Service calls used to be an integral part of everyday work for the Swiss embroidery machine manufacturer Lässer. If a customer had ordered a machine, the system specialist had to be on site at the latest for maintenance or in the event of a fault. Today this is carried out from the company headquarters in Switzerland, because Lässer can access machines from anywhere using the u-link remote access service.
Lässer AG
When fashion with sophisticated embroidery is presented on international catwalks, Lässer has often contributed to the success of the collections. With 180 employees, the family business is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-performance embroidery machines. In order to precisely attach the delicate works of art made of yarn to different materials such as silk, cotton or tulle, the machines, which are up to 30 meters long, must guarantee accuracy and smooth running.
Lässer maintains a high standard of service to ensure security after purchase, as machine downtime is a high cost factor for plant operators. On-site visits by technicians are, however, uneconomical in the digital age: the availability of specialists and the trip to the plant operator when necessary cost time and money. As a result, u-link, Weidmüller’s remote access service, is now used to maintain Lässer’s embroidery machines. This gives Lässer the opportunity to access its machines worldwide and across national borders.
The simplified service
A VPN client is installed on the service technician’s computer, which establishes a secure, outgoing connection to a meeting point server (cloud server). This is used to establish a continuous VPN tunnel from the router to an industrial security router on the operator’s machine. Lässer now uses Weidmüller’s industrial security routers in each of its embroidery machines. In total, several hundred routers have already been installed.
In the event of a fault, the machine operator can decide whether and when Lässer will have access to a machine. Once the service technician has logged on to the u-link portal, he can see which industrial security router has established a VPN connection to the meeting point server. He can now connect to the router and view the system visualization and control parameters. For example, he can see in which program section the machine failed. With remote access, Lässer significantly reduces the time between reporting an error to the service team and restarting the machine. Regular updates of the machines now also run via the remote access service as standard.
Extensive testing desired
The desire for remote access already existed when Peter Hirt, Segment Manager Machinery & Automation Sales at Weidmüller, visited Lässer for the first time. The decision for u-link was made after Patrik Schwarz, software developer and project manager at Lässer, was convinced of the solution in practice. With a sample router and test access to the web application, he was able to test the functions of u-link in advance. During the system design and setup, Lässer and Weidmüller held regular online meetings in which important questions, such as the allocation of rights or firewall settings, were discussed. Even specific requirements of the Swiss company, such as configuring and controlling the router via the machine control system, were implemented.
The issue of data security and the location of the servers also played a role in the initial planning phase, because it is not uncommon for providers of remote maintenance solutions to outsource their cloud storage to countries whose data protection laws do not meet the German standard. All servers that u-link accesses, however, are located in Western Europe and meet all relevant security standards.
In a large-scale project such as this, consistent information is the basis for successful cooperation. Today, the remote access solution is continuously improved through close communication between Lässer and Weidmüller. For example, an interface from the u-link portal to the controllers and the development portal was recently implemented so that the router can be configured from here. The further development of customer service is an important future topic for Lässer.