Why did Siemens propose the "Fully Integrated Drive System ” concept? What is the specific meaning of this concept? What significance does the proposal of this concept have for the development of drive technology in China? What kind of value will this new concept bring to Chinese industrial users? Mr. Lin Bin, General Manager of the Drive Technology Group at Siemens (China) Co., Ltd., was interviewed.

From a broad perspective, drive products refer to products in industrial production that convert one form of energy into another (for example, electrical energy into mechanical energy) to drive production equipment or production line equipment or systems. These include industrial motors, frequency converters, servos, mechanical transmissions, CNC systems, etc. Drive products have become an indispensable and important part of modern automated production lines.

As a supplier of industrial product system integration, Siemens once launched the concept of fully integrated automation TIA Portal, aiming to establish an engineering technology platform that enables industrial users to quickly and intuitively develop and debug automation control systems. 2012 At the end of the year, Siemens' fully integrated automation software platform TIA The latest version of the Portal added new functions for integrated drive technology. Integrating drive technology into TIA Portal is a milestone in the development of automation and drive technology. Against this background, Siemens proposed the " Fully Integrated Drive System ” concept.

Q: According to a report by Roland Berger Management Consulting, as an Asian giant, China has replaced the United States as the world's largest market for automation and drive products. In your opinion, what urgent needs do Chinese industrial users currently have for drive technology?

Lin Bin: In the post-economic crisis era, China continues to develop at an annual growth rate of up to 8%. China’s 2013 new government is vigorously promoting urbanization construction. Urbanization first drives infrastructure investment, and industries such as steel, cement, building materials, and machinery will usher in a new round of growth. In China, these manufacturing enterprises urgently need to shorten production time and reduce costs through innovative system integration, thereby improving productivity, enhancing energy efficiency in production, and comprehensively improving enterprise competitiveness.

After the economic crisis, China's industrial economic structure adjustment became obvious, shifting from the previous "extensive ” economic development model to a " intensive ” economic development model. This will inevitably lead to increased market demand for high-performance mid-range and high-end drive products, while the growth rate of the low-end drive market will gradually decline. In addition, to improve the performance of production equipment and production lines, it is often not just a matter of a single drive product, but the overall coordinated operation of the entire drive system and automation system. Therefore, the horizontal collaborative work of various drive products will become increasingly important.

Q: How do you understand the the "Fully Integrated Drive System ” ( IDS ) concept? ?

Lin Bin: For the Fully Integrated Drive System, Siemens adopts a triple integration scheme: First, horizontal integration of the drive chain from the gearbox to the motor and frequency converter. In China, the procurement of drive technology for transmissions separates electrical and mechanical technologies. This new concept integrates the electrical and mechanical components of the transmission system, ensuring perfect coordination of all components. Data shows that in conveyor belt applications, this horizontal integration can keep the system operating normally to the maximum extent, reducing downtime, with system availability reaching 99%. Second, this drive chain can be vertically integrated along the fully integrated automation TIA control system: along the engineering information flow, based on fully integrated automation (TIA) , achieving integration of the drive system and control system all the way to the manufacturing execution system MES IT Siemens' fully integrated automation software platform TIA Portal's latest version added new functions for integrated drive technology. The new version of TIA Portal enables users to efficiently debug and configure the Sinamics Startdrive V12 for the Sinamics G120 series frequency converters. Only by achieving seamless integration of drive technology into the automation software platform can a comprehensive and efficient digital factory engineering be completed. TIA Portal has given us this capability, allowing us to stand out from many competitors in the integration field. Integration of the drive system with the TIA system can greatly reduce factory production system configuration time by up to 30%. Third, Siemens achieves full lifecycle integration of the drive system through services and software, especially in the design and operation phases. The full lifecycle of industrial production includes product design, production planning, engineering configuration, production implementation, and service. Through the Fully Integrated Drive System, equipment maintenance costs can be reduced. 15%。

Q: What benefits can solutions developed based on this concept bring to customers? Can you provide some specific application cases?

Lin Bin: The advantages this concept brings to customers are very obvious: with the Fully Integrated Drive System, through triple integration, the best configuration of electrical drive solutions that can meet almost all industry needs can be achieved. Using the Fully Integrated Drive System, one can "one-stop ” achieve perfect coordination among various components. It further simplifies design, planning, engineering configuration, operation, and maintenance work.

The Fully Integrated Drive System forms the basis for the highest availability and investment protection and can reduce the full lifecycle costs of various performance levels.

WISCO Group's Kunming Steel New District No. 1 Blast Furnace adopted Siemens' Fully Integrated Drive System.

For example, Siemens provided the Fully Integrated Drive System for the No. 1 blast furnace blower project of Kunming Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. Kunming Steel initiated the project in 2008 year with an investment of 160 billion yuan to build in the Caopu New District. 2500m3 Blast furnace system for ironmaking. Kunming Steel New District 1 The blast furnace ironmaking blower uses Siemens Simotics Large synchronous motor with a rated power of 40000kw , with a speed of 1500 rpm. The motor start uses Siemens Sinamics GL150 medium voltage soft starter frequency converter, thus avoiding unbearable impact on the power grid when starting the synchronous motor. In the entire drive system, this project also uses an input side 1500 rpm, output side 5440 rpm Siemens Flender speed-increasing gearbox. This speed ensures the blower absorbs enough air and outputs the required rated value.

Customer benefits:
- The drive system runs smoothly, with system equipment utilization greater than 99%- Improved equipment reliability.
- System commissioning and configuration time only takes 25 days - Improved efficiency.
- Greatly reduces the number of spare parts, and staff technical training time only takes one week - Cost reduction.

Question: In China, how do customers purchase fully integrated drive systems?

Lin Bin ': Our sales engineers will select suitable components from the rich range of fully integrated drive system products, correctly combine and assemble them, and optimally realize the customer's application. Siemens operates this system as a " one-stop supplier ” to fully meet all the requirements that the drive system must satisfy throughout its application lifecycle.

Question: Are there other providers offering such fully integrated drive systems, or is Siemens the only company that can provide such systems?

Lin Bin: No other company has as rich a product range as Siemens. Since Siemens acquired Flender in 2005, it has gradually integrated it, and now can provide users with solutions suitable for all power ranges from frequency converters, motors, couplings to gearboxes in the drive product line. A few other providers have the ability to integrate multiple drive components. However, no company can challenge Siemens in the field of automation product lines, let alone in combined products such as industrial software and services.

Lin Bin

General Manager of Drive Technology Group, Industrial Business Sector, Siemens (China) Ltd.

Mr. Lin Bin joined Siemens (China) Ltd. in 1997 as a regional manager in the low voltage department. Before joining Siemens, he worked at Philips.

2000 Year 10 Month, Mr. Lin Bin served as General Manager of Standard Drives at Siemens (China) Ltd. Automation and Drives Group.

2005 Year 5 Month, Mr. Lin Bin began serving as General Manager of the South China region of the Automation and Drives Group, and after three and a half years, became General Manager of the East China region.

2010 At the beginning of the year, Mr. Lin Bin served as General Manager of Siemens CNC (Nanjing) Ltd. and General Manager of the Standard Products Business Sector.

2012 Year 10 From Month, Mr. Lin Bin has served as General Manager of the Drive Technology Group, Industrial Business Sector, Siemens (China) Ltd.