KROHNE and SAMSON have entered into a joint venture under the name FOCUS-ON. The focus is on developing autonomously operating products for the process industry. The joint venture is located in Dordrecht, where the smart process technology products will be made.
Press conference KROHNE and SAMSON introduced the joint venture FOCUS-ON on September 19 during a press conference at SAMSON's ultra-modern R&D center in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. KROHNE and SAMSON have equal shares in the company.
Cooperation The basis for FOCUS-ON arises from the many years of cooperation between both companies in various marketing projects and events worldwide. The expansion into a strategic collaboration in process instrumentation and the establishment of a joint venture was initiated by CEOs Stephan Neuburger, KROHNE and Dr. Andreas Widl, SAMSON. “In the era of digitalization, leading innovations can only be achieved through collaboration,” says Widl with conviction, “and here two partners work together confidently and at eye level.” “We brought our ideas together and from this FOCUS-ON was born. This new company combines our innovative approaches to decentralized control and predictive maintenance and is the first product to deliver the smart autonomously operating valve,” Neuburger adds.
Artificial intelligence and diagnostics The motivation for the collaboration is explained by Dr. Thomas Steckenreiter, CTO SAMSON: “With FOCUS-ON we are taking a decisive step towards an autonomous factory that can produce autonomously and optimize autonomously at the same time.” His CTO counterpart at KROHNE, Dr. Attila Bilgic, adds: “The development of the adaptive control function was only a first step. More important is the integration of diagnostic functions and artificial intelligence. Our autonomous innovation knows its current state, can predict future conditions, is able to learn and adapt to applications.”
Three functions The smart control valve combines three functions: sensor, corrective device and control/diagnosis. In the pipe, the smart field instrument measures, among other things, the flow rate, temperature and pressure. In addition, the corrective body independently controls the valve function with the end goal of achieving the specified set points. “We are confident that this product significantly reduces installation complexity. Other important benefits include better and more efficient control of resources and the ability to optimize a process thanks to meaningful diagnostics. The availability of the installation can be significantly increased,” summarizes Neuburger. For example, the integrated measuring sensors for flow, temperature and pressure allow the device to recognize and predict cavitation. Increased stress and wear of the valve and pipes can be avoided or significantly reduced. This means that installations can be used uninterruptedly and without downtime for a longer period of time.
Sale Sales of the smart, autonomously operating valve are expected to start in the first quarter of 2020.
More information: Website FOCUS-ON
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