Siemens opens new WA offices
Industry is on the cusp of a fourth revolution, with machines set to become even more interactive with products, according to the Australian head of global technology firm Siemens.
Speaking at the opening of its new WA headquarters yesterday, Jeff Connolly said the "cyber-physical world" was set to grow through the emergence of "smart data".
Smart data - or the specific use of data sets to help a business or industry - was a central theme at the opening, with Siemens flying in Germen-based data expert Florian Beil to speak about its potential.
Siemens, which has about 200 employees in WA, is focused on a range of industries across the State, including automation technology for mining, scanning machines in healthcare and technology for energy generation.
It has invested heavily in the data sector in the hope of becoming a world leader.
Using a local example of automatic trains in the Pilbara - which use Siemens technology - Dr Beil said using huge amounts of data for "predictive maintenance" was one practical example of how big sets of data could be turned into "smart data".
"The lead times we normally have to wait to get a spare part are quite high - several weeks to a month in remote locations," Dr Beil said.
"The customer doesn't want that downtime . . . so if you position vibration sensors around, say a gearbox, a dedicated algorithm can predict the critical vibration spectrum. That would mean you know it's in trouble before it happens and you've got to do something about it."
Dr Beil said Siemens was working with international com- panies to develop technology. But he admitted translating the copious amounts of data into a commercial offering for a customer was a "major challenge".
Speaking about the new office yesterday, Mr Connolly said the perceived slowdown in mining-related investment had less of an impact on Siemens because it was dependent upon the production phase.
He said the company was positive about WA's prospects as engineering technology moved from the monkey wrench to the tablet.
