Think about safety at the outset to boost productivity and OEE

摘要

Too often when it comes to machine design, safety is addressed towards the end of the product. But by integrating safety into the design and development from the outset, machine builders can create machines that will offer improved performance and reduced downtime. In this article we talk to Rockwell Automation Solution Architect -Safety Paul Davies about how machine builders can turn machinery safety into a real competitive advantage. With seemingly constantly updated and increasingly stringent legislation, advances in technology, combined with the very real threat of prosecution by HSE, machinery safety is becoming a more and more complex issue with each passing year. And for many machine builders, it can start to feel as though the safety aspect - vitally important though it may be - is actually compromising machine performance. But it doesn't have to be that way. Regardless of the level of complexity of the machine, if you think about safety from the outset and make it an integral part of the design and development phases of the machine rather than something you build on at the end when the control strategy is already set in stone, then you can actually increase performance. Further, you can access design and validation tools and diagnostics that can help to reduce development and time to market, increase uptime, and so enable customers to raise their OEE figures.