In what is claimed to be a big jump in terms of technology and ease of configuration as well as usage, Siemens has introduced Simatic S7 1500 controller and an updated version of TIA portal

It is quite rare for a company to bet on a audio visual presentation that extends well beyond what the people have to say about a new product the company is launching. Moving beyond the usual practice of product presentation read out by one, or more senior executives, often in charge of rightly positioning the product so that it succeeds, Siemens chose to let a 3D film do the job. Well worth the effort, the film, watched by wearing 3D glasses, highlighted the challenges a modern, highly competitive plant environment offers for line integrators as well as production managers. The pressure the plant managers are under to increase production, and in the process enable the company to achieve higher profitability. The film highlighted how the new Simatic S7 1500 controller and the updated (Totally Integrated Automation) TIA portal help plant managers and senior executives to achieve their goals. The capability of the new generation of controllers, and the high performance and efficiency they promise. Numerous benefits such as integrated motion control, plant security, and safety applications they offer. Aimed at medium and high-end machine and plant automation, the Simatic S7 1500 represents greater efficiency through its innovative design that enables simple commissioning and safe operation, by the configurable diagnostic functions that provide the plant status, and by the integration into the TIA portal for simple engineering and low project costs.

With superior overall performance, technology, security, safety and system performance, further developments, to improve efficiency, have been made specifically in areas of design and handling, system diagnosis, and engineering, in sync with the TIA portal. Speaking on the sidelines of the show, Jan Dommisse, Regional Manager, India Business Development (Simatic), Siemens, said, "India is an important part of our automation business. Time to market and product lifecycle are becoming shorter, and call for high levels of flexibility, higher efficiency and utilisation of a new technology that are emerging." The S7 1500 will eventually replace S7 300 and S7 400, making it the fastest back lane bus, and high speed controller. Capable of providing good advantage to the packaging industry, and various other industries including the auto industry, which has to not only deal with the complexity of models and trim levels, but conform to SIL 3 level of safety, the Simatic S7 1500 controller offers scope for improved safety and security as mentioned before. With motion control functions integrated as standard, which enable analogue and Profidrive-compatible drives to be connected without additional modules, supporting speed and positioning axes, as well as encoders, the S7 1500 controller's F-version provides standard and safety related programs. The security integrated concept extends from block protection to communication integrity, supporting users in safeguarding their applications.

With the S7 1500 seamlessly integrated in the TIA portal, the V12 version of TIA enables all Siemens drives of the Sinamics G converter series to be parameterised via the TIA portal, and additional diagnostic functions have also been integrated. The safety functionalities extended for Simatic S7 1500, and the Profinet communication performance has been expanded. The programming languages have been trimmed for even greater efficiency and new security functions provide improved protection of know-how, and better security against copying and access. Within the framework of the new version of the TIA portal there are also updates for engineering tools for the configuration, programming, commissioning and servicing of the Siemens automation devices and drive systems. These include, for example, engineering systems like Simatic Step 7 V12 for Simatic controllers; Simatic WinCC V12 for HMI systems (Simatic HMI) and Sinamics Startdrive V 12 for the Sinamics G converter family.

The 3D film effectively conveying what it is supposed to, the Simatic S7 1500 controller along with the Version 12 of TIA portal, indeed, displays the capability to enable the plant manager to ensure efficient production, and in turn ensure better profitability.