Explore news, case studies, in-depth reports, and much more from the world of VESCON and SCIO - because together, we're shaping the future of automation. 🚀✨

Since 2019, the VESCON brands have been continuing their success story as part of the SCIO Automation Group. Today, SCIO stands as one of the world's leading companies in automation across the entire value chain of the Smart Factory.

The SCIO Group brings together the collective expertise of now 12 corporate brands, each with decades of success in their respective industries. Through this close collaboration, as VESCON Automation, Energy, Process and Aqua, we've not only forged strong partnerships but also ensured our customers benefit from our comprehensive range of services, powered by a strong corporate group.

To immerse you even further into the world of VESCON as part of SCIO, you can now discover the latest news and compelling stories about VESCON and its partner companies on our shared news portal! We invite you on a fascinating journey through the world of intelligent industry of tomorrow - from automated intralogistics and production solutions to accompanying services and beyond.

All news articles are available for you right here: https://www.scio-automation.com/update

For 16 years now, chemical company BASF has been honoring outstanding partnerships and first-class performance at their Ludwigshafen site with the Contractor Award. In July, the award ceremony was once again held in a wide variety of trade categories. 11 trades, 11 winners - including VESCON Process.

This year, our project team was nominated for its outstanding planning services in 2022 while working for our long-standing major client:

“We have been a reliable partner to BASF for a number of years, and support our client in the fields of plant design, strength calculations and periodic inspections, and process engineering and documentation”, explains Stefan Ruthmann, Managing Director of VESCON Process.

What services exactly are we talking about?

"In our services, we encompass our process engineering designs, such as safety valves, equipment calculations, documentation, and P&ID processing. Additionally, our 3D plant planning team creates digital models of facilities using tools like AVEVA PDMS or E3D. This allows us to generate construction plans for piping and steel structures required for production at BASF. Our pipe statics team is responsible for safety assessments within such facilities, ensuring that the piping systems, often subjected to extreme temperatures and high pressures, are sufficiently stable and secure", explains Marcel Claros, Head of department for strength calculations and periodic inspections.

The team deservedly triumphed over two other candidates in the end due to its extensive range of services and great flexibility when it comes to project development. The prestigious prize was proudly received by Marcel Claros and Thomas Wolf [Head of Process Engineering VESCON Process] during the formal ceremony.

"We're truly honored to receive this award. It underscores the incredible results we can achieve through teamwork and unwavering dedication", Stefan Ruthmann concluded with gratitude.

Learn more about VESCON Process services here.

In times when connected and digital production processes are constantly growing, unfortunately, cyberattacks are no longer uncommon. However, the security of our customers' sensitive information is our top priority. In all of our plant projects and company processes, we place the utmost importance on protecting their data. In doing so, we at VESCON Automation adhere to the requirements of major OEMs in the automotive industry, which require the so-called TISAX® certification for collaboration – an increasing number of companies are following this example. As of this year, VESCON Automation is also officially certified to the TISAX® standard.

What's behind the TISAX® certification audit, exactly?

TISAX stands for "Trusted Information Security Assessment Exchange" and is an assessment and exchange procedure for information security in the automotive industry. This standard is based on ISO/IEC 27001 and aims to establish an Information Security Management System (ISMS). The goal is to protect sensitive and confidential customer data of automotive companies and ensure their integrity and availability.

Our journey to TISAX® certification:

What security requirements do we need to meet? How do we ensure information security in project business? What standards do we need to implement for that? These are questions that we at VESCON Automation have been actively addressing in this year as part of the TISAX® certification audit.

Thanks to the excellent preparation and execution by our IT specialists and colleagues involved, VESCON Automation has successfully passed the important TISAX® audit on the first attempt.

"Getting TISAX® certified is a clear sign of our commitment to keeping information secure. It also shows that we're a dependable partner for projects. As a team, we're genuinely proud of this achievement,” Antonio Cavotta, management VESCON Automation.

You can find more about VESCON Automation's services here.

What do a ballet performance and virtual commissioning have in common? At first glance, not much, but they are enormously similar in terms of their approach: planning, rehearsing, correcting - until every detail of the choreography and every dancer’s move has been rehearsed. In the case of virtual commissioning, the installations control software is run, tested and optimized on a virtual model at an early stage of implementation. This is often carried out in conjunction with a cinematic 3D representation of the system. This means the errors can be detected and corrected before actual commissioning, so that the "premiere" is able to go off without a hitch. In our plant projects, such as converting a final vehicle assembly line with an electric monorail system (EMS), virtual commissioning has been an obligatory component for several years. However, many mechanical and plant engineers at mainly medium-sized companies still express their reservations at times:

“Setting up the virtual model is often seen as just an extra expense. We usually hear people saying things like: 'Our plants are too complex or the plant changes too often to model it.' However, this is exactly where the amazing potential of virtual commissioning comes in" - said Ulrich Reiser, CDO SCIO Automation.

What exactly are the benefits of Virtual Commissioning for our customers?

• The ability to validate the plant control system prior to commissioning:

Without virtual commissioning, you can only test the control system on the real plant. But an ensemble would never go on stage without a dress rehearsal, right? This is particularly essential for complex choreographies. Using virtual commissioning as a virtual dress rehearsal, we check especially complex systems for potential logic errors, which, in the worst-case scenario, might result in downtimes for the end customer. After all, no "dancer" is supposed to deviate from the choreography at the grand entrance! This is how we not only ensure the quality of the product and the process, but we can also significantly reduce the work required and thereby keep cost down for any potential adjustments in the program later on. Downtimes are a major issue, especially for series production in the automotive industry. For orders like our EMS project, it was crucial to use virtual commissioning to identify potential problems and logic errors in the plant PLC beforehand, and to properly prevent them by making adjustments. Within the first two days after commissioning, the plant was already running so stably that we were able to exceed all production targets.

• Increased flexibility over the course of the project:

By using virtual commissioning, we can test the plant and its control system in a systematic and efficient way – while also having a great deal of flexibility. For example, if changes to the plant or its environment occur during the project, we can quickly adapt the virtual model at any time and test the changes without taking any unnecessary risks. This is how we can not only prevent costly downstream adjustments on site, but also ensure that the plant performs as expected when it makes its grand entrance on the end customer’s premises - the commissioning phase.

• Shortened commissioning and project lead time:

Last but not least, virtual commissioning also makes it easier to integrate the machine or system into the real production environment. Although you can't do without the on-site programmer completely, there is significantly less work required. This is an enormous advantage, especially in a global industry such as mechanical and plant engineering. As the EMS project shows: Virtual commissioning allows us to successfully overcome challenges, whether that's due to scheduling demands or unforeseen obstacles such as the coronavirus pandemic, and ensure that the project is completed in a short period of time. Instead of being purely sequential, hardware and electrical design, procurement, PLC development and commissioning can also run in parallel. This makes resource planning more flexible, which keeps implementation and project costs low. Small and medium-sized companies in particular are able to hugely benefit from these advantages.

"We are constantly working on increasing efficiency when it comes to setting up the virtual model to establish virtual commissioning in all projects in the future, irrespective of how complex they are and what the customer’s requirements are. We are doing this the moment, for instance, by extending interfaces for data transfer from previous engineering steps. Our goal is to use the virtual model throughout a plant’s life cycle. This gives us the bandwidth to provide the best support to our customers that we possibly can in terms of  carrying out remote servicing and making changes during operation. We have already successfully implemented this system, which is known as a Digital Twin in an initial project," said Ulrich Reiser.

Read more about virtual commissioning here.

Meet our experts at Motek 2023 in Stuttgart. Experience our Virtual Engineering solutions like virtual commissioning up close from October 10-13!

As part of the international automation platform SCIO Automation, the VESCON Group will be showcasing its solutions for production and assembly automation at Booth 5501 in Hall 5 at Motek 2023 in Stuttgart. Visitors can look forward to a variety of exciting solutions, including our tailored production and testing systems, Virtual Commissioning, and the 360° collaboration software SO3.

After their impressive debut at Automatica in Munich, the team is already deep into the intense planning phase for their next major appearance. As an international SCIO team, VESCON Automation and VESCON Systemtechnik, along with MRB Automation, AUTKOM, Industrial Automation, and tmp, will be presenting their portfolio for production and assembly automation, including accompanying service areas, to interested trade visitors at Motek 2023 in Stuttgart.

Joining them are the experts from VESCON Systemtechnik with their custom machinery solutions, ranging from tailored manufacturing and production systems to measurement and testing stations. In their arsenal, they have the BDE and Traceability software SO3 Hiberion, including the innovative Control and Info Tower. Whether it's production status, troubleshooting information, order data, or production statistics, as well as dashboards – the streamlined tower serves as a central information hub at each setup. To demonstrate the tower's interaction with the setups live in action, our experts have something very special in mind… We won't give away too much just yet, but rest assured, there's an exciting energy boost in store!

In addition to their Virtual Engineering solutions, VESCON Automation will also showcase their E-Mobility expertise – for years, they have been collaborating with leading OEMs on battery(module) assembly.

Our accompanying services, such as our 360° Collaboration Software SO3 for demanding project engineering and management, will also be presented at the joint booth.

Learn more about our Motek appearance here!

214.70 km of cable, 2,460 tons of steel components, 200 tons of aluminum pipes, and 90 tons of high-voltage clamps – VESCON Energy GmbH has secured its largest contract to date to renovate the Sarasdorf substation for its long-time client Austrian Power Grid AG (APG). 

The Sarasdorf substation includes a 380kV switchgear and is linked to regional network operator Netz Niederösterreich via a 110kV connection. By expanding the facility as planned, APG will improve this connection, enabling surplus wind energy generated on-site to be efficiently fed into the regional APG grid and distributed nationwide in Austria, right where electricity is needed. The existing substation will need to be dismantled and rebuilt as part of the expansion and the increase in short-circuit strength, while a significant portion of the substation has to remain operational. The total contract is worth EUR 49 million, and this is VESCON Energy GmbH's largest project to date.

"We’ve been working closely and successfully with APG for a number of years now, and we’re delighted to have won them over them with our proposal and earned their trust for this major contract, which far exceeds the scope of all our previous projects," said Erol Pamir, Managing Director of VESCON Energy. The APG project is not only the largest project to date for VESCON Energy but it’s also the biggest that our entire SCIO group of companies has ever taken on. "SCIO’s support means we have the financial stability we need to effectively plan and make this challenging major project a reality," added Pamir.

VESCON Energy's team has been involved in preliminary planning, tendering, and execution planning for primary technology, secondary technology, construction technology, and building services for APG's substations for quite some time, with an average of two to three substations (UW) planned per year. VESCON Energy had already won the planning tender for renovating and expanding Sarasdorf substation just over a year ago, and successfully completed it at the end of last year. Following the planning phase, VESCON Energy has now secured the subsequent project for the entire electrical installation and will implement it in multiple construction phases until the end of 2029.

VESCON Energy has been actively expanding and modernizing power grids for over 20 years, working successfully and in trusted collaboration with long-standing customers. Its core expertise is in high- and extra-high-voltage projects for nodal points, feed-in points, and load acceptance points for substations and switchgear up to 380kV.

To find out more about VESCON Energy's services, click here.

The VESCON Group will be showcasing its Virtual Engineering solutions at booth 218 in hall A4 at automatica 2023 in Munich as part of international automation platform SCIO Automation. In addition to Virtual Commissioning, these include 360° collaboration software SO3, which is used to make project engineering and management simpler for plant engineering projects.

It has been part of international corporate platform SCIO Automation since 2019 as a founding member, and will be presenting part of its portfolio at a trade fair for the first time at a joint stand (A4, 218) at automatica.

"We’ve been supporting our customers from various industries in plant engineering and automation on their journey to Industry 4.0 for 30 years now. In the robotics and automation environment, in addition to our integration services, it’s our virtual engineering solutions for digital transformation in particular that greatly appeal to our customers," said Dr. Ulrich Reiser, Chief Digital Officer.

VESCON will present two Virtual Engineering solutions to the automatica trade audience:

Virtual Commissioning has already been successfully used by VESCON in its plant projects for several years, ensuring that on-site commissioning is done on time and on budget. VESCON uses several virtual commissioning software packages from different developers to allow them to offer a customized response to customer needs and requirements. Virtual commissioning has now become a crucial part of VESCON offering’s, paving the way for additional digitalization projects in the company such as the Digital Twin, which has already been successfully developed in initial customer projects.

SO3 cloud software is the 360° collaboration solution for sophisticated project engineering and management. It helps companies in the plant engineering sector to increase production by up to 50 percent and reduce project costs by up to 40 percent. As a centralized communication platform, it not only combines the project data for all trades in one place in real time, no matter where they are, but it also presents the project status, as well as electrical and mechanical data in a visual layout. Each project participant can create, view and edit their individual tasks and is in direct contact with all other relevant participants. This enables the entire plant engineering project to be seamlessly managed on a single, powerful, collaborative platform.

VESCON will be appearing alongside other brands from the SCIO Automation Group at automatica.

Companies like 4am Robotics, with its mobile and application-specific robotics solutions, as well as PrintoLUX with its patented PrintoLUX marking process including its latest printing system development for industrial applications, known as SIGNO, will also be on hand to wow the audience.

Founded in 2019, SCIO Automation Group is an international business platform for end-to-end industrial automation for logistics and production processes. It now includes 10 independent corporate brands at over 30 locations worldwide, which pool their expertise in intralogistics, production and process automation as part of SCIO. This gives SCIO the ability to support its customers by providing a bespoke, holistic service, with customized solutions for the entire smart factory, including product innovations that are uniquely tailored to each customer.