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Digitalization – it’s in our DNA

Product News Thursday, March 15, 2018: Danfoss (Pty) Ltd

Because today’s customers do business in a completely different way than they have in the past, we’ve made sure that we have developed and enhanced our customer centricity and the way we run our business. We’ve had to totally rethink the customer journey; to improve our ‘outside-in’ approach to our processes and relationships to ensure we continue to offer customers the best, most efficient and most effective experience.

As a frontrunner in the drives industry, we’ve already taken full advantage of the latest trends in automation and connectivity. Trends such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0; in short, digitalization. We are fully embracing all the potential that this so-called ‘digital revolution’ has to offer to provide the ultimate, end-to-end digital experience for our customers.

Digitalization – no longer ‘nice to have’ but a necessity

At Danfoss, we thrive on exceeding customer expectations, and digitalization is a real differentiating factor for us. Our digital transformation has been key to helping us find new, improved approaches to serve our customers.

The Industrial Internet of Things and Industry 4.0 allow us to capitalize on the potential of connectivity-, motor- and system independence, to transform the way we work, and to seek innovative excellence in everything we do.

We like to talk about our digital transformation in the context of three main focus areas:

-Digital engineering
-Digital manufacturing
-Digital performance

Digital engineering

More than 4% of sales is spent on innovation. And, with around 1,000 R&D engineers, we can push the boundaries of innovation to develop new products, processes and services to drive our customers’ success, and to enable the world of tomorrow to do more with less.

Our investment in technology and future capabilities allows you to design the perfect system. Tools, such as Drive Configurator, enable you to select and tailor drives to exactly match your requirements. MyDrive® Portfolio is an app that offers a fast track to all the latest data related to our entire AC-drives portfolio and the VLT® and VACON® Shops provide instant, all-hours access to a streamlined purchasing experience.

Digital manufacturing

Our smart, automated manufacturing system and the seamless connection between sales, ordering, production, quality and after-sales are your guarantees for quality, reliable drives delivered fast.

An IIoT platform combined with 3D factory visualization connects people, processes and devices to ensure a fast response time and to improve the productivity and reliability of production lines. While the next phase in internal logistics (voice-activated smart glasses and augmented reality, autonomous indoor vehicles and advanced robotics) ensures faster, simplified processes.

All Danfoss drives are subject to comprehensive and fully automated testing before they leave our factories to safeguard high performance, quality and reliability.

Digital performance

As a result of quality components, advanced assembly methods and embedded functionality for equipment protection, our drives will continue to optimize customer processes over a long and predictable lifetime.

All Danfoss drives have built-in intelligence. Once installed, they monitor both their own performance and the performance of the applications they control. Evaluation of the available internal data as well as external sensor signals takes place in the drive. To exploit the potential of this information in terms of, for example, preventive troubleshooting, facility monitoring or asset management, drives can be quickly and easily integrated into control systems using any leading fieldbus or industrial Ethernet protocols.

Commissioning is fast and easy, thanks to another of our apps – MyDrive® Connect. And access to expert help is never far away due to DrivePro® Remote Expert Support – part of the DrivePro® portfolio of life-cycle services which can be accessed using the DrivePro® mobile app.

Digitalization in practice

There are many sites where the Danfoss digital experience is already in practice. For example, watch this video to find out how optimized energy efficiency of a Danish wastewater treatment plant was achieved through perfect control of the whole process and by connecting all components. And this video to find out how our digital technologies enabled prevention of downtime, faster recovery from failures and optimized system performance in a Finnish dairy plant.

Danfoss digital solutions are already making a huge difference to our customers throughout their whole lifecycle, but there is a lot more to do. Investments are in place, and we are adding more resources all the time to push our digital initiatives forward.

Have a look at the new Digital transformation section on our website and be impressed by what we’ve done so far. This section will be frequently updated as new developments in our digital journey come into force, so make sure you bookmark the page. And, more importantly, there’s 5,000 of us in this dynamic, innovative company; so let us know in the Comments box below your thoughts and insights on what else we can be doing to develop, improve and deliver the ultimate best-in-industry digital experience for you to ensure your ongoing success.

Author: Joni Lampinen, Vice President – Marketing, Danfoss Drives