Jens Mueller, Author at Ascon Systems

Review of SPS 2024: Signs Point to Farewell for Traditional Control Systems

Jens Mueller — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 11:50:49 +0000

Nov 25, 2024

Review of SPS 2024: Signs Point to Farewell for Traditional Control Systems

#innovation
#ITgoesOT
#sdm
#softwaredefinedmanufacturing

The automation industry is defying the economic downturn: This was the impression of Jens Mueller, CEO of Ascon Systems, following the SPS, Smart Production Solutions trade fair, held from November 12 to 14, 2024, in Nuremberg. Alongside digitalization and AI, three main topics, in particular, sparked discussions at the industry event.

SPS has been taking place in Nuremberg, Germany since 1997. It is one of the world’s leading trade fairs for smart and digital automation and a highlight for the automation and manufacturing industry. This year, Ascon Systems participated with a booth for the first time and, in collaboration with Bü rkert presented a demonstrator: It shows the interaction of fluidics technology with digital twins and its potential to deliver greater precision and efficiency.

Jens Mueller was on-site. In his review, three main topics emerged as central to the discussions:

Is software-programmed control replacing PLCs (programmable logic controllers)?
What advantages do cloud- and edge-based solutions offer?
How does automation contribute to sustainability?

How does PLC-less production work?

Jens Mueller: “In PLC-less production, traditional programmable logic controllers (PLCs) are replaced by modern, software-based systems. There are many reasons for this shift: Traditional PLCs are often not compatible with new technologies such as AI or cloud computing, they have limited functionality and capacity, and they usually require skilled specialists for programming – resources that aren’t always available when needed. Companies seeking to make their production processes more scalable and flexible often find themselves constrained by traditional PLCs. Replacing them with software-defined systems enables shorter development cycles and seamless integration into existing IT infrastructures. We are already working on such systems with clients such as B MW and Bürker t. At this year’s SPS, I had many discussions with visitors about what needs to be in place for PLC-free production, such as open communication standards and interoperable systems, and how virtualized control solutions can make production lines more agile and future-ready. The biggest concern, in my opinion, was how to successfully consolidate data from disparate silos to ensure it can be captured and managed by software. However, this is exactly what companies need to do to achieve transparency over processes and data flows, enabling greater efficiency and innovation.”

Jens Mueller, CEO, Ascon Systems

Does the future belong to cloud and edge-based solutions?

Jens Mueller: “Cloud and edge technologies are revolutionizing industrial automation. I would go further and say that they are a prerequisite for success. They allow data to be processed and stored either near production sites (Edge) or in the cloud. The benefits are enormous, including real-time analytics, global connectivity and flexible scalability. These solutions increase efficiency and support forward-looking applications like predictive maintenance and technologies such as digital twins in manufacturing. But most importantly, they play a critical role in security and safety. They enable dynamic and flexible security systems that can adapt to current needs, stay up to date with the latest encryption standards and, especially in combination with AI, detect anomalies and potential security threats before they occur. For us—particularly in collaboration with partners like NV IDIA and T hreedy, as we develop solutions for the Industrial Metaverse—cloud- and edge-based technologies are fundamental. They ensure access to data anytime, anywhere, which is crucial for both Industry 4.0 and the broader industrial landscape. While it’s not an entirely new topic, it’s one that’s evolving rapidly. Its importance is growing significantly, as evidenced by how often it came up in discussions at the SPS.”

How does automation contribute to sustainability?

Jens Mueller: “Automation technologies play a central role in promoting sustainable production methods. They help streamline processes, minimize resource consumption, ensure consistently high product quality, and reduce rejects. Automation often integrates IoT and data-driven technologies, which provide companies with valuable insights into their environmental performance. These insights allow businesses to identify weak points and actively pursue their sustainability goals. Smart control systems and data analytics also help save energy and reduce waste. Furthermore, automated disassembly and recycling processes facilitate the recovery of valuable materials, contributing to resource conservation. One example is our participation in an interdisciplinary consortium of industry and research partners, including Volkswagen AG, Liebherr-Verzahntechnik, and Deckel Maho Pfronten, as part of the ZIRKEL research project. This initiative explored how automation solutions can support large-scale battery disassembly. The results include efficiency gains and contextualized data that can be incorporated into the digital battery passport, set to take effect around 2027. Overall, automation approaches enable companies to align their ecological and economic objectives. These developments are crucial as the industry faces increasing pressure to operate more sustainably and contribute to climate goals. While some trade fairs give the impression that sustainability is no longer a priority, the SPS demonstrated that this is certainly not the case for the automation industry.”

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GTC Wrap-Up: A Look into the Future of AI in Industry

Jens Mueller — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 09:16:17 +0000

Apr 23, 2024

GTC Wrap-Up: A Look into the Future of AI in Industry

Jens Mueller, CEO of Ascon Systems, in March 2024 attended NVIDIA GTC , the most important developer conference of the year. Participating at the event in California as a NVIDIA partner , he presented on “Enabling production of the future with OpenUSD and GenAI.” He also engaged in discussions to discover key topics that are likely to impact our work in the future. Three trends in particular stood out to him. They’re already shaping conversations and starting to be implemented in the first environments.

#AI
#GTC
#nvidia
#Trends

An overview of the trends:

The most important trend: the emergence of AI factories
The growing significance of results-oriented AI
The advantages of turnkey AI

The emergence of AI factories
Jens Mueller: “The era of AI factories has begun. Until now, my impression had been that this development would take place in a gradual, linear fashion, and that it would still take some time. GTC changed that. Some companies are already integrating AI on a large scale, skipping stages which, in other places, still need to be achieved by implementing flexible, automated production.

The advantages are obvious. AI factories are facilities in which AI systems collaborate with each other. They handle complex tasks in the areas of planning and automated production. Humans and AI work together here. This concept is similar to the scenario that we are currently discussing for Industry 5.0. At GTC, it became clear that many manufacturers are already living this. They are creating high-precision digital twins, also by using the NVIDIA Omniverse. In doing so, they are building the foundation for AI factories and enabling a new level of automation and orchestration of manufacturing activities.

Data is what gets things moving, everything depends on data availability. This means a paradigm shift for factory planning and for work environments. Because smart factories need hyperconvergent IT/OT infrastructures and consistent data strategies, which have an impact across the whole enterprise. That means we need to start creating the conditions now so that we can truly benefit from the efficiency of AI factories in the near future. This includes widescale implementation of the Industrial Internet of Things, the standardized use of digital twins, less work handling execution on the shop floor, more collaboration across locations and facilities, virtualization and visualization of results, and analytics insights from digital twins.”

The growing significance of results-oriented AI
Jens Mueller: “The true value of generative AI lies not in its status as a technological marvel or all the possibilities it opens up. Instead, it’s how it can be applied to solve problems in the real world. By focusing on concrete results, the development of AI technologies can be geared towards solving practical problems. In turn, the AI generates value. For example, in the automotive industry, AI is increasing process efficiency, for instance through RFP automation. Or when the quantitative KPIs for measuring the success of AI such as speed and other technical performance indicators are joined by qualitative evaluation criteria. How much did AI help solve a problem, how well did it help achieve objectives? AI allows us to ask more complex questions. This is particularly important because more and more factors are being incorporated into production planning, such as resources and procurement, compliance, climate protection, and so on. Here, the AI can think ahead and formulate scenarios from the data it receives faster than humans currently can. Humans, in turn, can ask the perfect question to arrive at a result.”

The advantages of turnkey AI
Jens Mueller: “GTC 2024 highlighted the growing importance of turnkey AI solutions and AI-as-a-Service. Turnkey AI resolves many challenges. It can be implemented quickly, it’s immediately useful, and it reduces costs. And above all, companies don’t need IT experts to use it. This is because updates, support, and maintenance are usually taken care of by the AI provider. Nothing needs to be reconfigured or reprogrammed. This approach fulfills the need in many industries for scalable, easy-to-integrate AI solutions that can optimize operations through improved data accuracy, engagement, and reduced downtime.”

The world’s largest developer conference GTC
San Jose, California, USA in March 2024: GTC 2024 is entitled “The Conference for the Era of AI”. More than 12,000 visitors are present on-site, and tens of thousands more have tuned in online to watch the keynote by NVIDIA CEO Jason Huang and the many panels.

Our contribution at GTC shows how Ascon Qube is applied in practice and is developing the factory of the future. IT and OT are unified, data flows seamlessly between levels, and digital twins control manufacturing processes in real time.

More information on NVIDIA’s GTC is available here.

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