Measure or bust?
April 2009
IT in Manufacturing
When plenty of money is circulating during a boom cycle, running an established business can look relatively straightforward. Process inefficiency is easy to miss when profits are growing and more cash is coming in than going out. The real test comes during a market downturn when sentiment becomes negative and consumers with less money to spend consider their purchasing decisions more carefully.
“This is when managers need to re-evaluate how efficiently the business is operating, and what measures they are going to take to trim out the waste. Before they can achieve this of course they need a measurement system, and more importantly, a measurement system that transforms data into information,” says Neil Upfold of eTX Data Services.
He continues by stating that this is often easier said than done: “If the wrong parameters are measured, or the right parameters are measured with the wrong degree of accuracy, the system can often do more harm than good.”
He adds that in manufacturing the technology required for data capturing is mostly available ready for connection to the plant along with an industrial software package to process this data and generate reports. However, the system can only really be optimal if at least the following questions have been considered by the end user:
* Have we chosen the best hardware to perform our measurements and execute our control requirements adequately?
* Does our software give us the information we need to make informed decisions about our processes?
* In the future will our system be easily expandable?
“If it is not your core business, why not partner with a solution provider?” Neil asks.
“At eTX we specialise in configuring off-the-shelf hardware and software tools into systems that are tailored to a set of specific user requirements. In the right hands data integration software such as Kepware’s OPC server along with small scada packages, PLCs, remote I/O devices and radio modems can be combined to create extremely powerful management tools.
“Couple that with our ‘on time on budget’ approach, and you get a system that saves company money, streamlines processes and adds value to the bottom line for years.”
For more information contact Neil Upfold, eTX Data Services, +27 (0)31 764 2099, [email protected], www.etx.co.za
Further reading:
Siemens ecosystem strengthens data and AI integration
Siemens South Africa
IT in Manufacturing
Siemens has announced significant expansions to its Industrial Edge ecosystem, accelerating data and AI integration and releasing enhanced cybersecurity functionalities. These enable a seamless integration of IT and OT environments, optimise processes and reduce operational disruptions.
Read more...
Siemens manages shipbuilding process for HD Hyundai
Siemens South Africa
IT in Manufacturing
Siemens has been selected by HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering as a preferred partner to establish an integrated platform to manage the entire shipbuilding process as a single data flow to help ensure consistency across all its global shipyard facilities.
Read more...
Transforming the process industry through digitalisation
Endress+Hauser South Africa
IT in Manufacturing
By connecting field devices, systems and people, digitalisation creates new opportunities to optimise operations, enhance maintenance strategies and support continuous improvement. As a leading instrumentation provider and major source of process data, Endress+Hauser plays a key role in enabling this transformation.
Read more...
The OT operator’s guide to security and uptime on the plant
RJ Connect
IT in Manufacturing
The article addresses three common questions about industrial network deployment and maintenance, exploring ways to achieve better control and visibility with more efficiency.
Read more...
The assets you can’t see are the ones that can shut you down
IT in Manufacturing
ABEGuardOT is an asset management solution that delivers continuous, non-intrusive visibility across multi-vendor environments, including Siemens, Rockwell, ABB, Honeywell, Schneider Electric, Emerson, GE and Yokogawa, with support for OPC UA, EtherNet/IP, Modbus and Profibus.
Read more...
Edge I/O NTS and the need for industrial speed
Schneider Electric South Africa
IT in Manufacturing
One of the most compelling solutions to emerge from industrial automation is Edge I/O NTS, which represents a natural evolution of computing from centralised servers to localised, device-level input/output processing, offering improved speed, efficiency and resilience.
Read more...
The next wave of AI-driven process automation
Schneider Electric South Africa
IT in Manufacturing
As process industries hurtle toward an AI-driven future, four powerful trends are set to redefine automation strategies in 2026: hyper automation, AI-first automation, low code/no code platforms, and advanced process intelligence.
Read more...
Huge increase in denial-of-service cyber threats
IT in Manufacturing
NETSCOUT has released its Distributed Denial-of-Service Threat Intelligence report, revealing sophisticated attacker collaboration, resilient botnets and compromised IoT infrastructure that drove more than eight million DDoS attacks worldwide.
Read more...
Sustainable manufacturing
ABB South Africa
IT in Manufacturing
ABB’s production facility in Shandong province, China is delivering measurable energy and emissions reductions through the implementation of advanced digital energy management and electrification solutions.
Read more...
Open automation is breaking legacy chains
Schneider Electric South Africa
IT in Manufacturing
Industrial automation is now entering a new era defined by open, software-driven principles that are breaking decades of hardware-bound limitations.
Read more...
printer friendly version