White Paper: Distributed Safety for Increased Production - from Siemens

Automobile model changes necessitate the continuous modification of an automotive production line. To better cope with these modifications using systems that addressed required safety standards, the engineers at a major North American automotive manufacturer first looked to establish an industrial communication platform that would be flexible, simple for their electricians to
program and troubleshoot, and would integrate readily on a fieldbus network with third-party components such as robots and valve blocks. With these requirements in mind and having previously used a combination of hardwired, traditional safety relays for safety compliance, the engineers chose Simatic Failsafe PLC technology with Profisafe because it offered fast, easy adaptation, and a control reliable safety solution with minimum downtime. The graphic below
depicts the Profisafe design setup used by the manufacturer.