Interview
4 The desire to unlock information hidden in the manufacturing plant’s control system will become more the norm. Paul Gay talked to Gareth Dean of Rockwell Automation who revealed that previously hidden information will in future be available to optimise the business.
4 Le désir de déverrouiller l’information cachée dans le système de contrôle de l’usine deviendra la norme. Paul Gay a parlé avec Gareth Dean de Rockwell Automation qui a révélé que, dans le futur, les informations précédemment cachées seront disponibles et pourront servir à optimiser les affaires.
4 Das Bedürfnis, Informationen bereitzustellen, die im Steuerungssystem der Fertigungsanlage versteckt sind, wird immer mehr zur Norm. Paul Gay sprach mit Gareth Dean von Rockwell Automation, der verriet, dass vorher versteckte Informationen in Zukunft zur Optimierung der Geschäftsvorgänge verfügbar sein werden.
The future of control systems in manufacturing: start spreading the news
C
onvergence between control and operating strategies in process automation and the discrete manufacturing sector is undoubtedly speeding up as information
technology and networking systems develop. The two control techniques that have traditionally been chasms apart have grown ever closer as the trend for sharing data across the whole business has led to company-wide control systems, the popularity of which is very much on the increase. “The concept of Islands of automation is
done,” said Gareth Dean, sales director for the UK & Ireland at Rockwell Automation. “[Control stations] must now be linked together and possibly integrated into enterprise systems.” The capabilities are
already in the business system to merge discrete and process control strategies. The power and speed of IT devices these days means that manufacturing data is always available, everywhere and in quantities orders of magnitude greater than previously: “Nowadays the data is all there, ready to be unblocked.” Rockwell Automation
has long been one of the World’s leaders in the control of discrete manufacturing lines with its programmable logic controllers, variable speed drives and low voltage electrical control equipment. More recently, the company has taken bold steps first into the area of safety systems and then into process automation by a series of strategically planned acquisitions and is now ready to meet the challenges presented by the trend for integration of control systems. “And we can achieve this goal with VantagePoint, an information portal that collects
“The power and speed
of IT devices means that manufacturing data is always available.”
Gareth Dean, Sales manager for the UK End user team at Rockwell Automation
and aggregates data from manufacturing processes and business systems,” commented Dean. Enabling informed decision making, FactoryTalk
VantagePoint EMI can give production teams manufacturing information when it is needed and in a style that is understood by the operator. Most of what manufacturers need to know about their production operations is buried in manufacturing data. VantagePoint offers a gateway to that data and enables individuals to explore the wealth of information buried within – viewing web-based reports and key performance indicator dashboards delivered through the system’s portal. Using VantagePoint,
all manufacturing data is accessible in real time whether the system has connectivity with the factory or is interrogating real-time data from an historical database. All that is required to view published reports, dashboards and real-time KPIs is a web browser. Published reports then provide a single version of the truth to the whole organisation maximising productivity while minimising cost. “The board room
is keen to know what’s on the shop floor or in the processing factory,” commented Dean. The integrated nature of Integrate VantagePoint reporting, which can also benefit from various collaboration tools from Microsoft, goes a long way to making this happen. Dean also identified a
different but related trend in control engineering. Maintenance and repair services used to be reactive. Equipment was allowed to fail or not achieve its design performance before remedial action was taken: “Engineers have become decision makers especially in safety and security so nowadays they
www.engineerlive.com 7
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