SIX TRENDS SHAPING THE INDUSTRY OF THE FUTURE Hubertus Breier, Board Member for Technology and Innovation, LAPP
Products, processes and services constantly need to become faster and better to keep up with the growing needs of industry. As part of this rapid growth, connectivity solutions are being put to the test.
T
echnology experts at LAPP see six key trends that will shape the industry.
1. Direct current (DC) technology
DC technology will make an important contribution to the success of the energy transition and to greater sustainability. This is because experts have established that the use of DC grids significantly reduces energy consumption in existing systems by avoiding conversion stages. The need for copper for the three/four-core DC cables and AC-DC converter devices is also reduced. DC grids in factories also contribute to a lower peak power at the supply connection to the grid and reduce the load here. LAPP has therefore prioritised the development of cables and wires for low-voltage DC grids for industrial applications and already has a large portfolio of connection solutions for industrial DC grids. Collaboration between LAPP and Fraunhofer IPA has led to the development of a scalable DC network concept for a produc-
tion site expansion in France, for example. This increases efficiency and enables the integration of PV systems for sustainable grid concepts. This pioneering conceptual work supports the transformation of the factory power supply towards direct current and promotes efficiency and sustainability. With Australia being one of the leading countries globally for solar panels, there is huge opportunity for industry to capitalise on solar — on factory roofs, for example — to enhance its sustainability credentials.
2. Digitalisation
181 zettabytes (that’s the number 181 followed by 21 zeros) is the forecast for the amount of digital data generated worldwide in 2025. How can this gigantic amount of data be transmitted quickly and stably? Copper cables alone cannot cope with this. The solution: light, or more precisely, fibreoptic, cables. A futureproof communication infrastructure in the factory with fibre-optic cables is therefore essential. Today, there are already implementations such as fibre-
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to-the-curb, where the fibre-optic connection is laid to the distribution box in front of the house or factory. Fibre-to-the-machine is the next logical step in order to connect the highly networked machines in the factory with sufficient data transmission capacity.
3. Single pair Ethernet (SPE)
Of course, copper-based data transmission is still the dominant solution in the industry. Since 2019, LAPP has been a member of the SPE Industrial Partner Network e.V. This association of well-known companies is a central information and exchange platform for SPE, helping the technology to achieve breakthroughs. In simple terms, the aim is to connect field-level devices (e.g., sensors or actuators) to the cloud via the Ethernet protocol, paving the way for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Ethernet Advanced Physical Layer (Ethernet-APL), which is partly based on SPE, was developed especially for demanding applications in the process industry. The
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