Smart welding production lines

Develop once, connect anywhere  

A manufacturer of industrial remote I/O solutions needed to support multiple industrial networks while ensuring fast, reliable communication in robotic welding applications. By integrating the Anybus CompactCom B40 communication interface, the company simplified industrial networking, shortened development time, and established a scalable platform for future products.

Figure 1. Illustration based on HMS product information and enhanced using AI-generated visual elements.

The Challenge 

Modern automotive welding lines increasingly rely on flexible production. Robots frequently switch between welding guns, grippers, and other end-of-arm tooling to support different vehicle models and production requirements. 
In these applications, remote I/O modules mounted on the robot tool side play a critical role by: 

• Collecting sensor data
• Controlling actuators
• Transferring real-time information to PLCs and robot controllers

However, every tool change briefly interrupts power and network communications. The system must rapidly restore 
communications, rebuild connections, and synchronize data, typically within 500 ms, to avoid alarms, reduced throughput, or production downtime. 

Figure 2. Illustration based on HMS product information and enhanced using AI-generated visual elements.

The communication challenge

For the remote I/O manufacturer, supporting multiple industrial networks was placing increasing demands on the engineering team. 

Supporting multiple industrial protocols required significant engineering effort for protocol development, testing,  certification, and ongoing maintenance. At the same time, different customer requirements created multiple product variants, increasing SKU complexity and extending development cycles.   

The company needed a way to simplify networking while maintaining compatibility with major industrial protocols including PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, EtherCAT, CC-Link, DeviceNet, and PROFIBUS.  

The solution: Anybus CompactCom B40

To address these challenges, the company selected the Anybus CompactCom B40 communication interface as the 
networking foundation for its next-generation remote I/O platform.  

The Anybus CompactCom B40 separates industrial networking from application development. It handles the 
industrial network implementation, allowing the customer's 

controller to focus on the application itself. This allows engineering teams to concentrate on developing core product capabilities rather than implementing and maintaining industrial networking protocols. 

Figure 3. Illustration based on HMS product information and enhanced using AI-generated visual elements.

Results

After adopting the Anybus CompactCom B40 solution, the manufacturer achieved significant benefits throughout the 
product lifecycle. 

1. Significantly shorter development cycles 
   Thanks to the proven communication stacks available for Anybus CompactCom B40 and the comprehensive development support package - including generic C drivers and application examples - the customer reduced the development cycle for its next-generation remote I/O platform to just 25 days. Compared to developing network protocols in-house, this enabled much faster testing, validation, and market introduction.  
   
   
2. Reduced product line complexity 
   By standardizing on a single hardware platform, the customer was able to effectively manage SKU growth. Different customer network requirements could be addressed through configuration rather than hardware redesign. This reduced development and manufacturing costs while simplifying supply chain management and after-sales firmware support.  
   
   
3.  Improved engineering focus and competitiveness 
   Engineering resources were freed from protocol development and maintenance tasks, allowing the team to 
   focus on optimizing core product functionality such as higher precision I/O acquisition, morecompact hardware designs, and application-specific functionality. This "HMS handles the networking, we focus on the application" approach significantly strengthened the company's competitive position in robotic end-of-arm tooling 
   and welding line applications.
   
   
4. Global deployment and proven reliability The Anybus CompactCom family has been deployed in more than 10 million industrial nodes worldwide and has been proven through millions of installed products in demanding industrial environments. By using the Anybus CompactCom, the customer benefited from HMS's decades of industrial networking expertise and reduced communication-related risks in the field. 
   

Conclusion

As communication capabilities become increasingly important in modern manufacturing, remote I/O manufacturers need solutions that simplify connectivity and reduce development effort. By adopting Anybus CompactCom B40, manufacturers can support multiple industrial networks, accelerate product development, and build scalable platforms for future products. 

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