Lenze UK is all set with move to new facilities

During the Covid period, Lenze focused even more on its partnership for industrial automation industries. With a strengthened sales force in automation and digitisation, with a move to new offices in Bedfordshire, it is looking forward to embracing the next chapter “in assisting OEMs to use data from increasingly intelligent systems”.

Open system

"Nowadays, when we talk about automation platforms, we can no longer associate a single brand name to an entire automation platform," adds the company. "Machine automation companies must provide a system that is open, suitable for collecting data and, with the help of algorithms, doing the right things with that data, be that decreasing costs by improving machine performance, for example, or allowing an entry into a totally new business model."

Therefore, according to Eric van den Broek, managing director of Lenze in UK and Benelux, in the control platform that Lenze provides "the world is represented, in terms of IT and OT".

Data scientists from Lenze act as sparring partner to the client, states Lenze. “What do you want? Where are you now? Where do you want to be in five years? What can you do with collected data? With predictive maintenance you could perhaps look at the lifespan of a motor: how long can it run for or when do the bearings need to be replaced.”

Entire drive chain

Of course, that is important, but why stop there? it adds. “Without adding additional sensors, we can look much further into the entire drive chain. What is attached to the motor, what is being driven? We could, for example, use self-learning algorithms to monitor the tension of a timing belt and, in turn, create an email alert for a maintenance crew.”

Adds van den Broek: “These kinds of solutions provide much greater added value for the customer.”

According to the company, with fewer sensors a machine builder also needs fewer inputs for the control system and therefore less cabling. “Our international team in Bedford is well equipped and open to talk about new automation challenges.”