Report's figures confirm Rockwell Automation as Worldwide Machine Safety Leader
31/05/2013 Rockwell Automation
A recent report from the Arc Advisory Group 'Machine Safeguarding Solutions' has revealed that Rockwell Automation is the market leader when it comes to market share across the globeWith 12.5% of the $2.3Bn market in 2011, Rockwell Automation has improved its market share since the 2008 report as, the report confirms, it has "persevered with continued investments in channel and product... and continues to provide product coverage in every category of the machine safeguarding market".
Ian Murgatroyd, EMEA Product manager for safety components at Rockwell Automation explains: "In the EMEA region, Rockwell Automation is very well known for its automation, motion and process solutions, and it may come as a surprise to some that we are also the worldwide leader in Machine safeguarding solutions.
"Machinery safety really came to the fore in Europe in 1993 when the first Machinery Directive came out," Murgatroyd explains. "Since then we have seen the emergence of lots of safety specialists who will, quite rightly, explain to a customer how to stop their machines, but there are not many who can offer fully integrated solutions, i.e. the safety infrastructure is integrated into the rest of the machine solution. What is more, in many instances, we can even provide solutions that will keep the machine running at a reduced speed, while helping to keep the operators safe while they, for example, perform set-up operations where the machine has to be running. Complete shutdowns are not always necessary."
The Arc Advisory Group report goes on to say, "...in the machine safeguarding market it remains very critical to provide a complete product line while offering expertise to support and advise the machine builder on how to deploy a safeguarding solution."
"This is where we tick another box," Murgatroyd elaborates. "As well as offering the broadest portfolio of safety products, we have also invested heavily in making sure we have the right people, with the right qualifications and knowledge readily available for the right markets.
"Our customers are not just interested in solutions and products," he continues, "they want good advice too. With this in mind, we have been making sure that our staff is trained to the appropriate level. Indeed, at the moment in the EMEA region, we have over 30 TUV Functional Safety Engineers certified in machinery safety, spread throughout the business. As one of the most demanding safety qualifications out there, we are confident that we are offering the right level of service to our customers."
The engineers are employed in a variety of roles within Rockwell Automation. On the commercial side they are deployed in the design of new products, machines and lines, fostering functional safety and making data available for safety-related design exercises. Others work as consultants within the safety services department, assisting machine / equipment suppliers to meet directive requirements, overseeing the correct application of standards and to check designs, again, with an eye on functional safety. End Users of such equipment also require assistance from the safety consultants. Deployment with global end users who have existing plant, which requires the necessary safety control measures brought up to date, is also a focus. In this instance, safety engineers from Rockwell Automation are auditing the equipment, highlighting issues and shortfalls and formulating the appropriate remedial action.
"With our broad product offering and its integration with the rest of the machine's control system, another positive we can offer is comprehensive diagnostics," Murgatroyd elaborates. "Diagnostics from the safety related control system, allows the operator to go straight to the source of the problem, repair it, and put the machine back into production. Our customers want to minimise downtime and good diagnostics from the safety related control system improves the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), of the machine, and reduces the mean time to repair (MTTR)."
Finally, as well as hardware and knowledge, Rockwell Automation also addresses the software side of safety with a number of e-tool packages. Its latest package, Safety Automation Builder (SAB) facilitates planning of safety systems, helps users select products to achieve the required safety performance level (PL), as outlined in EN ISO 13849-1 and creates SISTEMA projects for analysis of all Safety Functions. SAB can be used to:
-€¢ Layout machine hazards and access points
-€¢ Define safety functions and select safety products for each
-€¢ Export data to SISTEMA for analysis*
-€¢ Direct integration to ProposalWorks for complete BOMs
SAB leverages the industry's most complete offering of safety products, utilising widely accepted best practices to build a complete safety solution. Outputs of SAB include:
-€¢ Bills of Material
-€¢ Conceptual Safety Layout Drawings
-€¢ SISTEMA project files*
*SAB and SISTEMA tools must be used in conjunction with each other to provide this output.
In addition to SAB, Rockwell Automation continues to update its free SISTEMA-compatible data library containing functional safety information covering its comprehensive range of safety products. SISTEMA has been developed to help simplify the calculation of the Performance Level (PL) of the safety related parts of a machine's control system in the context of EN ISO 13849-1.
The combination of the SISTEMA tool, SAB and the Rockwell Automation data library will provide machinery and system designers with comprehensive support in the evaluation of safety in the context of EN ISO 13849-1.
The availability of this data library reflects Rockwell Automation's recognition of the impact of EN ISO 13849-1 and other functional safety standards on industry. It is one of a number of activities and tools launched by the company to provide help and guidance on how to deal with changes in legislation and standards in an ever more competitive environment.
Rockwell Automation also offers an online return on investment (ROI) calculator, for end users who know they need to upgrade, but still want ROI figures to support their safety investment decisions. The company will continue to develop and release more safety-related software packages, to reduce the burden on engineers designing safety related control solutions, along with simplifying the selection of safety components.
Rockwell Automation's approach may differ from that of a safety specialist, but its solutions are just as robust, just as functional and, arguably, even more powerful thanks to their ability to easily integrate with the other equipment on the machine, the cell and the line and then communicate with the wider enterprise. Remember, Rockwell Automation is the supplier of choice for many companies across the globe for automation, motion, process and, of course, safety!
For more information please visit http://www.rockwellautomation.com/rockwellautomation/support/configuration.page?
For further information, please contact:
Rockwell Automation Ltd
Pitfield, Kiln Farm
Milton Keynes
Bucks K11 3DR
Tel: 0870 242 5004
Fax: 01908 839696
Web: www.rockwellautomation.co.uk
Print this articleShare article:
Process and Control Today are not responsible for the content of submitted or externally produced articles and images. Click here to email us about any errors or omissions contained within this article.