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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

Often, talking about custom solutions means talking about innovation. In these cases, there is a specific need that requires a new development or the adaptation of solutions already out there. It is necessary to study the requirements in depth in order to provide the most efficient solution.

From fresh pineapple to bite-size portions of fruit in a resealable bucket. The Piñabar makes it possible in less than 20 seconds. For a customer in a supermarket it is just a matter of pressing a button. For Pierre van de Braak, director at Dutch International Manufacturing \(DIM\) and the inventor of the Piñabar, a complex process preceded it. Being a machine manufacturer, he got support from Schneider Electric, S2 and itsme for the electrotechnical section of the machine.

How does an organisation ensure the transition from start-up to scale-up to go smoothly? For fast-growing Kind Technologies the answer partly lay in scalability: not only growing fast, but above all efficiently and smartly. Together with Rittal and itsme they took a closer look at the production process of their enclosures. By partially outsourcing the assembly work, the lead time has been reduced from four weeks to just one week.

A company that is one of the oldest in its sector must be able to prove its flexibility on an ongoing basis. In the example of Chemiewerk Bad Koestritz this is guaranteed through the interplay of research and development with flexible plant engineering and automation, as well as through the consistent use of professional development opportunities.

Good feedback enhances every result. The same applies to the itsme Group’s new web platform for which customers shared their experiences during the testing phase. One of them is Jurgen Janssens of ECJ Automation from Gierle, Belgium. At the request of itsme Breemes he went through, and tested the platform before it went live. “Functionality comes first. And that has been well thought out with this platform.”

The smelting of aluminium requires breaking through a thick crust of cryolite, countless times in a row, at high temperatures. For Damco Aluminium Delfzijl Coöperatie \(Aldel\) therefore, using an ordinary cylinder was not an option. This in contrast with the new crust-breaker. Designed by IMI Norgren and supplied by itsme, this cylinder will last for years and is good for many breakings through.

Headquartered in Sint-Truiden, Belgium, with production lines in Germany, Mexico, China and Romania, VCST is one of the world’s largest manufacturers and suppliers for the automotive industry. It is part of the Belgian BMT Group, with business in various industries, in all corners of the world.

itsme Technical Support is there for all your questions about industrial automation. Product specialists look into the problem along with the customer and share their thoughts with them; be it at the head office in the Netherlands or at the offices abroad. Feel free to call it a challenge in this rapidly changing world to have all the knowledge at the ready, but that’s what it is all about for his team, says itsme’s William van Heel.

Johnson&Johnson puts the environment first in their Healthy Future 2015 program. itsme Lighting Technology supports the realisation of concrete targets in the fields of CO2 redustion, energy saving and personal safety. itsme Lighting Technology developed a lighting plan and set up a demo for both buidling, as well as outdoor lighting.

Efficiency comes with insight. The Compost Bag Company also knows that from the Belgian city of Herent, where it supplies the world with compostable foils and bags. Together with Breemes, the company selected for two of its own production lines for the latest control technology from Siemens. And so it benefits from real-time monitoring, the right decision time and time again.

Imagine how valuable it would be if what you learned fits seamlessly into your every day practice – and when you are able to apply that new knowledge directly to your own projects. At Selo in Hengelo they can tell you all about it.

Due to the sector’s continuous and rapid evolution, providing technicians with specific, top-quality training like that offered by itsme ELEKTRES has become imperative.

The project that Marius Nodiș, cobot specialist at ES Elektro Romania, is currently working on, is likely to become the missing link between the manufacturers of collaborative robots and their end beneficiaries. When an industrial company buys one, or 10, or 100 collaborative robots, it receives an instruction manual for each of them.

Which lighting is ergonomically the best? Which is the most economical and most sustainable? These are very relevant questions for the Smet Group now that the company is building a completely new workshop on its own site in Dessel, Belgium, for the Electromechanics division of Smet GWT Europe. This notwithstanding, there is no lack of insight into light, partly thanks to the visit the company paid with Breemes to Philips’ Lighting Application Center: LAC.