From factory automation to logistics automation and process control, SICK is one of the world’s leading sensor technology companies. SICK solutions help our customers control automated processes securely and efficiently, protect people from accidents, and prevent damage to the environment. SICK solutions and services lie at the heart of automated processing and manufacturing and lead the way in advanced factory-wide intelligent control and Industry 4.0 objectives.
Who we are
Founded in Germany in 1946, the company operates worldwide with more than 7,400 employees. The company’s founder, Erwin Sick, developed some of the first opto-electric devices, culminating in the world’s first light curtain device which he patented in 1951. Innovation in safety and sensing devices has driven SICK ever since.
Innovation through development
SICK invests heavily in research and development to working closely with customers to manage complex manufacturing issues to achieve greater productivity, increased production flexibility, or more efficient use of resources.
Detection and ranging solutions and distance sensors
Laser measurement and ultrasonic devices can be used for a wide range of applications including gathering 2D and multi-dimensional contour data and are ideal for indoor and outdoor applications, including anti-collision in harbours, traffic, security, detection in building automation, or position evaluation in navigation.
Automation and process solutions
SICK’s intelligent sensor solutions enable manufacturers to benefit from advanced automation and process control. Solutions include: Registration sensors for precision detection of marks for positioning and control; Vision solutions for automated inspection and measurement tasks with appropriate technologies including 2D and 3D vision cameras; Automation light grids for detection and counting; Encoders for precision automated control of paths position and angle in rotating and moving machinery; Motor feedback systems which complement encoder technology by providing real time multi-parameter data for automated network communication control; Identification solutions such as barcode and 1D and 2D identification and RFID solutions, for the accurate identification, traceability and control demanded in modern automated systems, from raw material through logistics to the retail shelf.
Analysis, flow and measuring devices
From gas and fluid flow, to chemical and pollutant detection and analysis, high-performance and reliable instrumentation from SICK is an industry leading technology that ensures process control and environmental protection.
Sensors for industry
The range of disciplines includes magnetic cylinder sensors, photoelectric sensors and photoelectric sensors, used in hygienic, high dust and dirt and other difficult and challenging industrial environments, based on leading sensor technology.
Machinery Safety
SICK leads the field in opto-electronic protective devices and systems helping achieve the highest standards of protective safety in heavy manufacturing without requiring barriers or gates for personnel and safety switches machinery and guards as part of SICK’s range of safe control solutions.
Software products and system solutions
Complementing all SICK’s hardware, our software products and systems solutions are developed to enhance functionality as part of true integration into factory control architecture.
Sick has launched at it claims is the world’s smallest safety laser scanner, designed for easy and economical integration into the smallest of machine designs, particularly for automated guided vehicles, carts, mobile platforms and service robots.
The ultra-compact Sick nanoScan3 is just (more...)
A collaboration between Fanuc and Sick has pioneered new safety integration for robot machine tending that points the way towards simpler, more cost-effective and adaptable solutions in future.
Robots excel in heavy, repetitive and high-speed tasks, far surpassing humans in their repeatable, (more...)
Sick has extended its innovative family of 3D snapshot vision sensors with the launch of the Visionary S stereo camera, enabling precise, high-speed capture of 3D colour images for integration into robot guidance and quality inspection applications. The Sick Visionary S 3D snapshot camera combines (more...)
SICK offers a fascinating glimpse through the doors of its own Industry 4.0 factory – and proves it pays to practice what you preach.
STEP into SICK’s futuristic new Industry 4.0 production facility, and the first thing you notice is the quiet. Then, you see the pristine rows of (more...)
Industry 4.0 promises to shine the bright light of digitisation and connectivity through an organisation and sweep away its last dark corners, so that all processes are visible, data is available, and workflows optimised across an interconnected universe.
This ‘smart’ new world view (more...)
Dr Martin Kidman of Sick examines the challenge of maintaining functional safety when moving systems outdoors.
The unpredictability of the great outdoors has always precluded manufacturers, machine-builders and systems integrators from providing their customers with a safety solution that can be (more...)
The holy grail of the fourth industrial revolution – Industry 4.0 – appeals to our human desire for sea change – a magical something that leapfrogs us right over the competition. The prospect is an enticing one: If only engineers had a magic wand to wave over their processes, it (more...)
There’s a liberation taking place in factory automation – one that is winning new freedoms and accessibility to robots for users in almost every kind of production environment, says Neil Sandhu of Sick.
Robots need ‘eyes’ in the form of machine vision, and the two (more...)
Sick UK has released more dates for its popular Functional Safety Training during 2018 led by its qualified Machinery Safety experts and held at convenient locations in the North and South of England.
The one-day course is designed to bring engineers, machinebuilders and end-users up to speed with (more...)
When it comes to choosing the right safety relay, identifying the smallest performance improvements can result in big productivity gains. That’s why Sick has developed its ReLy safety relays to achieve a 10ms response time with a long and durable product lifecycle.
In a range of just four (more...)
Sick has launched the LabelChecker, an ‘off-the-shelf’ label inspection solution with the ability to read and verify text, numbers, bar codes and 2D codes, as well as checking label design and print quality. Based on Sick’s InspectorP vision sensor, the all-in-one solution is the (more...)
Sick has expanded its next-generation microScan3 family with the addition of EtherNet/IP and PROFINET compatible variants to enable easy integration of safety laser scanners into a safe network. This also facilitates simultaneous field evaluation of up to four fields, instead of the single field (more...)
Where would you begin if you had to completely rethink the optical sensor? What would be top of your wish list? David Hannaby explains how SICK’s next generation W16 and W26 photoelectric sensors with “BluePilot” alignment got ready for a dramatic take off.
When SICK consulted (more...)
Machinery safety design in high-speed corrugated cardboard production is particularly challenging because a machine can be more than 100 metres long and made up of complex, modular elements that must integrate many levels of safety protection.
Board24, a leading producer of corrugated packaging, (more...)
Sick has developed the SureSense family of user-customisable photo-electric sensors – a concept that enables machine builders and plant engineers to specify from a wide-range of sensing options all within a standard technology, set-up, mounting and housing.
The durable SureSense sensors can (more...)
Discovering how smart sensor technologies help to deliver manufacturing flexibility and predictive maintenance in Industry 4.0-enabled manufacturing and logistics environments will be the focus for SICK UK’s stand at the PPMA Show.
SICK will be unveiling the latest Smart Sensors in its (more...)
Until recently, SICK’s registration sensor portfolio has been led by the SICK KT5 sensor - probably the most commonly-used and depended-upon contrast sensor in industry worldwide. Now, a new breakthrough in registration performance, the KTS/KTX family is being officially launched in the UK at (more...)
The first UKIVA Machine Vision Conference saw the launch of Sick’s AppSpace, and provided an early opportunity for developers and end-users to experience its far-reaching programming potential first hand. Hailed as an exciting new ‘eco-system’ for bespoke application development, (more...)
Sick has announced that it is opening up its Hiperface DSL (Digital-Servo-Link) interface to all users. When launched six years ago, the interface made a single cable servomotor a reliable proposition for the very first time. Following the rapid adoption of the One Cable Technology, Sick has decided (more...)
tool for encoders and sensors with a CANopen interface.
The battery-powered SICK PGT-12-PRO is a pocket-sized programming tool, designed initially for rapid configuring and programming of SICK’s AHS/AHM36 programmable absolute encoders and TMS/TMM inclination sensors with CANopen or analogue (more...)
Everybody’s talking about Industry 4.0 – but how many of us are really clear about what it means on a practical level? David Hannaby of Sick offers some clarification, and looks at what steps we should take now to ensure we have a ‘Smart Factory’ in future, focusing in (more...)
Sick has launched the STR1, a transponder safety switch that uses non-contact RFID technology to provide highly-reliable and tamper-proof personnel protection on removable guards to PLe/SIL3, with easy installation and safety system integration. The STR1 can be installed individually or in series (more...)
Dr Martin Kidman of Sick UK describes how the latest safety scanning is enabling human-robot collaboration to go mobile.
Human-robot collaboration is already showing its potential to revolutionise factory automation. Before long we will be used to working with robot ‘assistants’ that (more...)
Increasing quality requirements and the desire for resource efficiency necessitate autonomous fault detection through comprehensive product and production data. In the area of quality control, goods in the production process and value chain must be reliably and uniquely identified so that they can (more...)
Sensor intelligence has come of age. Sensors are the essential building blocks of automated production environments; the “unsung heroes” that enable high-speed, high-variety throughput to operate at maximum availability and reliability.
So what has driven this quiet sensor revolution? (more...)
Developments within the best-selling Sick Flexi family of machinery safety products are delivering more productive and less-costly safety installations that meet the increasing demands of EU safety standards including EN ISO 13849-1 and EN 62061.
The introduction of the Flexi Loop, Flexi-Link and (more...)
Enabling robotics to achieve reliable identification of parts and objects, often in more unstructured and flexible arrangements, has long been a challenge, but the latest vision technologies are now making this possible, as Neil Sandhu of Sick UK explains.
Glimpse into a not-too-distance future (more...)
Achieving instantly reliable proximity sensing is simple with the single-click installation of the Sick IQG sensor. With its one-second mount and 40x40mm cubic construction, the IQG is an all-purpose and cost-effective inductive sensor that is easy-to-switch in countless automation, conveying and (more...)
A tough addition to Sick’s flagship safety light curtain family, the deTec4 Prime is an extra-rugged, high-performance light curtain that is easy to install and use. It is also suitable for harsh environments and exceptionally wide machines.
With the Sick deTec4 Prime, it is easier than (more...)
Important changes to safety standards for door and gate switching have set tougher rules that all designers, builders and operators of machinery must be aware of. Martin Kidman, machinery safety specialist at Sick UK, explains.
EN ISO 14119 (Safety of Machinery – Interlocking devices (more...)
Visitors to MACH 2016 are promised a glimpse of the future of industrial safety as the global market leader SICK continues its roll-out of next-generation safety products on stand 5969.
Safety and manufacturing specialists from SICK will demonstrate its new DFS60S Pro safety encoder, microScan3 (more...)
The Safety Light Curtain is relied on to protect the safety of factory personnel all over the world. Yet, though the technology was developed more than 65 years ago, many applications may still not be making full use of its capabilities. Is it time to re-appraise what light curtains could be (more...)
Sick UK has announced the launch of the PLd/SIL2-certified DFS60S Pro incremental encoder, enabling motion to be safely controlled in automated guided vehicles or machinery requiring frequent operator interaction. The DFS60S Pro enables safe operator interaction at slow speeds without the need to (more...)
Delivering innovative sensing technologies that support a safer food chain was the focus of solutions for hygienic environments, quality inspection and product traceability from Sick at PPMA. "Progress in food technology, the globalisation of trade, and shifts in our eating habits have created new (more...)
In the food and drink industry, achieving a safe food chain all the way from producer to plate is paramount. Maintaining hygiene levels is a critical element in the journey through a process plant, but one pinch-point that's easily overlooked is sensor hygiene. Phil Dyas, industrial sensors UK (more...)
Expanding SICK's ground-breaking range of safety products, the SICK deTec2 Core type 2 light curtain brings enhanced standards in performance efficiency, installation ease and reliability for PL c and SIL 1 applications for FMCG goods handling and packaging. "As well as its new innovative bracket (more...)
SICK has introduced the Profiler 2, a short range distance sensor for accurate measurement of 2D profiles, shapes and surfaces that combines a high-performance resolution of 2 microns with a wide measurement range.The SICK Profiler 2 delivers plug-and-play performance ideally suited to production (more...)
SICK UK has launched a versatile miniature capacitive proximity sensor with the capability to perform a wealth of non-contact sensing tasks in printing applications for example for ink fill level sensing in printing machines.The CQ4 has a rapid switching frequency up to 100 Hz and a sensing range of (more...)
Dr Martin Kidman of Sick UK looks at the arguments for using standard sensors for machinery safety and the possible pitfalls.The new safety standards EN ISO 13849-1 and EN 62061 are now in place and, in principle, permit the use of standard components in safety circuits. So, with standard sensors (more...)
When it comes to auto-ident technologies, there's no silver bullet with a golden hammer, as Tim Stokes of Sick UK explains.I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail." These words by psychologist Abraham Maslow in 1966 have been adopted (more...)
Following close cooperation with customers, Sick is expanding its Mini range of sensors to meet even the most challenging packaging needs. Joining the already-successful Sick Mini sensors are the KTM Prime Inox for hygienic environments, the CSM colour and LUTM luminescence detection sensors. Each (more...)
Expanding SICK's ground-breaking range of safety products, the SICK deTec2 Core type 2 light curtain brings enhanced standards in performance efficiency, installation ease and reliability for PL c and SIL 1 applications for FMCG goods handling and packaging. "As well as its new innovative bracket (more...)
Industrial Technology invited SICK UK's product manager for imaging and measurement systems, Neil Sandhu, to look at a technology evolution which has developed to offer the most versatile vision choices that automation engineers have seen.There are two sides to the machine vision coin: One is the (more...)
SICK UK will be presenting at two newly announced seminars organised by the Lean Workshop Group, where delegates can learn all about the theory of lean manufacturing techniques and examine the operation of a lean manufacturing cell. With these practical workshops backed up by live demonstrations, (more...)
CLEAR packaging and films are dream materials for food and FMCG manufacturers, but ever-more transparent and reflective packaging can pose nightmares for the production engineers tasked with detecting them accurately and reliably with optical sensors.Now, thanks some innovative rethinking of sensor (more...)
One of factory automation's 'dream' scenarios is within everyone's grasp, says Spencer Goldsmith, SICK (UK) manufacturing segment manager, outlining the benefits of new developments in inter-device connectivity that are heralding a new communications age. Humans are commonly accepted (more...)
SICK UK is launching the MPS and MPA, two new magnetic analog output position sensors for pneumatic and hydraulic cylinders that promise unprecedented levels of accuracy and control, combined with the versatility to be used universally for machine and robotics applications. The key to the (more...)
The new PBSH pressure switch from SICK's Industrial Instrumentation Division is designed specifically for pressure control applications in food and beverage processes, achieving stringent hygiene standards and high production availability cost-effectively. The SICK PBSH combines hygienic (more...)
SICK UK has announced the launch of the DeltaPac, the first ever photoelectric sensor able to detect individual packs on a conveyor without a gap between them. The DeltaPac will help production teams achieve high levels of accuracy and throughput speeds whilst reducing the risk of pile-ups and (more...)
The new Hot Spot Detector system from SICK can prevent catastrophic vehicle fires in highway tunnels and help avoid loss of life, freight and vehicles as well as the immense cost of closure and reconstruction. Based on the SICK LMS511 laser sensor with the TIC 102 profiling system and integrated (more...)
Controlling linear motion is the most common application amongst all encoder types. Whether the need is to regulate the speed of motion, control final positioning or provide soft limits for the linear motion, an encoder is the perfect solution. To determine the type of encoder needed, a few (more...)
SICK UK tackles the problems of fault masking and finds a cost-saving solution to cascading safety switches and sensors in the light of the forthcoming EN ISO 14119 standard. Dr Martin Kidman, Safety Specialist at SICK (UK) explains.Picture a simple safety system: A single cell with potentially (more...)
With the new OD Mini short range distance sensor, SICK says it has delivered one of the world’s most lightweight and precise displacement sensors incorporating an easy-to-use display and control.The SICK OD Mini achieves micron resolution and millisecond responsiveness in a rugged, compact and (more...)
The launch of the SICK deTec4 Core introduces the next-generation of safety light curtain, setting new performance standards in efficiency, installation and reliability for a wide range of applications including machine tool protection, FMCG goods handling and packaging, warehousing and logistics.As (more...)
The new SICK KTM promises maximum contrast detection reliability in a mini sensor. Ideal for high-speed packaging processes, the SICK KTM achieves fast-paced print mark detection with short response times and fine grey-tone resolution, even where media is shiny. With the SICK KTM contrast sensor, (more...)
Seb Strutt of Sick UK explains how the safety laser scanner has created unprecedented new opportunities to protect personnel at affordable costs and how, in particular, its versatility has offered increased collision protection from driverless guided vehicles.There are few developments in machinery (more...)
The new SICK CLV610 barcode scanner with the fieldbus module meets the need for easy-to-install and cost-effective product identification in storage, product handling and conveying. Developed in close collaboration with warehouse and logistics customers, the SICK CLV610, combined with the CDF600-2 (more...)
Transparent labels and substrates pose no problems for the new SICK UF Next fork sensor which uses ultrasonics to sense label position precisely whether clear, opaque, with coloured or printed designs, different web materials or even foils and metallics. The versatility of the improved design is (more...)
Seb Strutt, safety specialist at Sick UK examines how machine designers can remove the uncertainty in determining the safe stop time of a potentially hazardous movement.On any machine or automated process, expert analysis of the operation will identify movements which comprise the key elements of a (more...)
Absolute encoders are the unsung workhorses of factory operations, essential to the fine control of automated and rotating axis machinery. Now, product innovations from SICK have delivered design and connectivity improvements which promise to improve production control and plant availability through (more...)
Accurate tracking of high-value, costly items through a production or warehouse process is becoming an increasingly common requirement. Tim Stokes of SICK UK looks at what this means in practice.Tracking errors are the gremlins that can undermine the logistics of a bespoke manufacturing operation. (more...)
The new SICK Registration Sensor Catalogue is a guide to the company's comprehensive choice of sensors for contrast, colour, luminescence, fork and array applications. (more...)
A quiet digital revolution in the control and application of brushless servo motors and drives is promising a step-change in technology and could be accepted as a new industry standard.The benefits of a new, completely, digital communications protocol for carrying servo data from the motor to the (more...)
SICK UK has launched its next-generation laser distance measurement sensor, DL100 Hi, achieving best-in-class levels of accuracy over greater distances for positioning and control in fast-moving environments.The high performance of the DL100Hi can help achieve cost and operating efficiencies in (more...)
A 15 minute visit to SICK UK's stand could be a safe bet for engineers wanting an insight into new Functional Safety regulations. SICK is holding regular 15-minute 'walk-throughs' of the new machinery safety standards BS EN13849-1 & 2 for Safety Related Control Systems and the SISTEMA software (more...)
The Ranger and Ruler high speed 3D cameras from SICK meet the needs of advanced applications and tough industrial environments. The cameras measure 3D object shape at high speed and quality whilst at the same time measuring other object features such as grey scale and laser scatter (MultiScan). (more...)
SICK (UK) has introduced Hiperface DSL, a fully digital encoder feedback interface with both SIL2 and SIL3 safety capability for the communication of feedback data from brushless servo motors to associated drive electronics. The Hiperface DSL data protocol has been designed to carry comprehensive (more...)
For anyone who hasn't come across SICK's LIDAR products, they are effectively optical radar systems, sending out light and measuring the time taken for any light that hits an object to come back. It can thus provide object detection information in a range of applications. Complementing the original (more...)
Luxury car manufacturer, Jaguar, turned to leading international sensor and sensing systems manufacturer, SICK (UK), to help ensure production safety at its Castle Bromwich facility is compliant with the new Machinery Directive.The first of the company's six core values, safety is of the highest (more...)
SICK is extending the benefits of its innovative miniTwin light curtain technology to a much wider audience, with the launch of the miniTwin 2, a cost-effective solution that meets level 'd' SIL2 safety requirements. This latest addition to the miniTwin family incorporates sender and receiver (more...)
SICK has developed two one-day seminars to give managers, engineers, OEMs and end users the tools needed to comply with the new Machinery Directive. The Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, which came into effect on 29th December 2009, provides the regulatory basis for the harmonisation of the essential (more...)
Award-winning design technology from SICK UK is extending the frontiers of light curtain safety performance to wide new applications with the launch of the miniTwin 4. For the first time, sender and receiver elements are combined in a single miniature housing and the miniTwin 4 achieves continuous (more...)
SICK UK is marking the launch of its new Industrial Instrument Division with the unveiling of two flagship level and pressure sensors. The LFV200 vibrating level sensor and PHT pressure transmitters are the first to be released from the new division which will offer a comprehensive range of level, (more...)
SICK UK has launched a new interactive guide to encoder selection to assist specifiers and design engineers to choose the correct type and technology to match their application needs.The SICK Selection Guide for Encoders is downloadable as an interactive pdf from www.sick.com. The guide explains the (more...)
In the July 2009 issue of Industrial Technology, Tim Stokes, laser sensor product manager at SICK UK reviews the latest developments in laser sensing technology and the alternative technologies bringing new performance options to engineers across industry.Why not register to receive your own copy of (more...)
Machine vision is the new must-have technology for improving automated handling and processing but there are many misconceptions about what it can do, and how it is most effectively used. Now SICK has published an essential 'Introduction to Machine Vision' to provide engineers with insight into best (more...)
The development of 3D vision technology has opened up new frontiers for manufacturers to improve efficiency, quality control and defect detection through radically-improved visualisation and recognition capabilities. In the March 2009 issue of Industrial Technology, David Hannaby from SICK UK (more...)
With the imminent changes to the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations (29/12/2009), and the new standards which are superseding BS EN 954-1, SICK (UK) is concerned that manufacturers, design and production engineers and safety managers will get overwhelmed by \'standards speak\' and lose sight (more...)
In the January 2009 issue of Industrial Technology, Iain Smith and Seb Strutt of SICK (UK) look at ways to get you out of the lecture room and onto the factory floor. Why not register to receive a regular copy of the magazine or to download a PDF of the issue. (more...)
The UE410 FlexiSOFT from Sick is a DIN-rail mounted, software-based modular safety controller for applications that require more sophistication than basic safety relays but do not require the complexity of a full-scale safety PLC. The UE410 FlexiSOFT is a development of the well established UE410 (more...)
Engineers responsible for machine safety do not want solutions based on proprietary islands of automation, but open and inclusive concepts with a high level of sensor, controller and application competence, taking time-related and global dimensions into account - namely the entire machine life cycle (more...)
When it comes to vision technology, the latest 3D systems are opening up a whole new dimension. In the May 2007 issue, we ask David Hannaby of SICK UK for his insight on the topic. (more...)
SICK UK has introduced the UE44X7 field mountable controller for standalone and networked applications. The units are perfect for discrete machines or as part of a multiple zone process line that requires complex function block logic. A big bonus is that the configuration software is free, and based (more...)
Should you happen to come across John McKay's house, high in the hills above Settle, North Yorkshire, you might think that you had stumbled into a scene from 'Last of the Summer Wine'. In a field behind the house you will find a strange, dish-shaped construction and perhaps a retired gentleman or (more...)
Claimed to be the smallest device of its type in the world, the new S300 from Sick UK is a flexible safety solution for monitoring small hazardous areas. With a maximum protective field radius of 2m and a full overview of 270deg, this compact and reliable safety laser scanner can economically (more...)
The new SEK52 capacitive encoder from SICK UK is set to have a profound impact within all industries and applications that employ brushless servo technology. Not only does it offer 16 times the resolution of a standard resolver, but it does so at a competitive price. Other features which set the (more...)
Sick reports that its Inox series stainless steel proximity sensors have been specifically designed for meat processing, beverage and pharmaceutical applications where high pressure, caustic washdown is the norm. With a one-piece V4A stainless housing (including the sensor face) and an enclosure (more...)
The Hiperdrive (Highly Integrated Performance Drive) from Sick is claimed to provide precision, repeatability and a high level of operating reliability in positioning applications, resulting in fewer rejects and greater product and process quality. The integrated positioning drive comprises a motor, (more...)
Sick has launched a DeviceNet-compatible, SIL3-rated safety system that is flexible and expandable and provides distributed network I/O. With all of the elements for a safety system, users can take advantage of full component synergy and a single source of supply for hardware, services and support. (more...)
The UC12 from Sick is a sensor that delivers all the power of ultrasonic detection within the same enclosure as the company’s popular W12 photoelectric sensor. The same user-friendly features are also present, in the form of a simple teach-in process and a connection plug which can be rotated (more...)
Sick has launched a new version of its highly flexible Modular Light Grid (MLG). The new model, which incorporates a Profibus node within the sensor’s housing, removes the need for an external Profibus gateway, which Sick reckons will save users around £140.
Aimed at those already operating a (more...)
Utilising novel Mini-Disc technology, the new DKV 60 from Sick is an extremely robust measuring wheel encoder that can help to guarantee continuous material flow. It does so by either monitoring the speed of conveyors or by tracking the position of a product as it moves along a conveyor.
With a (more...)
