기계 및 플랜트 엔지니어링이 결정적인 역할을 하는 이유

기계 공학은 산업의 생태적 전환에서 중심적인 역할을 합니다. 선견지명을 가지고 생산 시설을 설계하면 생태 발자국을 최소화하고 자원을 절약하며 에너지 소비를 줄일 수 있습니다. 재료의 정확한 사용, 재활용성 및 모듈성은 시스템의 서비스 수명을 늘리고 순환 경제를 향한 중요한 단계입니다. 디지털 기술은 자원 절약형 생산을 지원하는 데이터 기반 의사 결정을 가능하게 합니다.

유럽 및 국제적 차원의 정치적 프레임워크 상황으로 인해 업계는 지속가능성에 대해 보다 면밀히 검토해야 할 필요성을 느끼고 있습니다. 유엔의 SDGs(Sustainable Development Goals)는 글로벌 지속 가능한 개발을 위한 포괄적인 프레임워크를 제공하며, 이 목표 중 일부는 특히 산업에 초점을 맞추고 있습니다. 유럽에서는 European Green Deal과 CSRD(Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive)가 지속 가능성 보고의 투명성과 책임을 강화하는 핵심 동력이 되고 있습니다.

Political framework conditions for sustainable automation

This political framework also has an indirect influence on machine and system building. Manufacturing companies need to improve their sustainability balance and will have to pay more attention in the future to ensuring that their machines and systems are efficient in terms of their energy and resource consumption.

Important principles and guidelines at a glance:

Energy efficiency guidelines: The European Green Deal, which aims to achieve climate neutrality in the EU by 2050, includes measures to improve energy efficiency. The EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) requires a comprehensive analysis of the energy consumption of technical systems.

Circular economy principles: The German Circular Economy Act (KrWG) and the EU Waste Framework Directive promote product longevity and optimised recycling processes. This means that machine builders and engineers need to make sure that the components used are manufactured with as few resources as possible, for example from recycled aluminium. When planning machines and systems, a modular design can make it easier to recycle the system.

The product carbon footprint: In machine building, the product carbon footprint (PCF) plays a decisive role in determining the CO₂ footprint of products. It records greenhouse gas emissions throughout the entire product lifecycle, from extracting the raw materials to disposing of them. It helps engineers plan machines and systems with the lowest possible CO₂ footprint in the manufacturing phase.

Digital product passport of the EU: The EU's Digital Product Passport (DPP) is a future digital data set that will contain all the information about the lifecycle of a product. It includes details such as materials, origin, environmental impact, reparability and disposal options. The aim of the DPP is to promote transparency and sustainability in the EU market by providing information on the entire value chain. This makes it easier for engineers and machine builders to understand the sustainability balance of drives and other components.

The most important adjustments in system building

Sustainability is a complex issue that is determined by extensive political framework conditions, regulations and new requirements for manufacturing companies. How can these new requirements be applied in machine and system building?

What really counts:

• Designing the system: A well thought-out, modular design enables easier repairability and maintenance, helping to avoid unnecessary waste. The ability to simply reuse or replace individual components extends the service life of the system, while also promotingsustainability.

• Modern control concepts: They use sensors to record and analyse machine data. This enablesvarious automation processes to be optimised, such as fitting a PCB. These optimised processes can be tracked using monitoring functions such as those provided by Festo AX.

• Scalability and flexibility: Systems should be designed in a scalable and flexible way so they can be adapted to fluctuating output quantities and new production steps. Expanding a system with additional components means it can be used more efficiently. This provides the necessary flexibility so that the system can be adapted to changing requirements and equipped with new functions at a later date.

• Component selection: Taking the product carbon footprint (PCF) into account is important when selecting components for any sustainable system design. For example, using bioplastics, recycled aluminium and small and lightweight construction methods reduce the system's environmental impact and product carbon footprint, and extends its service life. This will allow them to continue producing for decades and lead to a longer operating time. Although carrying out life cycle analyses is not the direct responsibility of the designers, they need to apply the specifications of the relevant experts.

• Energy-efficient drives: Choosing the optimum drive technology is crucial for developing sustainable production machines. Experienced machine builders know that there is no universal energy-saving drive system; instead, the choice depends on the specific requirements of each system. In order to design sustainable automation solutions, it is important to be familiar with the advantages of pneumatic and electric drives and their possible applications.

Designing sustainable production plants requires various elements to be carefully coordinated. From modular designs and modern control technologies to the choice of efficient drives, every step improves the efficiency and service life of the system.

Conclusion

Machine and system builders play a crucial role in making industry more sustainable by designing machines and production plants to be efficient. All aspects of sustainability, from planning to operation and disposal of the systems, must be taken into account and optimised by selecting suitable drives, components and open-loop controllers.

Sustainably designed automation is a key to making industrial production fit for the future. This helps manufacturing companies to achieve their sustainability goals and contributes to protecting the environment for future generations.