Industry 4.0 in Hamm: LoRaWAN Sensors for Manufacturing and Chemical Plants

Industry 4.0 project in Hamm? We advise on condition monitoring and IoT retrofit for your production. IoT solutions Hamm · Contact

Hamm is an industrial location with a long tradition. From chemical parks to metalworking companies and food producers - Hamm's industry is diverse. Many production facilities have been running reliably for decades, but without digital monitoring. Unplanned downtime, undetected energy wasters and manual inspection protocols cost time and money.

IoT retrofit with LoRaWAN brings these facilities into the digital age - without interfering with existing control systems.

Hamm's Industrial Locations at a Glance

Hamm has transformed from a mining location to a diversified industrial hub. The key areas for IoT retrofit:

• Rhynern Industrial Area / A2 Corridor: Along the A2 motorway sit metalworkers, machine builders and automotive suppliers. Typical halls from the 1970s-1990s with heavy machinery - ideal for condition monitoring.
• Uentrop Commercial Area: At the site of the former THTR, chemical companies, plastics processors and suppliers have settled. Special requirement: environmental monitoring in areas with hazardous materials.
• Heessen Commercial Area: Medium-sized manufacturing, trades and food processing. Many 2nd or 3rd generation family businesses with organically grown facilities that were never digitized.
• Port of Hamm on the Datteln-Hamm Canal: Handling of building materials, scrap and agricultural products. Crane and conveyor systems without digital monitoring.
• Gewerbepark Mark: Newer commercial area with a mix of trades, manufacturing and services - building automation and energy monitoring are the main topics here.

The common thread: machinery that runs reliably but is digitally blind.

Industry 4.0 Without Modifying Existing Equipment

The decisive advantage of LoRaWAN sensors for existing equipment: sensors are mounted externally on machines and transmit wirelessly. No PLC modification, no changes to control logic and no network connection to the machine required. The production network remains untouched.

Typical retrofit scenarios for industrial companies in Hamm:

Condition Monitoring

Vibration sensors on motors, pumps, compressors and gearboxes continuously measure vibrations. Changes in vibration profiles indicate wear - weeks before the machine fails. This enables planned maintenance instead of unplanned downtime.

Energy Monitoring in Production

Current clamps on machines and systems capture consumption per unit. In Grafana dashboards you can see: which machine consumes too much at idle? Where are the load peaks? Where does investing in more efficient technology pay off?

Environmental Monitoring

Temperature, humidity and CO2 concentration in production halls - relevant for quality assurance, employee protection and compliance. Automatic alerting on threshold violations via Node-RED.

Fill Level Measurement

Ultrasonic sensors on silos, tanks and containers measure fill levels wirelessly. Data flows into ThingsBoard and can automatically trigger reorders or logistics processes.

The IoT Stack for Hamm's Industry

• Milesight hardware: Industrial-grade sensors and gateways (IP67)
• ChirpStack: LoRaWAN network management
• ThingsBoard: Device management and real-time dashboards
• Grafana: Analytical dashboards and KPI reporting
• Node-RED: Automation and ERP integration

Hosted on German servers via merkaio Managed Hosting - GDPR-compliant with 24/7 monitoring.

Case Study: Metalworker in the Rhynern Industrial Area

Situation: A metalworking company in the Rhynern industrial area along the A2 motorway with 5 CNC milling machines and 3 hydraulic presses. The company has existed since 1978, the oldest milling machine dates from 1995. Unplanned downtime costs an average of 8,000 euros per incident - last year alone there were 4 failures. Maintenance follows time intervals (every 6 months), not actual need. Energy costs: 78,000 euros per year for the production hall.

IoT Solution:

• 8x Vibration sensors (one per machine, magnetically mounted on motor housing)
• 3x Current sensors at main distribution panels (milling, press shop, general)
• 4x Temperature/humidity sensors in the hall
• 1x Milesight Gateway on the hall roof
• Managed hosting via merkaio

Results after 6 months:

• Bearing damage detected early: After 3 weeks, CNC milling machine #3 showed a changed vibration pattern. Bearing replaced in time for 1,200 euros - an unplanned shutdown would have cost 8,000 euros plus 2 days of production downtime.
• Idle consumers identified: Hydraulic press #2 consumed 3.8 kW at idle - almost as much as under load (4.5 kW). Cause: defective valve in the hydraulic system. Repair resulted in 12% less total energy consumption.
• Hall climate documented: Summer months showed temperatures above 35 degrees C in the hall - causing quality issues with precision parts. Targeted ventilation measures initiated.
• Demand-based maintenance: Instead of blanket maintenance every 6 months: milling machines #1 and #5 need more frequent maintenance (higher vibration values), while #2 and #4 run more stably. Maintenance costs reduced by 30% while simultaneously having fewer failures.

Special Industry Requirements in Hamm

Chemical Industry in Uentrop

Chemical companies in the Uentrop commercial area have special requirements for environmental monitoring. LoRaWAN sensors can capture temperature, humidity and gas concentrations near hazardous materials storage areas. The data serves compliance documentation and early warning for anomalous conditions. Important: for explosive atmospheres (ATEX zones), specialized LoRaWAN sensors with appropriate certification are available.

Food Processing in Heessen

Several food companies in Heessen produce baked goods, meat products and convenience foods. HACCP-compliant temperature monitoring in production and storage is mandatory. IoT sensors replace manual temperature logs with automatic, tamper-proof recording - a real advantage during IFS audits.

Port: Heavy Cargo and Bulk Materials

Heavy goods are handled at the Port of Hamm - cranes, conveyor belts and grabs run in continuous operation. Condition monitoring on these systems is particularly valuable because a crane failure shuts down the entire transshipment operation.

Next Steps

• IoT solutions in Hamm - All services at a glance
• IoT solutions in Dortmund - Neighboring location
• IoT solutions in Soest - Neighboring location
• All IoT locations - Overview
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