This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
THE BACK PAGE


OUT WITH THE NEW, IN WITH THE OLD


M


anymachines on well-established production lines, whichmay be between 15 and 30 years old, can still perform theirmain functional tasks successfully. However, they do somuch less efficiently


than theirmodern day counterparts. For example, they don’t have the same level of


computing power, enoughmemory capacity to record and store the relevant data, or ability to communicate with theirmodern equivalents. In many cases, thesemachines also use data formats and protocols fromthe 1980s and 1990s, which are no longer used by today’s PLCs and industrial PCs. A prime example of amachine thatmight


performone critical function within a typical production line environment would be a plastics injectionmouldingmachine. Suchmachines when well-maintained can reach asmuch as a 30-year operational life.However, theirmain operating software protocol would be an antique by today’s standards, and would almost certainly be no longer supported. Amanufacturing execution system(MES) needs


to keep track of allmanufacturing information in real time, receiving up-to-the-minute data from robots,machinemonitors and employees. Although MESs used to operate as self-contained systems, they are increasingly being integrated with enterprise resource planning (ERP) software suites. So how to get round the problemwithout


investing in newmachinery?Harting’sMICA (modular industrial computing architecture) edge


56 /// Environmental Engineering /// February 2017


 Modular industrial computing architecture brings old manufacturing machinery into the modern connected world


computing device can directly address the issue, upgrading oldermachines by providing a protocol- converting gateway to the central operating software controls of the newer version and at a fraction of the investment cost of such a new machine. With amodular open platform, theMICA permits


the user to choose the programming language and development environment based on what they are more familiar with. It can create a virtual image of a device or amachine in the digital world. Harting is an interesting example of the German


model of family-owned businesses. It has been so since it was founded byWilhelmandMarieHarting in 1945. TheHan connector patented in 1956 was the ancestor of a business in electrical, electronic and optical connection, transmission and networking. PhilipHarting now leads the Techology Group


together with hismotherMargrit, his sisterMaresa Harting-Hertz, partner and boardmember of the finance and purchasing department, and other non- familymanagers. The company is now turning overmore than


€500mand employs 4,300 people. “The top 500 family-owned businesses in Germany together employ over amillion people,” saysHarting. “Meanwhile, the large companies listed on the stock exchanges are shedding thousands of jobs. The tax structure in Germanymakes the family-owned business a stablemodel, encouraging long-term thinking and investment.” EE


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60