All in the green – the SMC Press Day 2018

Managing Director Ralf Laber at the greeting

The editors visit the stations at the IAC.

Conversation at the "Electrical Components" station during the tour of the GTC Central Laboratory. The topic is an ionizer test using a charge plate.

Production Manager Marius Pulter during the tour of the production.

On September 11th, SMC Germany hosted over 20 trade press editors for a press day. The main topics were Industry 4.0, miniaturization, and efficiency enhancement. Numerous test and measurement setups as well as prototypes showcased the automation solutions of the industry leader of today and tomorrow.

As one of the first speakers, Ralf Laber, General Manager of SMC Germany, summarized the company's 40-year success story in his opening speech at the Industrial Application Center (IAC) with bullet points. From originally 5 to now 745 employees, SMC Germany has developed into a leading manufacturer, partner, and solution provider for customized automation solutions. According to him, the German Technical Center (GTC), built over 10 years ago, and the Industrial Application Center (IAC), commissioned in 2014, underline SMC's ambition to recognize industry trends early and take on a technological pioneering role through innovations. Since this has been successful for years, the Japanese parent company has recently invested heavily in the German site. In addition to the construction of the IAC, where customer developments are tested, significant shares also flowed into modernizing production. Visitors could see this for themselves during an afternoon tour.

Networking, Miniaturization, and More Efficiency

A lecture program of a total of five presentations accompanied the day. Thorsten Hergenröther, Innovation Engineer at SMC Germany, started with an example of valves, illustrating the direction in which SMC's developments have long been heading: smaller, lighter, more efficient. The current New SY valves offer three times higher flow performance than their predecessor generations – with a quarter less weight and almost 20% less installation width.

The moderation throughout the day was handled by Christian Ziegler, Marketing Manager at SMC Germany. With his presentation "Automatic, Digital, Logical," he touched on the central themes of the day: networking, miniaturization, and increased efficiency. Visitors could experience the implementation of these three guiding principles at numerous live stations in the IAC, the main hub of this press event, as well as during the later guided tour of the central laboratory.

What Works Today and What’s Coming Tomorrow

A total of 13 stations were set up in the IAC. They demonstrated what is possible in modern automation today and what will soon be possible. The ionizer station, a future station with the latest products and prototypes, and a large, fully functional robot cell were particularly popular. The robot cell demonstrated the perfect interplay of state-of-the-art valve technology with servo-pneumatic drives, integrated into the PLC via Industrial Ethernet and fieldbus technology, exemplified by an impressive welding robot in the 180-kilogram class.

Automation Solutions of Tomorrow

A glimpse into the future was provided during the presentation of the very latest product developments: starting with the Energy Efficiency ISO cylinders, through the wireless fieldbus systems EX600-W, Olaf Hagelstein, Product Manager at SMC Germany, also introduced the D-MP position sensor with IO-Link technology, various swivel drives, and the MHM series magnetic gripper. The latter are not yet available on the German market. They are intended to be presented soon as an extremely interesting alternative for the gentle and energy-saving handling of magnetizable workpieces.

Another important aspect related to Industry 4.0 was the increasingly close interaction between humans and machines. As humans and robots work more closely together, machine safety becomes even more important. SMC addresses the associated risks with a range of validated products featuring functions such as "Safe Exhaust," "Safe Stop," "Two-Hand Operation," or "Protection Against Unexpected Startup."

Tour of Production and Laboratory

In the afternoon, tours of the central laboratory and production were on the agenda. Marius Pulter, Production Manager at SMC Germany, greeted guests with impressive figures: currently, SMC Germany's machinery park includes around 40 manufacturing machines. More than half are less than two years old. These include state-of-the-art 4- and 5-axis machines, CNC turning and milling centers, and an automatic workpiece storage system that, with the help of a 2-axis linear module, fully automatically supplies an attached 5-axis machining center with workpiece blanks. "Meeting desired deadlines and ensuring quick delivery – these are the goals SMC aims to achieve with its highly flexible and efficient machinery park," he explains. Today, many standard products like valves, grippers, and cylinders are stock items – and thus available immediately. Non-stock items can be scheduled into production within a short time and are also quickly available in urgent cases. Orders received before 12:00 noon are processed, picked, and shipped on the same day. Later orders are also processed the same day and shipped the next working day. "In the worst case, stocked products are at the customer no later than the second working day after the order," the production manager proudly states.

R&D at SMC: Tour of the Central Laboratory

In a second tour through the Egelsbach central laboratory, the focus was on measurement and testing. The large climate chamber with climate cabinet proved particularly attractive. These are primarily used to determine the functionality or load limits of products through environmental simulations. For example, whether valves still operate at -45°C or electronic components at 98% relative humidity. Seeing the tempting -15°C in the climate chamber, many visitors looked into the future from a different perspective: due to the warm temperatures and the long, hot summer, many took the opportunity to cool down briefly in the winter-like temperatures of the climate chamber.

All in the Green Zone

After about five intensive and informative hours, Christian Ziegler finally bid farewell to the visitors, noting that some managers of the company were still available for interviews. Summing up the day, one recalls the words of Ralf Laber in his opening speech. He thanked the visitors multiple times, emphasizing that they are partly responsible for the fact that one can enjoy the green lawn in front of the door every day. It was freshly laid out to offer guests an attractive and increasingly rare entrance these days. And so, the lush green can also be seen as a symbol of the current situation at SMC: all in the green zone!