01 Authors: Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Erwin Ruppelt, Head Project Engineer, Dipl.-Betriebswirtin Daniela Koehler, Press Officer, both of Kaeser Kompressoren SE, Coburg, Germany
COMVAC ASIA COMPRESSED AIR NEWS Industry 4.0: High-tech compressed air for high-tech products Erwin Ruppelt, Daniela Koehler Scholz, a high-tech company in the plastics industry, is currently revolutionising its compressed air supply to ensure continued company success into the future – and is enjoying significantly reduced energy costs as a result. 02 Horst Scholz GmbH & Co. KG, based in Kronach, Upper Franconia, is a manufacturer of precision plastic parts. These include products used in medical technology and precision engineering parts, destined primarily for the automotive industry, medical technology industry and lifestyle products. The medical sector in particular insists on stringent requirements to ensure high product quality – and it’s no different when it comes to the quality standards for the compressed air the company relies on for control and process air. 03 Rooftop container station When it came to the recent modernisation of the existing compressed air station, the company’s management decided to opt for a compressed air contracting arrangement to ensure that the compressed air supply will always meet the latest technical standards and be capable of taking advantage of the benefits that Industry 4.0 has to offer – and not least due to the frequent fluctuations in demand in the automotive supplier industry. In this contracting model, the compressed air station itself remains the property of the air system provider whilst the customer simply uses the compressed air as needed, just like power from an electrical socket, paying only for the volume of compressed air actually used – and always at the same fixed rate. From an accounting perspective, this effectively turns fixed costs into variable costs. Other than the fact that the customer doesn’t actually own the station, they enjoy all the advantages of a highly advanced compressed air supply system. Customers who choose contracting models only have to provide a suitable room or area on their production premises. Since space was at a premium at Scholz, an especially compact and convenient 04 01 Inside the station highly advanced technology, such as the Sigma Air Manager 2, ensures dependable compressed air availability and maximum efficiency to deliver impressive energy cost savings 02 The compact compressed air station at Scholz is housed in a container located on the roof of the company building to save space 03 Karl-Herbert Ebert, Technical Director, is very happy with the first-rate compressed air supply 04 Scholz HTIK manufactures plastic precision parts, including micro-components and products used in medical technology MDATechnologies 4/2015 63
