The three companies nominated for the HERMES AWARD 2020 have been determined. Chaired by Prof. Dr. Reimund Neugebauer, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the independent jury chose the entrepreneurs Friedhelm Loh Group, Schneider Electric and Trumpf Werkzeugmaschinen (listed in alphabetical order). The winner will be announced and the prize awarded during the HANNOVER MESSE Digital Days on July 14, 2020.
The HERMES AWARD, the world's most prestigious industry award, is presented annually by Deutsche Messe AG to a company whose product or solution displays a particularly high level of technological innovation. Only technology solutions that have already been industrially proven are considered for the award. Originally, the award was to be announced at HANNOVER MESSE 2020 in April. Since this was cancelled due to developments surrounding Covid-19, Deutsche Messe and the high-ranking jury decided to announce the winner during the HANNOVER MESSE Digital Days on 14 July. "Unfortunately, we had to cancel HANNOVER MESSE this year due to the Corona pandemic, but the innovations of our exhibitors will remain. We are therefore all the more pleased that our Digital Event provides a suitable setting for the world's most important industry award," said Dr. Jochen Köckler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Deutsche Messe AG.
Prof. Neugebauer, chairman of the jury and President of the Fraunhofer Institute, explains the reasons for the selection of this year's nominees: "The excellent applications underscore the great reputation and outstanding importance of the HERMES AWARD , which does not lose its global appeal even in times of crisis. As chairman of the jury, which consists of independent, internationally renowned market and technology experts, I am convinced that the nominees ideally represent the innovative power and creativity of the industry".
Friedhelm Loh Group, Haiger/Hessen: The nominated complete solution ONCITE makes data in networked factories quickly, securely and easily available so that it can be used for digital value creation. ONCITE is a complete solution for the processing and analysis of industrial data at your own production site. Thanks to its edge technology, ONCITE collects, stores and processes data locally, but is compatible with cloud solutions. What is new is the continuous use of digital data in real time and the secure environment for digital value creation. This allows companies to harmonize their production data and perform AI-based analyses. ONCITE is regarded as a "nucleus" of Gaia-X, the project to build an efficient and competitive, secure and trustworthy data infrastructure for Europe.
Schneider Electric, Rueil-Malmaison - France: Nominated was a SF6 free medium voltage switch. SF6 (sulphur hexafluoride) is one of the most intensive greenhouse gases. Furthermore, the recycling of this gas is very costly. For the new SF6-free medium-voltage switch a new interrupting technology was developed. The operating principle of the switch is based on the fact that when the switch is opened, the current first changes from the air-insulated contact connection via a pivoted lever to a vacuum switch and is then safely interrupted by the vacuum switch at the zero crossing of the current and the open air-insulated contact section is safely separated. The main contact then swivels to the earthing position. By increasing the air pressure to 2.5 bar absolute in the switch, the insulation properties of air and SF6 are comparable and the dimensions of the switches are similar.
TRUMPF, Machine Tools, Ditzingen: The nominated omlox project is the first open standard for positioning services. This standard combines all positioning services available on the market, such as UWB, WLAN; BLE, GPS or 5G. These are transformed into a uniform coordinate reference system and can be made available for internal use on edge platforms or for global use in a cloud. With omlox information from all positioning technologies can be used for the first time. With this bundled position data, process flows can be optimized in a targeted manner. The omlox standard creates an interoperable ecosystem in which the heterogeneous technical infrastructures are harmonized, making IIoT and Industry 4.0 affordable for medium-sized businesses.
