FEATURE Smart factories & AI
A pocket guide to SDA
Ali Haj Fraj, SVP, Digital Factory at Schneider Electric, says it’s time for engineers to turn to Software Defined Automation (SDA) and reclaim the success of UK manufacturing
T
he biggest players in global manufacturing are changing. While the UK sat comfortably in the top ten since records began, it has now plummeted down to 12th position, behind new entrants Mexico and Russia. But what has caused this sudden drop down the leaderboard?
First, a talent shortage that makes 36% of vacancies in manufacturing difficult to fill. Next, a constantly evolving array of customer demands and regulatory constraints. Finally, a backdrop of socio-political factors such as Brexit, the pandemic, and war worsening supply chain and global trade challenges. To deal with such challenges, evolutions in manufacturing technology and leaps in digital transformation should soften the blow. However, heavy reliance on legacy and outdated technology that are incompatible with innovative systems offers little opportunity to take advantage of these new capabilities. This is where Software- Defined Automation (SDA) comes in to stop the digital transformation delay. SDA aims to transform traditional operational technology by decoupling hardware and software. Under SDA, industrial companies can mix and match applications in one seamless system, and choose the automation technology that suits their setup. This new approach, brought along with industrial digitisation, allows devices and equipment to be freely connected across architecture layers
34 October 2024 | Automation
regardless of manufacturer. Engineers can select hardware and software independently of each other, fundamentally changing the approach to automation and design. When hardware is decoupled from
software in the SDA process, manufacturers can leverage a new function to boost efficiency and drive automation paradigms - virtualisation. IT professionals often use this process to describe a scenario where several virtual machines (VMs) are set up on a single server. When it comes to industrial automation, it essentially means a move from physical to virtual.
Engineers can harness virtualisation
to streamline many standard processes such as consolidating Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), Human Machine Interfaces (HMI), Industrial PCs (IPC), and other physical compute resources currently on their factory floors onto local virtual machines. These then operate on a hyper-converged compute and storage infrastructure.
In addition to this, virtualisation can help industrial companies to slash setup and operating costs. For instance, hardware costs can be reduced by running multiple virtual machines on a single server. Fewer physical servers means less hardware to maintain, operate and repair. In turn, organisational sustainability is improved, with the consolidation of computing and storage resources reducing total energy use and Scope 2 Green House Gas emissions. SDA also proves invaluable in the
development of digital twin models. These models work by creating a virtual counterpart to a physical object or process. Manufacturers can design, optimise, test and validate digital models of real machine solutions in a virtualised environment before real life commissioning starts. This reduces errors during the design process, saving both time and money.
As the primary type of automation used for machine control, PLCs are a vital part of any industrial setup. However, SDA takes this one step further. The ‘virtualised’ PLC approach offers access to a new way of automating machines and processes, a ‘soft PLC’ or a hardware-agnostic, software-based controller which can be run on any Windows or Linux server, industrial PC (iPC) or microcomputer. Multiple virtualised controllers can be installed on the same piece of hardware and configured, deployed, and maintained both simultaneously and independently. This approach also offers the ability to make changes to processes without stopping production. It also makes deploying new processes or replicating and modifying existing ones much easier.
Information technology firm, Synesis, is investing in SDA technology to facilitate the development of Industry 4.0. Partnering with Schneider Electric, Synesis has leveraged the company’s digital twin capabilities to accelerate development time and reduce operational costs. In addition, it has also seen an increase in operational effectiveness through system diagnosis and ease of integrating advanced data-driven applications. Providing SDA’s ability to streamline complex processes.
CONTACT:
Schneider Electric
www.se.com
automationmagazine.co.uk
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