Secure product quality reliably and quickly with production-integrated measurement technology

100 % quality - this goal has now established itself as a standard in most industries. Machine manufacturers and operators secure this requirement with an end-of-line (EOL) test and documentation of the results. While EOL testing is critical for the evaluation of a product as a good part or rejects, early detection of problems in the production process can also save costs for machine time and the use of resources. All machine data and sensor information are available in the controller for this. Similarly, increasing product individualization down to a lot size of 1 is simple to implement with a centralized control system.

The simple integration of the necessary measuring components is of great importance to the manufacturer of machines and plants. Depending on the production step and the type of test, different signals are acquired: positions and displacements, forces and weights, temperatures, geometries and much more. This requires a flexible I/O system and a scalable control system. Transparent access to all measuring signals and continuous data handling up to information forwarding via OPC UA are also decisive factors. The solution must always be at the lowest possible investment cost so as not to jeopardize the competitiveness of the machine in the international market.

Our solutions for measurement technology in production:

As a partner of machine manufacturers, Beckhoff has been supplying control and drive technology across all industries for many years. With PC-based control technology based on the powerful EtherCAT fieldbus system and a modular system consisting of I/Os and drive technology, our customers can make their machine designs cost-effective and sustainable. The integration of measurement technology into the controller, regardless of whether in the control cabinet or in the field as a decentralized IP-protected box, has clear advantages here:

• All measured data are available in the controller and can be used for any calculation.
• Precise measuring devices with high accuracy enable smaller tolerance bands and save resources.
• Product-specific parameters such as filters or scaling can be set in the controller at any time.
• Communication via OPC UA, MQTT and other fieldbuses has been standard for Beckhoff for years.
• Current technologies such as vision systems for optical inspection or machine learning are available in the controller.

Your advantage:

• Precise: measurement technology is available in the required accuracy from 16 bits to calibrated 24-bit terminals.
• All interfaces: temperature (thermocouples, Pt100/Pt1000), DMS-based sensors (force, strain, weight), displacement (LVDT, potentiometer), angle (rotary encoder).
• Full control: external subsystems and computers can be dispensed with.
• Flexible: economy series or basic series as well as signal multiplexers for the common use of measuring channels.
• Future proof: OPC UA, vision, and machine learning from Beckhoff are available and integrated into TwinCAT.