Editor’s comment: October 2017

No pain no gain is a phrase that springs to mind when I think of EMO Hannover.

The ‘gain’ is the fact that, in terms of sheer technological innovation, it’s as good an event as anything on the planet. Literally anyone who’s anyone exhibits at EMO and companies really push the boat out in terms of showcasing their wares in the best possible light.

The stands are large and the choice is vast. The exhibitors – large and small – are all to be congratulated for putting on a great show. For buyers, it must have been like Christmas all over again. Maybe too much choice!

The ‘pain’ for people like me whose objectives are to get around and see as many people as possible, is the seemingly unsurmountable task of covering 14 halls. I was at the show from 9am on the Monday until 6pm on the Thursday. I walked nearly 42 miles and shed 4,650 calories according to the app on my phone. Unfortunately this was offset somewhat through a diet that consisted mainly of pizzas, bratwurst and Weiss beer, but you get the point. It’s a monster of a show.

For me, EMO 2017 signified the arrival – proper – of Industry 4.0. It’s been a buzzword for several years now, but in Hannover under the show’s mantra ‘Connecting systems for intelligent production’ the evidence was clear to see throughout the halls and on the stands.

The idea of networking machine tools together is nothing new, but in the past all the equipment had to be from the same manufacturer. Now the architecture and systems are becoming truly ‘open’ with disparate machines able to communicate and share data through common protocols.

The VDW (German Machine Tool Builders’ Association) presented an industry initiative of the German machine tool industry for networked production at EMO Hannover 2017: “The aim is to develop a standard for linking a huge range of disparate machinery control systems to a shared interface (a connector), and create the requisite software,” enthused Dr Heinz-Jürgen Prokop, the association’s chairman.

The first steps towards this objective are the development of an interface specification; the implementation of a ‘connector stack’ that translates signals from different controller interfaces according to OPC UA (Open Platform Communication Unified Architecture); and establishing a gateway that allows a secure connection to different IT systems and clouds on the basis of the OPC UA data structure via standard protocols. Now, network security and protection from hackers have become vitally important topics in Industry 4.0 conversations.

Reality kicked in at EMO 2017. We’re on the cusp of something REALLY game-changing!

Dave Tudor Editor