Protecting man and machine from each other

The name "Pilz" has long been inextricably linked with the topic of "safety. Most people initially think of machine safety and the protection of people. In a time of cybersecurity, however, safety is about more than this and it is about safety and security where data protection is central. In its identification and access management (I.A.M.) service, Pilz offers a range of solutions to protect humans from machines and vice versa.

The theme of industrial safety is increasingly being taken up by legislation and regulations. Whereas previously machine safety was mainly described in the Machinery Directive, the new Machinery Regulation recognizes that safety cannot be separated from security. From 2026, security solutions to protect process and other data will no longer be allowed on a voluntary basis, but must be anchored in both technical and organizational solutions.

I.A.M.

Managing Director of Pilz Netherlands Peter Eland explains: "In fact, you can look at safety - that is, safety and security - from four perspectives. The most important is undoubtedly the prevention of accidents; employee protection, in other words.
In addition, as a company you have to deal with liability protection, productivity maintenance and data protection. In order to capture all these forms of security in one solution, we at Pilz developed 'Identification and Access Management' - I.A.M. for short."

Worker protection will be obvious to most and involves all measures to prevent employee injuries. From procedures and protocols to light curtains, emergency stops and safety controls. When it comes to liability, it should be clear who is responsible and whether there is fault. Measures such as training and appropriate tools, which must be regularly checked for effectiveness, are appropriate here as well. Machine downtime as a danger to productivity can be linked to manipulation, whether deliberate or not. Technical and organizational measures can also be taken for this. Finally, there is "security," which refers to the protection of data, know-how and business processes and which is threatened by hackers from outside but just as much by one's own employees.

Holistic approach

Due to constant changes in laws and regulations, data protection and network security are receiving increasing attention. 'Industrial safety' without considering security aspects is therefore no longer possible. Eland: "However, to design security in all its aspects, a holistic security concept is needed. I.A.M. provides this with a portfolio of products and individual solutions." One of the products in the portfolio is PITreader. A modular solution that provides functionally secure operating mode selection and access authorization to PL d. The solution is intuitive to use because each employee has his or her own transponder that defines which processes or machines this person has access to. Whether this is a piece of control or an industrial USB port. This protects people and productivity as well as data by preventing internal and external manipulation.

75 years

PITreader is one of many products with a focus on industrial safety that has been developed in the company. Eland knows, "Pilz started as a glassworks 75 years ago but shifted its focus to automation in the 1960s and to machine safety in the 1980s, with the development of the - still popular - PNOZ. Since 1990, there has also been a branch in the Netherlands and the yellow Pilz safety components have become indispensable in Dutch industry. And in addition, Pilz is still a family business where by now the third generation upholds the values and standards of the original founder: listening to customers and facing the challenges of today and tomorrow with an innovative outlook. A magnificent company that has fought its way through the past turbulent years and emerged from them more than healthy. 75 years of Pilz will therefore be emphatically celebrated."