Siemens Previews SPS IPC Drives Show

The SPS IPC Drives show in Nuremburg, Germany, has become an important event for new products and services in the world of automation and motion control. To preview its key developments at the 2013 show scheduled for late November, Siemens held a webcast press conference this month with editors from around the world.

On the call, Heinz Eisenbeiss, head of Simatic Marketing for the Siemens Industry Automation Division, highlighted key trends and priorities that I think reflect the common themes echoed by other large automation control suppliers. They included a customer focus on energy analytics, industrial security, condition monitoring, and a move to integrated drive systems to increase manufacturing flexibility and efficiency.

Significant new products highlighted during the presentation included the new Simotics FD motor series offering a unique design featuring internal rib cooling, a new Scalance switch (XM-400), and a new energy management service.

Simotics FD series motors
Offering power ranging from 200 kW to more than 1,600 kW, the FD motors follow a recent trend in motor design with construction as an intelligent modular system. Other integrated motor drive combinations have been introduced in the last few months by suppliers such as Rockwell Automation and B&R.

A key for the new low-voltage FD motors is a compact design without external cooling ribs. This allows cooling to be placed efficiently close to the heat source inside the frame (laminated core surface), enabling different types of air and water cooling. Many different cooling methods are available in open and enclosed types with natural or separate ventilation. The new portfolio includes water-cooled types with cooling jackets or air-to-water heat exchangers. This modular concept includes various mounting positions of terminal boxes, separate fan units, and monitoring systems.

The FD motors are optimized for inverter-fed operation and the company's Sinamics low-voltage inverters. This enables Siemens to offer a complete system with high power density, because the motor-rated currents are adapted to the inverter output currents, and the motor is dimensioned for the rated pulse frequency of the inverters.

Scalance XM-400 switches
New offerings in the Scalance product line include two basic devices and two port extenders that allow flexible switch configuration for connecting up to 16 (Scalance XM416-4C) or eight (Scalance XM408-8C) network stations, such as controllers from the Simatic range. An optional key plug activates Layer 3 functionality, which supports static and dynamic routing and enables the storage of configuration data.

With the ability to utilize optical or electrical connections on the same device, the new switches continue an industry trend toward more flexible network configurations using a single device. The port extenders can be used to add connections for up to 24 additional network stations.

Energy data management service
A new Energy Analytics service will provide industrial customers with energy data management as a managed service. The idea is for Siemens experts to offer support in systematically capturing and analyzing energy data and subsequently identifying and implementing energy-saving measures. Available data-based services range from simple energy reports to detailed analyses and all the way to providing support in meeting standards.

The Energy Analytics service is available in four packages. A Bronze package is based on purely manual data entry. The Silver package has automated data acquisition and is for users who would like to identify initial savings potential using a simple energy data management system. The Gold package adds analyses by Siemens experts, and the Platinum package has further add-on functions such as machine-level analyses and is especially suitable for customers looking to certify their energy data management system to ISO 50001, for example.

Eisenbeiss said customer pilot projects have lowered energy costs by more than 5 percent.

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