Welcome back to The Automation Podcast, the world's number 1 industrial automation product and technology show. Thanks to you, our audience of highly skilled automation professionals. Thank you for being a member of our audience, and thank you for tuning back in this week. Now for those new to the show, my name is Sean Tierney of Insights and Automation. And each week, I invite a vendor on the show to tell us about their products and technologies. And during their presentation, I play the role of the audience asking questions that I think you guys have and questions I have as well. Now given that over a quarter of our audience listens to the show, I'll also try to call attention to any details and the visuals I think you guys may wanna know about. With that said, I wanna welcome Chris on the show for the first time from METTLATOLEDO. And, Chris, I I know this is your first time on the show. Before you jump into your presentation, tell us all about the product. Could you first give us, like, an introduction? What's your role? Who do you work with? And, and so on. So let me turn it over to you. Excellent. Thank you, Sean. First off, very excited to be here. Thank you so much for the opportunity to share this lovely product, the Way Module SPE, newest addition to our automated precision weighing portfolio. So a little bit about me. I'm a product manager within our industrial division, supporting our OEM products, load cells, weigh modules, and then all the products that fall under the automated precision weighing portfolio. Been with Miller Toledo for about 6 years now, in the product management role for about 4. So very excited to be here, and I'm thrilled to to share this new product with you. So before we dive into the SPE, I wanna give a quick overview of Mettler Toledo as a whole. Hey, we are a global leader, manufacturer and marketer for precision measurement technologies. So we have production facilities in Asia, in Europe, and in North America. We also have market organizations in 40 countries offering the full support and service, of over 9,000 highly skilled local sales, marketing, and service specialists. In those direct regions, or in those regions where we do not have direct support, we also have highly qualified factory trained distributors representing approximately another 100 countries. So, hey, we have global products with global approvals that can provide global support, throughout the entire, product life cycle. So so here are some of our high level here are some of our comprehensive solutions that could be, valuable to any any one of these segments along the the customer's value chain. So whether you are, supporting laboratory solutions or process analytics, industrial weighing solutions, product inspection, and then retail and logistics solutions. We have solutions that can accommodate your needs from, every step along the way. So diving a little deeper into the industrial portfolio, where the SPE resides, we have tailored weighing solutions that take your weight data and send it to your control system to manage that data as well. So weighing terminals and modules such as the IND 360. We have bench scales, floor scales, and weigh modules, and load cells that fall within the automated or the automated precision weighing falls within the, weigh modules and load cells segment. So what is automated precision weighing? So you'll hear me say APW. That's just the acronym for automated precision weighing. These scales are used as a quality check for highly critical components along the production process. So our our target market here are OEMs, original equipment manufacturers. We have machine builders, instrument manufacturers, system integrators tying the solutions altogether, as well as end users that have a need for high precision weighing. Like to emphasize that these are applications where weighing is performed automatically. And this weighing result is weighing data needs to be transferred to a control system directly. We also have fast and precise weighing requirements. So our customers see value when they can achieve weight data very quickly, in a very high high precision and a reliable manner. APW modules are built for applications where normal balances are out of place, Built for rugged industrial environments. As you can see, we have a 316 stainless steel housing. It's designed to, withstand the harshness of an automated industrial environment. So quickly just about the technology itself. Opposed to traditional strain gauge load cells, this operates with a technology called electromagnetic force restoration technology. So a weight is applied at the Wang pan level, where there is a lever mechanism through the monoblock load cell. So at one end, connected to a coil maintained in a permanent magnet. As weight is applied, this lever deflects, raises up. A photo eye monitors the position of the coil, sends a current through the coil to restore it to the equilibrium position. That amount of current is directly proportional to how much force is on the weighing pan, and translated to a digital signal, which is your weighing result. So, EMFR technology is very critical for high precision applications. So now let's talk about the APW portfolio as a whole. As you can see here, I've grouped these into 2 different categories. First, we have industrial Ethernet devices. These devices have embedded or integrated industrial Ethernet transferred over a PoE directly to your PLC. In the lower segment here, we have serial devices that can communicate to your PLC or your control system, with connectivity to an IND 360 transmitter. From a capacity standpoint, we operate from 11 grams all the way up to 3,000 kilograms Readability, we can go all the way down to the microgram level. Finally, here is the SPE way module, released in April this year, replacing our way module called the WMS. The SPE way module found it on these three points here. It's robust, it's modular, it's very fast, Highlighting that it is the most robust module in our portfolio, the most modular weigh module in our portfolio, and the fastest weigh module that we have to offer. We have 5 different weigh modules in the SPD family. From a 400 gram with 1 milligram readability, up to a 7 kilograms capacity with a 10 milligram readability. So overall, these SPD weigh modules combine a forklift design with the high precision needed for these automation environments. So there are 4 pillars in which the SPE was founded. It's very durable to ensure reliable long term operation. It has high modularity to ensure full flexibility, accustomed to the specific application at hand. And it's optimized for extreme machine throughput for high speed processes. And to tie it all together, we have effortless engineering and installation through our sample codes and engineering guides. So first, the reliable long term operation. So the durable design and high overload protection in all directions protect the weigh module during installation and operation. So accidents happen, when you're installing a SPE, there's a chance that somebody could contact the side, apply an excess force from above during operation. Sometimes robots get out of sync. And then again, same contact from the side or excess force from the top. This is protected in all directions. The monobloc inside is reinforced to protect against those unexpected overloads. And again, during service, you know, you're going through, you're cleaning the weigh module, those unexpected contacts can occur, and it provides protection throughout the entire monoblock. So it's got a large lockable weighing pan. So I'm pulling up on this with some significant force, and it's staying in place. It's also stainless steel to protect against those harsh chemicals and reagents used in clean in place operations. So flexibility was a key point here in designing that the SPE offers a lot of value to machine builders. You know, no machine from one project to another is exactly the same. So we want to offer some flexibility to be creative in how you incorporate and integrate the SPE into the machine. So first, we have a modular weighing interface. We have 2 options. We can use the standard weighing interface that has no threads for an object to be picked, and placed, or indexed onto the weighing pan. This is for typical product sizes, something that would fit directly on this weighing pan. But we understand that there are some products that have irregular shapes and sizes. So we have threaded holes that can also be replaced. So you can attach a custom weighing adapter to hold whatever product you wish to achieve the weigh on the weighing pan concentrically. We also have a wash down accessory, moving it from IP56 to IP66. It is a gasket that is automatically inflated to create that seal. So as you spray it down with those reagents, protects the weigh module as a whole. Additionally, we have a dual connector position. As you can see here, I have connection from the front. We also offer connection from the bottom. What that offers? Integration to machines are always different, and we want to allow that flexibility to integrate it in the best way for our machine builders. So you can see here, easy to connect from the side. See the status LEDs light up, and then connection from the bottom. So whatever is the most convenient way to connect the device, We want to allow that for the way module, all encompassed in one way module. So you don't have to select an option from the front or from the bottom. These also have integrated industrial Ethernet in the device. So we have PROFINET and Ethernet IP in one device. So you can select between those 2 protocols based off of the PLC that you were operating with. Also, since we have those 5 different capacities within the same way module, the footprint and the dimensions are the same from the 400 gram all the way to the 7 kilograms model. So the height is the same. The mounting configuration is the same. Everything is the same from a dimensional aspect. So if you have a project that has weighing at 400 grams, it will also be the same. If you have a project that is 7 kilograms Additionally, if there is issue with mounting from the bottom of the SPE, we have an optional base plate that would allow you to mount from the top. So all of this, we have 5 to 5 products with all the accessories. So this limits stop keeping complexity that you as a user might have to maintain in your projects. And then us as Mettler Toledo to have short lead times to our customer base. This is a very high speed device. It's optimized for machine throughput. So the standard configuration is a 2 block standard automation interface communication. Standard automation interface is the Mettler Toledo communication protocol for all of our automation devices to connect to third party automation systems. So if you have one device that has automation connectivity, it's also going to be the same for another device within our portfolio. So for example, the IND 360 connects with a standard automation interface. So does the SPE. So drilling back into the 2 different weighing channels, we have a 2 block weighing channel that offers 122 updates per second. To maximize the high speed applications, where a fast update rate is requirement, such as billing on board, we have an update rate of 4 88 updates per second. That is called the 8 block channel, where you get additional status information, increasing the amount of feedback. So all of this is tied together with effortless engineering and installation. So we wanna minimize the programming time that our that our users spend integrating these into their control systems. We have, we have device description files. We have sample codes. Again, this is this utilizes that standard automation interface protocol. Everything is documented and available to to assist with those integration efforts. And again, it is a POE cable, so all of the data is transferred over 1 the data and the power is transferred over 1 cable to simplify your machine design. Here's an example of how to connect the wave module. So if you're connecting to a PLC, you just take your PoE cable, M12 connector to an RJ45 connector on the other end, plug that into your PoE rated switch, and take that to your PLC or an HMI, or both. For configuration and service, you can connect to a PoE injector and then bring that into your PC. Limitation on the computer or PC based applications, the update rate is cut in half. At 244 updates per second, still pretty fast. So one thing that Miller Toledo does exceptionally well is, hey, we provide excellent automation support with their availability of drivers and software. So highlighting Siemens and Rockwell Automation, we have approved interfaces for Profibus International and ODBA for Siemens and Rockwell, respectively. These are approved. They're tested and documented online. We also have those drivers, such as EDS files and AOPs for Rockwell Automation. We have all the sample code, we have the function blocks, we have everything that you would need to get basic weighing data from your device to your PLC at the very quick time. So here's a quick video of how simple it is on the ODBA page. Type in Mettler Toledo. You see all of our devices that are approved. Scroll down to the SPE way module. From here, you can find the declaration of conformity and the EDS file. From a sample code integration perspective, we have our sample codes online. Once you install the EDS file, and then download the sample codes from mt.com, you can connect an SPE and get weighing data within 1 minute. It's very fast. It's very simple. And it provides you with the basic weighing data that you need to get your project started. So as we download, you'll see there are 5 add on instructions that are included with the APW ApeBlock sample code. So, we have a main weighing channel for your basic weighing operations. It's in the top right. Send weight, 0, chair, a data okay bit, and status information. Additionally, we have that fast weighing channel. Then we have a heartbeat add on instruction, and then 2 add on instructions for external and internal adjustment. Internal adjustment, there is an internally there is an internal calibration weight inside the weigh module. We want to maintain the weighing performance when it's installed on the machine. We want to reduce that system wide measurement uncertainty. So, as you move the weigh module from your factory acceptance all the way to your site acceptance, Relative gravity between those two areas will likely differ. You can run the internal adjustment weight to make those corrections. Another this is also valuable when the way module is embedded into an automation system, and it's very hard to reach. You can trigger that internal adjustment weight to make any calibration and adjustments. Again, monitoring the performance of the SPE, we have status LEDs. You can see here on the right of the slide. So we have system status at the top, and then 2 connectivity status LEDs on the bottom. So the system status monitors the weighing performance monitors the environment, whereas the 2 lower automation connectivity LEDs monitor if you're connected to your control system. So if the temperature is exceeded 40 degrees Celsius, then you will see that the status LED is red, indicating that you're weighing results should not be trusted. Yes. That's just the visual representation, but what happens if we want to monitor this in our PLC code? We also include that heartbeat, add on instruction, and the data okay bit. So the heartbeat triggers between 10 every second, ensuring that you are connected to your control system. The data okay bit, however, takes it a step further, and there are a string of conditions that would render the Wang result not to be trusted. So if you are running an adjustment, if you're on your power up routine, if you're in an overload or under load condition, that data okay bit would go low, and you cannot trust your data. This heartbeat and data okay is embedded into all of our add on instructions. So you can't send a 0 command, or you can't send a weighing command if both of these are not active and running. We also have onboard filtering of environmental influences. So we have a configuration tool called APW link, which you'll see here shortly, that can, after you've mechanically isolated the device, you can begin electronically filtering out some of these environmental influences such as vibration and air draft. So I have a short demo here of APW link. This is our free configuration tool that's recommended to be used with the purchase of every every way module or every APW way module. So we have 3 options here. You can connect to the device. You can upload a file and operate offline just to see what those settings are, if you're troubleshooting in a remote location. So because I have this device, I'm going to connect to it Because it is industrial Ethernet, I'm going to connect to the Ethernet port. The default IP address is listed here, also on the data label on the back of the device. And I make sure my PC is on the same network. I can quickly connect. Immediately I'm seeing wait data. Up at the top here, this is where you can write your settings and save your settings for mass deployment once you have all of your configuration settings optimized. So if you have one machine, you spend the time configuring the device, and then you have 20 more machines that you need to roll out. You can save that configuration file and mass deploy it for all of the other SPEs. So those are the leftmost options at the top of the toolbar. Here we have a terminal view to send our MT 6 commands, such as send wait, 0, and a 100 other commands that could be used for programming purposes. We also have another display option, or you can just click 0, and you can click tare. I'd like to emphasize that this tool should be used for configuration purposes only. Not recommended that this is used as your operating tool. So we also have this graphical view. So as I mentioned, you get 122 updates or weight values per second. This is showing that live weight data and capturing every single one. We have dynamic values, and we have stable values. Dynamic values are indicated by those little dots that you see, and stable values are those large x's. This tool can be used when optimizing your stability criteria, and running repeatability tests. We also have integrated adjustment test and adjustment features here. So what I'm doing right here is running an internal adjustment. As I mentioned, there's an internal adjustment weight. How quickly can you run an internal adjustment? It takes about 30 seconds. And you know that your device is operating as it should under those environmental conditions. So I've corrected that calibration deviation. I can also run this test with an external weight. Here I'll run an external adjustment. Very quickly with step control, it's indicating, hey, you're at your No K 0 point. And then once the weight is placed, that is stable. Remove the weight, find your 0 point again, your calibration is complete. So now as we drill into the settings themselves, we have in the weighing tab, I mentioned electronic filtering. We have 2 different filter modes. 1 is a categorical filter, from very stable to very unstable based on your mechanical isolation isolation. We also have sensor mode, which looks at a limit frequency of your environment and filters out the frequencies above that, that you have indicated here. This is recommended to be a trial and error process during the initial configuration to see what are the optimal settings for your environment. Down at the bottom here, we're going to talk about the weighing range available. So, it looks at what is the preload on the device? What is the remaining preload available to perform specific functions? And how much weighing capacity do you have available based off of what you currently have on your scale? For communication to your automation devices, you can change the IP address right here to connect to your control system. You can toggle between PROPINET and Ethernet IP. You can toggle between the 8 block and 2 block formats. So now that you know a little bit about the SPE, where are we successful? What are our applications? Where can we support you? So from pharmafilling to integrated circuit board encapsulation, and then all of these segments that you see here, it's not limited to these segments, but we are very successful in these segments because weighing is the most accurate and convenient repeatable method to measure. We can break these down into essentially 3 different applications. So we have 100% in process control. We have onboard filling, and we have device dispense verification and calibration. So 100% in process control, you have a critical component that everything needs to be weighed as it's produced, as a vial is filled, to ensure that the right amount of material or liquid is in the vial or the part was produced within tolerance. Every single part needs to be weighed and it's rejected or accepted based off of the criteria that you set. We also offer onboard filling. This is where the fast weighing channel, the 488 Hertz, is really valuable. You are to place something on the SPE, provide that feedback to your control system to cut off your filling device once it reaches a certain weight. We don't want to underfill device. We don't want to underfill. We don't want to overfill. So that high update rate provides the necessary information to cut off your filling head at the appropriate time. Device dispense calibration. This is where flowable materials are very expensive and have very tight tolerances, typically down in the milligram level. So we don't want to again, we don't want our valve, our jetting device, or filling head to overfill or underfill because of the resulting impact of products being recalled due to underfills, or you're giving away very expensive materials with overfill. The last thing I would like to share is, hey, Miller Toledo does these things very well in supporting our products worldwide. We ensure site acceptance throughout all phases of the product lifecycle. It begins at the specification. It's very important at the factory acceptance, but it's paramount at the site acceptance and your end user. So we can give you the confidence that you're installing automation compliant products through, as I mentioned, the ODVA certificates, the declarations of conformity, just to eliminate all those unexpected delays from a product not connecting to a device and not being able to integrate and communicate effectively. From the weighing perspective, we know that the scales that are being specified for that specific application are fit for purpose before you even spend a cent. We provide a good weighing practice recommendation that takes all of your weighing requirements, your max loads, preloads, what you intend to weigh, and the process tolerance associated to that. We give you a recommendation that specifies a piece of equipment and gives you routine testing, recommends test weights, and gives you a calibration schedule to maintain the scale and operation as it should be. This routine testing can give you a series of tests and standard operating procedures of tests that you can run and control limits associated to each test. So if you run your tests at the defined intervals and it's in the green, you're good to go. You're gonna keep weighing. If it's in the yellow, you might wanna consider calling Miller Toledo and calling getting a service technician dispatched. And if it's in the red, stop weighing immediately, you need to service your scale. All of this is maintained with 100% audit group documentation that is maintained at the factory and at the site acceptance, preparing you for your audit. So you're ready to go should the audit arise. So at MallersLito, we provide compliant, fit for purpose, and robust globally certified equipment throughout the entire process. So that's all that I that I have today for the SPE module. Sean, thank you so much for having me. For the audience, if you really enjoyed learning about the SPE, I have 2 additional episodes that Sean has generously had us on for For a single point load cell with IO link connectivity, check out episode 172. And for our IND 360 next gen weighing indicator wind weighing indicator, check out episode 169. Sean, thanks again for having me. It's been a pleasure. Well, I am impressed that you you do the episode numbers there. That was some good homework on your side. And, I really enjoyed I think some of the takeaways for me, and I know the audio audience, you can't see some of the screenshots and the screen demos we were showing. But just to go back, I think the fact that you have the add on instructions or function blocks depending which platform you're using, you have the EDS files and you have the, yes. Exactly. You have the GSD files. So whether you're using Siemens or Rock, which we all know are the 2 largest, products that this audience is gonna be using, it seems like you have everything people are gonna need to quickly deploy it. And we watched as you added an add on instruction in. You had those, instructions already in there. And I think from you know, walking through what how the product works, it made a a lot of sense to me how these other instructions have all those different pieces of information we would need. And I think a lot of people are gonna like this because it's high speed. So in a lot of automated applications that our audience is involved in, they're higher speed. Right? They're not the lab type environments. These are production lines. And so I think that's that's big for them. I guess I had did have one question, Chris. I was hoping you could answer. What was the what was the product that came before this? Like, if somebody's been using your products for a long time, and what would be the product that probably using today that this would really, you know, take over that spot for? What would you say that would be? So that was our WMS wave module. So it had the same footprint, had the same interface. Oh, nice. But it was a serial device. And, obviously, the industry is trending. We need speed, like you mentioned, and we need more robustness. So in developing this product, we highlight both of those key features, making it the fastest product that we have in our portfolio and also the most robust. Yeah. And directly connected to either PROFINET or Ethernet IP, which is great. So that's excellent. So I don't have any other questions. I think you covered everything in your presentation that I was asking about. I would I would ask the audience if you have any questions. Post them as a as a, a comment. If it's one of the sites that I monitor regularly, I'll I'll forward it on to Chris with your information. But, with that said, Chris, I just wanna thank you for coming on the show. Awesome, John. Thank you so much. A lot of fun. Well, I hope you enjoyed that episode. I wanna thank Chris for coming on the show to bring us up to speed on the white module SPE. And I also wanna thank METALA Toledo for sponsoring another episode with us. Wasn't it nice not to have any commercials and covering our production cost? Really appreciate that. Now if you did enjoy this episode, please give us a like, a sub, and a share. It's the only proven way to expand our audience and find new vendors to come on the show. And, of course, if you wanna connect with me, if you're not already connected with me, please feel free to do so upon LinkedIn. I'm mister Sean Tierney up there. And, of course, you guys know I teach over at theautomationschool.com. I'm doing a lot of in person classes now along with, online courses. And I also do morning shows. So, typically, I'm doing what's doing automation or automation news headlines and other shows. And I've also extended that podcast to include all those public shows I'm doing throughout the week. So it's not just the news headlines anymore. It includes all those other shows like what's new in automation, question of the week, and so on. So please check out my other podcast. And if you have any questions on what platforms we're on, you'll find them over at the automation block.comforward/follow. With that said, I wanna thank you again for tuning in. I wanna wish you good health and happiness. And until next time, my friends. Peace.