The list of reasons why manufacturers should integrate individual line and equipment control systems into high-level enterprise management software is growing. And as the case becomes more compelling, the technological ‘wizardry’ to make it happen is not only solid fact (rather than science fiction) – it is faster, simpler and more ‘intelligent’ than ever.
As every line manager knows, the trend for manufacturers to monitor operational efficiency in order to optimise profit has been rumbling onwards ever more loudly. More companies aim to measure Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) in order to identify bottlenecks and weaknesses in the production process. But these calculations can only be arrived at once sufficient data is being collected from the entire operation and reliably stored.
Increasing regulatory and customer pressure
At the same time, certain sectors such as pharmaceuticals, food and automotive are feeling increasing regulatory and customer pressure to log process-critical data in ever finer detail and in ways which are fully traceable. This means not only that the days of ‘pen and paper’ data collection are long gone, but that some of the slower ways of electronically logging information are giving way to much faster, real-time collection and processing.
For example, the European Food & Drug Administration’s (FDAs) CFR21 part 11 directive for the Opinion “The amount of detail, the speed of acquisition and retrieval and the security requirements for any data are only going to increase in sensitive product areas such as food and pharmaceuticals.”
Fast communication is key
At the same time, the retrieval of data from traditional modes of storage is often, at best, unreliable. Take the example of optical character recognition (OCR) or verification (OCV) in a pharmaceutical application. A modern vision system such as Omron’s FH is capable of processing a product every 30 ms or so. But this capability is matched by an expectation that the system will compare inspected data with externally-stored reference data, securely log it and allow instant access, if required. This poses problems for a traditional PLC-based collection method, where data is stored to temporary areas such as internal memory or a removable media card. Typically, this data is dumped periodically to – or extracted by – an external storage location such as a network server or database, often using a scada package as the middleman. In doing this, any real-time element is lost, along with the ability to query or instantly retrieve historically-stored data. So if traditional scada middleware is falling short, what is the solution? The answer lies in a combination of much faster communications (sub-millisecond) and local control systems which allow this direct, two-way dialogue with enterprise-level relational databases to take place – Industry 4.0.
The ideas of Industry 4.0
There has been much written in the press about Industry 4.0: a futuristic, completely-connected industrial world, where all components are not only aware of each other, but can communicate in real-time. Well, that future is already – slowly – becoming a reality. Ethernet-based networks such as EtherCAT allow every part of an automation system, from sensors to robots, to exchange information at speeds that were undreamt of in the past. This gives the controller instant access to every detail of production information. Once this controller is also connected to the enterprise-level – Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) or Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), for example – we can start to see the Industry 4.0 vision being realised. Ultimately, this means integrating the manufacturer’s own customers and business partners into the production process, not just locally but globally. This is not something dreamt up by the marketing departments of automation component manufacturers.
At the recent Processing and Packaging Machinery Association (PPMA) show, Professor Duncan McFarlane of Cambridge University spoke about this very topic. He highlighted how ‘localised intelligence’ and ‘customisation’ of manufacturing processes allows the manufacturer to shape and dynamically change execution aspects of the order. Although this is a philosophy which has gained most traction in high-value engineering seen in the automotive sector for example, it is an approach which all integrated businesses and supply chains could learn from. This philosophy requires greater intelligence to be embedded within the product.
Notably how the product itself is directly linked to information and rules governing the way it is intended to be made, stored or transported, thus enabling it to support or influence these operations. To make this vision a reality, the controller hardware must be able to connect directly with the same networks as the databases which form the backbone of each enterprise-level system. As we have seen, up to now, additional hardware modules or scada middleware have been the enabler for this, but have also introduced bottlenecks into the process, losing the real-time aspect of data exchange. Inserting this intermediate level into communications also introduces an element of risk, with requirements for maintenance, system updates and constant vulnerability to viruses.
It has been said not only that ‘scada is dead’ but also that ‘the PLC is dead’. Some may greet these pronouncements and the much-heralded arrival of Industry 4.0 with the same level of scepticism. But in many ways, this is a straightforward example of necessity being the mother of invention: industry’s demands are simply outstripping the capabilities of these ‘old’ technologies. Accepting PLCs as collectors’ items might feel odd to many, given how their performance and programmability has improved over the years. But although the different modules and controllers within a PLC are fully integrated on one level, communication speeds count for little if control is not fully synchronised at any given line’s highest operational output.
Shop floor to top floor
Thinking beyond the use of scada involves a similar shift in mindset and a redefining of the standards of operation. In practical terms, it means that end-user IT departments will have to work more closely with engineering to allow shop-floor equipment to have direct access to enterprise-level systems without the use of middleware. The solutions allowing real-time data exchange already exist. Omron’s NJ501-1_20 machine automation controller CPUs have this level of functionality embedded, thanks to programme free wizard connections to relational databases including Microsoft SQL, Oracle, MySQL, IBM DB2 and Firebird.
Pre-written function blocks then allow data from the machine or process to be mapped, inserted or updated into the database, or a query delivered to select specific data. It is a paradox that the new generation of machine controller which sidesteps the bottleneck of the PLC (with its issues of synchronised control between CPUs) in fact integrates the various function modules in a way which owes much to the equally discredited technology of soft PLCs. To put this slightly differently, our new machine controllers incorporate the best of the hardware PLC and the soft PLC.
For more information contact Laetitia de Jager, Omron, +27 (0)11 579 2600, [email protected], www.industrial.omron.co.za
| Tel: | +27 11 579 2600 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | www.industrial.omron.co.za |
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