1st Quarter 2011Electrical switching & drive systems & components
Drive technology is one of the keys to the sustainable development of future-oriented technologies and will increase efficiency in production, transport and energy.
Siemens Drive Technologies recently commissioned a study to examine changes which may occur in the business environment in the next 15 years. Over 100 interviews were conducted with scientists, government organisations, customers and Siemens’ in-house experts about their ideas of the world in 2025. Along with social, political and economic developments, the questions raised also took into consideration customer requirements and competitive factors.
A key finding of the Trendts Survey was that efficiency in industrial production flows will become an ever more significant competitive factor. The factory of the future will be operated by machines that communicate autonomously amongst themselves. Self-regulating and self-monitoring condition monitoring systems will emerge. Condition reports on individual factory components will be analysed and interpreted before a response is sent to the overall system. This could reach a stage where production systems autonomously order spare parts before a component fails.
Future products and their manufacture will be planned and simulated almost exclusively on a virtual level, dramatically reducing development and commissioning times.
Another trend will be the efficient use of energy and raw materials in production and the low cost adaptation of product features to local needs. The Design to Recycle approach will plan for the recyclability of valuable raw materials recovered at the end of a product life cycle. Internal production waste will undergo even more targeted recycling, not only to meet stricter legal rules and regulations but also to recover and save valuable raw materials.
A further issue was the use of energy. Against a backdrop of exponentially rising global energy needs and a finite supply of easily accessible oil and gas resources, new mining and drilling technologies will be required to exploit payable deposits and fields.
With the rising cost of energy, the efficiency of methods used to transport oil and gas will have greater importance. Modern, safe, energy-efficient drive technology will be needed to equip pipelines, pumps and compressor stations.
The share of renewable energy is also due to rise. Experts estimate that the wind energy market will grow by a factor of 14 in the next five years. This field will also see low maintenance, efficient drive and generator technologies increase.
In the future the entire production process will be designed with a greater focus on energy consumption, right from the early phase of product design. Consumption will be cut using energy-saving components such as highly efficient motors.
Trendts project leader Klaus Pache believes the study shows the way forward for R&D projects at Siemens Drive Technologies: “We are already on the right track. From being trend scouts, we are turning into trendsetters,” he says.
Siemens now aims to use the insights gained from the study to target new investment with a view to sustaining the company’s success.
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