'We bring people, market and technology together'

The manufacturing industry is evolving rapidly due to various trends. Lenze is therefore bringing people, market and technology together in an in-house event: The Pace of Automation - drive the opportunities. "The goal is to connect people, market and technology. The industry faces many challenges. That is why it is important to put our heads together and turn them into opportunities to create a win-win situation," states Marc Vissers, Marketing and Communications manager at Lenze EMEA-West.

"The manufacturing industry has been dealing with several trends for some time, the result of which is that gross margins are under pressure and are holding back or even decreasing growth in many industries," Vissers said. "Globally, changes in geopolitical situations, increasing international competition, cybersecurity measures and severe shortages of a well-trained workforce are severely testing companies' competitiveness. But there are also bright spots on the horizon, as the upcoming Cyber Resilience Act should take IT security in Europe to the next level. In addition, new business models are emerging through smart digitalization solutions, which, however, need to be implemented by a rapidly shrinking number of OT and IT specialists. Decarbonization and sustainability are higher and higher on the agenda and the availability of resources is no longer a given. In short: it is time to bring people, market and technology together and to take action. Lenze will organize an in-house event in 's Hertogenbosch from September 24 to October 4, which will deal with the above and has the motto: The Pace of Automation - drive the opportunities. The Dutch-speaking market can meet us and each other to share knowledge on these topics."

Smart customization

Vissers already hints at the program. "Both in terms of digitization, automation and mechatronics, we will cover various topics. Smart customization, an important topic, is one of them. It is becoming increasingly important to organize your products and processes in a smart way so that you can respond to specific customer requirements with little effort. With business talks and interactive sessions, we want to give the market the opportunity to discuss and exchange information with us and each other. The goal, of course, is to come out of this stronger together."

Automation

Under the theme of automation, the focus will be on the future in automation, as well as what is possible with data from controls, AI and web-based technology. Edwin Dobbelsteen, sales manager Netherlands at Lenze: "Cybersecurity will also get plenty of attention. Think about the cyber resilience act and what you have to comply with nowadays in terms of laws and regulations. Here it is not only necessary to know what is going on in the field of technology, but also to have knowledge of the solutions and approach to situation in the organizations themselves. We show, in addition to a glimpse into the future, plenty of solutions that are already available today."

Knowledge and experience

In terms of mechatronics, Lenze zooms in on an innovative motor roller concept, new IE5/IE7 motor drive systems and the future of the Drive platform. Vissers: "Lenze celebrated its 75th anniversary as recently as 2022. We have accumulated a lot of experience over the past decades and use it to offer customers future-oriented solutions. We do this both with products in the OT area and with various digitalization solutions in the IT area. Around this, we also address the sustainability, cyber and servitization issue that is becoming increasingly important." Dobbelsteen: "We want during The Pace of Automation - drive the opportunities not only to share our knowledge, but above all to debate with each other. We think interaction is very important, allowing us to learn from each other."

Man, technology and market

People are central to these developments, Vissers concludes. "It is not only important to highlight the technology, but also the market and people. Knowledge is crucial to remain distinctive. That's why knowledge sharing is so important, also with other sectors, as the market is becoming increasingly multidisciplinary. Technologies are increasingly being applied in multiple sectors thanks to cross-pollination. And we also want to realize that cross-pollination during our in-house event."