Digital information on efficient automation

Covid-19 has significantly shaken up our current way of doing business. For Lenze, however, different does not equal less. “Even in these difficult times, we are there for our customers and are able to keep our supply chain well under control. We take our social responsibility, are still at war capacity and of course help customers who are in a difficult situation,” says Marc Vissers, Lenze Marketing Strategy Coordinator EMEA West. To that end, the company is exploiting all the digital opportunities available today with online training, podcasts, virtual trade shows, LinkedIn posts, online consultations with customers ...

As a healthy, dynamic and innovative family business, Lenze puts the health and well-being of its employees first at all times. Vissers: “We are immensely proud of our top team. Here in the EMEA West region but also elsewhere in the world. They are the brainware that make the difference on the ground. That's why our people now work from home as much as possible. They still show the very best of themselves to be there for our customers. Even in these dynamic, difficult times where we demand the utmost from each other. We are complying with the government measures and will throttle down after it.” Lenze, meanwhile, is by no means sitting still. Thanks to its financial health, it now keeps its supply chain under control and continues to invest in innovative solutions. Its intuitive automation solutions are increasingly expanding. “This ranges from software developments (Lenze FAST) to condition monitoring, asset management and engineering tools. Everything a customer needs to make its production more flexible and efficient,” Vissers said.

“Business as usual has changed. But our accessibility is and remains good.”

Powerful, fast and error-free

But Lenze is also looking ahead. It has already done its homework for the new ErP directives that take effect on 1 July 2021. “For this purpose, we have developed the m550 motor series and offer compatible modular drive technology. Standardisation, modularity, speed and agility are key words in production today. With these hardware developments and the availability of our electronics and automation portfolio, there is plenty of choice, with simplicity lying in the functionality that machine builders want to use. With the Easy Systems Designer you configure the required automation, with Drive Solutions Designer you configure the drive train. Powerful, because it keeps the focus on the right choice of technology. Fast, because of efficient engineering. And error-free, because we allow only the right bandwidths in the tools.” Lenze is also committed to compatibility and consistency, whether on EtherCAT, I/O Link, machine safety, cybersecurity or vertical and horizontal exchange of data to smart management tools.

The weekly talks on Wednesdays highlight topics to use in new business models.

Digital sessions

To update you today, Lenze is shifting its focus to digital capabilities to keep in touch with customers. “Business as usual has changed. But our accessibility is and will remain good,” Vissers assures. “That's why we have a lot of digital sessions in store where we invite the market to join the discussion.” That translates into daily posts on LinkedIn to give a look behind the scenes: Facts'n'Coffee posts sharing fun facts and knowledge, an expert speaking every Friday and Content and Knowledge series highlighting a particular technology. “From the end of April, we will also organise weekly talks on Wednesdays. These are podcasts with a variety of topics for C-level and technical decision-makers. In these, we choose topics to use in new business models and the time beyond this isolation era we are now in globally. Furthermore, we offer all our online training courses for free. Here, we provide knowledge, i.e. brainware, to engineers in a dynamic and self-learning environment. Finally, everyone can virtually discover what we were going to present at the big trade fairs that cannot take place now. And especially what benefits they can reap from these innovations in their own production process.”     

Some of the topics of the planned podcasts

• Digital challenges in technology - from theory to practice;
• What does producing look like in the future?;
• How do you decide on energy efficiency, new ErP directives and alternatives such as more efficient drive solutions?
• Topics such as asset management, virtual commissioning, digital engineering and condition monitoring will also be covered as themes.