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Smart and connected machines are the future. Wouter Vierstraete, manager Industrial Solutions at total provider Cebeo, explains how, under the name ‘Cebeo Solutions for Industry’, the company can maximally unburden its industrial customers in their transition to Industrie 4.0.
In recent years, thanks to organic growth and strategic acquisitions, Cebeo has increasingly evolved into the role of a total provider.
“Cebeo wants to continue to fulfil its role as a supplier while supporting it with a technical approach that adds value to the industry. We have all the assets to provide maximum support to companies in their transition to Industry 4.0. It is our mission to create added value in the evolution towards connected and smart machines,” says Vierstraete.
Whoever says Industry 4.0 initially thinks of automation and digitisation. “It is positive that numerous (manufacturing) companies are strongly engaged in automation. At the same time, there is still a lot of untapped potential to take steps on aspects such as cybersecurity, data generation and interconnecting machines so that they become part of the ‘Internet of Things’. Realising that connectivity is essential to gain new insights. Smart solutions such as Edge, the cloud and data logging offer a wealth of opportunities to analyse data and make forecasts based on these insights. Those who make progress in this area are moving towards artificial intelligence at a rapid pace.”
Although that all sounds very appealing, quite a few system integrators and machine builders are still working in a fairly traditional way in 2021. “Many, for example, have not yet taken the step towards 3D engineering because they are completely absorbed by operational processes or cannot expand their team with the right profiles because of labour market shortages.” Cebeo Solutions for Industry can fully support them in this, says Vierstraete. “From 2022, we switched completely to 3D engineering. This allows us to really act as an extension of our customers” engineering departments and together we will jump confidently on the Industrie 4.0 train."
Cebeo/Sonepar already had extensive experience and specific product knowledge in electrical engineering for machines. Three years ago, the company climbed to an even higher level in this field through the acquisition of Vandecappelle.
“By now, that organisation has been fully integrated into our structure, allowing us to support our customers with diversified services. To do so, we have a team that can provide both global services (via account managers, external and internal sales engineers) and project-based support (via software engineers, project engineers and panel engineers).”
This leads to strong support depending on specific customer needs. “First and foremost, we like to advise our customers on the choice of their industrial automation products and solutions. Accordingly, thanks to our multi-brand approach, we have an extensive range of 1.8 million references from over 800 brands. As a Value Added Reseller of Siemens and a Certified Industrial Automation Distributor of Schneider Electric, we can even more emphatically assume our role as an intermediary between manufacturer and end customer for these two manufacturers, with the same technical expertise.”
In addition, Cebeo Solutions for Industry provides training on industrial automation and appropriate guidance on commissioning automation products. “Last but not least, you can also turn to us for services such as electrical engineering, software engineering and the supply of control boards,” Vierstraete said.
Want to meet our team of experts?
Be sure to visit our booth during Cebeo Technology (10-12 May) and Indumation (18-20 May). More info and registration via: www.cebeo.be/nl/CSFI.
