New consumer trends, production challenges and enabling technologies

Quality and dynamic, personalised, efficient and sustainable production processes are the requirements of smart manufacturing, the ones that today all industrial companies are looking to. In order to meet these needs, B&R delivers high-performance machines, connected and flexible but most importantly adaptive, that can be used securely via modern interfaces.

Each new piece added to the B&R integrated ecosystem opens up new possibilities and unlock unprecedented levels of performance for both machine manufacturers and the manufacturing industry. In this direction, the are many technologies from this Austrian multinational that can be used to build adaptive machines and achieve maximum competitiveness in production.

Among these, the B&R vision system - integrated like all the moving parts of a machine - makes it easy for machine manufacturers to ensure higher quality and productivity. The control of sensors and integrated lighting within the same development environment makes it possible to realize vision applications of unique performance levels quickly and easily, without being experts. On top of all this, the last-generation transport systems, even the integrated ones, are provided with independent carts running along the production lines synchronically with other moving parts, reacting in a smart manner and delivering bespoke optimized production solutions within the same timeframe and at the same costs of mass production.

And when everything is integrated, data and information are available for all players in the supply chain, who can use them to learn and improve their processes. Asset Performance Monitor is the first app from B&R based on the ABB Ability cloud platform. This tool allows the user to see at any time what is happening on the machines, no matter where they are installed in the world, and to intervene if necessary in a timely manner, providing the industry with brand new levels of service and support. The app is also a convenient way for end users to see and understand the processes and undertake improvement actions to achieve maximum competitiveness.