Climate control is in hot demand, as they experience every day at Rensen, specialist in measurement and control technology for building automation. Despite continued price increases, sales and execution are under pressure. The component shortage that emerged last year only increases the challenge of completing projects on time. itsme supports this by monitoring delivery times from the start of a project, finding alternatives if necessary and optimising inventory management. “I’m here almost every week now.”

Installing a powder coating and anodisation system that is not only more efficient, but also far more sustainable: that was the aim of the FOX or ‘Flash Oxidation’ project at the Lummen-based aluminium coater Alural. Siemens partners Breemes and IE Tech took care of supplying energy to the new installation using a Sivacon S4 power distribution board. Thanks to strong partnerships, the project was practically flawless.

Mars Food in Olen, Belgium, produces dry rice in an energy-intensive process. Because of the Mars commitment to sustainability combined with the pressure of rising energy prices, energy is a hot item. Breemes contributes to energy savings on different fronts, from frequency inverters for more efficient electric motor operation to lighting studies for an energy-efficient and safe working environment.

Compressed air is ‘expensive energy’, especially if an installation has a lot of leaks. However, companies often pay little attention to compressed air as an expense and source of CO2 emissions. From a finance and CSR perspective, this means that they’re missing opportunities. Grinding disc manufacturer Saint-Gobain Abrasives took up the gauntlet and had itsme perform an ultrasonic test. This resulted in an overview of leaks and areas of potential savings. The company has already fixed most of the leaks and is now, once again with itsme, looking into electrifying certain drives. That will mean less wear, but moreover reduced costs, since electricity is cheaper than air.

At Ronetic, “using fewer hands” is the most important issue for customers. It means automation and robotisation, though preferably in a manageable and affordable way, so the trick is to keep a hold over how complex the technology is. This can be done by setting up the control in a clear and organised way, for example, and by combining components where possible. For centralised control, itsme recommended a new I/O system from Festo with an integrated valve island.

DHL Aviation in Brussels Airport invests heavily in training and education in order to improve knowledge levels internally and its position on the labour market externally. Breemes contributes to this with a foundation course in PLC for maintenance technicians. The knowledge they gain from this helps them in matters such as programming operations in a more energy-efficient way. As well as this, DHL Aviation is also looking at other courses, such as the Profibus malfunction solution course, that Breemes runs. The sustainable, malfunction-free collaboration is discussed here below.

These days, soft, medium or hard has become a championship question. While for Belgian-Dutch Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen it will mean tyres, Radium Foam in Maastricht is dealing with a similar question involving the production of pillows. The pillows they make come in three varieties: soft, medium and firm. For that distinction to be done properly during production, the raw materials need to be dispensed very accurately – itsme was able to recommend a very suitable solution for this in the form of Siwarex WP251 weighing electronics from Siemens.

The Qprint Osona company turned to itsme ELEKTRES with the idea of introducing a robot to their teams that would help to ease the loading process and adapt to the company’s characteristics

At Yerseke Engine Services, or YES, providing excellent service is at the heart of everything they do. And in a world where downtime means decline, that’s just how it should be, since every day that a ship is not in operation is incredibly costly. Working effectively and efficiently then become key concepts. YES purchases the components for their electrical control cabinets in the form of kits – packages specifically tailored to the customer – from itsme. For a company that is on standby for the shipping industry 24/7, this working method is a perfect fit.

No less than 4 billion litres of drinking water per year. With this capacity, the brand new water treatment plant of Farys, the drinking water company, can, in the first phase, supply the Flemish municipalities of Ostend and Middelkerke. Due to an innovative technique that makes brackish water suitable for consumption, ‘draining water to the sea’ is no longer the norm for this coastal region. The complete electrical installation and instrumentation was designed and executed by Digi-Flow. Partner itsme Breemes assisted them with technical product know-how.

When it comes to developing and building traffic control installations (VRIs), Ko Hartog Verkeerstechniek is a good acquaintance of the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management and of municipal and provincial highway authorities in the Netherlands. For a number of years now, companies in England have also been finding their way to Heerhugowaard. What started as a test, has grown into a huge success. itsme was involved in that development from the very beginning.

Forcada Instalaciones has specialised in bespoke automation, for which they have sought a reliable supplier they could work with as a team to provide the most efficient solutions.

Although the provisioning of care homes is often well organised, on the flip side there is sometimes still room for improvement, especially where hygiene processes are concerned. With that in mind, Jop van Haaren, director and owner of Less2Care from Raalte, set out to work ten years ago. The result? The VacuSan: an automated solution for the safe vacuum sealing and disposal of used incontinence materials. The electronic parts of the operating system are delivered as a kit – a customer-specific package – by itsme. “As a customer you don’t need to worry about it anymore.”

Design and delivery of industrial turnkey projects, automation of operating systems; Mario Claes, owner of Etec Systems in Balen \(Belgium\), has been drawing on a continuously growing source of experience since fourteen years now. Each situation reveals unique challenges. Each solution contributes to an ever expanding range of knowledge

Spandauer Velours’ production focuses on high-quality velour and plush fabrics for the paint roller and cleaning industries as well as modern velours fabrics for the commercial sector. A retrofit is a testament to the company’s commitment to quality. Machinery Drives ACS880-M04 by ABB control the application.

Every single day, both small and medium-sized companies are faced with the challenge of reasserting their position in value chains. They mostly accomplish this through customised solutions, produced by using special machinery. Against this background, it is vital to increase the flexibility and speed of maintenance performance, as demonstrated by a joint project between AL-KO DÄMPFUNGSTECHNIK GMBH and itsme Schultz+Erbse.

On the outskirts of Hengelo-Zuid tons of waste are given a new purpose each year. Through incineration, separation and composting, energy and raw materials are extracted and find their way back to society. With the heat that is released during incineration, Twence generates enough power to provide half of all households in the Twente \(region in the Eastern Netherlands\) with electricity. In order to guarantee the continuity of all the plants, operators carry out regular inspection rounds in the installations, so good visibility is important. In switching from fluorescent lighting to LED, Twence enlisted the help of itsme.

Along the E313, in the Belgian town of Paal Beringen, the Moderna Printing building stands out day and night. And rightly so, because inside, a three-shift team takes care of a gigantic amount of printed matter 24 hours a day, five days a week. The possibilities are very diverse, from advertising brochures and glossy magazines to sleekly designed travel brochures. Moderna Printing recently invested in an expansion. By building a new hall and with new state-of-the-art machinery the company focuses on an improved fulfilment of their customers’ wishes. The lighting, of course, could not be neglected. itsme Breemes was engaged to offer some customised lighting advice.

Every machine leaving the factory in Dokkum, Friesland \(the Netherlands\) is the result of a specific customer request. The team at De Jager RVS translates such ideas into final designs that fit in perfectly with practice. Their specialisation? Building customised machines in which stainless steel plays the leading role. This was the case when a large dairy producer asked them for a vertical transport solution. The choice of a pneumatic actuator was an easy one. In order to get everything that was connected with this critical application right in one go, they invited itsme and Festo to the design table. “You want to integrate a bit of security for yourself.”

eReM provided complete electrical installation for new shipyard in Kenya Sometimes a project seems to have been arranged from front to back. But what if you are asked at the very last minute to show what your company is capable of? At eReM in Zwijndrecht, the Netherlands, they know all about it. In part thanks to a rock-solid offer they convinced their end customer – an internationally operating Dutch shipbuilder – to come on board with them. And in this case literally because, as it concerned the installation of the entire electrical system of a new shipyard in Kenya, the components were shipped by sea freight. Their main challenge? In the preliminary phase everything had to be 100% correct. This required thorough preparation in which eReM could count on support from itsme.

TES Industrial Systems about innovating and collaborating At TES Industrial systems, all expertise in electrotechnical drive technology is gathered under one roof: from assembly, engineering and panel building to commissioning, service and after sales. But what drives the organisation itself? “We are forward-looking. But with respect for the past.” TES Industrial Systems and itsme about the strength of collaboration.

Improved visibility enhances safety and work comfort Precast concrete flooring systems for residential and non-residential construction. At Dycore they know all about it. Adequate lighting in both production and transferring of these floors is essential. Safety comes first, closely followed by the avoidance of damage. Jos de Laat, head of the Technical Department at Dycore Breda, explains that as a specialist they like to focus exclusively on concrete floors, with other affairs being regularly outsourced. “For our lighting, I rely on itsme’s specialism.”

Companies in the process industry depend on their processes running uninterrupted, around the clock, seven days a week. This is particularly true when life forms such as bacteria or micro-organisms are part of those processes. The example of biogas production shows how expensive a disruption can be and how smart technical advice can bring the systems back online.

In a time when the world, and therefore also the shipping industry, virtually came to a standstill, Dutch company TULLP introduces an important innovation. Over a period of more than four years they have embraced a new PLC that controls the fuel filters of seagoing vessels. By introducing it now, they want to send a signal. Sjoerd Kivits, service manager at TULLP: “Despite all the setbacks of the corona situation we simply went on developing. In the past year, people only received recons – patched up units. It is really cool that we have now made something entirely new.”