing the most advanced factories that are world leaders in the adoption and integration of the cutting-edge technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution as Lighthouses. From the start of operations in 1969, the Omika Works has been providing information control systems for important social infrastructure systems, such as railway, electricity, water supply and sewerage. It has been engaged in the design, development and manufacturing of hardware and software as well as the maintenance and operation of customers’ systems. The Omika Works has expertise in high-mix, low-volume production tailored to the individual needs of customers. Onsite improvement activities has been pursued for years to achieve the mass customisation with productivity equivalent to mass production and the reliability required for mission-critical systems at the same time. The Omika Works was identified as a Lighthouse because of its years of efforts to contribute to the stable supply and operation of critical social infrastructure systems by achieving optimisation in the entire value chain ranging from the development […]

SmArtr app to reduce downtime for critical infrastructure

In line with Thailand’s transformation into a digital economy, global pump manufacturer Grundfos today announced the launch of its new cloud-based service app in Thailand to reduce downtime for key infrastructure in the country. The growth of consumer-centric apps reflects the country’s ambition for ‘Thailand 4.0’ – incorporating digitalisation in key processes to tackle common issues and challenges, which has already impacted sectors across banking, investment, telecom, broadcasting, e-commerce, logistics and tourism. In fact, 61 per cent of the Thai economy is projected to be ‘digitalised’ by 2022. Complementing these efforts, Grundfos’ newly launched mobile app, SmArt Serv, leverages digitalisation to enable the smooth operation of Thailand’s key infrastructure, ranging from industries to water utilities that use Grundfos products. The SmArt Serv app is designed to provide prompt and efficient service to resolve any issues with Grundfos pumps, reducing the service process and minimising the downtime on any repair. Grundfos pumps are used for various applications in Thailand, supporting key infrastructures such as airports, transport systems, commercial buildings including medical institutes and shopping complexes, and industries. These applications range from water distribution for consumers to water temperature regulation in air-conditioning in commercial buildings to wastewater management. Nicolai Thrane, Regional Service Director, Grundfos Asia Pacific Region, said: “With water playing such a crucial role in many aspects of Thailand’s public and private sectors, any downtime on critical infrastructure not only has a negative impact on business continuity and revenue, it also has far-reaching consequences when it comes to disruption in water supply.” “In line with Thailand’s new growth direction to become a high-income economy through technology and innovation, the SmArt Serv app is one of Grundfos’ many efforts to incorporate digitalisation with our service, ensuring a fast response rate and minimise any downtime for our customers as much as possible.” Through […]

Fujitsu launches new Primergy for 5G

Fujitsu Limited has launched a new Primergy series of PC servers(1), the RX2530 M4p, which features a high-speed virtual switch optimised for 5G(2) communications. The new model comes equipped with the Intel Xeon Gold 6138P processor with integrated FPGA(3) as standard and includes a virtual switch for performing packet processing in a virtual network. By including an FPGA with logic circuits designed by Fujitsu in the virtual switch, the new model delivers packet processing speeds that are roughly 4.5 times faster than a conventional virtual switch using only a CPU, to offer low-latency, high-speed data transmissions. Going forward, Fujitsu will leverage this and other technologies to support an ecosystem of new services in the 5G era and contribute to the DX (digital transformation) of its customers. The RX2530 M4p additionally supports the creation of a high-speed network in a virtual environment with interface conversion technology developed by Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. and boosting the number of virtual switch ports through the use of multiple FPGAs within the same server. 1. Low latency in packet processing in a virtual environment Offloading the virtual switch’s packet transmission processing onto an FPGA integrated with the CPU allows the new model to process 64-byte packets such as voice and sensor data at a rate of 100 million packets per second to achieve processing speeds that are roughly 4.5 times faster than conventional technology. This enables 5G data packet transmissions with extremely low latency. 2. Easy to convert existing virtual networks into high-speed networks Because the model is provided together with software that runs the FPGA as a virtual switch, it is easy to convert customers’ existing virtual network environments to high-speed networks using their current settings. 3. Effective allocation of resources By using it in combination with an FPGA, the freed-up CPU cores can be […]

Rockwell Automation saves with new servo system

The growing consumer desire for more product variety and packaging sizes is creating a need for smaller, more flexible machines. To provide a more cost-effective option for OEMs building smaller machines, Rockwell Automation is introducing a new Kinetix 5100 servo drive, Kinetix TLP motor and cable that can function as a system without a controller. The Allen-Bradley Kinetix 5100 servo drive has multiple control modes available to support a wider range of high-speed, low-power motion control applications. The drive can be used with a Micro800 controller, a Logix controller or even by itself, allowing OEMs to choose how the product best functions in their applications. “The Kinetix 5100 servo system works especially well for small- to mid-sized packaging machines that need cost-effective servo control,” said Simon Wong, product manager, Rockwell Automation. “Bundling the drive, motor and cable together creates more competitive system pricing. And the ability for OEMs to select the products based on a machine’s power ratings can save time and effort – and help them get to market faster. This approach and product portfolio positions Rockwell Automation to accelerate our growth in China and emerging markets.” The Kinetix 5100 servo system can also help OEMs make customers more productive. With the explosion of SKUs, manufacturers are faced with multiple changeovers, which are often a manual process. Using the Kinetix 5100 servo drive, OEMs can create a motorized, or automated, system that can help speed up changeovers. Additionally, with built-in safe torque off, users can remove motor torque without removing power from an entire machine, allowing a machine to restart faster after it has reached a safe state. Dual-port EtherNet/IP also supports device-level ring topologies. The Kinetix 5100 servo drive provides an easy migration option for users of the Allen-Bradley Ultra 3000 digital servo drive. That system will soon […]

Siemens expands additive manufacturing portfolio through acquisition of Atlas 3D

Atlas 3D helps designers define optimal part orientations for ‘right first time’ 3D printing Cloud-based, GPU-accelerated Sunata software can reduce downstream 3D printing errors caused by thermal distortion up to one hundred times faster than other solutions on the market Siemens announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire Atlas 3D, Inc., a Plymouth, Indiana-based developer of software that works with direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) printers to automatically provide design engineers with the optimal print orientation and requisite support structures for additive parts in near real-time. Atlas 3D will join Siemens Digital Industries Software, where its solutions will expand additive manufacturing capabilities in the Xcelerator portfolio of software. Sunata software uses thermal distortion analysis to provide a simple, automated way to optimise part build orientation and generate support structures. This approach allows the designer—rather than the analyst—to perform these simulations, thereby reducing the downstream analysis that needs to be conducted via Simcenter software to achieve a part that meets design requirements. Siemens plans to make the Atlas 3D solution available through its online Additive Manufacturing Network. “We welcome Atlas 3D to the Siemens community as the newest member of our additive manufacturing team. Our solutions industrialize additive manufacturing for large enterprises, 3D printing service bureaus, design firms and CAD designers,” said Zvi Feuer, Senior Vice President, Manufacturing Engineering Software of Siemens Digital Industries Software. “The cloud-based Sunata software makes it easy for designers to determine the optimal way to 3D print parts for high quality and repeatability. The combination of Sunata with the robust CAE additive manufacturing tools in Simcenter enables a ‘right first time’ approach for industrial 3D printing.” “Siemens is a leader in additive manufacturing, with the most integrated and functionally robust solutions in the industry, so we are excited to join the team,” said […]

YES opens customer development and demo centre in Korea

YES (Yield Engineering Systems, Inc.), a leading manufacturer of process equipment for the semiconductor advanced packaging, life sciences and “more-than-Moore” markets, has partnered with ICONNICS, Inc. and Protec Co., Ltd. to open a new customer development and demo center in Incheon, Korea. Through this partnership, YES is increasing its presence in the Asia-Pacific region by bringing its clean, coat and cure products directly to customers, enabling them to achieve faster cycles of learning to quickly develop and release new processes into high-volume manufacturing. “YES continues to gain traction in Korea’s advanced packaging, compound semiconductor, life science and optical coating markets. We are pleased to partner with ICONNICS and Protec to grow our presence in Asia and bring the benefits of our products to our mutual customers,” said Ken MacWilliams, CEO of YES. “We look forward to building closer relationships with our Korean customers by investing in locally-placed, state-of-the-art development and demo centers that provide them with access to YES technology and services that support their cutting-edge roadmaps.” ICONNICS and Protec are leading suppliers of semiconductor manufacturing equipment in Korea. With this partnership, YES will expand its customer base, develop closer relationships with key customers and provide local process capability. ICONNICS and Protec will be able to provide a larger portfolio of clean, coat and cure products and related services to their customers. “We are pleased to partner with an industry leader like YES to supply the Korean market with innovative products that we believe will improve our customers’ cost of ownership and process efficacy,” said Sean Lee, president of ICONNICS. YES’s flagship product, the VertaCure system, provides significant benefits for next-generation advanced packaging. These benefits include ~50% improvement in cure time, ~30% lower cost of ownership, better film quality and higher reliability. Typical applications are polyimide, BCB or PBO cure; […]

Secutech Thailand 2019 draws to successful close

Displaying a collective enthusiasm to build a safer future, 8,576 industry professionals journeyed from all corners of Asia to attend the 7th edition of Secutech Thailand, which finished its four day run on 31 October. With smart city solutions as a core theme, exhibitors and visitors alike were united in their consensus that the Thai security market is full of potential, particularly due to the government’s commitment to smart city initiatives. Positive sentiment also surrounded the successful synergies created between Secutech Thailand and Digital Thailand Big Bang, which were held alongside each other for the first time this year. Under the banner of ‘smart city solutions week’, the two fairs together with Thailand Lighting Fair and Thailand Building Fair created a one-stop shop for a wide variety of smart city solutions. At the conclusion of the show, Ms Regina Tsai, the Deputy General Manager of Messe Frankfurt New Era Business Media Ltd, said: “We are delighted that Secutech Thailand has once again built bridges for important business connections to be made. ‘The introduction of new show elements such as the Zhejiang Smart City area, as well as pavilions from Korea, Singapore and Taiwan has connected the market with innovative products that can solve important security, fire safety and smart living challenges. What’s more, our successful collaboration with the Digital Economy Promotion Agency to run Secutech Thailand and Digital Thailand Big Bang concurrently has helped to further build the profile of Thailand’s growing smart city scene.” More than 280 exhibiting brands participated at Secutech Thailand, with many commenting favorably about the connections that they made at the fair. “Every year that we attend Secutech Thailand we notice a different scale, and our company uses the platform to release a different high-level solution,” said Mr Jeff Yang, […]

Fujitsu launches PRIMEHPC supercomputers using Fugaku Technology

Fujitsu Limited has announced that it will begin global sales of the PRIMEHPC FX1000 and PRIMEHPC FX700 models from the “Fujitsu Supercomputer PRIMEHPC” series, which utilise the technology of supercomputer Fugaku jointly developed by RIKEN and Fujitsu. Shipment is scheduled for March 2020 Both products are equipped with the world’s first CPU A64FX adopting Scalable Vector Extension (SVE) which is an extension of the Arm v8-A architecture for supercomputers. Moreover, the A64FX developed by inheriting the high-performance, low-power CPU design that Fujitsu has developed so far, provides high performance per watt. The CPU not only achieves a high memory bandwidth by using HBM2, a high-performance die-stacked memory, but also can handle half-precision arithmetic and multiply-add, which are important in such technologies as deep learning. In this way, the new supercomputers are expected to expand its use in the field of AI. By developing and offering the new products, Fujitsu will contribute to solving social issues, accelerating leading-edge research and strengthen corporate competitiveness. Product Features With support for the same Tofu interconnect D as Fugaku for maximum scalability in large configurations, and ultra-dense implementation of up to 384 nodes per rack, FX1000 can efficiently build large systems that deliver theoretical computing performance in excess of 1.3 exaflops. This model uses a water-cooling system, aiming for high performance and reduced total energy consumption including in cooling. FX700 is based on the standard technologies for supercomputer systems, supporting InfiniBand as an interconnect and using open-source software (OSS) for HPC middleware. By adopting an air-cooling system and a chassis that can be mounted in a standard server rack, this model is designed to be easily deployed for customers. Contributing to the development of the Arm HPC Ecosystem Fujitsu participates in open communities such as Arm Developer, Linaro and OpenHPC, devoting to develop the Arm […]

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