Feature Drives & Controls The key to information enabled machines
In an increasingly complex world, people naturally gravitate to technology they understand and tools that make life easier. But the road to a simple solution is often long and requires engineering innovation to transform the technically complex into an effortless user experience. Mike Hannah, product business manager for networks, Rockwell Automation, explains
hile the internet provides real time information to people across the planet and Ethernet seamlessly shares information within enterprises at the business level, disparate networks still largely isolate data within machines on most factory floors. Instead of sharing critical opera- tional intelligence between the factory floor and the rest of the organisation, these specialised networks hinder deci- sion making, plant wide optimisation and full asset utilisation.
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The foundation of business agility To achieve true business agility, OEMs and their customers must first bridge the digital divide between the plant floor and the rest of manufacturing enterprise. For this task, controls engi- neers, machine builders and IT profes- sionals all need a simple network architecture that acts as a common ‘ecosystem’, providing enterprise wide, machine and device level infor- mation gathering.
Using the same Ethernet standard as e-mail, the internet and other commer- cial applications, EtherNet/IP (with ‘IP’ referring to Industrial Protocol) is a simple, yet robust communications platform enabling users to effectively manage real time control and informa- tion flow within the machine and man- ufacturing enterprise. Its genius and simplicity rests on EtherNet/IP’s ability to deliver the real time performance, resiliency and security of traditional fieldbus solutions, along with the band- width, open connectivity and global acceptance of standard Ethernet. To help enable faster machine start- up, Rockwell Automation and alliance partner Cisco, developed Reference Architectures, a series of thoroughly tested design recommendations and guidance. The collaboration addresses topics such as choice of topologies, security, wireless and reliability, while meeting the varied requirements across corporate and manufacturing functions for an optimised networking solution. The Reference Architectures feature specific tools and resources that machine builders need to build IT friendly machines. These resources include white papers, webcasts on
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EtherNet/IP network creates a common ‘eco-system’ for controls engineers, machine builders and IT professionals, simplifying the sharing of critical machine level data with business systems
topics such as ‘Secure Remote Access’ and jointly developed EtherNet/IP switches to address the cultural and technical challenges of Ethernet net- work convergence.
Forward thinking OEMs from vari- ous sectors have benefitted from Ethernet/IP, simplifying system com- plexity and usability. Among those benefitting are Denmark’s Gram Equipment, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of equipment for indus- trial ice cream production; Cerutti, an Italian company which builds flexo- graphic machines for the publishing industry; and Ontario-based Edson, who build packaging machinery.
Above: Mike Hannah, product business manager for networks, Rockwell Automation
Factors driving expansion Introduced in 2001, EtherNet/IP has become the world’s leading Ethernet- based industrial network, according to IMS Research. Last year, the worldwide installed base of EtherNet/IP connected nodes was an estimated 2.2 million. IMS predicts that number will increase to 5.1 million by the end of 2013. Today, 850+ EtherNet/IP product lines are offered by nearly 300 vendors world- wide. Even process instruments such as mass flow meters are now on EtherNet/IP, enabling all but the smallest of devices to connect using this network. EtherNet/IP also works transparently with all standard off the shelf Ethernet devices found in today’s marketplace, and can be easily supported on standard PCs and all their derivatives. Video and voice-over-IP develop- ments offer significant promise for OEMs and their customers, providing remote support, advanced diagnostic capabilities and other opportunities for optimal real time collaboration.
Tomorrow, it may be new mobility or virtualisation capabilities or some- thing we have yet to even fathom.
OEM benefits/end user gains By harnessing EtherNet/IP networks in machine designs, OEMs can quickly react to their customers’ machine problems, as well as provide predic- tive and proactive services. Today, end users often call the OEM to dispatch a service technician to address a machine problem. However, with machine builders doing business on a national and even global scale, such a mission - despite the Return on Automation (ROA) - may prove too costly for today’s tight profit margins. With IP technology, technicians can directly connect to the machine from a remote location and conduct a detailed diagnosis.
Ethernet enabled cameras can be mounted onto inaccessible or difficult to reach parts of the machine and pro- vide a visual to people inside and out- side the plant. Web interfaces can provide technicians with critical machine status, and technicians can even make critical program changes, all with appropriate security in place. Critical updates about machine per- formance can be sent via e-mails and simple text messages to mobile phones, keeping OEMs in tune with machine conditions wherever they have cell phone service. While this capability isn’t new, end users and OEMs feared that access to their machines would expose their production to security risks as well as unsafe remote machine start/stop conditions. For this reason, Cisco and Rockwell Automation have made it a priority to test and recom- mend guidelines, and network admin- istration tools that should be used with standard Ethernet to deliver the required administrative security.
EtherNet/IP today and tomorrow EtherNet/IP will continue to overcome the obstacles posed by proprietary net- works. Today, EtherNet/IP helps enable a simple network architecture and offers a clear migration strategy for users looking to future-proof their net- work choice. Using standard IP net- work technology, EtherNet/IP also offers the best pathway to a converged network architecture - helping stream- line control and information flow to achieve plant wide optimisation.
Rockwell Automation
uk.rockwellautomation.com T: 0870 242 5004
Enter 213 FEBRUARY 2013 Automation
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