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Partnering September, 2013 The Shift to Industrial Networks By Members of the Technical Staff, Automation GT, Carlsbad, CA P
rogression of the Internet and the growth of networked com- puting have impacted almost all
business sectors and industries, some more than others. At the same time, this evolution in computing is revolu- tionizing the automation industry, or at least it will for Automation GT, a custom automation assembly house headquartered in Carlsbad, CA. Au- tomation has traditionally been fo- cused on the mechatronics of a stand- alone machine: coordinating the me- chanical engineering, electrical engi- neering, and control engineering of a machine system. “Our vision at Au- tomation GT,” offers President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Simon Grant, “is to expand from a single mechatronic machine to a shared net- work of systems that can talk to each other and report to a management portal in real time.” What Grant fore- sees will mean that an executive sit- ting at a desk in, for example, Silicon Valley, CA, can review a comparative summary of all systems installed in a facility in Shanghai or Buenos Aires and drill down on a specific machine to see its operational efficiency and what parts need service. Grant explains: “What we’ve
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begun to do at Automation GT is to standardize the tools that automa- tion systems operate on and network them to the same controls operating platform. Instead of various ma- chines reporting (or not reporting) to separate and isolated data reposito- ries, all machines report to one mas- ter platform where you can view data for each specific machine as well as a comparative summary view of all op- erating systems.” He adds that “now data becomes information.” At present, the machines in au-
tomation systems are installed with custom code, in custom configura- tions, using custom reporting meth- ods, and custom management ap- proaches. However, rather than hav- ing a unique configuration for each machine, Grant suggests that au- tomation systems can be constructed on a standardized platform so that users can look at any machine through the same user interface and examine aggregate data that can be manipulated and compared.
Building the Future In support of Grant’s vision, Au-
tomation GT can build machines on an integrated information technology
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(IT) infrastructure that allows users to store information on a shared database. With this in place, identity profiles can be set up for manage- ment and access control to specific machines. The ability to read data or make code changes will only be per- mitted to authorized users upon login. “This level of regulation isn’t normally practiced because until now the technology didn’t exist,” explains Grant. He adds: “That is going to change and Automation GT is among the first custom automation houses to offer it. We have world-class con- trol engineers who are already doing it for our customers that operate in- ternationally.”
nies will network their systems. The level of control management, securi- ty, and information within this in- dustry is already unparalleled by any other applicable technology. Grant states: “You need a unified relation- ship between your engineering group, your automation and controls group, and your IT group. When all those three are aligned and able to communicate, you have the ability to use the tools from the IT side, the controls and software side, and train your mechatronics to listen and talk to all of these. Once you have this union, this trifecta, it is a very pow- erful system.” Recent advances in networking, virtual machine technol-
“Our vision at Automation GT,” offers President and
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Simon Grant, “is to expand from a single mechatronic machine to a shared network of systems that can talk to each other and report to a management portal in real time.”
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ment is an added bonus of placing automation systems within a shared infrastructure. Grant observes: “We have a customer that uses automa- tion to build patient specific medical devices. They have 700+ spread- sheets of code for any one order.” For each assembly or product, a system operator must manually plug in a code to arm the machine with the “in- telligence” it needs to assemble that specific product. But with so many spreadsheets, and if they are not properly controlled and monitored, there can be problems. Grant ex- plains: “If someone accidently changes a number in there, no one knows. We suggest that all recipes be uploaded to a database so that when the system operator needs to change the recipe, he or she can simply se- lect ‘Recipe No. 4’ or ‘Recipe No. 4,652,’ “ he adds. Through the use of a shared infrastructure, changes can be made directly on the human-ma- chine interface (HMI) or remotely through the shared server. The au- tomation network makes it possible for the machine to work through the software to pull the required assem- bly recipe, load the recipe, and run according to that recipe. Grant ex- plains: “That recipe is managed and controlled so no one can change it. And if someone wants to change it you can program in change control on the server so the operator is required to fill in a form and say ‘this is how I’m going to modify it, this is how I’ve tested the new code, etc.’” Grant also explains that, upon program modifi- cation, alerts can be established to signify to management that Recipe No. 4,652 has been changed on Ma- chine A by Operator X in order to keep track of modifications to the machines and the network. As the automation industry pro- gresses, a growing number of compa-
ogy, and cloud computing have al- lowed enhanced integration of au- tomation and business systems, clearing the way for the use of analy- sis and reporting tools already famil- iar to manufacturing, engineering, and management groups. Automation GT partners with
clients to design and manufacture au- tomated assembly, inspection, and test systems within medical device, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology markets. The company also provides build-to-print manufacture and retro- fit upgrades. FDA-standard compli- ance, documentation, and lifetime service and maintenance are all part of the company’s end-to-end service program.
Contact: Automation GT, 1939
Palomar Oaks Way, Suite B, Carls- bad, CA. 92011 % 760-741-7288 fax: 760-741-7269 Twitter: @AutomationGT, Web:
www.automationgt.com r
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