Be ahead with modularity –
Save time and money

component based

2

You want to leave the competition behind and get your products to the market as quickly and as

cost-effectively as possible. This requires thorough exhaustion of every potential opportunity for

economizing and efficient organization of internal procedures. Your plants should enable you to

react quickly and flexibly to changing requirements and conditions. And you always need to be

able to offer the market the most innovative solutions.

Save time and money:
Reduce time-to-market

3

The answer to rising demands:
consistent modularization

Against the background of constantly increasing pressures of more innovation and lower costs, plant

and machine constructors are depending more and more on the principle of modularization. This approach

has already proven successful in many different sectors. Much of the enormous progress in modular plant

and machine construction is based on the use of distributed intelligence. With increasing frequency,

distributed units with their own intelligent modules are taking over local automation tasks.

4

Modularization means that machines and plants can be put together to form autonomous functional

units. These intelligent functional units consist of mechanical components, control technology

and user programs which can fulfill the tasks assigned to them independently and quickly. The

individual modules communicate with one another over standardized interfaces. They can be

pretested and optimized beforehand, which in turn reduces commissioning overhead. And once

modules have been created, they can be reused whenever they are needed.

Distributed intelligence greatly enhances performance, allowing immediate local processing of

time-critical signals. Modularization also makes it possible to implement plants and machines

much more quickly and flexibly, and to adapt or expand them to meet changing demands with

considerably less overhead.

5

Exploit rationalization potential
with the building-block principle

Component Based Automation at work

10

Global company

increases the productivity of filling and

packaging lines

Fast-changing product lines in the consumer goods industry place high
demands on packaging plants. These plants must be quickly and
economically adaptable to different forms, sizes and materials. In order
to make this possible, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of fast
turnover consumer goods relies on Component Based Automation.
With our modularization concept, the software functionality
of a packaging machine can be encapsulated in standardized compo-
nents. Equipping these with a standard interface simplifies information
interchange between machines over the company Intranet. The SIMATIC
iMap engineering tool for graphical configuration also simplifies the
integration of different devices – even those made by other manufac-
turers.

Automobile manufacturer sets new standards
in plant construction

In the automotive industry,new models come onto the market at ever
decreasing intervals. The objective is thus to build flexible production
plants which can be quickly modified to suit new production series. In
response to this demand, a leading European automobile manufacturer
implemented a production plant based on Component Based Automation
which has worked faster, simpler and fault-free right from the start.
Not only did engineering and commissioning involve much less
overhead: the modularization concept also pays off during operation.
The plants are not only much easier to maintain, they are also
considerably easier to expand and modernize.

High-quality building material producer goes for more flexibility

Gravel mining demands conveyor systems which can be expanded,
modified or changed easily, quickly and economically in order to suit
new operating conditions. Ideally, this should not affect the current
production process. And that’s why a well-known Italian gravel producer
opted for Component Based Automation for his new conveyor system.
Our innovative concept using intelligent modules has fully convinced
the company specializing in the production of high-quality building
materials. It fulfills all industry-specific requirements and has a range
of advantages to offer: drastically reduced truck journeys to empty the
silos together with drastic increases in the production and simultaneous
reduction in working and downtimes. Thanks to the modular construc-
tion, individual plant sections can be added without interrupting the
current production process.

11

Component Based Automation helps you implement customized plants and machines more quickly

and more economically. Our landmark concept for modularization within the framework of Totally

Integrated Automation distributes intelligence where it is actually needed: locally. The result

is the creation of autonomous intelligent modules. And this approach allows you to profit down

the line.

Well-grounded concept with obvious
advantages: Component Based Automation

6

Shorter commissioning times thanks to
pretested modules

With Component Based Automation, you can re-
duce your commissioning overhead to an amazing
degree. All that is left to do locally is to optimize
the plant-wide interplay of the autonomous intel-
ligent modules. The modules themselves can be
pretested and optimized long beforehand. Even
extremely complex machines and plants become
easily manageable.

7

More flexibility thanks to standardization

The wishes and needs of your customers are
your top priority. The building-block principle of
Component Based Automation will give you a
flexibility you never dreamt of, because you
can combine modules any way you wish. Your
customers will profit as well, because existing
plants can be so much more easily adapted and
expanded.

Re-use optimized modules

How often does it happen that the same or very
similar automation functions are required, often
even within one and the same plant? This is where
our modularization concept really shows its worth.
With Component Based Automation, you can
re-use individual pretested, preoptimized machine
and plant modules much more easily.

Link to the management level thanks to
vertical integration

The ability of new machines and plants to be
flawlessly integrated in existing data processing
landscapes often plays a very important role.
The importance of vertical integration to customers
is on the rise. It creates the foundation for direct
access to the latest process data from the
management level, whose responsibility it is to
optimize productivity and ensure product quality.
Component Based Automation masters this
challenge: the individual modules communicate
on the basis of open standards from the IT world.

Component Based Automation is based on PROFINET, the open Industrial Ethernet automation standard from PROFIBUS

International, the user organization whose 24 regional units and 29 competence centers worldwide are largely

responsible for the headway that has been and is still being made in standardization. PROFINET enables vendor-

independent communication – whether horizontal or vertical. Plant-wide engineering and seamless PROFIBUS

integration are included.

PROFINET – The basis for
Component Based Automation

8

Use PROFIBUS devices – without modification

Component Based Automation makes it possible
to utilize not only pure Ethernet structures, but
also new or existing PROFIBUS devices (standard
slaves and intelligent devices) without any modi-
fication, and to include them in PROFINET commu-
nication on the Ethernet. This protects the invest-
ments of millions of PROFIBUS users worldwide
for the future.

Utilize the communications mechanisms
of the IT world

PROFINET enables integrated communication be-
tween different management levels. Operators
from the plant management level, for example,
have direct access to the latest process data from
the factory level. This is based on Ethernet com-
munication using established IT standards such
as TCP/IP.

One engineering tool for all applications

SIMATIC iMap is the engineering tool for
Component Based Automation. With this tool,
distributed applications can be graphically mapped
plant-wide – whoever the manufacturer. The first
truly open engineering software, SIMATIC iMap
utilizes standard mechanisms such as OPC, XML,
and ActiveX.

9

Configuring instead of programming

SIMATIC iMap dramatically reduces engineering
overhead. Instead of having to program the com-
munication links between intelligent devices in a
written programming language with all the com-
plications this entails, you simply program graphi-
cally. All you have to do is import the previously
created software components into SIMATIC iMap,
then store them in a project library. SIMATIC iMap’s
open interface allows you to store components
for all PROFINET-capable devices as library ele-
ments. The configuring engineer can then enter
these components in the communication map
using drag & drop, where they are represented
with their technological interfaces. In order to
allow full concentration on the technological
process, the mapped components are shown
without regard to the bus system.
Finally, the component inputs and outputs have
to be connected with lines – and the communica-
tion links are defined and ready to use.

Test and commission

plants online

SIMATIC iMap makes commis-

sioning as easy as pie. The only

thing left to do is to optimize the

plant-wide interplay of the various

modules. It is no longer necessary to

intervene in the software for the dif-

ferent devices and controllers. Thanks

to test and diagnostic functions, plants

can also be tested and commissioned online. This
is done solely on the basis of the graphical infor-
mation. Plant modifications can even be carried
out during commissioning without in any way
impairing the functions of the individual modules.

Subject t

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hange without prior no

tice 06/04 | Or

der No. E20001-

A90-M110-X

-7600 | DISPO 21507 | 41C8505 ML.010DS.52403 W

S

06043. | Print

ed in German

y | © Siemens A

G

2004

The information provided in this brochure contains merely general
descriptions or characteristics of performance which in actual case of
use do not always apply as described or which may change as a result
of further development of the products. An obligation to provide the
respective characteristics shall only exist if expressly agreed in the
terms of contract.

Always up to date! Fast and easy – send us a fax today

+49/911/978-3321, Infoservice AD/Z 1090

Have we aroused your interest? Would you like to learn more about the

many advantages Component Based Automation has to offer? If so, we

recommend you send for more detailed information.

Please send me:

Technical Product Brief

Latest trial version of SIMATIC iMap V2.0 on CD-ROM

www.siemens.com/cba

www.siemens.com/profinet

www.siemens.com/totally-integrated-automation

For more information, go to:

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D - 90327 Nuremberg, Germany

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