Time to pop the Champagne corks!
On board since the very first show in 1947, HARTING is celebrating its 70th anniversary hand in hand with HANNOVER MESSE this year and looking ahead with great confidence.

When the gates to HANNOVER MESSE open on 24 April, there’s better reason than ever to celebrate and take a bow, as the longstanding number-one industrial trade fair turns 70 this year. Better still, it is marking the milestone in good company. A select group of exhibitors have successfully notched up the full 70 years as well - one of them being the HARTING technology group. The family-owned company from the eastern Westphalia region of Germany has showcased itself and its products in Hannover, without a single year off, since the very first trade fair in 1947. HARTING is proudly celebrating this achievement under the birthday banner "HARTING@Hannover Messe: a strong connection for 70 years".

When Wilhelm Harting founded the company in 1945, he could surely never have dreamed that by 2017 his grandchildren Philip and Maresa would be managing a global technology group with around 4,300 employees and steering the third-generation family-run company firmly on course for the future. As a self-professed pioneer of the digital revolution, HARTING is once again showcasing a host of innovative products and solutions for Integrated Industry. A prime example is the newly developed HARTING ix Industrial robust, miniaturized ethernet interface, which has the potential to replace current RJ45s. "Integrated Industry creates added value. At this year's HANNOVER MESSE, we are demonstrating how HARTING products and solutions truly boost customer benefits," says Chairman of the Board Philip Harting.
HARTING Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG (32427 Minden, Germany), Hall 11, Stand C15
Contact: Michael Klose
Tel.: +49 5772 47-1744
Fax: +49 5772 47-400
E-Mail: michael.klose@harting.com

End-to-end in the bag!
Dassault Systèmes, the "3DEXPERIENCE company", is using cutting-edge 3D technologies at HANNOVER MESSE 2017 to demonstrate thoroughly integrated, digitally supported value creation.

The digitalization of the value creation chain has been straining at the reins for a number of years now. However, despite the optimism surrounding the fourth industrial revolution, new projects often run into serious problems in practice. In fact, a significant proportion of Industry 4.0 initiatives get stuck in the starting blocks. A recent study conducted by the market research company IDC has shown that despite more and more pilot projects, the number of initiatives that are actually implemented is stagnating. What’s more, just five percent of the industrial companies surveyed have a centralized data platform in place that networks all departments along the value chain. This is where the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform from Dassault Systèmes comes in. The multinational software development company is at HANNOVER MESSE 2017 to demonstrate thoroughly integrated, digitally supported value creation.

Taking packaging manufacturer WestRock as an example, cutting-edge 3D technologies including design, simulation and augmented reality are used to visually and virtually track how an entire value creation chain is digitally linked as an end-to-end process. The chain extends from customer requirements, development and production right through to market positioning and day-to-day use. Andreas Barth, Managing Director EuroCentral at Dassault Systèmes, explains the urgency for industrial companies to adopt digital processes: "These companies are facing major challenges. By 2019, three quarters of the world’s industrial companies will have digitalized their value creation chains and thus be perfectly poised to boost their productivity. Anyone who fails to make these adjustments in time will be left behind."
Dassault Systemes Deutschland GmbH (70563 Stuttgart, Germany), hall 6, Stand K30
Contact: Carola von Wendland
Tel.: +49 89 960 948 376
E-Mail: carola.vonwendland@3ds.com

Tough and powerful
The Multilift II impact from RK Rose+Krieger is an electrically adjustable lifting column with a unique damping system – making it exceptionally robust and fit for harsh industrial conditions.

From guiding and adjustments to positioning and uniform handling, the demands placed on linear motion sequences are as diverse as the solutions available. However, as helpful as linear motion components can be in day-to-day operations, the technology used is inherently delicate, and can sometimes suffer in harsh industrial conditions. This is something RK Rose + Krieger GmbH has been working hard to address. This year, the company is showcasing its exceptionally robust, electrically adjustable Multilift II impact lifting column at HANNOVER MESSE.

The Multilift II impact is available in a range of lifting heights for compressive and tensile forces of up to 3,000 N. A key unique feature is the integrated damping system, which is specially designed to absorb the kind of high-impact forces that can occur while unloading a workpiece. In combination with its travel speeds of up to 8 mm/s, the Multilift II impact is thus ideal for adjusting the height of industrial assembly tables. The lifting column is also equipped with an integrated limit switch and a Hall-effect sensor for positioning feedback. What’s more, assembly slots in the external profile make it easy to attach additional accessories such as screens, CPU brackets or system reinforcements.
RK Rose + Krieger GmbH (32423 Minden, Germany), Hall 16, Stand E18
Tel.: +49 571 9335-0
Fax: +49 571 9335-119
E-Mail: info@koehler-partner.de

The future is within touching distance
At HANNOVER MESSE 2017, SCHUNK GmbH & Co. KG, a leader in robot technology and production machinery, is exhibiting new intelligent gripping systems for smart production.

"Achieving the scenarios of Industry 4.0, human-robot collaboration and service and assistance robotics calls for intelligent, dextrous and highly networked gripping systems that can automatically identify workpieces, continuously sense the surrounding area, align themselves autonomously and ensure safe and stable handling, even when working with a wide variety of parts," explains Dr. Markus Klaiber, Technical Director/CTO at SCHUNK, the leading company for gripping and clamping systems. "Industrial gripping is set to be revolutionized in the next five years," he says. At HANNOVER MESSE 2017, SCHUNK will be showing exactly how things will look in the smart factory with numerous live applications.

In the area of human-robot collaboration alone, SCHUNK is exhibiting six different SCHUNK Co-act demonstrators that exemplify the potential of barrier-free collaboration between humans and robots in a variety of sectors. The highlight is the user-friendly SCHUNK Co-act gripper JL1, which is equipped with capacitive and tactile sensor systems and is the world's first intelligent gripper able to interact and communicate directly with people. SCHUNK is also presenting the 5-finger SCHUNK SVH hand, which sets standards as the world’s first MRC gripper certified by the German Social Accident Insurance Association (DGUV).
SCHUNK GmbH & Co. KG (D-74348 Lauffen), Halle 17, Stand B26
Contact: Sonja Aufrecht
Tel.: +49 7133 103 2970
Mobile: +49 151 1880 00 95
E-Mail: sonja.aufrecht@de.schunk.com

BabelFish for programming languages
It is well known that established and specialist software tools encounter "communication problems" during parallel development processes, and that is why Phoenix Contact is showcasing a new open control platform in Hannover based on innovative PLCnext Technology.

Accelerated automation solutions are key to cutting development times and thus being able to adapt production processes more quickly. This increasingly requires a number of developers to work in parallel on an end-to-end solution. However, these specialists often work with different software tools that have variously proven their worth for specific working environments. Although it may seem obvious to switch from these tried-and-tested programming tools to a standardized program for all programming languages to promote smooth collaboration, this is complex, costly and, what’s more, presents drawbacks for programmers’ workflows. That’s why Phoenix Contact is exhibiting a new open control platform at HANNOVER MESSE 2017 using innovative PLCnext Technology.

The solution on show supports parallel programming based on established software tools, such as Visual Studio, Eclipse, Matlab Simulink and PC Worx, and fully flexible linking of the program code they create. PLCnext Technology can therefore be used, for example, to combine functions as specified in IEC 61131-3 with C/C++, C# and Matlab Simulink routines. This ensures that even software from the open source community can be easily integrated into the Phoenix Contact automation system.
Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co.KG (32825 Blomberg, Germany), Hall 9, Stand F40
Contact: Eva von der Weppen M.A.
Tel.: +49 52 35 3-41713
Fax: +49 52 35 3-41825
E-mail: eweppen@phoenixcontact.com

Forging ahead
Highlighting the potential offered by casting techniques, DIHAG Holding, represented by MEUSELWITZ GUSS and Schmiedeberger Gießerei, is showcasing state-of-the-art casting solutions in the Casting Technology themed display area at HANNOVER MESSE 2017.

At a time when HANNOVER MESSE is being dominated by digitalization, representatives of traditional heavy industry nonetheless still have their place. What’s more, “heavy” should always be put into context. DIHAG Holding is the largest independent foundry group in Western Europe and is being represented in Hannover by MEUSELWITZ GUSS and Schmiedeberger Gießerei. These two companies alone produce complex castings ranging in weight from 0.3 to 80,000 kilograms. It’s also clear that the DIHAG foundries are very much a part of the dawning era of Industry 4.0, thanks to their commitment to working as strategic partners to help companies improve both productivity in manufacturing and the durability of complex cast iron parts.

As a specialist in large and heavy castings, MEUSELWITZ GUSS focuses on conserving resources and boosting cost efficiency. This iron foundry, based in central Germany, doesn’t just advise its customers on optimum casting design but is also at the forefront when it comes to selecting materials. The latest product developments include solid-solution-strengthened structural materials containing spheroidal graphite that can be easily processed and used to produce heavy-duty components with a lightweight design, as are needed in wind turbines, for example. Schmiedeberger Gießerei is currently focusing on expanding in-house production. Since last year, this foundry - based in Germany's Saxony region - has been operating its own production facilities, machining castings that weigh from 0.3 to 400 kilograms. Schmiedeberger Gießerei machines high-quality rough castings into ready-to-install components, for instance, in a time-efficient process and to customer specifications, thus saving customers logistics and transportation costs at the very least.
DIHAG Holding GmbH, represented by Schmiedeberger Gießerei GmbH and MEUSELWITZ GUSS Eisengiesserei GmbH (45127 Essen, Germany), Hall 5, Stand B18 (3/4)
Contact: Alexander Peske
Tel.: +49 201 87245-0
E-mail: info@dihag.com

Faster than the eye can see!
The new programmable InspectorP6xx camera range from SICK enables maximum customization thanks to the powerful pre-installed HALCON image processing library and the flexible design of web-based user interfaces.

Pretty much everyone will have seen on some documentary or other just how astoundingly fast automated processes can be. The question is, how on Earth can companies make sure everything is running as it should when the processes are so fast they’re a blur? Clearly, the human eye just can't keep up. Fortunately, there are companies in Germany that lead the way when it comes to quality control and checking completeness. One of these is Waldkirch-based SICK AG, a technology and market leader for sensors that form the perfect basis for automation processes. At HANNOVER MESSE 2017, the company is showcasing a brand new product family from the Inspector range of vision sensors.

The new programmable InspectorP6xx camera family has been developed as a solution for particularly complex image processing tasks. The three members of the family differ in terms of evaluation speed and camera sensor resolution, but share an exceptional range of convenient functions such as targeting lasers and acoustic and optical feedback. An SD memory card is also included to make the devices even easier to set up and operate and enable simple on-the-fly analyses. Thanks to the new SICK AppSpace platform, SICK can offer system integrators and OEMs the freedom and flexibility to develop their own customized application software directly on the InspectorP6xx.
SICK AG (79183 Waldkirch, Germany), Hall 9, Stand F18
Contact: Christoph Müller
Tel.: +49 7681 202 5172
Mobile: +49 172 630 54 77
Fax: +49 7681 202 3419
E-Mail: christoph.mueller@sick.de

Never miss a thing!
The Fraunhofer IZFP is at HANNOVER MESSE 2017 to showcase "3D SmartInspect", an inspection system it hopes will revolutionize the technical monitoring of safety-critical systems.

Safety-critical systems that can pose risks to people and the environment when things go wrong need regular checks. Take automobiles, for example, by law they must be inspected to ensure they are roadworthy - in some countries on an annual basis. However, when it comes to high-pressure containers, turbines and generators that are pushed to their limits to maximize profitability, conducting these inspections can often be much trickier. Inspectors face tough demands and need a great deal of experience to be able to accurately assess the condition of a huge variety of test subjects. What's more, they need to assess them in their entirety. That raises an important question: When spending days examining a huge surface area, how do you make sure your sensors don’t record some points several times over, while completely missing others? Everyone who is familiar with the Fraunhofer Institutes, will know that help is always close at hand. This time it takes the form of 3D SmartInspect, a system that the Fraunhofer Institute for Nondestructive Testing (IZFP) is unveiling at HANNOVER MESSE 2017.

At the moment, the system is still a prototype and is based on a tablet, but it is soon to be expanded to include a version that uses AR glasses. All the same, the benefits of the new system are already crystal clear: "Inspectors know exactly what has already been measured as well as the results of those measurements. The system also automatically generates a digital protocol," explains Prof. Bernd Valeske, head of department at IZFP. This represents a quantum leap over current procedures. Thanks to 3D SmartInspect, far fewer experienced inspectors will need to be deployed and training times will also be cut. Besides making sure nothing is missed or checked twice over for no reason, the system also independently verifies that sensor data has been recorded correctly. "Not only can inspectors be sure that they have collected 100 percent of the data, they also know that the measurements are valid," says Valeske.
Fraunhofer-Institut für Zerstörungsfreie Prüfverfahren (IZFP) (66123 Saarbrücken, Germany), Hall 2, Stand C22, co-exhibitor with Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
Contact: Sabine Poitevin-Burbes
Tel.: +49 681 9302-3869
Mobile: +49 1578 70 77 210
Fax: +49 681 9302-113869
E-Mail: sabine.poitevin-burbes@izfp.fraunhofer.de

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