As a participant in the state programme, KELLER has signed the charter on reconciling work and care and is a reconciliation partner. The care guide person at KELLER provides initial information and orientation on the compatibility of work & care on a collegial basis and informs about external assistance and regional counselling networks.

Balancing work and care is becoming increasingly important. The number of people in need of care and thus the number of family carers is continuously increasing. The employment rate is also rising steadily. Consequently, the group of working family carers is growing. At the same time, the lack of qualified personnel continues to worsen in many companies.

There are currently 1.2 million people in need of care in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). Most of them are cared for at home by their relatives. In many cases, these carers are employed: An estimated 500,000 working people in NRW care for relatives, partners or friends in addition to their job. It is our responsibility as an employer to take into account the demographic development of society on the one hand and, above all, the needs of our employees who take on care responsibilities on the other.

At the Hagemeister clinker bricks production plant in Nottuln (Germany), bricks were fired with hydrogen under real conditions in a joint project with several partners. This positive and pragmatic success places KELLER now in a position to deliver burner technology for hydrogen operation, together with the required control and safety technology. And thus, it is doing justice to its ambitious claim of increasing energy efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions in the bricks and tiles industry.

The test operation with hydrogen is part of the research project

Burning Roads 2023 - cycling for a good cause

In 2023, our colleagues Karl-Heinz Alfing and Thorsten Schnetgöke participated once again in

For the operation of electrical devices, the permissible supply voltage is defined by the manufacturer. Main power fluctuations, power failures, an improper earthing connection or the operation of equipment with inductive consumers such as motors can lead to the supply voltage being below - or above - the permissible supply voltage in certain phases. If this leads directly to a failure of the device, it is certainly not a desired but at least an unambiguous status. On the downside, voltage fluctuations in the impermissible range can also result in medium- or long-term failure of the devices.

For this purpose, the pyrometers of the new CellaTemp PK generation are equipped with a smart supply voltage monitor which permanently records the operating hours during which the sensor was operated with too low and too high a voltage. The diagnostic data provide an overview of the permanent operating status since the last service reset. From the data, necessary measures to stabilise the supply voltage can be taken in time, and thus avoiding a device failure.

The pyrometer displays the documented status of the supply voltage, which is made available to the plant control system via the IO-Link interface. In this way, efficient and predictive machine and plant maintenance can be automated via the control system and via cloud services to increase operational reliability, minimise downtimes and thus optimise availability.

Physical and chemical phenomena lead to ageing effects on electronic components. Ageing is very strongly dependent on the operating temperature and dynamic temperature variations. Raising the temperature by 10°C the ageing effect increases by the double to quatruple. As a result, the physical properties of the components can change and thus have a negative effect on the measuring accuracy and long-term stability of precision measuring instruments. In temperature-critical processes, pyrometers that evaluate the smallest signals of thermal radiation are therefore calibrated regularly.

The new generation of the CellaTemp PK pyrometer series has been equipped with a smart function, the vitality indicator. The acronym SMART stands for Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology. For this purpose, the vitality monitor continuously collects the relevant operating data in order to monitor the progress of ageing as a function of the operating temperature and the running hours. The ageing status of the optical temperature measuring device can be displayed at any time or read out by the plant control system via the digital interface. The aim is an independent indication of the optimal time for a check and calibration by the pyrometer itself. The period depends strongly on the ambient temperature and is between 2 and 25 years.

In temperature-relevant production processes, such as in the steel industry, fixed calibration cycles are defined by the quality management. The vitality monitor simultaneously records the operating time. With the new function, a service interval can be freely configured, so that the device reminds even independently of the next inspection date in the spirit of preventive maintenance.

After five eventful days at the fair, THERMPROCESS and GIFA fully met our expectations. According to the organisers, 63,300 visitors from 114 countries came to the world's largest trade fair for thermal heating systems and foundry equipment. 2,200 exhibitors from 56 countries presented their innovations in the metallurgical industry. The KELLER ITS stand with its large-scale illuminated picture and the eye-catcher, a rotating hologram of the IO-Link pyrometer, had an impressive effect and attracted many visitors. More than 200 trade fair contacts from 45 countries were generated. The foreign share was 80 %. It was therefore a good decision to invite our Brazilian and Japanese sales partners to support us at our stand. With 40 %, the greatest interest of our fair visitors was in our CellaCast measuring system for safe and wear-free temperature measurement of liquid metals. Once again, the trade fair showed how important personal contact is and is also sought after despite the most modern communication technology.

The digital communication interface IO-Link has developed into a globally open I/O technology standardised according to IEC 61131-9 for communicating between sensors and control level. The acronym

The functional options of the KITS Service App gained much popularity among service engineers since it has been introduced in 2020. In particular, the emissivity calculator for configuring the pyrometer according to the metrological conditions as well as the field-of-view calculator for checking the field of view and correct focusing are a great help when it comes to commissioning of the pyrometers. The Industrial Solution Guide of the app helps the user to select the most suitable measuring system for the measuring task. In total, the app now has 44 application solutions. A new feature is the Troubleshooting Guide, a structured guide for systematic troubleshooting of the most common defects and metrological problems in optical temperature measurement. After selecting the component and error category, possible causes are displayed together with the solution instructions. In addition, the new version provides pyrometer operators with a ticket system. It is used to manage support requests and problems. Each request generates a ticket, so that no requests are lost. The tickets are assigned to the correct service employee for further processing. The advantage is efficient processing with minimal bureaucracy. The interactive chat box ensures clarity and provides a comprehensible overview of all communication belonging to a process. As is usual with chat programmes, all kinds of files can be exchanged easily. The new version 2.0 of the KITS app now supports 22 languages. This means that the KITS app meets the requirements of modern digital service management: when issues occur you have all the necessary information available quickly, easily and at any time, no matter where you are.

THERMPROCESS, the world's most important trade fair for thermoprocessing technology, will take place in Düsseldorf, Germany, June 12-16, 2023.

We, at KELLER ITS, your partner for precise optical temperature measurement, would like to invite you to our booth C60 in Hall 9 to become acquainted with our products and innovations and convince yourself of the benefits!

KELLER ITS - simply smarter

https://youtu.be/zMfagfATYLY

From June 12-16, 2023, the world's most important trade fair for thermal processes, industrial furnaces and industrial heat treatment equipment will take place in Düsseldorf. ITS will again participate as an exhibitor and present new developments there. These include the CellaTemp PK pyrometer series equipped with new electronics. This means that the devices support the latest version of the modern IO-Link interface with a 6-fold increase in transmission speed. Based on a new high-performance microprocessor, the devices feature a vitality indicator. This smart function indicates the "health status" of the device depending on the static and dynamic ambient temperature as well as the operating time. Thus, the pyrometer independently signals a recommended calibration of the equipment depending on any aging effects of the electronic components.

Also being introduced at the show is the new version of the KITS app. In addition to a ticket system for easy and direct communication with the service department, a troubleshooting guide has been integrated, a structured guide for efficient troubleshooting of the most common defects and metrological problems.

On April 27, some students got a taste of our apprenticeship professions. The nationwide campaign day (formerly "Girls'Day, Boys'Day") for girls and boys is held every school year at all general education schools for grades 5 - 9. On this day, students are given insights into various professions that are suitable for expanding the traditional, gender-specific spectrum of possible professions for girls and boys. They can take part in activities in companies, colleges and institutions and are thus encouraged to explore professions that they themselves usually do not consider. Four girls and eight boys visited KELLER. In the morning, the young people were given an insight into the professions of industrial mechanic and industrial clerk. After a small snack, at this point a big thank you to Burger Benchhttps://burger-bench.de/for the great preparation, they went on to the areas of electronics technician and ceramics laboratory. It was an exciting and informative day! Many thanks to all!

The annual World Day for Safety and Health at Work promotes the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases worldwide. It is an awareness campaign designed to draw international attention to the scale of the problem and how promoting and creating a culture of safety and health can help reduce work-related deaths and injuries.

As an employer, we are responsible for ensuring that the work environment is safe and healthy.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) aims to firmly embed the issue of the environment and social responsibility into the company's processes, products and services. By implementing CSR, the company commits to positively impacting society and the environment while remaining economically viable. The goals are achieved with the help of employees, customers and suppliers. The provider of sustainability and CSR ratings EcoVadis today rates a network of over 75,000 companies around the world. The basis of the ratings is a documentation check carried out by EcoVadis, which is based on size, industry and country. Companies are assessed against 21 criteria in the environmental, social and ethical areas, as well as in terms of supplier relations. This year, we will continue to improve in the areas of quality, environment, labour and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement.