"Electric Age" Exclusive Interview with SENTINEL CEO

On September 19, 2023, the China International Industry Fair opened grandly at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), with domestic and foreign automation companies showcasing their new products and solutions. During the exhibition, a reporter from "Electric Age" interviewed Zhu Wenqiang, the CEO of SENTINEL Electronic Co., Ltd. in Tianjin City.

Electrical Age: Over the years, Sentanida has been deeply involved in the field of automation. As a member of the committee actively promoting the localization of IO-Link technology, Sentanida has always focused on the development and market application of IO-Link related products. May I ask which mature products and technological solutions have been developed?

Zhu Wenqiang : Since 2013, Tianjin SENTINEL Electronic has been developing and launching a variety of fieldbus modules. In the process of serving customers, we have come into contact with the technology of IO-Link. With our sensitivity to automation-related technologies over the years, we believe that IO-Link will play a very important role in future factory automation applications. However, at that time, both the IO-Link master modules and the IO-Link slave devices and sensors were monopolized by foreign brands and were very expensive. The establishment of the IO-Link China Committee is a major positive development for the landing and implementation of this advanced automation technology in China. As a member of the committee, SENTINEL's mission is to continuously develop and promote IO-Link technology and provide localized products and technical support.

Tianjin SENTINEL Electronic, based on years of accumulated experience in the research and development and production of distributed IO modules, has quickly developed IO-Link Master and Device I/O related products. Among them, the main station can provide products with Profinet, EtherCAT, and CC-Link IE Field Basic interfaces, and the EthernetIP protocol will also be launched at the end of the year. As for the substation, SENTINEL can provide M12, M8 interfaces, and IP20 cabinet-related I/O products, involving digital and analog inputs, digital outputs, Class A and Class B ports, and IO-Link valve islands. According to market and user needs, we are constantly expanding our product range and improving product features. In our existing product line, process sensors such as flow, temperature, and pressure will also add IO-Link functionality.

As a local brand, SENTINEL's products can not only solve compatibility issues with different brands for customers, but also provide customers with a one-stop IO-Link product supply.

Electrical Age: What is the biggest advantage of IO-Link related products compared to other communication technologies?

Zhu Wenqiang : In 2011, Germany proposed the concept of Industry 4.0, and in 2015, China put forward the Made in China 2025 Action Plan. China is a manufacturing powerhouse and in the process of transforming into a manufacturing giant, it will inevitably face industrial and manufacturing upgrades. In the process of creating smart factories, even sensors at the level of on-site automation must be intelligent. IO-Link allows for bi-directional data exchange between sensors and control levels, enabling efficient maintenance and automation through real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance. In addition, the IO-Link interface simplifies communication with intelligent sensors and actuators by combining signal transmission with cable power supply technology. Only a generic 3-core ordinary cable is needed to meet the data transmission requirements. As industrial automation systems become increasingly interconnected and intelligent to meet the needs of centralized control and optimized production, IO-Link has become one of the key devices.

Electrical Age: What new products and solutions does your company bring to this year's industrial expo? What are the highlights? What are the main application areas?

Zhu Wenqiang: At this year's Industrial Expo, we are introducing B-class IO-Link master and sub-station IO modules, as well as IO-Link valve islands. Previously, our A-class port products were mainly focused on sensor connections, while the B-class interfaces are aimed at actuator connections. In terms of pneumatics, we have also launched valve island products with IO-Link interfaces, achieving a comprehensive layout of electric and pneumatic products and providing users with a wider range of product choices.



 

Electrical Age: In order to achieve the "dual-carbon" goal, the country is vigorously developing new energy. The two industries that are developing rapidly are new energy vehicles and photovoltaic power generation. There is also a great demand for digitized products. Please introduce the development situation of your company in these two fields.

Zhu Wenqiang : The new energy vehicle industry and the solar photovoltaic industry have experienced rapid development in recent years, resulting in a substantial demand for sensors and wiring products. SENTINEL Electronics has also made product arrangements for these two important industries.

First of all, with the rapid development of new energy technology, more and more electric vehicles are entering our lives. Charging and battery swapping are currently two means of supplementing the electric energy of new energy vehicles. In terms of convenience, speed, and safety, battery swapping technology stands out. When a vehicle enters a battery swapping station, the battery can be replaced within a few minutes, saving more time and eliminating range anxiety. Due to the installation of various types of sensors at the battery swapping station, with a wide range of types and complex wiring, on-site bus modules are used to collect signals and control actuator outputs. SENTINEL provides IP67 protection level bus modules for multiple new energy battery swapping equipment companies, serving users including NIO, Geely, BAIC, and other new energy vehicle owners.

As the swap equipment further matures in the future, users will need to read and record more sensor information. We have already prepared a solution for customers with IO-Link master station, which can achieve device preventive maintenance and enable cloud-based interaction of sensor parameters and data, thus enabling remote management of swap stations.

In the solar photovoltaic industry, it is common to process and cut silicon rod materials, so the semi-finished products of silicon materials need to be transported to different workstations by a conveying device. In the production line of the leading domestic photovoltaic panel manufacturing company, our bus module products are widely used in the conveyor control system, which realizes modular design in conveyor control. The on-site installation can be quickly and easily completed like building blocks, greatly shortening the user's preliminary design and development cycle. In the future, Sontenei will continue to deepen its involvement in the photovoltaic industry and apply more products to more scenarios.

Electrical Age: What difficulties and problems has your company encountered in the process of assisting enterprise digital transformation?

Zhu Wenqiang : Accelerating the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises is an important way to stimulate their development vitality and enhance their market competitiveness. As a member of China's vast small and medium-sized enterprises, SENTINEL Electronics not only needs to actively carry out digital transformation based on its own development situation, increase production capacity and improve efficiency, but also to use our products to help more small and medium-sized enterprises achieve digital transformation. In this process, various types of software and hardware support, funding assurance, and talent reserve are indispensable.

For example, many chips in our product design rely on imports from abroad. The chip shortage in the past two years has had a significant impact on product production, and some special function chips still cannot be domestically produced. In order to solve this constraint, SENTINEL is also actively promoting the replacement of domestic devices. Currently, each of our products has multiple sets of design plans to cope with possible future material supply issues.

Electrical Age: The country is vigorously promoting digitalization, bringing great development opportunities to automation enterprises. Please introduce your company's development vision.

Zhu Wenqiang : Currently, China's manufacturing industry is undergoing a transformation towards digitization, networkization, and intelligence. Intelligent manufacturing is an upgrade to traditional automated manufacturing, with the aim of improving the controllability of the production process, reducing human intervention in the production line, and rationalizing planning and scheduling. SENTINEL Electronic's IO-Link interface network module and IO-Link sensors have very broad market prospects. In the future, SENTINEL will integrate IO-Link interfaces into all existing sensor products, upgrading field-level sensors into intelligent devices. We hope that our products will evolve from "control+drive" to integrated products of "control+drive+execution", transforming SENTINEL from a sensor manufacturer into a provider of intelligent manufacturing solutions.

About the magazine "Electric Era"

The magazine "Electric Age" was first published in 1981. It is supervised by the China Federation of Machinery Industry and organized by the Machinery Industry Information Institute. It is one of the double-effect periodicals in China's journal lineup. The magazine is printed in full color and focuses on the perspectives of people, enterprises, technology, and products in the field of electrical and automation. It tracks and reports on advanced technology and management concepts in the field of electrical and automation, and comprehensively reflects new technologies, new products, mainstream applications, and industry trends in the electrical industry chain. With a comprehensive distribution system, it covers technical personnel and management decision-makers in the electrical and automation equipment manufacturing and usage divisions of industries such as power, metallurgy, petrochemicals, mechanical manufacturing, construction, and environmental protection.