I was looking forward to this SPS and was not disappointed. The Linux-based platforms that have been included in the Smart Automation market overview since the spring are playing a growing role across all industries. This can be seen in the increasing number of industrial companies presenting themselves at the SPS with productive use of such platforms; in the continuously growing ecosystems and partner networks of the platform providers and the increasing number of available apps; and in the fact that there is hardly an automation provider left that does not particularly promote its software, virtual controllers and open solutions.
When the market overview went online, nine providers were represented. Three more came forward immediately afterwards. With the exception of Contact Software, these providers were all in Nuremberg with their platforms from November 12 to 14, although German Edge Cloud, which had only recently been refounded following a management buy-out by CEO Dieter Meuser, did not have its own booth this time. The providers – to which Hilscher will probably be added with netX – are:
Bosch Rexroth with ctrlX AUTOMATION, Contact Software with Elements for IoT, FLECS Technologies with FLECS, German Edge Cloud with ONCITE DPS, KEBA AG with Kemro X, Lenze with Lenze NUPANO, Phoenix Contact with PLCnext Technology, SALZ Automation with SALZ Controller, Siemens with Industrial Operations X, TTTech Industrial Automation AG with Nerve, WAGO with WAGO OS and WAGO ctrlX OS, and Weidmüller with easyConnect / u-OS.
Will automation software become a game changer?
This seems to cover most of the current market for automation platforms. There are only German and Austrian manufacturers. I have not found any competitors from China or the USA at the international SPS either.
But there is interest from China in the local platforms. A good sign that this market could be the heart of the future of the industrial location D, A, CH.
It is interesting to note that – with two exceptions – these are exclusively platforms from the so-called OT (Operational Technology) sector. It is actually the companies previously involved in embedded software for the automation and control of production or companies newly founded in this area that are now making the difference, not IT companies.
Incidentally, the post on LinkedIn about my article on “Linux versus Windows in industry” just before the SPS achieved more than 11,000 impressions. Contact requests after several of my articles also led to very inspiring conversations in Nuremberg. The industry is discussing openness and future-proof solutions, and the market for these solutions is developing well.
At a spontaneously arranged meeting, I heard from someone responsible for automation in a large company in the process industry how important independent analyses of the platform market and the technology behind it are for him internally at the moment. Other conversations focused on the question of whether every country, every company and every industry really still has to reinvent what has long been standard elsewhere. With the only age-old ‘argument’: “Not invented here”. For example, microservice-based apps and open software for real-time applications.
There was more to see and question than could be covered in two days of visiting. Here is a small selection of the news.
Provocative question marks at the Weidmüller stand. Some new developments in automation are indeed difficult to understand for many people. The change from hardware to software needs explanation. (Photo Sendler)
Industrial IoT and smart factory
Weidmüller is represented in the Smart Automation market overview with the following explanation: “Weidmüller’s open platform offering is based on three pillars: the easyConnect industrial service platform, the u-OS runtime platform and a growing portfolio of software solutions.”
At this year’s SPS, this entire range of software for industrial IoT and automation was given a name: u-software. I arranged the first interview with Program Manager Martin Flöer for early December. Stay tuned.
Weidmüller in Detmold has been a globally successful manufacturer of connection technology for 75 years, starting with the invention of terminal blocks.
The company therefore sees itself as predestined to offer a platform with which the industry can now also take the step into the Industrial Internet of Things by connecting its machines and products.
So it’s not so much a platform for automation specialists, but rather for the entire spectrum of manufacturers.
TTTech Industrial Automation, the manufacturer of the Nerve platform founded by TTTech in Vienna in 2019, is primarily aimed at automation providers, regardless of which hardware, industrial PCs and other edge devices they rely on. Nerve is completely open and allows the development, deployment and management of container environments in any industry (see the interview with Georg Stöger).
A few weeks before SPS, sister company TTTech Digital Solutions presented another Linux-based platform: Ubique. It is not yet included in the market overview and is also not integrated with Nerve, although this is conceivable in the medium term. Its focus is on the field level itself; it is a platform for controlling devices and machines, with engineering possible directly from the cloud. There will be a more detailed report on this here shortly.
Growing ecosystems
At Phoenix Contact, the PLCnext platform once again took center stage at the SPS, also as one of the focal points of a press conference, following the announcement of the partnership with the Japanese industrial robot manufacturer Yaskawa. The inventor of the term “mechatronics” will be relying on PLCnext Technology from Phoenix Contact in the future. The common goal of Yaskawa and Phoenix Contact is to drive the transition from proprietary solutions to an open and future-proof ecosystem for industrial automation. Phoenix Contact has licensed its PLCnext runtime environment to Yaskawa and agreed on joint further development. Yaskawa plans to use the PLCnext runtime system in the motion controls and robotics sectors, initially in Europe and the USA.
In the press conference, it was announced that Euro Alibaba Cloud will integrate Phoenix Contact’s Virtual PLCnext Control software solution as part of its solution for the manufacturing industry. Customers can utilize Alibaba Cloud’s cloud and edge infrastructure offering, starting in Greater China and Asia. Alibaba Cloud is thus expanding its cloud solution offering to the OT sector. For me, this is also proof that there are currently no comparable platforms in China.
Ulrich Leidecker (2nd from right), COO of Phoenix Contact, at the presentation of the partnership with Euro Alibaba Cloud (Copyright Phoenix Contact)
Steffen Winkler, Bosch Rexroth (left) and Christian Zingg, Eaton, present the evaluation of ctrlX OS by Eaton. (Photo Sendler)
Openness as a response to the major challenges
Bosch Rexroth had already provided information about its growing partner network at a trade press conference and in an interview with Steffen Winkler before the SPS. The potential ctrlX OS partner Eaton presented itself at the SPS together with Bosch Rexroth, but also at its own stand.
Christian Zingg, Director Business Development of Eaton, one of the major providers of energy management solutions, gave a presentation together with Steffen Winkler, CSO of Bosch Rexroth, in the Forum in Hall 8 on the topic of “Integration of OT and IT: An innovative ecosystem approach with low to medium complexity”.
Eaton is currently evaluating ctrlX AUTOMATION and will decide on the partnership after the trade fair. At the Eaton stand in Hall 3C, in addition to a ctrlX OS demo, there was a demo of a possible partnership with another platform: Ubique from TTTech.
This is how open the industrial world is now becoming. Competitors as platform providers and potential customers are talking very openly about their innovation ideas. And the openness of the platforms probably allows relatively fast and parallel testing of functionality in connection with their own hardware solutions.
For me, SPS 2024 has shown that the Smart Automation market overview can become a little more concrete in terms of the target markets and application focuses of the platforms. This will be included in an update before the end of the year.