The CP 1543-1 has all the advantages of the SIMATIC S7-1500 design, including:

• Compact design in the format of the S7-1500 system:
  • The current to the module is supplied via the integrated backplane bus.
  • Three LEDs indicate the operating and communication status of the module.
  • Easy mounting:
    • The CP 1543-1 is mounted to the S7-1500 mounting rail and connected to the adjacent modules via the bus connectors. The slot rules of the S7-1500 system are applicable.
    • The CP 1543-1 can be used without a fan; no backup battery is required.
    • The module can be replaced without a PG/PC.

Basic Data Information for the CP 1543-1 Security CP

• Gigabit interface with one RJ45 connector with 10/100/1000 Mbit/s full/half duplex with autosensing functionality
• Communication services:
  • Open communication (TCP/IP, UDP, ISO): Multicast with UDP
  • PG/OP-communication: network-crossing due to S7-Routing
  • S7-Communication (client, server)
  • IT-Communication: HTTP / HTTPS communication enables access to the web server of the S7-1500 system. The e-mail client function enables the dispatch of e-mails directly from the user program. FTP communication enables program-controlled FTP-client communication. Access to data blocks via FTP server.
  • IP-address assignment via DHCP with IPv4 or via direct input in the engineering software STEP 7 Professional V12
  • Diagnostics and network management:
    • Extensive diagnostic functions of all modules in the S7-1500 system
    • Integration into network management systems by support of SNMP V1/V3
    • Security mechanisms:
      • Access protection via firewall to filter connections on the basis of their IP and MAC addresses
      • VPN-Server and VPN-Client for tap-proof accessing of controllers and encryption of the data traffic
      • Secure communication of the e-mail transport via SMTPS 1
      • Encrypted HTML pages via SSL (HTTPS)
      • Secured file transfer (FTPS)
      • Tap-proof transmission of network analysis information to the network management system (SNMPv3)
      • Secure transmission of the time (NTP V3)
    • Configuration of all functions with STEP 7 Professional of the TIA Portal V12
    • Module replacement without a PG/PC: all information is stored on the memory card of the CPU

For more information on the Siemens CP 1543-1 communication processor, please click here.

Today’s global economy entails ever-changing regulatory and industry safety standards. Manufacturers may get confused when applying them to product design, market demands, and getting products to market in increasingly tight windows. This confusion can lead to uncertainty, which can slow the product to market process and foster risk at multiple levels. Understanding how current safety standards operate is key to meet the requirements, minimize risk, and compete effectively across markets.

The Evolution of Safety Standards

There has been a progression in the application of safety over the years. Originally, standards were written as one-point standards for single applications; they weren’t reviewed in the context of complete system safety, but rather for the standard per se. “Basically, when you certified a product, it was for a specific standard,” says Paul Silva, business field manager, functional safety/hazardous locations, at TÜV Rheinland NA. “There wasn’t any interaction between standards, and they were very market specific.”

These standards took a qualitative view of safety. When manufacturers were certifying their products, the standard wasn’t about the application, but rather if specific safety measures were in place to address the application. For example, if a microcontroller or PLC was going into a hazardous location, the only thing needed was a barrier. As long as there were barriers to limit the energy, the function of the system was really not considered.

This system resulted in many safety philosophies and requirements, mainly oriented to simple components and systems. Examples of the these standards include EN 954, UL 913, SAE (original), SEMI (original), NFPA 79, ISO 9001, and ISO 13949. They are all single-point standards around a specific failure model that ignore the system as a whole.

Over time, the evolution of components and systems has driven the development of new standards. Today the situation is different:

• Designs are more complex.
• Complex components are routinely part of most safety designs.
• Industry wants safety designs that reduce the risk to individuals and the environment while being highly cost effective.
• There is greater focus on reducing systemic failures.
• Safety standards are increasingly application independent.

“Standards are moving to a quantitative approach,” says Silva. “This means viewing the product in terms of risk and applying standards to reduce the risk so the product does not fail dangerously.”

As such, the standards bodies put greater emphasis on how standards get connected. Because of the complexity of systems, these bodies are no longer focused on single-point standards. What has emerged is the use of a single standard as a “parent standard” to be referenced as a common frame for industry-specific standards.

IEC 61508: The Parent Standard for Functional Safety

IEC 61508 is the parent functional safety standard. “For industry standards harmonized in the APEX directive or North America, IEC 61508 is a standard everyone must know. But it doesn’t have a specific industry connection,” says Silva. The reason is that all the current industry-specific standards call out IEC 61508.

For anyone designing safety control systems in a sector, the sector-specific standard provides industry-specific requirements and refers to IEC 61508 for general requirements. The principal reason for this development is the increasing interconnection between safety standards in requirements internationally as the global marketplace has evolved.

Consider the standards below:

Industrial Machinery

ISO 13949 >>> IEC 61508

NFPA 79 >>> ISO 13849 >>> IEC 61508

Automotive

ISO 26262 >>> IEC 61508

SEMI 2
NFPA 79 >>> ISO 13849 >>> IEC 61508

Gas Detectors

EN/IEC 60079-291-1 >>> EN 50271 >>> IEC 61508

These are all multipoint, industry-specific standards driven around the idea of reducing the overall risk of the complete system as defined by IEC 61508. “This is why it is important, when you’re looking at standards and the industries you’re going to certify to, that you look at all the standards and how they connect back to the parent standard,” notes Silva. “When you design your product, it is important to understand those requirements (i.e., child to parent) so that you’re not surprised when you’re ready to release the product. If the connections aren’t accounted for all the way through, the product will not pass certification.”

For any industry whose safety standard points to IEC 61508, many requirements and a significant level of detail are involved. From a legal and regulatory perspective, IEC 61508:

• Is not a harmonized standard in the sense of an European Directive, but is required by other harmonized standards (e.g., ISO 13849).
  • Is not a harmonized standard worldwide, so if one certifies to 61508 on its own, compliance to any of the European Directives will not be shown. The child standard that calls out 61508 is part of the directive structure that allows you to do CE-conformance. For example, in machinery, you must certify to IEC 62061 or EN/ISO 13849 to show conformance to the Directive.
• Cannot be used exclusively for proof of CE-conformance.
• Is highly recommended. Application and compliance with the standard is voluntary, but recommended, especially for programmable and complex electronic systems (e.g., safety PLCs). Application of the standard is also recommended for reasons of product liability, as it describes state-of-the-art safety (i.e., good engineering practice).

Functional Safety

Functional safety is part of the overall safety that depends on a system or equipment operating correctly in response to its inputs (per IEC 61508-0). It is the way to evaluate and determine the risk of using complex and simple circuits to perform a safety function. The safety function must always be performed under normal/undistributed conditions and under fault conditions (i.e., it must be fail safe). Neither safety nor functional safety can be determined without considering the system as a whole and the environment within which it interacts.

“Functional safety and IEC 61508 look at the complete safety function, not just a piece of the safety function, as it did in the past,” says Silva. “When you met the requirements of EN 954, for instance, in industrial machinery, you designed that product based on components. If they were category 4, then your product was. That’s not the case with 61508.”

Design is now done based on safety functions. A function of a safety-related system is to reduce the risk in an application, with the goal of achieving a safe state. The safety function is always related to a safety loop (Sensor >>> Logic >>> Actuator), not to a component or device. “You design around the whole safety loop. But the problem is when you connect the safety loop, you look at the safety integrity level (SIL) or performance level (PL); those levels are all dictated for safety functions,” notes Silva.

Regardless of how many pieces are connected in a machine, whether five or 5,000, the level requirement (e.g., SIL 3) is always the same. Design engineers need to be cognizant of that fact up front when designing a system, so they know if they need to change the architecture, which changes the structure and necessary calculations.

With functional safety, the product is not being reviewed for how safe it is, but rather how dangerous it is. It measures risk. Key metrics are probability of failure on demand (PFD) and probability of failure per hour (PFH).

Requirements of Safety Integrity Levels (SIL)

The requirements of SILs address:

• Application of suitable and adequate measures for fault avoidance during the relevant life cycle phases, installation, and application of a functional safety management system
• Complete documentation of design and the applied quality management (QM) measures during all lifecycle phases (i.e., reproducibility)
• Measures for fault detection and control (i.e., diagnostics)
• Residual probability for a dangerous failure, which has to be less than the acceptable limit value

“Quality management needs to be in place,” says Silva. “The reason the quality process is so critical to functional safety is that the greatest percentage of failures to systems is directly related to failed quality measures.”

Advantages and Weaknesses of IEC 61508

Advantages of IEC 61508 include:

• It describes state-of-the-art safety engineering in all its aspects, and considers complete safety functions.
• It reduces the planning and development risks of complex systems.
• Its use of a lifecycle model reduces delays during product development and launch.
• It is product and application independent.
• Its insistence on a probabilistic and risk-based approach to safety (i.e., a quantitative approach) is superior to qualitative evaluation.
• It provides a basic standard for the development of safety-related products for specific application within the industry-specific standards.

“If you understand IEC 61508, it’s easy to understand the industry-specific safety standards,” says Silva. “Adherence to 61508 adds administrative quality structure to safety product design and development, speeding time-to-market by eliminating delays due to error.”

On the other hand, understanding IEC 61508 does not come easily. It is a complicated, comprehensive standard that is difficult to read and grasp for many laymen. Moreover, compliance with the standard requires extensive documentation, which may be disadvantageous for the development of less complex products and systems.

Summary Considerations

“Functional safety must be designed in the product, not addressed after the product design,” says Silva. “While this results in products less at risk, it also speeds their time-to-market.” Following the IEC standards to design for certification makes sense: North American standards are rapidly harmonizing to IEC, which is accepted worldwide as the common standards base. “As globalization continues to progress, IEC is becoming increasingly important,” concludes Silva. “The emergence of IEC 61508 as the principal standard for designing safety control systems is a perfect example of this trend.”

Basic Data Information

In addition to the typical PROFIBUS communication, the CM 1542-5 is also suitable for S7-communication. In this way, a communication path can be established between the S7-1500 controller and other devices (e.g., SIMATIC S7-300/400 controllers). As DP master the CM 1542-5 supports the analysis of the PROFIBUS bus topology in a DP master system by means of diagnostic repeater (DP slave). Features include:

• PROFIBUS DP master and DP slave with electrical interface for the connection of SIMATIC S7-1500 to PROFIBUS
  • PROFIBUS DP master
  • PROFIBUS DP slave (not in parallel with DP master)
• Communication services:
  • PROFIBUS DP
  • PG/OP Communication
  • S7-Communication
• Clock synchronization via PROFIBUS
• Easy programming and configuration via PROFIBUS
• Cross-network PG communication by means of S7-Routing
• Module replacement without a PG/PC
• Data record routing (PROFIBUS DP)

The STEP 7 Professional TIA-Portal V12 is required for configuration of the CM 1542-5. For further information, please click here.

The design of the SIRIUS 3SK1 is extremely simple: DIP switches are used to set the parameters on the multifunctional basic units, so no programming is necessary. In addition, the new safety relays can be seamlessly integrated into standard automation. This function minimizes the costs of engineering and training while maximizing system availability. The result: lower installation, system design, and operation costs. The SIRIUS 3SK1 safety relays replace the existing SIRIUS 3TK28 product range. The 3SK1 is available in two types of basic units: standard and advanced.

Standard

Both standard basic units are easy to use and offer variable functionality. They provide a connection for mechanical and electronic sensors and make the wiring particularly easy. On one hand, labeling on the inside of the hinged covers facilitates the connection of the sensor. On the other, the cables are routed in the same direction as the terminals are operated. Choose between screw-type and spring-loaded connections. Using the DIP switches, quickly set the parameters for the basic units for the specific sensor (e.g., EMERGENCY STOP, non-contact safety switches, or two-hand operation). The standard basic units are available with relay or semiconductor outputs.

Advanced

In addition to the product features of the standard units, the advanced basic units offer greater functionality and flexibility with the ability to add input expansion modules for additional sensors. Depending on the unit configuration, a time delay for the outputs can be set using a rotary encoder switch. A further benefit is the unique device connector that eliminates the wiring between the basic unit and the expansion modules. Simply attach it and you’re done; fast, convenient, and no possibility of faulty wiring. For applications where space is a consideration in the control cabinet, the Mini advanced basic unit product range features a width of only 17.5 mm.

For further information on these new relays, go to: www.siemens.com/safety-relays.

Now that safety PLCs can be used for burner management systems, they offer a new alternative to cost-effective NFPA 86 compliance.

Burner Management Systems (BMS) are among the most widespread process safety applications used in the chemical, petrochemical, and oil and gas industries. Traditionally there were not many firm standards regarding how to implement BMS, be they hardwired or using electronic components such as PLCs. ISA issued some standards a few years ago, but typically companies looked at developing a system designed for approval by FM (Factory Mutual) or IRI (Industrial Risk Insurers) in the U.S., or to TUV in Europe for certification on a final system. All that changed in 2011 when the safety standards allowed the use of safety PLCs for fuel burning equipment applications.

Combustion, in a way, is a controlled explosion. BMS are designed to control the combustion process from beginning to end in a safe and reliable manner. First, they must control initial conditions so that the equipment can be lit without hazardous risk. Second, they must monitor the system during operation, making sure that all conditions are safe while the BMS does its work. Finally, if something goes wrong, the BMS must have a means of shutting down in a very safe manner. Above all, the design of the BMS is critical to its safe operation.

Let’s consider some common questions that can assist engineers in BMS design:

What functions are considered BMS as opposed to combustion control?

Consider a boiler as an example. A burner management system is going to monitor high gas pressure, low gas pressure, combustion air fan, combustion air, and water levels. It will also look at all safety devices and determine whether they are tripped or not tripped. Then it will run through a series of logic. It will walk you through the purge, the light-off sequence to light off a pilot and the main burner, and then it will open the safety shut-off valves. Essentially, it’s monitoring safety devices, sequencing the light off for the burner, and then shutting down the safety shut-off valves if something goes wrong or the pressure or a level is not normal.

On the other hand, combustion control really starts its work once the boiler is lit and working. It is responsible for getting the correct fuel-air mixture, so it will operate flow control valves and dampers, and maintain feed water level (or, on a furnace application, maintain a particular firing rate to hold a particular temperature). This is typically referred to as the analog side to the control system, while burner management comprises the discrete side.

The only time these systems talk to each other is when burner management tells the combustion control:

• To go to the purge position so that it opens up all the dampers.
• To go down to low fire light off position, so that it brings the fuel valve and dampers down to light off position, then switches on dampers and valves to confirm that components are in the correct position so they can light off.

Why was the inclusion of safety PLCs in NFPA 86 so significant?

A new chapter was created in 2011 when safety PLCs were permitted for use in fuel burning equipment applications. Section 8.4.1 of the code starts with a definition of PLCs and then stipulates where they can or cannot be used. Section 8.4.5 addresses safety PLCs in what is an entirely new section of the code, independent from the preceding sections. The bottom line is if you are using a safety PLC, you do not have to follow the standards for conventional PLCs, as there are certain accepted principles in a safety PLC. The most important point in the section is that the processor and I/O will be listed for control reliable service (not burner specific) with a SIL rating of at least 2. Another important point made is that the safety functions shall be restricted in an area of the PLC.

Why would you want to use a safety PLC in a burner management system?

One of the key aspects of a BMS is how the inputs and outputs are designed when a PLC system is implemented. One of the advantages of using a safety PLC is that the logic is developed and implemented by a manufacturer of the safety PLC, such as Siemens; therefore, you don’t have to worry about whether front-end logic has been developed correctly.

Further, the safety PLC addresses the back end of the system: what controls the shut off valves and how those outputs are done. If you use a properly implemented safety PLC, you will exceed all pertinent requirements: NFPA, CSA, UL, and so on. An additional benefit is security, as safety PLCs are backed up on memory cards.

Is it is permissible to use one safety PLC for both burner and combustion?

The answer depends on the application. In terms of furnaces, NFPA 86 says that you can use a single PLC for the safety and the conventional code. The code does say specifically that the safety portion of the program must reside in a separate memory space, as well as be password protected to keep it separate from the conventional or combustion code. In the boiler world, you cannot use the same controller for both, so it must be separated.

One minor exception is a single point positioning system, such as a jackshaft, where the fuel valve and air damper are together. They do allow that. Note that where designers want to do the burner control, combustion control, and feed water control in a distributed control system (DCS), NFPA has made it clear that they want a separate processor for the burner management. This can get expensive in a DCS, so often they take the burner control down to the PLC and then do the combustion control in the DCS.

When using a safety PLC for a BMS, is it still required to have an external watchdog timer?

Again, it depends on the application. If it is a furnace covered by NFPA 86, no watchdog timer is needed. The safety PLC will have an internal watchdog timer that functions on its own that doesn’t have to be programmed. With boilers, an external watchdog timer is still required.

Is there a grandfather clause for older equipment?

Generally speaking, NFPA allows grandfathering of older equipment. The real question is how far back do you want to go? How unsafe are you willing to be? Many systems that were grandfathered in years ago are not as safe as what can be easily done today. The NFPA code has evolved to add more clauses to ensure safety. Way back when, they only required one safety shut-off valve! Maybe such equipment can be grandfathered in, but do you really want to do that and have more liability rather than just adding another valve to reduce risk and enhance safety?

What are the typical BMS recommendations?

The single most important thing to do and use is the HMI; the information put on the screen is extremely valuable. For example, if someone is trying to start a piece of equipment and something doesn’t go right, the system may have a safe shutdown; but the operator doesn’t necessarily know what was wrong.

Consider an older system where the boiler wasn’t lighting, so the operator jumpers a part of the circuit and it still didn’t work. Then he discovers that the gas valve wasn’t open, so he tries to open it with a pipe wrench. Little did he know that the seal of the valve was leaking, so when the pipe wrench hit the valve and caused a flash, the top half of his body gets burned! With a new system, this would not have occurred because of the information available on an HMI.

A safety PLC costs approximately 20 percent more than a standard CPU. It’s a little more expensive for engineering to get the safety system up and running, but in the end the money saved from avoiding nuisance shutdown and false starts will more that compensate for the extra cost. Not to mention what you save if you’ve saved a single life.

Ask questions. Learn as much as you can about the operation and its hazards. Participate in a Hazop or Risk Assessment; everyone learns from one. When forming Hazop teams, make sure that at least a couple of people have good knowledge or are focused on this industry.

Finally, another source of good information is the burner manufacturer. Typically the guy making the piece of equipment—a furnace, an oven and in some cases even a boiler—doesn’t make the burner. The guy that makes the burner really knows how that burner is going to work.

TÜV-tested online database helps you assess and create compliance documentation using auto XML import/export for your Siemens products.

The Safety Evaluation Tool (SET) for the IEC 62061 and ISO 13849-1 standards empowers machine designers to create standard-compliant documentation in a better way. This TÜV-tested online tool from the Safety Integrated program by Siemens supports the fast and reliable assessment of a machine’s safety functions. As a result, users are provided with a standard-compliant report that can be integrated in the documentation as proof of safety.

Functional safety is paramount for the protection of people and machines; in particular, the correct function of a machine’s or system’s control and protection equipment must realize an optimum safety level not only for people and machines, but for production goods as well. To achieve this, risk analysis and protective measures must be taken.

Risks are determined and assessed on the basis of the risk analysis, after which measures for risk minimization are defined. Correct application of the IEC 62061 or ISO 13849-1 standard moves machine design toward essential safety, as it ensures compliance with the European Machinery directive, a requirement since the beginning of the decade. Application of one of these standards provides a high degree of legal security: the CE declaration of conformity, for which the standard-compliant documentation serves as proof.

The Safety Evaluation Tool

The TÜV-tested online tool guides the user step by step, from specification of the safety system’s structure to component selection, up to determination of the attained safety integrity (SIL/PL). As a result, users are provided with a standard-compliant report that can be integrated in the product’s documentation as proof of safety.

When starting a new project, a series of steps is followed. Initially the safety areas are analyzed and the safety functions are specified (steps 1 to 3). Then, the sub-systems are created and filled with data (step 4). After evaluation of the overall result, the final report is produced that contains clear status information (steps 5 and 6).

• Step one: the safety function is defined (e.g., zone-based maintenance).
• Step two: the standard is selected for the base of safety-related calculations: IEC 62-61 or ISO 13849-1.
• Step three: the safety function is described. For example, in zone-based maintenance, the safety function consists of sub-systems detection (i.e., position switches), evaluation (i.e., a modular safety system), and reaction (i.e., a drive). The required SIL (safety integrity level) or PL (performance level) is selected for the safety function.
• Step four: the sub-systems are created, selecting products from the SET database. The tool provides the requisite SIL or PL, as well as the probability of dangerous failure per hour (PFHD) of the sub-system.
• Step five: the overall result is determined, showing the achieved SIL or PL and PFHD.
• Step six: the results report for machine documentation is produced.

New Functions

New functions in the Safety Evaluation Tool V2 now make the safety assessment even easier, like a Universal Database for Safety-related Values.  Additional functions include:

• Selection menus determine the DC and CCF.
• Different operating cycles are input with a two-channel design.
• Calculates failure rate.
• Selection assistant is available for drive components.

For more information on the Safety Evaluation Tool, go to www.siemens.com/safety-evaluation-tool.

I would like to welcome you to our inaugural issue of the Automotive Edition of the Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) Newsletter.  This newsletter is a continuation to our highly attended automotive summit in March.   Our theme for the event was “Community • Collaboration • Innovation” and was just the beginning of a new dialog about how suppliers, integrators and manufacturers can increase collaboration during this time of rapid growth and change in the automotive industry. As many of you told me during and after the conference, one of your greatest challenges is keeping up with technological developments that can drive sustainable and profitable growth in your business.

To that end, we are kicking off this new publication designed to address the specific interests of the automotive community and its suppliers. The Automotive Edition of the TIA Newsletter will focus on technologies, trends and best practices that can make the automotive industry more productive. In this first issue, we are picking up where our conference left off and touching on several key themes that participants identified as top-of-mind.

One of them was the drive to increase productivity. Each presentation touched on this topic and identified critical areas for improvement. Our entire community is — or soon will be — coping with the skills shortage, keeping up with rising consumer expectations for vehicle innovation, or addressing management’s increased expectation for transparency into total cost of ownership. Coping with change in the many productivity drivers is a theme common to suppliers, integrators and manufacturers alike.

The first issue of the Automotive Edition of the TIA Newsletter will address many of these topics.  In Raj Batra’s, President Industry Automation, introductory speech at the Automotive Summit, he talked about “the future is ours to invent” and “the next generation is ours to create”.  We look to our readership to leverage this newsletter as a vehicle for building our community, enhancing our collaboration, driving sustainable innovation, and helping to create the next generation.

I would like to personally hear your feedback on this newsletter and understand what articles you would like to see or hear more about in future editions.  Please feel free to drop me a line at john.billings@siemens.com .  I look forward to working together in building our community for strong manufacturing in America.

Best Regards,

John G. Billings, Vice President & Head of Automotive, Siemens Industry

Drivers of Development
While a Servo Tandem line may cost as much or more than a transfer press, the increased production and uptime justifies this cost in a short amount of time. If a large transfer has a mechanical failure, the press will be down for an extended period of time and the costs of repair are significant. Couple this with ongoing maintenance costs and servo press TCO is much lower.

So, too, is flexibility. As demands for higher mileage vehicles have grown, automotive manufacturers have turned to lighter materials and doing more with them. Consider the creation of a fender. A press bends it into the proper shape; often it is bent a third of the way, then another third, and then the final third. This process requires three different dies (i.e., with conventional large transfer presses). However, on a servo press, production can better control how fast and hard they hit the part, potentially doing it in one operation. “That’s an example of where efficiency comes from, doing one operation instead of three, using one die instead of three,” says Barry.

Additionally, the industry may have reached a tipping point in terms of press acquisition. For example, a major domestic automotive manufacturer’s comments indicate it does not foresee further purchases of large transfer presses, only tandem servos.

When servo press technology was first introduced, some perceived its cost as prohibitive; but as the technology has advanced, the cost has dropped considerably. Today, ton for ton, a servo press will still be more expensive than a mechanical one, but the flexibility it provides in terms of parts it can handle, as well as savings on ancillary costs (e.g., die design and production, space) more than compensate for the initial disparity. “Some of the parts the market requires can’t be made in a mechanical press but can in a servo press,” says Barry. For automotive suppliers intent on responding to the evolving demands of their customers, this is a powerful advantage.

The Retrofitting Imperative
In the automotive industry, there is a huge number of rapidly aging mechanical presses that are 10 to 25 years old. Their controls are outdated, safety must be upgraded to meet new standards, and their main drives are now using obsolete components. “Nonetheless, the mechanics of these presses are still good, so companies are retrofitting the controls of their main drives to extend those assets for another 10 to 15 years,” says Barry. Even though automotive manufacturers are retrofitting scores of presses in individual facilities to upgrade their capabilities, the scale of these projects challenges in-house engineering resources. These departments often don’t have the time or manpower to write specifications for software, develop electrical designs, create software code, and so on.

Ready-to-Apply Solutions to Meet the Challenge
Whether installing new equipment or upgrading existing assets, Siemens has an array of SIMOTION-based solutions for automotive metalforming. These solutions include ready-to-apply (RtA) applications for virtually all the processes in the machine shop. Pre-engineered, SIMOTION-based press solutions provide great improvements in safety, power consumption, flexibility, and productivity for metalforming machines. These solutions also provide ease of modification for the end user or system integrator to adapt to one-off or unique applications. Specific solutions include SIMOTION SimoFeed, SimoPress, SimoPress Servo, and SimoRoll.

SIMOTION SimoFeed
SimoFeed streamlines press-to-press automation with feeders. With the SimoFeed function, manufacturers can achieve flexible production sequences and simultaneously reduce production downtime. This can be achieved only with highly dynamic motion control, which also reduces maintenance cycles by ensuring gentle, jerk-free material handling.

SIMOTION SimoPress
SimoPress is the solution for mechanical universal presses. In addition to easily combining with logic, motion, and technological functions, the SIMOTION SimoPress solution offers complete, fully documented, and pre-tested press functions for main drive control, cam control, die protection, and press force monitoring. It offers flexible operating screens for WinCC to keep engineering overhead as low as possible, and can be used on any platform.

SIMOTION SimoPress Servo
For those installing servo presses, SimoPress Servo addresses all their needs. On a servo press, the main drive (servo torque motor) is connected directly to the crankshaft of the press, without a flywheel or clutch. The motion of the ram can be accelerated and decelerated as desired by varying the speed of the motor. The stroke rates can be individually and precisely programmed by an automatically calculated movement profile. This enables the press cycle to be individually controlled and adapted flexibly to the widest range of tool or workpiece requirements

SIMOTION SimoRoll
SimoRoll enables manufacturers to flexibly adapt to changing production data while simultaneously minimizing unnecessary production downtimes. The application stands out due to its material-friendly motion control through the use of particularly favorable jerk and shock characteristics. This can only be achieved when motion sequences with high dynamic response are applied to avoid unnecessary production downtimes.

All-Around Advantages
“Most of the applications are free of charge, free for download, and OEMs, system integrators and end users can modify them for their specific requirements,” says Barry. “Beyond the RtA application, the solutions include off-the-shelf components, making them less expensive and easier to maintain over the lifetime of operations when compared to solutions that utilize highly specialized motors and controllers.” In fact, OEMs, system integrators and end users can use these RtA applications as a standard for their suppliers.

Consider an OEM or system integrator doing five different projects with three different suppliers. This can be a nightmare in terms of the multiple solutions it may yield. With RtA solutions provided as a base for these suppliers, standardization and commonality are increased, costs are cut, implementation time is decreased and maintenance costs are significantly reduced. “The combination of reducing the engineering time required for implementation with pre-engineered standard functions from an acknowledged world-class supplier such as Siemens can add up significantly for automotive metal formers in terms of greater cost-efficiencies, improved productivity, and high customer satisfaction,” concludes Barry.

The successor of STEP 7 Basic V11 works with all existing SIMATIC controllers. STEP 7 Basic V12 provides powerful programming editors with optimized compilers for programming the S7 controllers: Ladder Diagram, function block diagram, structured text are available for all controllers, plus Statement List for the controller families S7-1500, S7-300, S7-400 and WinAC. The user can employ new functions such as the calculate box, Implicit data type conversion, variable index of an array in all programming languages, string functions, DB change during running operation. Technological functions such as closed-loop or position control can be easily implemented in the engineering software.

Creating motion control applications is easy with STEP 7 and S7-1500. The intuitive, graphical user interface of the technology objects in STEP 7 V12 provide optimal support with the configuration, commissioning and fault analysis of analog and PROFIdrive drives.

STEP 7 V12 supports many functions including absolute and relative positioning, speed controlled operations such as inching mode, active or, on the fly referencing and support of incremental and absolute encoders.

The new software also enhances security, offering password-based know-how protection against unauthorized reading and changing of the contents of program blocks. The copy protection provides a higher security against unauthorized duplication of program blocks.