Most limits are set by ourselves, despite a plethora of possibilities.

Applications

Automation is colorful. This is literally true looking at the colorful display of manufacturers in the field of automation. Furthermore, the variety of tasks is more diverse than in any other field of engineering. Transportation, building automation, process automation, factory automation: Which single technology can cover this diversity of different tasks? It’s easy –  with AS-Interface.

The potential of AS-Interface can be best demonstrated by looking at some applications. Read about the applications - real success stories written by AS-interface 

By the way: We invite all users, manufacturers und institutions to tell us about their successful AS-Interface applications: in real life or tested in laboratories. In transportation, building automation, process automation and factory automation. In green, in yellow or in red. This is the way to show all the universal and colorful possibilities when using AS-Interface.
By writing to info@as-interface.net you can share your experiences with us and the AS-Interface community.

Public Transportation:
Efficiency and safety.

By using AS-Interface, the safety specialists at ABB Stotz-Kontakt  engineered a safety concept for the Berlin public transit authority based on Safety at Work. It takes full advantage of the inexpensive wiring system, fast installation, and intelligent safety concept. Application area: Transportation and mode of transportation.

Supplying district heating:
Optimally controlled.

To facilitate drive or control of electrically operated fittings in power stations or supply networks, Regeltechnik Voigt GmbH from Eibau in Germany's region of Saxony is at the forefront of technology. To build the new district heating distribution network in the city of Dresden they read the sensor signals with the AS-Interface double slave from ICS and found all their expectations in the world's easiest bus system to be proven.

A brilliant solution:
Merck's color pigment production.

Color pigments provide the right sparkle, for instance as a brilliant silky lipstick shimmer, in metallic paints for our cars, or in fun colored plastics. The important aspect for the product is the effect, for the production it is efficiency. The pharmaceutical and chemical giant Merck, located in Darmstadt, counts on AS-Interface for an innovative production concept for its pigment center.

Bürkert – Fromagerie Bel:
Diary Products with AS-Interface.

At its Cléry-le-Petit site in the Meuse, Fromagerie Bel wanted to add an extra protein constituent to the milk collected locally in order to guarantee consistent quality of the cheese produced. TETRA PAK constructed a new system in which flow management is handled by 180 fieldbus controlled valves. Bürkert supplied 180 control heads to be fitted to the valves. Providing optimal reliability and safety, the new series 8681 control head is particularly suited to aseptic environments as it offers hygienic design, IP65/67 protection rating and good resistance to chemical cleaning products. In addition, Bürkert's patented magnetic activation system provides easy and safe access to the control head for preventive maintenance.

Product application for sterile technology:
Production line for eye ointment.
When manufacturing eye ointment, it is imperative to ensure that the product which consists of several components is mixed optimally and, above all, that it is sterile. For this purpose, it includes a vacuum process system including two sequentially switched mixing tanks with speed controlled agitators.

AS-Interface Links Safety-Related Plant Components:
Safe and Efficient AS-Interface Installation at JOTUN.

JOTUN is a Norwegian manufacturer of water and oil-based paints for decorating, wood preservation, corrosion protection, and marine applications. The paint is manufactured in a large processing plant that consists of several outdoor tank farms and two building complexes, each with three floors. To produce the paint, all plant components must be connected to one another in a safe and reliable manner.

Drying technology:
Realizing the possibilities. Using ASi as an engineering tool.

Applying automation to established processes and machines is one thing. Developing new processes and integrating them into large-scale systems is entirely different. Here, creativity is required, along with the willingness to not only optimize a chosen path once or twice, but to maybe even reject it entirely. The European research and development project HiPerDry shows that AS-Interface is a highly suitable tool for these purposes.

All-around safety with ASi Safety at Work:
Optimal safeguarding of punch laser machines based on sensors with integrated AS-Interface.

The TruMatic 6000 is a particularly versatile machine with sophisticated laser and punching technology. It is safeguarded with MLD 500 series Multiple Light Beam Safety Devices from Leuze electronic. The special feature of these sensors: the integrated ASi Safety interface.

The charm of ASi:
The AS-Interface bus system at STREMA Maschinenbau GmbH.

With the protective sensors from Leuze electronic, STREMA also uses the savings potential of AS-Interface for the safety technology of its stretch machines.

Machine and Plant Engineering:
Retrofitting a major process plant for aluminum production.

Achieving a more environmentally friendly aluminum production with increased production capacity. All mechanical switches are to be monitored for lead breakage and several hundred valves in the exhaust gas purification system are to be automated. Although there is a great number of widely distributed inductive and optical sensors, cable trees and junction boxes are to be avoided. The system is to be realized in several steps and will contain an integrated safety concept.

Safety engineering:
Building safe bridges.

Thanks to the relevant I/O modules, distributed control configurations have long been accepted as standard in safety engineering too. Now the AS-Interface specialists at Siemens are setting new standards in flexibility: With the F-CM ASi Safety ST fail-safe module, ASIsafe can be connected very easily to an F controller via PROFIsafe, anywhere in the plant - and expanded in a modular way at any time.

The rewards of innovation:
New ASi master significantly simplifies the construction of smaller and medium-sized machines and plants.

The realization that bus systems ensure flexibility, cost effectiveness, and sustainability prompted the German company HES-Präzisionsteile Hermann Erkert GmbH to choose such systems at an early stage. The latest innovative step of this toll manufacturer is the use of an ASi master added direct to a compact controller. This makes the engineering even more user-friendly.

Installation Monitoring:
The perfect fit between RFID and ASi.

Automatic identification of objects by means of electromagnetic waves (RFID) is becoming more and more important in modern production plants. Implementation is particularly simple if the transmitter/receiver systems communicate via AS-Interface - as is the case with the solution from ifm electronic for installation monitoring at Wessel Werk GmbH in Reichshof-Wildbergerhütte.

Machine safety with ASi SaW at ETT Verpackungstechnik GmbH:
Systematised safety – implemented simply.

When leading companies from the consumer goods industry plan procurement of a packaging line, they often choose ETT Verpackungstechnik GmbH in Moringen near Göttingen in Germany as a supplier. ETT is known as a specialist for complete systems of final packaging and therefore for work stages such as picking, collecting, grouping, box closing and palletising. To integrate the safety technology in the systems and processes in the best possible way, ETT designers use the "AS Interface Safety at Work" standard (ASi Safety).

Intelligent decentralized drive automation for Warehouse Logistics:
Less cabling, better accomplishment, higher systems performance.

GEBERIT, the global enterprise for Sanitary equipment, invested at the Jona plant in a new storage technology with modern warehouse logistics software. The now used decentralized drive solution, from MSF-Vathauer Antriebstechnik, communicates via AS-Interface, thus ensuring the necessary transport momentum.

A crystal clear decision:
ASIsafe for configuring safety functions in retrofit projects.

The company Saint-Gobain Solar has set up an approximately 300 meter long installation comprising existing individual machines for processing large glass panels at its plant in Mannheim, Germany. Apart from the automation, the main focus of attention was on the safety engineering. ASIsafe proved to be a suitable solution here because it could be implemented without substantial installation effort, thus saving considerable time.

Safety and protection against tampering from Euchner
Lockout/tagout system ensures safe maintenance processes and saves energy.

Euchner GmbH + Co. KG in Leinfelden near Stuttgart has developed a versatile lockout/tagout system that permits much more efficient maintenance processes. The voltage is not switched off, and the installation is therefore not only ready for operation again much more quickly; it is even possible to stop only an affected sub-section while the remaining units continue to run.

Production concepts:
Daimlers industry 4.0: Swabian down to earth.

Everybody is talking about it. But the plant manager of the Mercedes-Benz in Ludwigsfelde avoid the words "industry 4.0". The Van and Sprinter manufacturer prefer to speak of intelligent production. After the process optimization of the site Daimler plans to invest once more in technology. 150 million euros are available for robots, augmented reality, smart data projects, and for test and measurement. AS-Interface is already part of the investment done.

ASIsafe in distributed I/O:
Protection of safety devices in the packaging industry.

ASIsafe, the fail-safe communication system at the lowest automation level, is the ideal solution whenever there are a number of safety devices in need of monitoring. This was the experience of Jürgens Maschinenbau in Emsdetten, Germany when the company first used a new ASi Master in conjunction with a particularly compact distributed I/O for its fleece packaging system. The resulting benefits were: simplified engineering, extremely fast installation, and the availability of teleservice for the safety equipment.

Production logistics:
From Zero to a Hundred.

Why did warehouse logistics leader KNAPP change the communication technology for its entire range of production logistics to AS-Interface practically overnight? To increase efficiency and productivity? To decrease assembly time during on-site installation? Or because it allows simple and discrete integration of wiring into system components? "It's all these advantages and more that speak for AS-Interface," says Claus Blödorn from KNAPP. "And with an innovative AS-Interface-specific motor control solution, we've had incredible success."

Industrial controls, AS-Interface:
ASi master plus distributed I/O in the manufacture of testing units.

To save time and effort during final assembly, one machine tool manufacturer tests the individual machine modules with the assistance of simulators before they are installed. As the sensor and actuator systems are wired up at the lowest field level using AS-Interface, the company uses the same technology for the testing units. In combination with distributed I/O systems, modular ASi masters play a key role here with both standard and safety systems.