News

Endress+Hauser is expanding its production capabilities in Cernay, France. In order to meet the growing demand for flow instrumentation, the company has opened a new production and office building.

Endress+Hauser manufactures flowmeters in Cernay for delivery to customers around the world. “Cernay is one of the Group’s fastest growing locations and has already been expanded nine times since it went into operation in 1991,” says Matthias Altendorf, CEO of the Endress+Hauser Group at the dedication ceremony of the new production and office building, which was held on 10 June 2022 in the presence of customers, partners and guests from government and industry.

The additional 10,000 square meters of space will be used primarily for the manufacture of electromagnetic flowmeters. Among the location’s core expertise is the lining of the measuring tubes of these versatile instruments, an important manufacturing step for the quality of the instruments. The extension building also features space for offices, meeting rooms, a company restaurant and a customer area for factory acceptance tests. The location currently has 430 employees.

Production in line with highest quality standards

Construction began in January 2019 and was completed in April 2020. “Here in Cernay we produce with the highest quality standards, like at all of our locations around the world. For this reason, it’s important for us to offer our employees a work environment that meets their needs,” says Thierry Weissgerber, Managing Director of Endress+Hauser Flow in Cernay. Large bay windows provide natural light. Break and relaxation areas featuring sofas and kitchenettes were also integrated into the production building.

As well as electromagnetic flowmeters, Cernay manufactures ultrasound and vortex meters. The new building was designed chiefly for the manufacture of the Progmag H and Dosimag H products, which are used primarily in the food and life sciences industries. A double-skin facade dampens the noise from the production systems. Circulation aisles enable delivery of the material close to the production lines and save space.

Low energy consumption

The company made numerous investments and carried out a wide range of projects in order to reduce energy consumption at the location, including an energy-recovery system that stores the heat from the compressors in the winter in the boiler rooms to prevent it from being wasted. The building’s construction complies with the latest RT 2020 standard and thus meets high specifications for thermal insulation. Certification in accordance with ISO 50001 is also in progress.

According to Make UK, the manufacturing labour turnover rate hit a record high of 17.6 per cent in 2020, an early indicator of what was to come. We are now in the midst of the Great Resignation ─ a time when employees are quitting their jobs at historic rates. Here Mike John, technical director at industrial metrology specialist The Sempre Group, explores the role of both people and technology during the Great Resignation.

Recent analysis from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that the number of job vacancies in the UK has risen to a record 1,288,000 — an increase of 492,400 from pre-pandemic levels. This includes an 82.3 per cent growth in job vacancies in the manufacturing industry. As the skills gap widens, businesses must still provide for their customers, putting pressure on the depleted workforce still on the assembly line to keep up with demand.

Businesses could address the issue of maintaining productivity with a smaller team by increasing the existing staff’s workload. However, forcing employees to work faster for longer negatively impacts staff satisfaction and leads to fatigue, increasing the risk of assembly errors. Hiring new team members is an obvious solution, but recruitment is challenging and competitive in the current market. In addition, the training required for new recruits may dampen productivity in the short term, while experienced members of the team dedicate time to assisting their newer colleagues.

Filling the gaps

The current labour market conditions are encouraging manufacturers to consider implementing new technology to solve their production challenges. For example, repetitive tasks on the manufacturing assembly line can be done by a collaborative robot, enabling the operator to drastically increase throughput compared with working entirely manually. Adding automation to a manufacturing line means manufacturing managers can move their precious employees into other parts of the business where they can add more value and gain more job satisfaction.

As well as using technology to fully or partially automate tasks, manufacturers can invest in systems that support assembly line staff as they work. AR operator guidance systems, such as the Arkite Human Interface Mate (HIM) can guide workers through processes using visual cues ─ the system projects step-by-step instructions onto the workstation for a worker to follow. The system can also present instructions in multiple languages, ensuring all team members can understand the directions. Light picking and visual projection help improve accuracy, notifying the user if a step is incomplete or has been performed incorrectly. By combining the creativity and problem solving skills of humans with the accuracy of automation, manufacturers can reduce waste caused by human error while ensuring all parts meet quality standards.

As businesses begin to on-board increasing volumes of new employees to address the labour shortages, manufacturers can also use technology for training. AR systems can be programmed with custom training modules that teach new staff exactly how to perform an assembly, with embedded smart sensors measuring time and quality performance to ensure certain tasks are completed correctly. Reducing the amount of time required by experienced staff for management, training and support means that new employees still develop their skills without forfeiting quality, while freeing up management to focus on more value-adding tasks.

The Great Resignation means that finding and keeping skilled employees is harder than ever. Manufacturers must consider how they can strike the balance between humans and technology to maximise their team’s talents while maintaining productivity and quality.

To learn more about how AR technology can benefit your production line, visit https://www.thesempregroup.com/automation-integration/arkite/.

Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) has introduced a precision narrow bandwidth signal chain platform that optimises system performance for signal bandwidths of DC to approximately 10kHz in industrial and instrumentation applications.

The new platform offers a host of complete signal chains with customisable solution options and a curated suite of development tools to simplify the design journey. These range from simulation environments, such as LTspice, to design tools that delve into filter performance or power management to signal-chain-based evaluation systems leveraging decades of ADI experience and insight. The precision narrow bandwidth signal chains included with the platform feature precision and power management component selections that prioritise low frequency design requirements, delivering excellent accuracy, stability, and resolution. These robust, repeatable, high-quality measurement and drive solutions enable designers to design with confidence and tackle the most demanding precision instrumentation challenges in areas such as source measurement units (SMU), digital multimeters (DMM), and data acquisition systems.

• Discover adaptable precision narrow bandwidth platforms including application-specific design tools, purpose-developed knowledge bases, and customisable solutions: https://www.analog.com/en/applications/technology/precision-technology/precision-narrow-bandwidth.html
• Connect with engineers and ADI experts on EngineerZone, an online technical support community: https://ez.analog.com/precision-technology-signal-chains/precision-narrow-bandwidth
• Watch a video to learn more about precision narrow bandwidth signal chain solutions: https://www.analog.com/en/education/education-library/videos/6301584622001.html

Examples of precision narrow bandwidth signal chain options provided with the platform include those that prioritise low latency and stability for measurement and control or selections that optimise noise and stability for voltage drive.  The stability and low latency signal chains lead to more reliable, faster end measurements ensuring closed loop system setups can be reconfigured with minimal settling time and better test time efficiency.  Tweaking for noise and stability creates voltage drive circuitry supporting highly accurate and extremely stable programmable voltage sources.

Precision Narrow Bandwidth Key Features:

• 24-bit, no-missing-codes ADC performance maximises resolution, delivering high accuracy for the complete signal chain with optimised gain setting and minimal settling time
• Flexibility to optimise noise performance versus power at minimum latency means reuse of optimum layout and the circuitry can be used for multiple use cases with simple software updates
• Measurement bandwidth from DC means stable and accurate closed loop measurements across a range of low frequencies

The Calibrationhouse (stand A12), which provides an accredited calibration service for electronic, optical and dimensional test equipment, will be at the EBME Expo for the first time.

The move follows the Calibrationhouse’s rebranding and involvement in EBME comes as it continues to develop its capabilities across an extensive range of medical electrical safety testers, defibrillator analysers, ventilators testers, electrosurgical analysers, and patient simulators.

This includes an expansion of activities as demand for flexible calibration capabilities, which cover a broad range of test and measurement equipment, increases. This sees light meters and UV meters added to the range of other high spec instrumentation already included in the firm’s calibration service.

Gregg Brown, commercial manager sales at the Seaward Group, said: “Attendance at the industry leading EBME Expo reflects strong investment in our calibration service and expertise. Visitors to the event will see the value we can add to current operations through our trustworthy and onsite services, that ensures a rapid turnaround time for test equipment within clinical engineering departments.”

Also showing at EBME as part of the Seaward Group will be a selection of Rigel Medical’s electrical safety analysers and vital signs simulators (stand BO3). These provide accurate solutions for testing medical devices for functionality and electrical safety to manufacturers’ specifications or to internationally accepted standards and guidelines: including BS EN 62353 and BS EN 60601-1.

The Rigel 288 Plus provides faster and safer testing of medical devices and installed equipment in hospitals and healthcare facilities. The PULS-R, an Sp02 simulation finger that when combined with the hand-held UNI-SIM simulator provides the world’s smallest all-in-one vital signs solution, will feature.

Calibrationhouse is accredited to ISO9001:2015 and ISO17025:2017‚ with service, calibration and repairs of all types of electronic equipment being undertaken with assured traceability to national UKAS standards. More at www.calibrationhouse.com

TESTA Analytical Solutions has launched the Solvent Line Monitor – a programmable, high sensitivity device for detecting gas bubbles in HPLC, Ion chromatography and flow chemistry systems.

Temperature, pressure, reagent concentration, shock or agitation are all common variables that reduce the saturation point of liquids, resulting in the formation of gas bubbles. Most liquid chromatography users will have experienced how gas bubbles can result in changes in retention times, pulsating baselines, unexpected changes in peak areas, irregular peak shapes, pump outages and excessively high back pressures. Similarly, gas bubbles in flow chemistry systems are also a significant problem which can negatively affect correct dosage of reagents resulting in a sub-optimal or unsuccessful reaction.

As such, early detection of air / gas bubbles and remediation of the problem are vital to assure flawless operation of any liquid chromatography or flow chemistry system.

The new Solvent Line Monitor from TESTA Analytical supports up to two optical sensors capable of detecting bubbles in real-time enabling constant feedback on the status of your connected liquid chromatography or flow chemistry systems. This innovative device offers optical and acoustic alarm as well as a digital output which might be used to stop a chromatography or flow chemistry pump before a bubble can affect its operation.

 The compact and easy-to-use Solvent Line Monitor is programmable in terms of sensitivity, mode of operation and setting bubble detection alarms. The system set-up is a straightforward process using a highly intuitive PC-based app which is included with each Solvent Line Monitor. Bubble detection parameters including the minimum size, frequency and number of bubbles can be configured using the PC app which also provides facility for different actions to be taken once an alarm status is detected, for example a simple beep or a stop signal.

Precision sensor manufacturer Micro-Epsilon has further extended its 3D sensor portfolio to include four different sensor ranges that perform 3D measurements on a wide variety of target objects and surface types in industrial environments.

To achieve highly accurate 3D measurements, a perfect match between hardware and software is required. Micro-Epsilon has developed a new generation of 3D sensors that not only uses high performance hardware, but also has perfectly matched software, 3D Inspect, to accompany it. This means all 3D sensors from Micro-Epsilon can now be operated using the same 3D data capture and evaluation software. Furthermore, as the sensors and software come from a single source, only one contact person is needed to help users solve complex measurement tasks.

3D sensor portfolio

There are four sensor types available in the Micro-Epsilon 3D sensor portfolio:

• surfaceCONTROL 3D 3000 series for 3D snapshots of smaller areas with highest precision.
• surfaceCONTROL 3D 2500 series for 3D snapshots of large measurement areas.
• reflectCONTROL 2D and 3D snapshot sensor for surface inspection and shape recognition on reflective targets.
• scanCONTROL 3D laser line sensors for capturing 3D data from moving targets.

Measuring smaller areas with highest precision

The surfaceCONTROL 3D 3000 series is a new generation of 3D snapshot sensors from Micro-Epsilon that work according to the principle of optical triangulation based on fringe projection. Using a matrix projector, a sequence of patterns is projected onto the test object surface. The light of the patterns diffusely reflected by the test object surface is recorded by two cameras. The three-dimensional surface of the test object is then calculated from the recorded image sequence and the knowledge of the arrangement of the two cameras to each other.

The surfaceCONTROL 3D 3000 series of 3D snapshot sensors offer highest two-axis repeatability up to 0.4 µm. They are fully integrated industrial sensors (IP67) with passive cooling. Delivering up to 2.2 million 3D points per second, the 3D point cloud is delivered directly from the sensor. The sensors support the new 3D GigE Vision / GenICam standard for easy integration into existing 3D image processing tools.

Inspection of larger targets

The surfaceCONTROL 3D 2500 series has been redeveloped to the newest platform and is a 3D sensor for inspection of larger targets. Measuring fields are up to 650 x 495 mm, with high measuring range depth from 150 mm to 300 mm. Data capture time is around 0.5 seconds and repetitive precision is up to 3 µm.

Measuring flat, mirror-like surfaces

The reflectCONTROL series is for 2D and 3D measurements on flat, mirror-like surfaces. It consists of a large screen that projects light patterns onto the surface which is evaluated by two cameras in the housing and a 3D point cloud generated. The sensor sends this 3D point cloud directly via GigE Vision standard to the software.

The reflectCONTROL series has two models: one for 2D measurement and the other for 3D measurement.

The 2D measurement model is for surface inspection and has a measurement field of 110 mm x 245 mm and outputs 2D images for the intensity, amplitude and curvature of the captured surface.

The 3D model is for 3D measurement of the target looking at flatness and waviness. It has a measuring field of 80 x 160 mm and also outputs the 2D data but in addition provides the 3D point cloud. The sensors offer highest repeatability of ± 1.0 µm in a peak-to-valley, so that even the smallest deviations in the 10 nm range can be detected. The reflectCONTROL also supports the new GigE Vision / GenICam standards for easy integration into existing 3D image processing tools.

Build up 3D data from captured 2D profiles  

The scanCONTROL series from Micro-Epsilon is a 2D laser line sensor that can build up 3D data from the captured 2D profiles. The sensor uses the triangulation principle and projects a wide laser line onto the target surface, which is viewed by the CMOS receiver array and converted into a 2D profile line of x and z coordinates. The 3D information is built up from a sequence of captured profiles which makes it especially useful for capturing data from targets that are continually moving and not able to stop.

The scanCONTROL 3000 series are compatible with 3D measurement and inspection and are offered with a number of different measuring ranges which govern the line width of the sensors.

Which sensor for which surface?

The choice of sensor model depends on whether the surface to be measured is diffuse or specular reflective. With matt or diffuse surfaces, the light that hits the surface will reflect in all directions. This means the light can be viewed from a range of different angles. When the surface is shiny or specular reflective like a mirror, the light will reflect at the same angle off the surface, which means you must be at the exact same angle as the reflection in order to see the returned light.

surfaceCONTROL and scanCONTROL work best on matt or diffusely reflecting surfaces, i.e. those that do not present a perfect mirror. For particularly shiny and flat surfaces, the reflectCONTROL is ideal.

Both surfaceCONTROL and reflectCONTROL require the target to be stationary for a moment in order to capture the 3D data. However, scanCONTROL sensors need the target to be moving in order to capture the data or have the sensor moved over the target.

Integration methods

For control of the 3D measurement, two integration methods are suitable depending on the customer’s configuration in their setup. The sensors can be triggered directly to start acquisition from a line PLC or via the host PC running the analysis software.

Obtaining data

When processing large amounts of 3D data, it is important to consider how this data and the resulting measurement information is transferred to the control system. Micro-Epsilon 3D sensors communicate using the standard GenICam and GigE Vision protocols. Once the data is processed in the PC, it must then be transferred to the control system, which today, is often achieved using an Industrial Network such as Profinet, Ethernet I/P or EtherCAT. Micro-Epsilon offers the Industrial Performance Unit (IPU), an industrial PC (IPC) configured specifically to run its sensors and software, as well as incorporating the necessary gateway architecture to communicate with Industrial Networks.

For more information on 3D sensors from Micro-Epsilon, please visit www.micro-epsilon.co.uk or call the Micro-Epsilon sales department on +44 (0)151 355 6070 or email info@micro-epsilon.co.uk

Trescal, a global leader in calibration services, announced the acquisition of Cincinnati Precision Instruments (CPI) in Ohio, USA, CRT Cleanroom-Technology in Germany and Switzerland and Electronica Industrial de Alverca (EIA) in Portugal. These three companies add €16 million in total sales. Acquisitions since OMERS invested now total 42.

Established in 1962, Cincinnati Precision Instruments provides calibration services in nine accredited domains, with strong capabilities in humidity, hardness and pressure. CPI mainly serves the automotive and aerospace industries. This acquisition allows Trescal to extend its geographic coverage to southern Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.

CRT Cleanroom-Technology operates two laboratories in Alsdorf, Germany, and Stein, Switzerland, to provide cleanroom qualification, measurement and calibration services. This acquisition strengthens Trescal’s existing life sciences expertise in Central Europe. CRT Cleanroom-Technology offers extensive capabilities in airborne particle counters, microbial air samplers, thermal process qualification and flow visualisation to pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical clients.

Founded in 1989, EIA comprises two accredited laboratories in Lisbon and Porto, serving mainly the life science and food and beverage industries. EIA’s comprehensive set of accreditations expands Trescal’s calibration, testing and legal metrology scopes in the Iberian peninsula. With this acquisition, Trescal becomes the leading provider of calibration and qualification services in Portugal.

Guillaume Caroit, Trescal CEO: “These acquisitions embody our will to further develop our services for life science and food and beverage clients. Together, these industries will represent close to 25% of our sales by the end of 2022.”

Agile Analog, the analogue IP innovators, has signed its first licensee in China. “We opened our APAC regional sales and engineering office in January this year,” said Barry Paterson, Agile Analog’s CEO. “We thought that there would be a big demand for our unique analogue IP solutions in the Asia-Pacific region and so we are delighted to have signed our first license for the region in just a couple of months. Key to the deal is us having local support for the customer to provide immediate answers to any engineering questions.”

The customer will be using a set of Agile Analog IP in its new SSD Controller chip. This includes Bandgap Voltage Reference, Power On Reset, Digital Temperature Sensor and IR-Drop Detector. “Having these in a ready-to-use, drop-in form that exactly meets the required specifications enabled the customer to shorten the time to market compared to alternative solutions, which have to be custom made,” added Lisa Yang, who heads up the APAC operations. “Our ability to shortening product development times makes a huge difference in today’s competitive market, particularly in China where the competition with rivals is fierce. BOM costs is another area where we help customers as we can bring analogue functions, which are normally handled by discrete components, onto the ASIC to save costs.”

Traditionally, analogue IP blocks have to be manually redesigned for each application and process technology but Agile Analog has a unique way to automatically generate analogue IP to exactly meet the customer’s specifications and process technology. Called Composa, it uses tried and tested analogue IP circuits that are in the company’s Composa library. Effectively, the design-once-and-re-use-many-times model of digital IP now applies to analogue IP for the first time. As the analogue IP circuits in the Composa library have been extensively tested and used in previous designs, and are fully validated every time they are generated, this gives a similar level of reassurance to the digital IP world’s ‘silicon-proven’.

For many roll feed applications, determining the length of the web material is an important part of the machine process. This can be as simple as a requirement to measure the overall length of a web or, for instance, to precisely align multiple printed layers or synchronise a stamping operation on a section of the web material. Wachendorff’s LMS series length measurement systems combine its ruggedised industrial shaft encoders with an integrated measuring wheel that is friction driven by direct contact with any roll cylinder in a cantilevered arm arrangement, providing positional feedback with a linear resolution from 1 millimetre to 8 microns. Rather than source positional information from a servomotor- or motor/gearhead-mounted encoder, which would have some degree of lost motion or hysteresis related to the encoder’s proximity to the actual reference point, Wachendorff’s LMS length measurement systems are directly located at or very close to the working point on the web to provide optimal accuracy. With full support in the UK from Variohm EuroSensor, Wachendorff’s exclusive distribution partner, a wide range of custom matched length measurement systems are available that will allow the customer’s control system to source length, position, and speed information from incremental or absolute encoders through a wide choice of optional interfaces.

For all Wachendorff length measurement systems, the encoder and measurement wheel assembly is mounted on the spring-loaded arm which includes an integral adapter plate that facilitates direct mounting on the customer’s machine – or the system can be supplied with an application customised angle bracket. The contact pressure between the measuring wheel and the web material is completely adjustable thanks to a spring-loaded cantilevered arm design that includes a patented tooth grid mechanism, allowing simple and repeatable preload force adjustment in steps of 5 N. The assembly also compensates for uneven fluctuation in the measured web material whilst ensuring complete unbroken contact. Practically any type of web material can be accommodated with several measuring wheel surfaces available. As the length measurement system can be easily swung from its fixed position to a resting position by adjusting just one captive screw, setup and adjustment is made easy with minimal delay in material changeover and maintenance time.

The LMSCA series is an ultra-compact length measuring system that includes Wachendorff’s WDGP series, 36 mm diameter incremental encoders in a variety of mounting configurations for use with measuring wheel diameters typically from 145 to 200 mm. With a resolution up to 16,384 ppr, the LMSCA can achieve web length measurement down to 12.5 microns per pulse. The encoder delivers A, B, and N channels with inverted signals from a 4.75 to 32V DC supply, in TTL or HTL as well as a choice of CAN, J1939, SSI or RS485 outputs. An M12 connector makes installation straightforward. For larger systems, Wachendorff’s LMSMA series typically include WDGI series 58 mm diameter incremental encoders for resolution to 25,000 ppr and 8 microns per pulse linear measurement – with measurement wheels from 200 to 500 mm diameter. For both product types, the encoder’s IP67 protection rating (IP65 at the shaft input) and high radial and axial force specification guarantees durability in any machine setting.

Whilst these are typical encoder configurations, any type of Wachendorff encoder technology may be fitted to the length measurement systems including absolute encoders. WDGA series absolute encoders feature the German sensor specialist’s patented EnDra magnetic encoding principle based on a Hall-effect scanning technique that combines a single turn resolution of up to 16-bits and a multiturn capability to 43 bits. These absolute encoders offer the potential for sub-micron resolution length measurement systems when combined with suitable motion control systems. Wachendorff’s absolute encoders include all the output options mentioned above as well as PROFINET, PROFIBUS, EtherCAT and a Universal-IP version.

Wachendorff’s comprehensive range of incremental and absolute encoders, length measurement systems and other specialist measurement products are available with full support from Variohm EuroSensor. Variohm is a designer, manufacturer and sensor component distributor offering sales and application support across a comprehensive range of position, force, pressure, load, and temperature measurement technologies for demanding application solutions in industry, construction, agriculture, motorsports, research and more. For more information call +44 (0) 1327 351004, email sales@variohm.com or visit www.variohm.com.