ASi-5 Safety and ASi Safety at Work – both with the option of also transmitting standard signals on the same line – plus a wide range of gateways and modules for implementing a variety of safety solutions regardless of industry or controller, as well as Safe Link for PLC-free, safe coupling and networking of ASi networks: the extensive portfolio underscores Bihl+Wiedemann’s expertise in functional safety technology. But with digitalization in mechanical and plant engineering, safety is hardly conceivable without security – that is, without protection against cyberattacks. This is also the case for the automation specialists from Mannheim (Germany).

AS-Interface has a long tradition at Schütte Schleiftechnik GmbH. Starting with the wiring of valves and standard sensors, Schütte now also implements the complete safety technology with ASi and ASi Safety solutions from Bihl+Wiedemann, in addition to connecting the entire decentralized periphery in its 105linear, 330linear and 335linear grinding machine series. And Schütte has long been keeping an eye on the future – keyword Industry 4.0 – with the integration of IO-Link sensors via ASi-5.

The digital transformation in process automation is already in full swing in many companies – especially in the chemical, pharmaceutical, food and biotechnology sectors. With ASi technology in general – and the ASi-5 portfolio from Bihl+Wiedemann in particular – digitalization can be implemented easily, cost-effectively, and future-proof. Especially since the infrastructure for data communication already exists in many places because...

In a conversation, Fabricio Granados, Director of International Sales at Bihl+Wiedemann, explains how machine builders, integrators and operators can make life easier with AS-Interface.

In times of E-commerce and digitalization, resource efficiency and sustainability orientation – to name just a few influencing considerations – the demands on logistics as a whole are becoming ever more specific and complex. This also affects intralogistics system solutions in companies – and for Bihl+Wiedemann, as a specialist in efficient wiring systems, this is reflected, among other things, in the individualization of safety-related concepts and solutions. Especially in demand today are flexible, economical and future-proof safety solutions for mobile material handling - such as Safe Link for safe networking and wireless communication as well as compact control units that can be adapted to the respective customer requirements, for example in Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV), Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) and the like.

A single unshielded, two-conductor profile cable for both standard and safety data plus power, piercing technology instead of connectors, and the highest degree of flexibility and economy: but the success story of AS-Interface is not only about the simplicity and performance of this globally standardized wiring and control technology and the resulting advantages – it also includes the promise of sustainability that ASi fulfills.

Sorting 1800 cartons per hour to the correct vehicle for further transport by parcel services requires either a considerable number of people, or a flexible and cost-effective intralogistics solution like the RIELEC Fit Sorter package sorter, which relies on ASi-5 and ASi Safety from Bihl+Wiedemann.

Material yes, people no – this distinction is what muting is all about. This safety function enables safe, automated material transport into and out of hazardous areas in stationary conveyor systems. ASi-5 Safety and the new Muting Module BWU4411 from Bihl+Wiedemann give new performance and cost advantages for this safe path through the “hole in the guard fence”.

The range of ASi-5/ASi-3 gateways that Bihl+Wiedemann has introduced in recent years leaves hardly any automation wish unfulfilled due to its numerous modular variants. The functionality is further increased by gateways with integrated ASi-5/ASi-3 safety monitor, enabling transmission and evaluation of safety-relevant data and of safe switching signals up to PLe. In this interview, André Hartmann, Head of Sales Germany at Bihl+Wiedemann, explains how the company's current gateway generation meets both automation needs up to the cloud as well as user requirements at the edge level in equal measure.

For a long time IIoT solutions used to be a distant vision for many companies. In the meantime, however, there are more and more concrete use cases in the sense of Industry 4.0. For a successful implementation, Bihl+Wiedemann offers not only a high-performance data shuttle between field level and OT and IT with their ASi-5 but also their ASi-5/ASi-3 fieldbus gateways with OPC UA interface ensure future-proof connectivity with IT systems.

Bihl+Wiedemann uses an agile process to further develop the ASi-5/ASi-3 Address Programming Device. New functions and features that are often initiated by feedback from users can in this process be implemented and tested in sprints and then made available to all users of already deployed devices using the field update function.

ASi-5 and ASi-3 are today the standard in intralogistics – especially when it comes to drive solutions for integrating roller drives, DC motors and decentral frequency inverters. Intralogistics specialist Klinkhammer from Nuremberg has teamed up with Bihl+Wiedemann to show how their safety technology not only controls and monitors conveyor lines up to SIL3/PLe, but also efficiently realizes complete safety applications for storage and retrieval machines (S/RMs) in automated high-bay warehouses.

Used as a programmable compact safety controller with wear-free electronic outputs, the Safety Basic Monitor from Bihl+Wiedemann replaces wearprone mechanical safety relays in simple, small applications. Yet at the same time, it offers the potential for much more: As an ASi Safety device it can not only process a significant number of safe signals and handle special applications, but also safely control and monitor a large number of distributed participants – either mounted in fixed installations or on mobile devices on the move – in a network via Safe Link Ethernet technology.

ASi-3 for collecting individual binary signals, ASi-5 for complex operations where high transmission speeds and data bandwidths as well as efficient device addressing are important – both technology generations form a “dream team” which is just made for material flow plants. With a new 24 V brake chopper, a new housing family which is perfect for installation in cable ducts, and the expansion of the product range to include additional drive manufactures, Bihl+Wiedemann now offers even more efficient automation solutions with AS-Interface.

Not only customers of SPAX, the world’s leading manufacturer of screws and connection technology, rely on durability, safety, quality and user friendliness. The company itself also sees these as factors which are just as elemental as future security – especially when it comes to the machines used to produce their products. Not least for these reasons the internal mechanical engineering department at SPAX, which maintains and renews the production machines - especially presses and rollers - decided for ASi and ASi-5 solutions and Bihl+Wiedemann as partner.

As simple as it is to connect devices in AS-Interface networks using the profile cable and piercing technology, so challenging could be the configuration for complex automation solutions such as zero pressure accumulation or muting. With Bihl+Wiedemann you don't notice any of this, since the user interfaces of the software products – and thereby the overall user experience – is being constantly improved. The same applies to the company’s devices such as the ASi-5 Module BWU4386 with eight IO-Link Master Ports.

Learn more about our first ASi-5/ASi-3 Fieldbus Gateways with integrated ASi-5/ASi-3 Safety Monitor, our new product family I/O Modules as well as many other product highlights and innovations in 2022.

Versatility in a product range means flexibility in the application. And if even then the technology generations – we’re talking about ASi Safety at Work and ASi-5 Safety – complement each other perfectly, then we have the best requirements for offering customers highly tailored safety solutions for the greatest number of applications and plant sizes – also from a cost and effort perspective.

Certified and ready to use, ASi-5 Safety is more than ever the simplest and most cost-effective way to collect safe and non-safe signals in the field and make them available for automation solutions. The entry level is low in terms of integration and costs, operating and work processes have become even simpler despite of a more complex technology. And with respect to the bus capacity, ASi-5 Safety as the optimal complement to ASi Safety at Work, opens up completely new horizons for the future.

Setting up buffer and accumulation units for a stationary material flow system - and implementing it regardless of the drives used, without any complex PLC programming and scalable as desired from the simple straight conveyor line to systems with multiple infeed and outfeed points to stand-alone solutions with safety technology. This is possible with Zero Pressure Accumulation (ZPA) using AS-Interface and an intuitively operable software from Bihl+Wiedemann.

Learn more about our first modules for ASi-5 Safety, ASi-5 counter modules as well as many other product highlights and innovations in 2022.

Greater data bandwidth, faster transmission speeds, expanded diagnostic – all the possibilities offered by ASi-5 as a wiring technology on the lowest field level are what many wish for when integrating ASi Safety devices as well. In the interview Bernhard Wiedemann, Managing Director of Bihl+Wiedemann in Mannheim, Germany explains how ASi-5 Safety will supplement the established technology of ASi Safety at Work.

Simplicity – this is the promise of AS-Interface. An assurance upon which ASi professionals as well as users

of the wiring technology for whom ASi-5 and ASi-3 is new territory can rely. Because Bihl+Wiedemann offers a whole range of useful tools for simple planning, installation, addressing, commissioning and diagnostics of ASi applications: software suites whose programs make planning, configuration and commissioning of ASi networks easy, a new ASi-5/ASi-3 address programming device for the best in-place user experience as well as diagnostic tools that are also suitable for release measurements and the acceptance of systems..

They are often several kilometers long – the automated material flow lines for modern material handling systems in logistic centers or in complex production environments. And always found there: all kinds of sensors, switches, measuring devices, scanners, drives, control panels and safety systems. Large stretches, many devices, both standard and safety signals as well as simple and complex tasks – ideally all within one single application. Just the environment for which the wiring technology AS-Interface has been created, with its combinable ASi-5 and ASi-3 solutions as the perfect mix for any requirement.

Less complexity, significant cost benefits and know-how in functional safety technology – all of which are strong points for the safety solutions from Bihl+Wiedemann. With passive safety the company located in Mannheim is adding another tool to their safety lineup – with the possibility to guarantee highest safety standards using SIL3 and PLe.

Tired of expensive network components requiring their own individual Ethernet connection? No time for complex planning of the

Ethernet connection with expensive and cumbersome wiring and maintenance for ports that don’t even get used? How can you justify expensive, pre-assembled cables, connectors and switches when they’re no longer necessary – keyword: significantly reduced material costs? No need for complicated commissioning or M12 cables that were ordered too short? Would you prefer cost-effective field modules that can be wired quickly and cost-efficiently in any topology, that are always up and running and whose design ensures errorless installation? Then ASi-5 is exactly right for you.