On Jan. 23, 2007, a 45-city educational effort begins, sponsored by a dozen companies and organizations offering machine-safety advice. The effort, running through Feb. 27, includes a 45-minute “big-screen” high-definition movie entitled, Safety: Uncover the Competitive Advantage. In the past, machine-safety standards required safety related signals to pass over separate cables from...
On Jan. 23, 2007, a 45-city educational effort begins, sponsored by a dozen companies and organizations offering machine-safety advice. The effort, running through Feb. 27, includes a 45-minute “big-screen” high-definition movie entitled, Safety: Uncover the Competitive Advantage.
In the past, machine-safety standards required safety related signals to pass over separate cables from control signals. However, over the past 10 years, regulators in Europe have come to realize that digital electronics have become at least as reliable as older signaling technology, and that significant benefits accrue from using digital communications to carry safety signals. Efforts to harmonize European and North American regulations caused U.S. regulators to introduce changes to U.S. rules allowing what some observers call “integrated safety” systems.
To help engineers understand integrated safety, Siemens Energy & Automation created an event based around a 45-minute motion picture. It stars a dozen experts who have applied the new technologies in a number of industries, including users from Astec Industries and Kuka Flexible Production Systems, and principals from standards organizations such as PTO (Profibus) and TÜV Rheinland Group. Movie participants also include AMT-The Association for Manufacturing Technology, Camotion Inc., Dematic Corp., Design Safety Engineering Inc., General Motors, and RWD Technologies..
Siemens is taking the film on a 45-city tour starting in January To obtain a schedule and an invitation, visit their website. www.safetythemovie.com
