In an exclusive interaction with B2B purchase magazine, Michael Ambros, MD, K. A. Schmersal GmbH & Co, KG, emphasised the importance of increasing safety awareness amongst people and industries. He further terms this to be Schmersal’s mission.

Can you discuss the ongoing influences on the quality and safety of goods and solutions?
Testing is done before the products qualify when we talk about the quality features of our products. To obtain a certificate for safety, which is the first step of the process, it must pass a lot more testing than any other normal product, and even throughout manufacturing, the product must pass a lot of rigorous quality inspections. As an illustration, even the most basic limit switch or position switch in our basket has to undergo testing against at least 15 different criteria before being returned to the owner.

How do you view the necessity to assess machine safety and dependability in the conveyor and storage systems?
There is a lot of automation taking place in conveyor technology, housing technology, and other areas. As a result, the first thing we do is to clear the layout of the colour on a typical conveyor. For these devices, more than just choosing the fundamental ones, such as the ESPYS 13850, must be done. But after that, we make a careful choice of all the mounting equipment. Customers typically provide us with layouts that have been designed and tested in the conveyor and warehouse industries. Then we go on to veterans.

What investments have been made in your R & D facilities to improve efficiency?
It makes no sense to stop or try to cut costs now that we have made essential investments in high-quality, safe products. This investment is required to maintain the level as high as feasible.
Additionally, we are open-minded and we observe new technology on the market. However, back then, we were just discussing mechanical goods. We now discussed electronic products. If they want to invest in software, they have to make other investments. We are investing in human capital and providing education and training to customers and our employees.

What are the steps you are taking to provide a substitute module for the small machines and equipment?
The idea of releasing 60 models, as we typically observe in the Indian sector, is still comparatively new; people are not yet accustomed to using safety models. Therefore, we are mandating that when we provide a solution approach from the outside, we do not simply provide the product but a comprehensive design system that includes the safety relays and other things. For the system to be able to accomplish the good performance level it seeks; it must work well together as a system. And we take action in this manner because we observe that a large number of consumers are unaware of the training requirements and levels of surfing, and it is our duty as the leader to provide them with comprehensive information.

What are Schmersal’s sustainability goals in terms of energy use and waste management?
We have many energy-saving technologies that we have installed in the past when it comes to energy management. We have decided to invest in renewable energy now. Thus, this will assist us in reducing our carbon footprint, which is something we are aiming to do and moving away from typical traditional sources.

Could you tell us more about the sensors for automation purposes?
Since functional magnetic sensors are not a part of electromechanical technology, we essentially started with modest, standard electromechanical sensors. However, the most recent technology is now RFID sensors, which we provide to the sector for use.

What are the smart practice solutions for machine safety?
Machines or portals are only as good as they are at building the engine API for us. It is our duty to spread information about safety among people. And this is our mission to do it properly. We help them right because it goes with us. If you have a strong knowledge of safety, our discussion will be moved to a different level. Our workers or customers must have a strong knowledge of safety. We provide this kind of training because we see a lot of consumers who don’t have it, and it helps to educate them about safety. The Greenfield strategy of customers’ new generation of machinery thus already reflects this, so there is no need to differentiate based on the type of sensor or technology our team is using. People need to believe in safety, and if our clients do, safety will be prevalent everywhere. The good news is that I rarely even notice it; the end users are using it.