Assembly of gas turbine SGT 800. Copyright Siemens AG/Andreas MessnerSiemens Energy, one of the world’s leading suppliers of energy technology, is using
Forcam technology to digitally connect factory machines at 80 production sites worldwide. The goal of the seven-year project is to digitally optimise production processes through a standardised IT system (MES — Manufacturing Execution System) — using the SAP Digital Manufacturing (SAP DM) infrastructure.
Forcam is supplying the Force Edge Connect solution for the project to connect up to 3,000 heterogeneous machines. The project will start this year at five ‘lighthouse plants‘ in Germany, the UK and Mexico. This will be followed by a worldwide roll-out.
The Force Edge Connect solution is a smart platform solution for machine connectivity. Heterogeneous machines are connected smoothly; even old existing plants (brownfield) can be digitally networked retroactively, regardless of age or manufacturer.
Forcam CEO Oliver Hoffmann said: “We are very proud that Siemens Energy has brought us on board for this important project. As a silver and service partner of SAP, we can demonstrate our expertise for the connectivity of heterogeneous machine parks for the energy technology group. Our team is highly motivated to take on this exciting task.”
Pedro Iglesias, responsible for SAP DM solutions at Forcam, added: “This project requires particularly in-depth store floor know-how. The task is to generate data from a wide variety of equipment — from presses, milling machines, punching machines or lathes, as well as from machines with and without their own software control. The data is then integrated into SAP DM for analysis. Force Edge Connect is ideally suited for this.”