IT in Manufacturing


Schneider Electric combats downtime

October 2011 IT in Manufacturing

The PlantStruxure pyramid provides high availability solutions in real-time.

“High availability is required by all manufacturers whose environment cannot afford unexpected downtime because product material costs or operational start-up costs are high, aggressive production targets must be met, product quality is affected by downtime, and unscheduled downtime could potentially cause harm to people or equipment,” states the ARC research group’s white paper on Schneider Electric’s PlantStruxure architecture.

To combat downtime, PlantStruxure offers tested and proven high availability systems at every process level, focused on providing continuous operations, accelerating the process end user’s return on investment and increasing plant maintainability and efficiency.

“The increased efficiency in production systems that is gained through the monitoring and control features of PlantStruxure means higher productivity, lower costs and increased profitability for a business,” says Steve Gerber, product manager for automation at Schneider Electric South Africa. “This is because PlantStruxure industrial communication solutions enable clients to prioritise, act on and operate their processes more efficiently. It is a collaborative system that allows industrial and infrastructure companies to meet their automation needs and, at the same time, delivers on growing energy management requirements.

“In order to make smarter decisions, PlantStruxure enables operators to visualise the state of the plant from any location, assisting them to prioritise actions from the available information and respond in real-time for more effective process control. In a single environment, energy and process data can be analysed and used to optimise the plant holistically.”

The cause of process upsets can be analysed quickly and easily via Process Analyst features within the architecture’s dedicated configuration software, Vijeo Citect, allowing users to combine alarm and trend data in one integrated display for faster analysis.

“Vijeo Citect is scalable and has powerful visualisation capabilities and operational features. Delivering actionable insight fast enables operators to respond quickly to process disturbances for increased effectiveness,” says Gerber.

He adds that when analysing the cause of process disturbances or when trying to improve productivity in the process, the comparison of alarm and trend data is essential. While sophisticated analysis tools are available in data historians, Process Analyst is unique because it is an intuitive process analysis tool that sits directly in the system. It delivers actionable insight to the user and gives the ability to modify process conditions immediately to achieve the desired results.

PlantStruxure also allows users to save preconfigured and ‘favourite’ views within Process Analyst in order to make it easy to access the information needed to improve efficiency and productivity.

“Trends are a seamless combination of real-time and historical data. When users display a trend page, they can monitor the current activity as it happens and simply scroll back through time to view the historical trend. An efficient alarm system allows users to isolate and identify faults quickly within the system or process, thereby reducing plant downtime,” says Gerber.

The PlantStruxure alarm system is fast and reliable, providing users with detailed information about the status of the plant. Alarms are displayed on dedicated alarm pages, with the most recent alarms visible at all times in the alarm banner on every page. Working in conjunction with the controller or RTU, alarms are time-stamped with precision, essential when differentiating between alarms that occur in rapid succession.

The ability to extend plant operations from the control room to the plant floor is important and PlantStruxure supports dedicated plant floor HMIs built to withstand the rigours of industrial environments. The ruggedised features and flexible options of the Magelis range make them perfect for use in plant floor cabinets and other specialised applications.

In addition, integrating Pelco cameras into the PlantStruxure architecture allows live video to be viewed within system. Users are able to control these cameras, enhancing real-time process visibility or integrating remote security monitoring.

“The architecture’s mobility solutions give users the freedom to observe operations firsthand, wherever they are, by providing easy access to the process from dedicated Web clients or smart mobile devices such as PDAs or mobile phones. This increased visibility into real-time processes helps users make more effective decisions, resulting in greater flexibility, decreased downtime, increased plant productivity and a lower total cost of ownership,” concludes Gerber.

For more information contact Jacqui Gradwell, Schneider Electric SA, +27 (0)11 254 6400, [email protected], www.schneider-electric.com



Credit(s)



Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page

Further reading:

Sustainable energy management
Siemens South Africa IT in Manufacturing
Utilising its innovative ONE approach technology, Siemens provides complete transparency on resource consumption and offers data-driven optimisation recommendations for sustainable energy management.

Read more...
Paving the way for a carbon-neutral future in South Africa
IT in Manufacturing
At ABB Electrification, we believe the infrastructure of the future must do more than support daily operations, it must anticipate them. We are committed to building intelligent systems that connect and optimise infrastructure across sectors.

Read more...
Protecting buildings’ embodied carbon with retrofitted systems
Schneider Electric South Africa Sensors & Transducers
The World Economic Forum has said that around 80% of the buildings in existence will still be around in 2050; it is therefore essential that in order to combat climate change we retrofit them for energy efficiency.

Read more...
Three decarbonisation myths and how organisations can debunk them
Schneider Electric South Africa Electrical Power & Protection
A UN Climate Change Report revealed that the world is on track to miss its 2050 net zero targets, with temperatures expected to increase by over 2,4°C by 2100. To help shift positive intent to concrete action, Schneider Electric outlined three of the most common myths surrounding decarbonisation and how organisations can get started on their decarbonisation journey.

Read more...
Africa’s hidden AI advantage
IT in Manufacturing
Through my work implementing AI systems across three continents, I’ve become convinced that Africa’s unique context demands urgent AI adoption. Successful implementation requires local expertise to understand resource constraints as design parameters to create the innovations that make technology truly work under real-world conditions.

Read more...
Siemens Xcelerator empowers space-tech pioneer, Skyroot Aerospace
Siemens South Africa IT in Manufacturing
Siemens Digital Industries Software has announced that Skyroot Aerospace, a leading private space launch service company in India, has adopted Polarion software from the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio to digitally transform its software development processes and enhance efficiency as it aims to accelerate access to space for its customers worldwide.

Read more...
Water is running out, is your ESG strategy ready?
IT in Manufacturing
Water is one of the most critical yet undervalued resources in modern business. Water stewardship asks businesses to understand their water footprint across the entire value chain and to engage with others who share the same water resources.

Read more...
Cybersecurity in 2025: Six trends to watch
IT in Manufacturing
Rockwell Automation’s?10th?State?of?Smart?Manufacturing report finds that cybersecurity risks are a major, ever-present obstacle, and are now the third-largest impediment to growth in the next 12?months.

Read more...
The state of the smart buildings market in 2025
IT in Manufacturing
Smart buildings are entering a transformative phase, driven by sustainability goals, technological innovation and evolving user expectations. According to ABI Research’s latest whitepaper, the sector is undergoing a strategic overhaul across key areas like retrofitting, energy efficiency, data-driven operations and smart campus development.

Read more...
Digital twin for Bavaria’s National Theatre
Siemens South Africa IT in Manufacturing
Siemens and the Bavarian State Opera are digitalising the acoustics in Bavaria’s National Theatre in Munich, Germany. The result is a digital twin that simulates sound effects, orchestral setups and venue configurations in a realistic 3D acoustic model so that musicians, the director and conductors can assess a concert hall’s acoustics even before the first rehearsal.

Read more...









While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.




© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved