Nexy: Steute Technologies’ IIoT 4.0 industrial wireless solution for factory automation

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On the never-ending road to better efficiency, productivity and cost-effectiveness, some questions come up repeatedly. I want to drive automation, but where do I start? How do I integrate new technology without having to make significant changes to my current infrastructure? Steute can answer these questions with Nexy, a new digital wireless platform that simplifies the migration to a smart factory process.

Nexy simplifies the transition from previous generations of factory processes to more robust, reliable, efficient and highly flexible smart factory implementations. Its modular design easily integrates with existing factory protocols.

Figure 1: steute wireless sensors developed especially for e-Kanban racks manage the replenishment of materials in modern factories. Manual Kanban processes often require workers to generate hard copies of requisition forms in order to replenish necessary materials. Nexy, on the other hand, employs wireless sensors to determine when materials are running low or exhausted and automatically informs the customer’s ERP system when new provisions are required, eliminating downtime and work stoppages (Figure 1). In Andon systems, Nexy can use wireless pushbuttons installed at workstations for direct communication.Figure 2: steute’s wireless controls saves both time and money thanks to the complete elimination of cables and other accessories. In the event of a malfunction in the production process, workers can easily notify the proper channels with a press of a button, without stepping away from their stations and interrupting workflow (Figure 2).

The intelligence of the Nexy system is the sWave.NET sensor bridge. The sensor bridge acts as the interface between the customer application and the sWave.NET hardware and processes all messages received from the sensors’ access points via a standard sWave.NET gateway. A robust user interface/dashboard makes it easy to manage, add, configure and remove wireless sensors and access points from the system without additional programming.

Sensing technology

Nexy implements mobile and energy-efficient sWave.NET wireless switches and sensors connected to the production and IT infrastructure via the sensor bridge. Each wireless signal or switching event is connected to a real process on the factory floor, creating a digital “shop floor.” The sensor bridge relays all the raw switching and sensor data through an XML or JSON interface, allowing the customer to work via an API to apply its own business logic. The switching and sensor data can then be integrated into the customer’s ERP, PPS or WMS synchronously or asynchronously and in real-time. Nexy also offers a variety of easy-to-use apps or software modules that help to create complete systems specifically designed for intralogistics and production control. Specifically targeting inventory replenishment, AGV’s, Andon push-buttons and stack lights.

Because the Nexy modules are wireless, adding or subtracting components to the system can be easily done without interrupting production processes. Users can also move or relocate the sensors and switches to improve intralogistics without having to worry about rerunning wires for electrical and networking cables. Nexy’s modular design makes it easy to incorporate into existing infrastructures at a range of levels, meaning it can be as large or as small a part of a production system as a customer desires. For example, Nexy is very scalable and can be installed in a specific location or assembly line for employee validation as well as benefit quantification.

Figure 3: The sWave.NET sensor bridge intelligently controls and directs system components.

The principal advantages Nexy provides are ease of implementation, increased productivity, and the extreme flexibility due to its wireless platform. To get started with your implementation, visit Nexy to learn more.