Leuze electronic wins at handling award 2019

After winning the GIT Security Award 2019 and Best-of-Industry-Award 2019, Leuze electronic also impressed at the handling award 2019 with its Smart Process Gating (SPG) muting process, which functions without any signal-emitting sensors.

Owen, October 9, 2019 – This year marked the sixth time that the editorial staff of the ‘handling’ publication awarded the handling award. More than 80 applications from manufacturers of mechanical, electrical, and mechatronic solutions for industrial automation were submitted to the expert jurors. Outstanding technologies in the fields of handling and assembly technology, linear systems, lifting and industrial trucks, transport and conveying systems, storage technology, intralogistics as well as logistics software, warehouse systems, drives and automation components were recognized in four different categories.

In the “Automation” category, Leuze electronic’s new Smart Process Gating (SPG) process ranked second place. The expert jury made their decision already at the end of July. All participating companies were informed of the results on October 8 at the Stuttgart Trade Fair. The festive award ceremony was held during the Motek trade fair. Leuze electronic is pleased with this latest award after having already been awarded first place twice for its SPG principle, which is based on the company’s MLC safety light curtains. In 2019, Leuze electronic won both the GIT Security Award and the Best-of-Industry-Award for its SPG principle.

The SPG process makes access guarding with material transport more cost-efficient, simpler, and safer. The new process is used for material flows in the intralogistics as well as in the automotive industry, among other things. There, material locks on conveyor lines often need to be safeguarded against unauthorized access by means of optical safety sensors. Previously, muting processes with muting sensors were required in order to clearly identify when transported goods are approaching a protective field and to bridge the passing of these goods through the protective field at the correct moment. The Smart Process Gating developed by Leuze electronic is an innovative alternative, and it eliminates entirely the need for signal-emitting sensors. Based on the MLC safety light curtains, conveyor systems can thus be made more compact. The risk of misalignment or damage to the sensors is eliminated as are the costs for their maintenance and servicing. Furthermore, the purchasing costs, the wiring and risk of manipulation are reduced which increases the availability of the safety device and overall system. With SPG, the first muting signal comes from the process control (PLC), while the second muting signal is generated by the protective field itself. Smart Process Gating requires a detailed knowledge of the process so that the necessary PLC control signals are made available in the expected time window. The MLC 530 safety light curtain variant with SPG is TÜV-certified for safety. The achievable performance level of the solution is attained in conjunction with the system control that is used: PL d (with standard control) or PL e (with safety control). In addition to novelty and innovation, the evaluation criteria for the ranking are customer benefits, sustainability, and the marketability of the submitted applications.