For the protection of the environment and to maintain Germany's international competitiveness through efficient manufacture it is necessary that energy should be saved in production processes. To this end, the politicians have set standards and issued directives such as ISO 50001, requiring automatic equipment to make energy savings which must be proven by detailed recording of energy consumption. The ISO 50001 standard applies equally to older plant, which tends to be rather less automated. Here the relevant data are often unavailable as they are not included in the process image of the communication infrastructure, if such an infrastructure even exists.

IMMS has designed a wireless sensor network and achieved the practical acquisition of the relevant data under the harsh conditions obtaining in industrial production. The data is then transmitted for processing. This wireless network can be added to existing plant, in particular, enabling it to capture the information required by the standard. The system can be installed without affecting the productive operation of the plant.

The wireless sensor network and the automation system are connected via the BASe-Box. It receives the data from the sensor network and transmits it to the automation system, acting not only as gateway for the data but also undertaking the synchronisation. The items synchronised include the BASe-Box itself, further data loggers and other components of the automation system, such as servers. The synchronisation uses Ethernet and its associated protocols. The Institute has developed software that makes this common time basis available in the sensor network.