IAA September 08

September 2008

www.iaasiaonline.com

MICA(P) 327/10/2007 | ISSN 0219/5615 | PPS 1561/06/2009 (028033)

Data Acquisition:

Measure It, Control It,

Fix It

Rapid

Improvements In

RTLS

Simulation:

Breaking

New Ground

Industrial Supply Chains:

Automation Operation

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ENQUIRY NO. 862

contents september 2008

ISSUES & INSIGHTS

SOFTWARE & NETWORKS

24

34

Intelligent Data Acquisition In A Plant

The network infrastructure of a plant can be leveraged to make it possible to acquire and access the hidden data in the plant.

By Mike Berryman, Advantech Corporation, Industrial Automation Group

ERP: Analyse This!

A complete business analytics solution must integrate all of the corporate data coming from ERP, legacy and specialised systems.

By Soh Kiat Hong, manufacturing and supply chain head, SAS

CONTROL POINT

INSTRUMENTATION & MEASUREMENT

28

36

Simulation: Breaking New Ground

A new generation of simulation software products enables modeling of the complete plant lifecycle without having to build new models from scratch.

By Joseph McMullen, process engineering suite product manager, Invensys Process Systems

n: und latio ew gro u m i n s king brea

28

Data Acquisition: Measure It, Control It, Fix It It is possible to use accurate measurement results pinpointing bottlenecks and inefficiencies information to implement algorithm engineering techniques and design a better control system.

By Chandran Nair, MD, National Instruments, South East Asia

24

intelligent data acquisition in a plant

36

data acquisition:

Measure It, Control It, Fix It

34

ERP: Analyse This!

contents september 2008

42

Industrial Automation Asia (IAA) is published 8 issues per year by Eastern Trade Media Pte Ltd 1100 Lower Delta Road #04-02 EPL Building Singapore 169206.

Tel: (65) 6379 2888 • Fax: (65) 6379 2805 Website: www.iaasiaonline.com Email: iaa@epl.com.sg

Industrial Supply Chains: Operation Automation

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SECTOR SPOTLIGHT

42

Industrial Supply Chains: Operation Automation

IN BUSINESS

48

Automation can dramatically improve operations by providing real-time data to all the interdependent parts of the supply chain. By Jack Tay, senior manager, marketing, Asia Pacific, Intermec

46

Rapid Improvements In RTLS

The rapid growth of the RTLS market can be attributed to the emergence of several new and affordable technologies. By Dr Peter Harrop, chairman, IDTechEx

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Capturing IP In Product Development

The value of intellectual property skyrockets when it is embedded electronically into the product model’s digital file. By Mark A Walker, director, product management, PTC

51

52

The circulation of this magazine is audited by bpa world wide. The advertisers’ association recommend that advertisers should place their advertisements only in audited publications.

Refer to pg

Inspiration 2008

The ‘Inspiration 2008’ symposium brought together Schneider Electric and its companies APC-MGE, ISC and TAC, to present solutions that can be applied in almost any energy-related operating environment.

for Advertisers’ Enquiry Numbers

Leading The Way

Assuming a leadership role in energy efficiency, Schneider Electric continues to create awareness by offering energy efficient solutions as well as setting an example. By Derek Rodriguez

Regulars 8 News 16 Profibus Association S E Asia 18 CAN in Automation

48

Capturing IP In Product Development

20 Fieldbus Foundation 22 EtherCAT Technology Group 54 Products & Services 63 Calendar of Events 64 Advertising Index / Ad Sales Office 64A Product Enquiry Card Cover: Intermec

ENQUIRY NO. 694

ENQUIRY NO. 681

EDITOR’s PAGE

Fuel For Thought

Published by:

EASTERN TRADE MEDIA PTE LTD

(A fully owned subsidiary of Eastern Holdings Ltd) Managing Director

Kenneth Tan

Managing Editor

Eileen Chan eileenchan@epl.com.sg assistant editor

Like the latest tabloid gossip in Hollywood, the fluctuations in oil prices are followed with great interest. In Singapore, every rise in pump prices is met with a seemingly collective groan, dominating local news headlines and ‘water cooler talk’ alike. This fixation on fuel pump prices is illustrated by PetrolWatch, a website that provides updates on available discounts on top of current pump prices.

Of course, as the saying goes, every dark cloud has a silver lining. In this case, the dramatic rise in global oil prices has sparked off greater awareness amongst people and corporations. Technology companies have stepped on the gas in terms of research and development in this area.

Robert Bosch, for one, has developed a start/stop system that saves fuel by switching a car’s engine off when it stops and back on again when it is ready to move. Simple, but innovative nonetheless.

In the business world, ‘energy efficiency’ seems to be on everyone’s lips nowadays. Many bigwigs in the industry have shifted much of their resources towards this sector, offering both solutions and services.

The technology is certainly there. The next move would be cultivating awareness. Events such as Schneider Electric’s recent Inspirations 2008 is surely a step in the right direction. As Dr Amy Khor, senior parliamentary secretary, ministry of the environment and water resources, said: “While there are significant energy cost-saving opportunities to be tapped through the application of energy efficiency measures, these are not being realised sufficiently.”

Perhaps one reason why this is so is energy efficiency is still considered as uncharted territory by many companies who are waiting for others to make the first move. The general consensus is, once some of them relent and take the plunge, the floodgates will open and the rest will follow.

On July 10 of this year, the world’s first ecological club was launched.

It features a dance floor containing crystal blocks, which reportedly generates up to 60 percent of the club’s electricity. For big industrial firms, ecology might not be a priority but economically, 60 percent of energy saved is a tune definitely worth dancing to.

In the business world, ‘energy efficiency’ seems to be on everyone’s lips nowadays

Derek Rodriguez derekrodriguez@epl.com.sg Editorial Assistant

Sharifah Atikah atikah@epl.com.sg

Senior Art Director/Studio Manager

Lawrence Lee lawrencelee@epl.com.sg Graphic Designer

Katherine Ching katherineching@epl.com.sg Sales & marketing Manager

Caroline Yee carolyee@epl.com.sg

Circulation MANAGER

Caroline Rayney carolinerayney@epl.com.sg Circulation Executive

Agnis Lim agnislim@epl.com.sg Contributors

Mike Berryman, Holger Zeltwanger, Chandran Nair, Joseph McMullen, Jack Tay, Mark A Walker, Dr Peter Harrop, Martin Rostan, Soh Kiat Hong Editorial Consultants

Jim Pinto

Industry Analyst

Alastair Ross Director, Codexx Associates Ltd

supported by:

EASTERN HOLDINGS LTD executive Board Chairman

Stephen Tay GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Kenneth Tan

Financial Controller

Robbin Lim

etm

Eastern

Trade Media Pte Ltd an Eastern Holdings Ltd company

Head Office & Mailing Address: Eastern Trade Media Pte Ltd 1100 Lower Delta Road #04-02 EPL Building Singapore 169206 Tel: (65) 6379 2888 • Fax: (65) 6379 2805 Website: www.iaasiaonline.com Email: iaa@epl.com.sg MICA (P) No. 327/10/2007 ISSN 0219/5615 PPS 1561/06/2009 (028033) Co Reg No. 199908196C Colour Separation: Pica Digital Pte Ltd Printer: Fabulous Printers Pte Ltd

Derek Rodriguez Assistant Editor

6 industrial automation asia | September 2008

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©2008 Invensys Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Invensys, InTouch and Wonderware are trademarks of Invensys plc, its subsidiaries and affiliated companies. All other brands and product names may be the trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.

ENQUIRY NO. 781

®

Industry News Doosan Lands US$800 Million Plant Order

Abu Dhabi, UAE: Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction has signed an EPC (Engineering, Procurement & Construction) contract worth US$800 million on the Shuweihat Desalination Plant, planned to be constructed in Abu Dhabi.

The Shuweihat Desalination Plant, planned for construction in the Shuweihat region, 250km west of Abu Dhabi, will produce about 450,000 tonnes of desalinated potable water daily on its completion, a supply sufficient for 1.5 million people.

Doosan will be overseeing the process in its entirety, f ro m p ro d u c t i o n

8 industrial automation asia | September 2008

and installation of equipment to test operation. The scheduled date of completion is the end of August 2011.

Senior VP Yoon Sik Park of Doosan had this to say about the new deal: “Middle-Eastern countries are spending increasing amounts of their oil revenues on industrialisation. As a result, demand for desalination plants in this region has surged sharply.” He went on to add that the new project will give Doosan a serious edge over other competitors in the MiddleE a s t e r n desalination plant market,

projected to hit US$20 billion by the year 2010.

Unlike the Saudi Shuaibah Desalination Plant expansion project and the Shuwaikh Desalination Plant project in Kuwait, contracted in July last year and March this year, both of which are reverse osmosis plants, Shuweihat Plant uses the MSF (Multi-stage Flash Distillation) process.

The UAE government has been a long-standing client of Doosan. In 2004, Doosan completed the Fujairah Desalination Plant, and before that, Al Taweelah (2001) and Umm Al Nar (2002).

Doosan plans to beef up its marketing efforts also in other emerging markets such as China and India, and expand its water-related businesses, including water treatment.

ENQUIRY NO. 6101

Industry News

Emerson To Automate Power Plant In Indonesia The contract also includes Emerson’s AMS Suite predictive maintenance software, which will provide operators with data from HART intelligent field devices located throughout the plant.

For new plant construction, AMS Suite streamlines device configuration and commissioning, thereby contributing to more efficient plant startup.

It also provides online access to instrument and valve process information, predictive diagnostic information, and automatic documentation of field device maintenance information – all contributing to ongoing efficiency of plant operations and maintenance activities.

Equipment delivery for Unit 1 took

place in mid-June 2008 and startup is currently slated for June 2009, while equipment delivery for Unit 2 is scheduled for July 2008 with startup expected in August 2009.

ENQUIRY NO. 6102

ENQUIRY NO. 850

Banten Longwan, Indonesia: Emerson Process Management has received a contract to apply its Plantweb digital plant architecture with the Ovation expert control system at the PLTU 2 Banten-Labuan power plant.

This two-unit, 600-MW coal-fired plant is being built in Indonesia’s Banten Longwan Province. The contract was awarded by Chengda Engineering Corporation of China. Emerson is engineering and installing the project.

Emerson will supply a total of 33 Ovation redundant controllers (15 per unit, as well as three that will be common to both units) and 23 workstations (seven per unit, plus six common to both units and three for the auxiliary system). The Ovation system, built specifically to meet the unique needs of the power generation industry, will monitor and control a total of 17,000 hard I/O points.

September 2008 | industrial automation asia 9

Industry News

RohMax Opens Oil Additives Plant In Singapore Singapore: Evonik daughter RohMax has opened a manufacturing facility on Jurong Island in Singapore. This is RohMax’s first manufacturing plant in Asia and underscores the company’s commitment to deliver innovative products and technical expertise to its customers’ doorstep.

The facility will also house a technology centre which will focus on the testing and development of new applications for oil additive products. The plant represents an investment of more than €10 million (US$14.7 million), and together with RohMax’s four production facilities in Europe and North America, will strengthen the company’s global supply chain capabilities to its worldwide customers.

This facility will manufacture the company’s high performance L to R: Dr Eric Fillod, regional manager APAC, RohMax; Dr Jean-Luc Herbeaux, VP Viscoplex lubricant additives for strategic marketing, RohMax; Dr Dirk Reese, MD, RohMax; Dr Klaus Engel, member of the executive board, Evonik; Ko Kheng Hwa, MD, Singapore Economic Development Board; global markets, and in particular, Dr Ulrich Kuesthardt, BU Head Coatings & Additives, Evonik; Norbert Westerholt, MD, Asia Pacific, the Middle East RohMax; Bonnie Tully, Singapore plant manager, RohMax. and Africa.

SG-741-E2-000 85x114 30.04.2008 16:36 Uhr Seite 1

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E-Chains® of the E2/000 series from igus®.

Hundreds of variants ex stock.

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10 industrial automation asia | September 2008

Dr Klaus Engel

“Asia is the fastest growing region for the automotive lubricant market. This region accounts for more than one third of the global lubricant demand. We believe that we are well positioned to take advantage of the potential of the automotive industry,” said Dr Klaus Engel, member of the executive board of Evonik Industries and responsible for the chemicals business area.

“This plant is designed to support the growing demand of our Viscoplex products in Asia Pacific over the next 10 years. Following the opening of our technical centre in Shanghai in 2005, this new production site will allow us to further deepen our presence in Asia Pacific region, and extend our leadership position in high performance lubricant additives,” explained Dr Dirk Reese, MD of Evonik RohMax Additives GmbH. ENQUIRY NO. 6103

Industry News

Beiqi Foton & Daimler Join Forces

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ENQUIRY NO. 6104

Point to Point! Point to Bus! Bus to Bus!

ENQUIRY NO. 859

Beijing, China: Beiqi Foton Motor and Daimler AG have signed a letter of intent to form a 50:50 joint venture to produce medium and heavy-duty trucks and technology in China, and explore other opportunities to expand production and sales of Foton’s Auman brand in international markets.

The joint venture will benefit from Daimler’s technology, specifically Mercedes-Benz heavy-duty engine technology, and use Foton’s Auman brand as a platform for international growth in the lower-end commercial vehicle segment.

“This is another step in realising both our long-term commercial vehicle strategy and our China strategy,” said Dr Ruediger Grube, Daimler AG board of management member responsible for corporate development. “Foton is the right partner, and this combination represents a win-win for both companies, and most importantly for our customers. With this joint venture, Daimler will now have two commercial vehicle joint ventures and one passenger car joint venture in China, in addition to our wholesale and financial services operations here.”

“BAIC (Beijing Automotive Industrial Holding Company) is very happy to expand its relationship with Daimler to include commercial vehicles at Beiqi Foton, in addition to our cooperation for passenger cars at BeijingBenz-DaimlerChrysler Automotive,” said BAIC chairman Xu Huyi.

BAIC is the primary Chinese shareholder for both Beiqi Foton Trucks, Ltd, and BeijingBenz-DaimlerChrysler Automotive Ltd (BBDC).

September 2008 | industrial automation asia 11 F0300_80x240_excom_Singapore_GB.indd 1

14.08.2008 09:06:15

Industry News

Igus Experiences 16.5 Percent Growth

Frank Blase, MD, igus

Cologne, Germany: With the overall increase in turnover of 16.5 percent, igus GmbH, manufacturer of triboplastic components and systems

optimised in terms of friction and wear have closed its books on the business year 2007. The consolidated group turnover has increased to €276 million (US$407 million) from across its 26 branches around the world. The company manufactures, tests and researches on a vast area of 20,000 sq m at its headquarters in Cologne.

In November 2007 construction work began on increasing factory space, as MD Frank Blase reported at the Hanover Fair. "The factory is being expanded by more than 5 0 p e rc e n t , " s a i d B l a s e , " a n d production is due to start on the first completed areas as soon as autumn of this year." At the same time, large halls have been rented on the neighbouring property and have already been put into operation.

"Continual growth is being supported

from this side, too," said Blase.

Both Frank Blase and Harald Nehring are in overall charge of energy chain systems at igus. They jointly presented the results of the European competition ‘vector award’, an initiative for innovative and novel energy supply applications with energy chains or induction/wireless technologies.

M o re t h a n 8 0 e n t r i e s w e re submitted. The ‘vector award’ is a joint initiative from igus together with the tool machine laboratory (WZL) at RWTH Aachen, the Rhineland Technical Board (TÜV), Product Safety and Quality Division, and the Special Automation Association within the German Central Association for Electrical Engineering and the Electronics Industry (ZVEI).

ENQUIRY NO. 6105

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ENQUIRY NO. 854

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ICP DAS print for Sep. 12 industrial automation asiaAD | September 2008 Image size: 171x122 mm

2008, IAA

Industry News

Schneider Electric Acquires Xantrex Xantrex to Schneider Electric, Xantrex will divest its programmable power business. The company also announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of its programmable power business to Ametek Inc. Xantrex expects to close the Ametek transaction in the third

quarter, prior to the date of the meeting at which Xantrex’s shareholders will consider the Schneider Electric transaction. The Ametek transaction is not contingent on the completion of the Schneider Electric transaction.

ENQUIRY NO. 6106

Tough and Smart Our new IP67 rated, fully managed industrial Ethernet switches have been tested and proven to withstand the toughest environmental elements, yet smart enough to handle the most sophisticated networks.

E-mail your toughest application story to N-TRON_Sales@n-tron.com

• IP67 Rated Hardened Metal Enclosure • Protected against Dust, Water jets, and Temporary Immersion in Water • -40ºC to 80ºC Operating Temperature • Redundant Power Inputs • 10-49 VDC for 708M12 • 40-160 VDC for 708M12-HV • Configurable Bi-Color Fault Status LED • ESD and Surge protection Diodes Fully Managed Features like: • Full SNMP & Web Browser Management • Detailed Ring Map & Fault Location Charting • N-Ring™ Technology with ~30ms Healing • N-View™ OPC Monitoring • Plug-and-play EtherNet/IP™ IGMP Support • Optional N-TRONAuto Configuration Device for saving and restoring configuration • And Much More...

www.n-tron.com • +1 (251) 342-2164 ®N-TRON,Corp. N-TRONandtheN-TRONlogoaretrademarksofN-TRON,Corp.

EtherNet/IPisatrademarkofControlNet InternationalusedunderlicensebyODVA.

ENQUIRY NO. 849

Rueil-Malmaison, France: Schneider has signed a definitive arrangement agreement with Xantrex Technology Inc providing for the acquisition

by Schneider Electric of all of the common shares of Xantrex.

The renewable business is poised for continued high growth, with an expected 2006-2012 annual growth rate of around 30 percent and 20 percent for solar and wind, respectively. Demand is expected to remain strong driven mainly by increasing costs of fossil energies, societal sensitivity to environmental concerns and financial incentives in many countries.

Renewable energy is key to solving the equation of satisfying energy demand and reducing CO2 emissions. Already present in this market, Schneider will reinforce its solution offering with the acquisition of Xantrex and will better meet market demand and customers’ needs in energy efficiency.

As a condition to the sale of

September 2008 | industrial automation asia 13

i

Industry News

Spectrometer Concept Wins R&D 100 Award Reinach, Switzerland: The MIR spectro-meter from Endress+Hauser has won the R&D 100 award. Inline MIR s p e c t ro s c o p y o ff e r s continuous monitoring of the concentration of liquids which consist of several components to ensure efficient process control.

As the first processsuitable spectrometer, E n d r e s s + H a u s e r ’s spectrometer can be directly connected to the process via standard retractable assemblies and can be easily and effectively cleaned. Simple to operate, the MIR spectrometer determines concentrations quickly and precisely and can even be used in hazardous area applications.

T h e M I R s p e c t ro m e t e r w a s developed in cooperation with Bayer Technology Services GmbH. The strategic partnership reflects the growing need in the chemicals and pharmaceuticals industry to optimise production processes in terms of performance, safety, cost and quality using online analysis measurement.

In addition to the MIR spectrometer, Endress+Hauser has also won several international awards and prizes for innovation for its Memosens technology. Memosens is the world’s first non-contact sensor system offering interference-free transmission of measured values. The digital sensor’s re - c a l i b r ation possibilities and extended lifetime provides new cost-saving concepts in terms of maintenance requirements.

APPOINTMENTS & NOTICES

Torsten Knoch

Endress+Hauser Group Expands Executive Board The executive team of the Endress+Hauser Group (Reinach, Switzerland) is complete.

Torsten Knoch, 38, will assume his responsibilities for production and technology on September 1, 2008. The graduate in mechanical engineering will take his seat on the executive board as corporate director of production and technology.

ENQUIRY NO. 6107

ENQUIRY NO. 6108

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14 industrial automation asia | September 2008

Data Acquisition

Multi-function DAS Card and Module (USB2.0 Interface)

Industry News

Honeywell Enters Strategic Alliance With CPPEI

Siemens Gets Accolade Singapore: Siemens has been recognised as the Asia Pacific Industrial Automation Company of the Year at the 2008 Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Industrial Technologies Awards held in Singapore.

The Asia Pacific Industrial Technologies Awards were introduced to the Asia Pacific region in 2006 and are held annually to honour and recognise the best practices demonstrated in the smart card, radio frequency identification, security, electronics, industrial automation, industrial process control, energy and power systems, environment & building technologies and additionally this year, chemicals, materials and food industries.

“Winning this prestigious award is an honour and testament to our commitment to our customers in delivering the best solutions and service possible to meet their business requirements,” said Mr Lothar Herrmann, CEO of ASEAN Industry Sector at Siemens.

Earlier this year, Siemens also bagged the Frost & Sullivan Market Leadership Award in the PLC (programmable logic controller) market in four countries – Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

ENQUIRY NO. 6110

CPPEI, including Honeywell Process Solutions president Jack Bolick and Zhang Jialin, CPPEI general secretarial.

The CPPEI-Honeywell Experimental Centre will focus on testing and launching software patches for Honeywell’s Business Flex suite, which synchs production with business objectives. The Operation and Maintenance Support Centre will research related engineering practices such as material handling, public construction engineering, production scheduling and planning optimisation. The Training Centre will serve as a key staff and operator training base.

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+++ Chainflex® FireWire-connection cable specially for applications in the Energy Chain® +++ Transference lengths up to 10 m +++ Transfer rates of up to 400 MBits/s +++ UL, CSA, DESINA +++ Digital camera technique is finally safe now in the industrial area!

Chainflex® life time calculation as well as 10 other Chainflex® types in the internet at: www.igus.com.sg

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ENQUIRY NO. 856

Beijing, China: Honeywell has signed a strategic alliance agreement with China Petroleum Planning and Engineering Institute (CPPEI) to increase cooperation and establish three organisations dedicated to advancing China’s oil industry through information technology.

Additionally, Honeywell will recognise CPPEI as a Certified Service Partner as they work to establish the CPPEIHoneywell organisations, officially named the Experimental Centre, Operation and Maintenance Support Centre, and Training Centre.

The signing ceremony was attended by more than 50 guests and industrial experts from both Honeywell and

September 2008 | industrial automation asia 15

Industry Updates

Playing

Safe It

Profisafe is used for safe communications in both manufacturing and process auto­mation, offering advantages like reduced cabling, flexibility during commissioning, expansion and/or revamp, consistent engineering and diagnostics. ince 2005, the Profisafe profile, the specification for functional safe communications for Profibus, has been available for use in Profinet IO systems. Profisafe has since become an international standard IEC 61784-33. By the end of 2007, more than 41,000 plants were in operation with a total of more than 410,000 Profisafe nodes – of which approximately 10 percent are in process automation plants.

The quality of products and systems is crucial, particularly in areas of safety. And in order to guarantee these for Profisafe, PI (Profibus And Profinet International) has initiated a range of structural and organisational measures. These include documents, Conventional E-Stops

Safety-CPU (F-Host)

F-Modules in a remote I/O deviceç

such as the ‘Profisafe Policy’ and ‘Environmental Guideline’, the introduction of certification for Profisafe products, the setting up of Profisafe Competence Centres, and training courses with a final exam for qualification as a ‘Certified Profisafe Engineer’.

Status & Application Profisafe offers a uniform profile for safety applications on the basis of Profibus DP and Profinet IO networks.

It is used in exclusively Profibus DP (V1 mode) or Profinet IO networks (V2 mode), but is also ideal for cross-system use in mixed networks (V2 mode) with both Profibus DP and Profinet IO. Standard CPU

Safety application

The profile has also since been approved for wireless transmission technologies, such as WLAN and Bluetooth. When incorporated with data security technology, it can be used over Ethernet backbones.

It is used for safe communications in both manufacturing and process auto­mation. It offers the following advantages: reduced cabling, flexibility during commissioning, expansion and/ or revamp, consistent engineering and diagnostics.

Profisafe defines how fail-safe devices communicate with safety controls over a network reliably so that they can be used for safetyrelevant automation tasks up to PL4 according to ISO 13849-1 or SIL3 (safety integrity level) according to IEC 61508.

To achieve this safe communication, it uses a profile, ie: a special format of the user data and a special protocol.

The spectrum of devices ranges from safe I/O modules of the remote I/O, over emergency stop pushbuttons, light curtains, laser scanners, overfill safety systems, transmitters for drives with integrated safety functions and robots.

The Profisafe profile uses the black channel principle, which specifies that the safety layer is independent of the underlying transmission path.

Profisafe can be easily implemented

Standard application eg diagnosis

Standard application eg diagnosis

Safety application

Combination possible

PROFIsafe layer

PROFIsafe layer

Profisafe layer

Coexistence of standard and safety communication Standard protocol

Standard protocol

‘Black Channel’

Link

Limit switch

Laser scanner

Light curtains

Robots

Drives

Figure 1: Coexistence of standard and safety communications.

16 industrial automation asia | September 2008

Compact remote I/O

eg Profinet IO, Profibus DP, Backplanes

Figure 2: Architecture of Profisafe.

Profinet CBA components

Profinet CBA

Profinet IO

Profisafe: V1-mode (V2-mode optional)

Profisafe: V2-mode Profibus DP

obliged to participate in a workshop that culminates in a final exam.

The workshop is executed as a collaboration between PI and the TÜV. This workshop must be repeated, and the exam passed, every two years.

AS-i Safety-at-work PLC with distributed I/O on Profibus DP

PLC with distributed I/O on Profinet IO and Profibus DP

Profisafe Island 1

Profisafe Island 2

Figure 3: Profisafe in Profibus and Profinet systems.

over software and, used in conjunction with Profibus and Profinet, covers the whole spectrum of safety applications i n p ro c e s s a n d m a n u f a c t u r i n g automation. If the software of Profibus DP devices is upgraded to V2 mode, the Profibus DP interface only needs to be replaced by a Profinet IO interface to enable operation directly on Profinet IO networks.

Competence Centres PI has now set up more than 35 Competence Centres (PICC) worldwide.

The PICCs offer a whole range of services.

These can include seminars on a range of topics, acceptance of development tasks, advice on the implementation of technologies or the commissioning or

troubleshooting of plants.

Due to the broad scope and the range of application options of these technologies, these services have been broken down into different areas of technical expertise.

The accreditation by PICCs, which covers the scope of Profisafe, contains additional conditions due to the importance of functional safety.

Because the focus here is on the safety of man, machine and environment, these additional conditions are based on compliance with pertinent legal and technical regulations.

In order to ensure adherence to the required quality, the experts responsible for functional safety at the PICCs for Profisafe are also

Uniform Training PI Training Centres (PITC) have been set up in order to ensure a globally uniform training standard for engineers and technicians. The accreditation of the PITC and their experts ensures the quality of this training and thus the engineering and setup services for Profibus and Profinet.

The required high quality of Profisafe products and systems depends largely on the quality of the expertise and the applied methods/ procedures of the development team.

This can be kept at the required level through the implementation of an appropriate training programme.

For this purpose, PNO, in collaboration with TÜV, have worked out a programme that is offered to interested member companies for personnel training. On successful completion of the course, the experts receive a TÜV certificate as a ‘Certified Profisafe Designer’.

ENQUIRY NO. 6111

Device Certification

C

onformity of Profisafe products (F-Devices and F-Hosts) to the Profisafe protocol must be tested i n a c c re d i t e d P I t e s t laboratories and certified by the PI certification office.

The condition for the use of such products in safety applications is a safety certificate from one of the testing agencies,

such as TÜV or BGIA according to IEC 61508.

In turn, this certificate can only be obtained if the product has been awarded a Profisafe certificate by the PI certification office.

A Profisafe certificate is granted on the basis of a positive test report, which is issued by an accredited PI test laboratory (PITL). The

‘Profisafe Test Specification’ defines the roles and tasks of the assessment bodies (eg: TÜV, PNO) and the PITLs. The tests are designed to ensure conformity of the communication functions Profibus/Profinet to the specifications and adherence to the Profisafe profile.

The aim of device

certification is to ensure the necessary safety for users when interconnecting devices from different manufacturers. Implementation of successfully tested devices guarantees users fault-free communications with regard to the communication protocol.

ENQUIRY NO. 6112

September 2008 | industrial automation asia 17

Newsdesk

Connecting

Through the use of the client server principle several developers can work in the same CANopen network simultaneously. By Holger Zeltwanger, MD, CiA

CNetworks ANopen Via Ethernet T

he industry pushes increasingly towards networking of machinery to get information about the manufacturing processes to better coordinate company-internal processes.

The already installed Ethernet-based infrastructure of the company (Intranet and Internet) could be used for this.

Gateways provide access to the internally CANopen controlled machines.

This approach cannot only be used after development for process optimisation but also already during development.

Many developers that can be located in separate rooms or buildings can access the same CANopen network to simultaneously watch and analyse the network traffic and configure CANopen devices. In order to provide this possibility tools have to work with the client server principle.

New Specification Several members of the international users and manufacturers group CiA (CAN in Automation) have specified the family of CiA 309 specifications describing the Ethernet-to-CANopen gateway.

Part 1 specifies the services on the Ethernet side. Part 2 describes the necessary ModbusTCP protocols to implement the services, and part 3 defines the ASCII-based protocol for generic Ethernet networks.

One of the first implementations is used in a mail sorting and distributing system. The Ethernet network backbones several front-end subsystems based on CANopen.

18 industrial automation asia | September 2008

Modbus CANOPEN

Figure 1: Typical network hierarchy – The Ethernet-based network (eg ModbusTCP) is used for non real-time communication, while the embedded real-time machine control system is based on CANopen.

Implementation Tool The CANopen Gateway Server and CANopen Device Monitor software

by Port complies to the CiA 309 specifications. The CANopen Gateway Server implements the gateway protocol CiA 309-3 that provides CANopen services via a TCP/IP connection.

Commands are sent as ASCII strings. This allows using a simple telnet connection to the server to issue commands into the CANopen network.

This short command reads the device type of a CANopen device that has node-ID 32.

Graphical Output The CANopen Device Monitor is the graphical user interface and a comfortable tool for working with CANopen devices. It utilises a TCP/IP connection to the CANopen Gateway Server to access the CANopen network.

For simple test and configuration tasks all CANopen services are easily accessible with a few mouse clicks: • Read and write values with SDO

• • • • •

Changing NMT states Send Sync messages PDO Setup Display PDO values in a strip chart Reading process image cyclically via SDO

In a simple device configuration only defined values have to be written to entries of the object dictionary.

CANopen already has the means for doing this kind of application. It is called device configuration files (DCF).

In the CANopen Device Monitor the objects are selected and then saved to the DCF. The configuration for the next device is as easy as loading the configuration and sending it to the device. Many CANopen tools already can load the DCF and use it.

For complex configurations loading a DCF may not be sufficient, because the device configuration depends on device parameters that are first known at runtime. This could be different I/O devices that have manufacturerspecific functionalities.

Request

Response

Confirmation

Gateway Application

TCP network

Request

Indication

Confirmation

Response

Gateway Device Request Indication Response Confirmation

instance requires a service instance is informed on event instance answers event instance receives answer on request

Figure 2: Service primitives provided by the standardised Ethernet-to-CANopen gateway compliant to CiA 309 specification.

Simple Solution For this application case the CANopen Device Monitor provides the integrated scripting language Tcl/Tk that provides all CANopen services of the CANopen Gateway Server. Furthermore, the

scripting language allows creating a device specific test environment with a graphical user interface.

These eight lines create a new window and place a button on it. On button press the function startTest1 is

executed. It reads the value of index 0x2000 and shows it in a message box.

The test scripts can be saved and be reloaded again. For special applications plug-ins provide extra functionality.

There are plug-ins for: • Layer Setting Services (LSS) • Safety configuration (compliant to CiA 304) • CiA 402 positioning mode • CiA 402 state machine The CANopen Device Monitor with its function range is a versatile tool for configuration during development and initial operation of CANopen machines. Through the use of the client server principle several developers can work in the same CANopen network simultaneously. This has the advantage of being able to error track and diagnose during development, production testing and initial operation.

ENQUIRY NO. 6113

ENQUIRY NO. 837

Indication

September 2008 | industrial automation asia 19

New Device

Description Enhancements he Fieldbus Foundation has announced the latest updates to its Foundation fieldbus Device Description (DD) tools and specifications. The new releases for DD technology, which is fully compliant with the IEC 61804 and ISA104 Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL) profile, include enhanced versions of: DD Services ( Ve r s i o n 5 . 1 . 0 ) , D D I n t e g r a t e d Development Environment (Version 1.1.0), Device Description Language Interoperability Specification (FF901), Device Description Language Specification (FF-900) and DD Library (Version 3.2).

T h e F i e l d b u s F o u n d a t i o n ’s manager-fieldbus products, Stephen Mitschke, commented: “The updated DD solutions build upon the robust functionality of the previous DD 5.0 release, and are intended to help device developers,

system suppliers and end users advance the performance of their Foundation fieldbus products.”

Mitschke indicated that the latest DD enhancements support Unicode, p ro v i d i ng Foundation fieldbus device and system suppliers with an expanded ability to write and visualise DDs using local languages, including Asian languages.

The enhancements also allow developers to build device-level menus, thus enabling visualisation of multiple blocks and significantly improving the device integration experience. In addition, support for new parameter attributes will ensure an enhanced user interface for accessing devices.

Mitschke added that support for device-level menus will become mandatory as part of the Fieldbus Foundation’s host profile test and registration programme. Like the

current device registration process, host registration will strengthen fieldbus interoperability and system integration. Hosts successfully completing registration testing will be authorised to bear the foundation’s official product registration symbol.

Both of the DD technical documents (FF-900 and FF-901) fully describe the new enhancements, and are included in the Foundation fieldbus technical specification. These documents are available for download on Fieldbus Forums to all foundation members with a specification maintenance agreement.

Foundation fieldbus DD Services is a versatile development resource making it easier for host applications to access Foundation device information and work with DDs more efficiently.

Operating much like a query server for a database management system, DD Services frees hosts from the burden of decoding DD binary files.

The host application constructs a request to access specific information about a device, and DD Services extracts the information from the DD binary file. The host application is relieved of having to know the format of the DD binary file, and then searching the file for the information it needs.

ENQUIRY NO. 6114

Addition To Board Of Directors r Farshad Amir, technology manager of instrument and control systems for DuPont Engineering, has been named to the Fieldbus Foundation’s board of directors. Amir replaces Jim Porter, who is retiring from DuPont, in this key automation industry post.

In addition to chairman John Berra of Emerson Process Management, Fieldbus

20 industrial automation asia | September 2008

Foundation board members now include: Kenneth Deken, Rockwell Automation; David Eisner, Honeywell; Motofumi Matsumura, Fuji; Satoru Kurosu, Yokogawa; Farshad Amir, DuPont; Dr Gunther Kegel, Pepperl+Fuchs; Timm Madden, ExxonMobil; Mark Taft, ABB; Hirozume Sone, Yamatake Corporation; John Eva, Invensys; Hans-Georg Kumpfmueller, Siemens AG; and Fred Cohn, Schneider Electric.

ENQUIRY NO. 6115

Final Device Coupler Test Specification he Fieldbus Foundation has released the final Foundation Device Coupler Test Specification (FF- 846 FS 1.0). This specification is designed for coupler manufacturers to perform a standard set of tests against their implementation.

The test cases were developed by a team of volunteers comprised of current members of the foundation that manufacture coupler products, as well as end users interested in the availability of registered couplers.

The Foundation Device Coupler Test Specification includes criteria from IEC 61158-2:2003 and additional functional tests such as input impedance, short-circuit reaction

time, and bus voltage consumption.

T h e F i e l d b u s F o u n d a t i o n ’s manager-fieldbus products, Stephen Mitschke, said: “The foundation is one of the only automation industry organisations with a host and device registration programme requiring mandatory testing of critical elements of its technology. This effort now encompasses Foundation fieldbus host systems and field devices, as well as physical layer components such as power supplies and device couplers.”

He continued: “The Fieldbus Foundation is committed to developing more test processes for devices and components. The

device coupler specification builds upon the existing power supply s p e c i f i c a t i o n a n d re g i s t r a t i o n procedure, and is intended to provide even greater robustness in Foundation fieldbus systems.

The resulting registered products will be tested to perform optimally with registered power supplies and conditioners, as well as registered H1 cable.

Mitschke indicated that the scope of the device coupler test specification includes wiring blocks and couplers that may support short circuit protection.

ENQUIRY NO. 6116

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Asia EtherCAT

Topology Options EtherCAT combines the classical fieldbus system topology, the line, with the Ethernet star or tree topology. By Martin Rostan, executive director, EtherCAT Technology Group

Fieldbus Topology: Line Most classical fieldbus systems indeed are bus systems: all nodes within one network segment connect in parallel to the same pair of wires, and physically share the same media.

At both ends of the segment there are terminating resistors. The physical layer is RS485 based, or like CAN, similar to RS485.

This generally leads to the line topology, and also to a physical limitation in the number of nodes per segment, since the physical layer bus drivers can only drive so many nodes in parallel. At lower baud rates, some fieldbus systems also support short drop lines attached to the terminated trunk line, thus creating a tree topology with short branches.

Ethernet Topology: Star Ethernet networks generally are active star topologies – active, because they require an active star coupler such as a switch or hub. Around 50 different physical layer options are specified in the IEEE 802.3 family of standards, and only the outdated 10 Mbit/s coax cable varieties are can be considered line or tree topologies.

Of course one can build a limited tree or line topology by lining up a number of switches or hubs, but then 22 industrial automation asia | September April 2008 2008

the accumulated delay time of the cascaded switches limits the number of such interconnected segments in real-time applications.

EtherCAT Topology: Flexible EtherCAT is an industrial Ethernet technology using standard IEEE 802.3 Ethernet frames and physical layers.

But the unique functional principle of EtherCAT – avoiding stack delays and optimizing bandwidth by processing the Ethernet frames on the fly – not only increases the performance,

but also provides for a maximum of flexibility regarding the topology.

In ‘micro-view’, EtherCAT always is a ring: the frame passes all nodes and is then returned to the master device. But since EtherCAT uses full duplex Ethernet physical layers, the ring is comprised of the send and receive conductor pairs in the cable, so in ‘macro-view’ the ring becomes a line topology.

Line In the EtherCAT line topology each node acts as a repeater, thus the physical signal is generated “from scratch” in each node. This means that a disturbance either leads to a CRC error in the very next node, or it is gone for ever.

A common fieldbus scenario, where electromagnetic noise only became a problem once it had traveled from one end of the network to the other cannot happen with EtherCAT. Since each physical layer driver only has to drive one other node, the maximum distance between two EtherCAT nodes is similar to the maximum distance in

Ultra large system test: EtherCAT test setup with 10056 nodes in one network. The test comprises a combination of line, tree, star and ring topologies, and has a variety of node types ranging from digital I/O to complex gateways.

an entire fieldbus network. And there is no physical layer limitation to the maximum number of nodes within one EtherCAT network – the address space within the protocol allows for a maximum of 65535 nodes.

An EtherCAT line topology also does not require terminating resistors: at each of its ports, the slave controller chip detects if another node is present. If not, this port is automatically closed within 15µs.

EtherCAT supports flexible topologies.

The technology supports almost unlimited network extensions and number of nodes, enhanced diagnostic features and also high availability options such as cable redundancy, hot connect and node replacement during operation.

Tree Or Star EtherCAT slave devices typically have two ports, providing for the line topology. They may also support three, four or more ports, thus acting as a junction for branches.

The branches may have further branches, or many nodes in a line, or any combination hereof.

Of course each node in the network ads to the overall propagation delay – but since this delay is between 200 ns and about 1 µs, depending on the physical layer, the overall delay time is extremely short.

Or, in other words, regardless of the topology 200…400 EtherCAT nodes altogether delay a full Ethernet frame about as much as one single Ethernet switch. And since EtherCAT does not need switches, this also saves the associated costs for the switch hardware, wiring, power supply, configuration and so on.

The EtherCAT topology also

supports enhanced diagnosis features: each node always checks each frame for bit errors. If the node detects an error, it writes a pattern to the frame check sequence in the frame to flag its detection and increments its error counter.

Thus a bit error is not only detected reliably, but can also be located in the network. This also works with intermittent errors, so that sporadic EMI issues that may not yet influence the application can be taken care of at the next maintenance cycle.

Hot Connect Network segments or branches can be removed during operation, since the ports are closed automatically by the slave controller chips. This is not only useful for robots that change tools, but also for carriers in material handling systems or even for modular machines – such as semiconductor tools, where process chambers have

to be removed for maintenance while the rest of the machine is operating.

Redundant Ring The fast port closing feature of the slave controller chips is also used for the cable redundancy option.

Here the master uses two standard Ethernet ports to send the same frame in both directions through a ring topology.

If the network is intact, only one of the frames is processed by the slave devices. As soon as a cable breaks or is removed, both neighboring nodes close the associated ports immediately and return each frame through the now two ‘micro rings’.

So now both frames contain a part of the input process image, which can be combined to the overall process image by the master easily.

Even the redundant ring topology can be combined with other options, such as drop lines with hot connect or underlying rings with additional redundancy features. The cable redundancy option also provides for exchange of slave devices on the fly.

Summary EtherCAT combines the classical fieldbus system topology – the line – with the Ethernet star or tree topology. The technology supports almost unlimited network extensions and number of nodes, enhanced diagnostic features and also high availability options such as cable redundancy, hot connect and node replacement during operation. ■ ENQUIRY NO. 6117 September April 2008 | industrial automation asia 23

issues & insights

Intelligent Data Acquisition In A Plant

The network infrastructure of a plant can be leveraged to make it possible to acquire and access the hidden data in the plant. By Mike Berryman, Advantech Corporation, Industrial Automation Group

Local I/O modules can be clustered and networked, bringing the data into the plant databases.

24 industrial automation asia | September 2008

anufacturing is about data.

It is about collecting data.

It is about analysing data. It is about trying to understand the patterns in data that we collect. Only part of the data that a manufacturing enterprise needs comes from the control systems.

There is a significant amount of ‘ancillary’ data in every manufacturing plant, and it is becoming more important to use this data every year.

This data can be used to improve the competitiveness and productivity of manufacturing facilities, especially older, brownfield plants.

It is easy to get data from a machine or a process control system. You have sensors, you have transmitters, you have controllers, and nearly always, you have a way to connect those sensors and controllers to an HMI and

data historian. Voilà, you have data, and information. Even older systems, with PLCs and controllers that were standalones when they were designed, can be networked using serial-toEthernet adaptors.

Hidden Data There is, however, just as much data that cannot be connected easily to a data historian, because it isn’t coming from sensors that can easily be connected to the network.

Take a look around your plant.

How many pressure gauges, flow indicators, temperature gauges, and similar devices can you find? In a normal plant there are hundreds.

None of them are connected to the plant data historian. All of them have data that is useful, and having a way to get that data into the system can save

money and make the plant perform better.

In many plants, such as pharmaceutical and semiconductor plants, bottled gases are needed for batch process runs. Because of validation, these gas bottles use regulator and gauge designs, rather than transmitters. So operators with clipboards are used to determine when to change bottles, and usually, they waste the last gas in the bottles because they need to change bottles before the batch ends. This happens because they do not have continuous transmitters on the bottles.

How many other kinds of data like that are there in a typical plant? There are lots of data that was never intended to be collected on a continuous basis, but which, now, it is beginning to make sense to collect and analyse.

This is the data that can fill in the gaps between machines, units, and production lines.

Feedstock tracking comes to mind,

along with all manner of raw material tracking for quality control, as well as many facility and process management tasks.

If you can’t measure it, you can’t control it! But in many cases, the data is being measured. It just is being displayed by manual means, rather than being transmitted on a continuous basis.

Pressure gauges, temperature gauges, flow indicators, and other manual indicators are ubiquitous in plants, on pumps, monitoring air flow, plant air pressure, plant water pressure, temperature, and other variables that have not been considered important enough to assign a significantly more expensive transmitter to.

This ancillar y data was not required for machine control, or for process control, but much of it can be critical for enterprise control. Much of this data is requisite for a modern quality program, as well as real time

Even controllers can be networked using serial-to-Ethernet adaptors.

performance management systems.

So, how is this information collected? It is typically collected by workers walking around with clipboards, writing the information down on paper.

Human Disadvantage Manual data collection is fraught with problems. First, the data must be taken properly. Data takers often

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issues & insights decide to simply duplicate the data from the previous shift, rather than to go out and take data correctly. There are errors, even when data is taken properly. There are gaps in the data.

Handwritten data is hard to read. On top of this, someone must input the data into the enterprise system, again providing opportunities for problems, errors, and omissions.

Then there’s the potential that the ‘measurement instrument’ might have a hidden agenda. The potential for deliberate falsification of data is always there. There are all sorts of reasons why a data taker might misrepresent data, and if the data is actually being used, the data must be correct, with no gaps, errors, or hidden agendas.

And with the increasing difficulty of finding quality workers in manufacturing, it is getting harder to justify devoting entire shifts of workers to ‘clipboard walking’. It is getting harder to find workers who can write well enough to provide readable data when they do walk their rounds.

A Solution All of the investments that plants have made in network infrastructure over the past decade can be leveraged to make it possible to acquire and access the hidden data in the plant. Many

One way to make sure the data is reliable is to use local HMIs, portable display panels and tablet PCs.

26 industrial automation asia | September 2008

The networking infrastructure can be leveraged using data concentrators.

plants have Ethernet access points all throughout the plant floor area, not just in the office areas.

Data can be acquired where it is created, and input directly into the database and data historians so it can be used. This shortens the lag between data creation and data analysis, and makes it less likely for data to be distorted or error-filled.

The acquisition of this hidden data can be leveraged in multiple ways. First, the most important of this data can be simply and relatively inexpensively connected to the network. Other devices can be connected to existing serial port-equipped local devices.

Wireless data transmission is becoming practical, and inexpensive.

And finally, data can be input directly into the appropriate database through the use of local HMI panels and wireless tablet PCs. Designs can be highly modular.

Local readouts can be modified to include transmitters, and the data can be transmitted directly via the Ethernet network using Ethernet I/O modules.

Ethernet I/O modules can be networked themselves, and can be located remotely, as long as a connection to the network exists nearby. So a cluster of simple, inexpensive sensors can be connected to local I/O modules, and those modules can be themselves clustered and networked, bringing the data into the plant databases.

Devices with serial interfaces can be connected to the network using serial device servers. The number of devices that have serial interfaces is often underestimated. Many of these devices have serial ports that have never been connected, and are forgotten.

One of the reasons these sensors were left as indicators, rather than connected transmitters is the cost of wiring sensors to plant control systems was historically quite expensive.

Recent advances in wireless networking, and advances in less expensive sensor technologies, have reduced these costs dramatically.

Many plants have backbones where IEEE 802.11x wireless access points are everywhere. Advances in wireless networking technology, such as mesh networking, have made sensors easier to network and connect to data historians.

Another way to make sure the data is reliable is to replace the clipboard with local HMIs and portable display panels and tablet PCs. These devices make it possible to input the data directly into the asset management system, or other databases, such as plant historians.

The Point So it is now practical, and relatively inexpensive to connect these indicators to the control system and to the plant databases. Is there a reason to do it?

Converting data into actionable i n t e l l i g e n c e m a k e s p ro f i t a n d productivity better. Managers can avoid ‘analysis paralysis’ and stop looking for data like a needle in a data haystack. As plant operations grow and change, the networking infrastructure can be leveraged even further using data concentrators. Smart devices, smart network infrastructure, and smart data acquisition design leads to smart production.

ENQUIRY NO. 6201

ENQUIRY NO. 840

control point

Simulation:

ver the past four decades, computer modeling has demonstrated the ability to dramatically improve every phase of the design-operate-optimise lifecycle in a range of refining, petrochemical, and oil and gas processes and plants.

However, reaching the full potential afforded by computer modeling has previously been restricted because incompatible and inconsistent software packages are often used in different areas of the lifecycle, including process design, control strategy, decision support, operator training, and advisory and real-time optimisation.

Users typically have to build a new model in each different software

28  industrial automation asia | September 2008

New Ground A new generation of simulation software products enables modeling of the complete plant lifecycle without having to build new models from scratch.

By Joseph McMullen, process engineering suite product manager, Invensys Process Systems.

package. Imagine how much time and money could be saved if the complete plant lifecycle could be modeled within a single environment.

A new generation of simulation software products enables modeling of the complete plant lifecycle without having to build new models from scratch, as one moves through

different stages of the plant lifecycle.

A common data model saves time and improves accuracy by re-using data throughout the plant’s lifecycle.

A consistent user interface reduces the learning cur ve of using new software. Common thermodynamic calculation provides consistent results throughout the complete engineering

workflow. A translation framework that bridges one software product to another product preserves model equity and saves time.

This new generation of simulation software products simplifies modeling and simulation throughout the plant’s lifecycle while improving engineering productivity, simulation accuracy, and providing access to popular productivity platforms.

Importance Of Simulation Simulation and optimisation have had an enormous impact on the petroleum, petrochemical, and chemical process industries over the past several decades.

P ro c e s s s i m u l a t i o n i s u s e d almost universally in the design of new processes, the evaluation of alternate plant configurations, the troubleshooting and debottlenecking of plant process, and to gain a better overall understanding of the process.

Process simulation software programmes perform rigourous mass and energy balances for a wide range of chemical processes. Other process engineering tools have been developed for heat transfer simulation, plant gross error detection, piping network simulation, and safety system modeling.

Dynamic simulation software has been developed to model plant control systems for detailed engineering studies and operator training.

Simulations based on rigourous firstprinciple models are paired with the actual plant controls that can be used to troubleshoot process control problems that occur in the actual plant and perform what-if and debottlenecking studies.

High fidelity plant simulators are also used to train operators in a non-destructive environment so that those operators are prepared for any disturbance in the plant’s operation.

On-line optimisation has been used in the hydrocarbon processing industry for over 40 years. The goal of on-line optimisation is to maximise an economic function, typically profit, to determine how a given unit, or

Ammonia process simulation.

Component fraction simulation in Excel.

group of units, should be operated given constraints of the operating and economic environment.

Optimisations are typically based on mathematical models that vary in complexity, ranging from a single unit to a complete manufacturing complex.

These mathematical models are based on observed plant performance to rigourous first principle heat, mass, and momentum balances.

Recent implementations of on-line optimisation utilise first principle models to take advantage of their superior accuracy, rigour, range, and maintainability.

Overcoming Incompatibility The refining industr y today is challenged by the fact that the different

modeling tools used to handle each of these critical phases in the plant lifecycle have been developed in isolation. This usually means that a number of different experts who have mastered the intricacies of each different modeling tool are needed for each project.

The tools used to model each phase typically have their own individual data formats since they were developed without benefit of a common platform. The end result is that it requires more time and effort to transfer data from the programme used in one phase of the lifecycle to those used in another phase, because most users simply re-enter their data from scratch.

Re-entering data takes a September 2008 | industrial automation asia  29

control point

Typical vessel sizing component of a simulation.

considerable amount of time and also increases the risk of errors.

Another major area of concern is that different programmes often use different models, which can lead to inconsistent results at different phases of the plant lifecycle. All of these factors generate inefficiencies throughout the plant lifecycle, further straining scarce resources.

A drive to increase efficiency has led developers to implement a consistent graphical user interface, a common data model, and a translation framework across the entire plant lifecycle. This new approach enables the user to follow the standard engineering workflow throughout the plant lifecycle without switching to a different user environment or changing data models.

These improvements have already been implemented throughout a complete line of modeling and simulation products over the past several years as part of the normal product upgrade cycle.

As a result, a substantial improvement can be achieved in engineering productivity from steadystate design to dynamic simulation to performance modeling to real-time optimisation. The ability to use a single data model throughout the complete plant lifecycle also maximises the 30  industrial automation asia | September 2008

return on investment in a given model while reducing maintenance costs.

Most importantly though, it is practical to use simulation throughout the entire plant lifecycle, providing the opportunity to reduce capital and operating costs while improving plant yields and profitability.

Companies can optimise their workflow and maximise their modeling efforts by reusing data to ensure that decisions made during different lifecycle phases and with different modeling tools are based on a consistent and accurate representation of the plant.

Consistent User Interface The consistent user interface used in modeling tools designed for use throughout the plant lifecycle offers a high standard for user friendliness.

Each of the applications provides consistent placement of controls, use of colour, mouse click actions, thermodynamic configuration, stream creation, and overall flowsheet look and feel. This enables users to maximise their productivity as they freely move from one modeling environment to another.

The user interface provides access to all data in the simulation data and makes it easy to transfer data to other engineering programmes. The

environment can easily be configured to suit user preferences in many areas such as units of measure, thermodynamics, and unit icon types.

The common interface approach preser ves the time and money invested in modeling by utilising a single data model across the entire plant lifecycle, and providing familiar interfaces. Steady state models require fundamental process data such as temperature, pressure and compositions and may involve some physical design information.

Dynamic models require physical data on plant equipment as well as process data. Using a common model and intelligently re-using shared data, the same data model can be used for different simulation objectives, enabling reuse of data across views.

The common environment utilises a virtual intermediate common data model based on the process design model that provides the information required for modeling and simulation across the entire plant lifecycle.

Information is moved from one environment to another through an intermediate model format. Data is first transferred from the source application to the intermediate model.

The source programme determines what data is available. The translation layer handles communications with the target programme. It calculates or estimates needed data such as sizes, metal mass and volumetric flows.

The translation layer inserts equipment as needed such as valves between two pressure nodes. Consistency checks are then performed on the translated flowsheet. The target application then determines how to extrapolate the data. The common intermediate model can grow as needed to handle new modeling capabilities that will be added to constituent programmes in the future.

A modularised thermodynamics application ser ves the thermophysical property needs of all products throughout the lifecycle, providing standardised thermodynamic behavior that delivers consistent and

Improving Design & Operations The first step in the plant lifecycle is typically designing or revamping the process, which can be accomplished through integrating steady-state process simulation with the other plant and process simulations.

The user defines streams and unit operations to create process flow diagrams and then selects components from a pre-defined list. After selecting

thermodynamic calculation methods, the user defines stream data for each external feed stream and runs the simulation.

The software performs rigourous mass and energy balance calculations and provides tabular and plotted output. The information from the simulation is used to optimise the design of a new piece of equipment or an entire new plant. Users can model several different configurations and evaluate the performance and cost of each.

In addition to the plant design via simulation software, the common interface permits users to incorporate multiphase flow simulation for plant utility and relief networks.

The latest version of this software provides the flexibility to model, for example, a depressurisation of a single vessel, up to the design and rating of a complete cooling water network for an entire refinery or petrochemical p l a n t , a p p l i c a t i o n s w h i c h a re

encountered as plants move into the detailed design stage.

Control strategy issues such as distillation column relief load reduction, compressor startup and surge studies, depressuring analysis, refiner y steam control systems, flare system analysis, and dynamic decision support simulators must be addressed.

Dynamic simulation software is integrated with process simulation so it opens and automatically translates steady-state simulations into dynamic simulations. Starting from existing steady-state simulations increases engineering efficiency since less time is required to develop models for each application.

Also, data discrepancies can be avoided when engineers deploy the same model in each application, which increases technical accuracy and provides higher levels of overall simulation reliability.

As the plant is being built and

ENQUIRY NO. 860

reliable results.

The seamless integration of thermodynamics provides users with access to extensive component d a t a b a n k s a n d m o re t h a n 3 5 thermodynamic modeling methods including equations of state and generalised correlations.

This improves the range and accuracy of flow models for the process industries. Additional common modules are provided including user interface modules, solvers, units of measure, reporting, and visualisation tools.

September 2008 | industrial automation asia  31

control point constructed, the value of a common data model is again demonstrated.

Operator training is accomplished by use of a control system checkout and simulation tool, which directly reflects the process and controls.

This is possible via the common data model, which makes it possible to reuse steady state design, operational analysis, dynamic simulation, operator training, performance monitoring, and real-time optimisation data.

This approach reduces the time required to commission and startup control software while providing accurate analysis and troubleshooting of the control system response and performance.

When the plant goes into operation, its performance needs to be monitored and compared relative to the simulations executed during process design stage.

A performance modeling tool can diagnose the root causes of process degradation, anticipate the need for performing maintenance, monitor the current performance of equipment relative to the design specifications, determine the economic impact of performance degradation, identify faulty instrumentation and process problems, and track actual performance against plan and understand deviations.

Offline & Online Optimisation Process models are widely used for offline advisory optimisation where engineers gather data and analyse results. The goal is to identify current versus optimal operations at a snapshot in time and improve operations accordingly.

Simulation models are often instrumental in locating and testing counterintuitive process strategies that are beyond the traditional comfort level of operators. In an operational environment, process simulation models are used as on-line soft sensors and predictive performance monitoring for determining optimal maintenance action.

The ultimate goal is real-time, closed-loop optimisation of the plant’s performance based on operational 32 industrial automation asia | September 2008

Cooling water network using a simulation in Excel.

and economic conditions. Success in process modeling is critically dependent upon accurate descriptions of the thermodynamic properties and phase behaviour of the concerned chemical systems.

An on-line implementation allows real-time data from the process, eg flows, temperatures, pressures, etc, to be used by the optimisation system.

The first step is examining operational data to determine if the plant is operating in steady state.

The common data environment makes it possible to perform data reconciliation and parameterisation versus the original process design model to ensure that the model accurately reflects performance of the actual process unit.

The optimiser then drives the parameterised model to determine the operating conditions that will maximise economic return subject to constraints in force. In the closed loop mode, the simulation model downloads optimal setpoints directly to the control system for implementation.

The sequence repeats itself continuously and requires minimal oversight to maintain continued optimal operations.

The Benefits A common plant modeling, simulation

and optimisation environment can expedite engineering workflow by reusing model data throughout the entire plant lifecycle, including steady state design, operational analysis, dynamic simulation, operator training, performance monitoring, and realtime optimisation.

The common interface and the simulation solutions it supports, all combine to ultimately help users contribute to the overall plant business planning process, so they can respond optimally to long-term market and demand fluctuations by implementing changes in overall operational strategy.

Since the planning process has to take into account plant constraints, availability and capabilities, simulation models play a critical role in the process by providing a framework for simulating and evaluating various future scenarios.

The result of the planning process is an optimum representing best ‘average’ operation of the plant in the near to mid term future.

Overall, the open environment can reduce capital investment costs, improve process yields, and enhance management decisions leading to improved margins while leveraging existing technology investments.

ENQUIRY NO. 6301

www.marschner-kuehn.de

Seeing details, understanding the big picture.

Integrated sensor solutions for logistics automation Only those who understand the complex interactions in logistics automation as a whole can construct the perfect sensor in detail. For example, volume measurement systems for the reliable dimensioning of objects in package distribution and freight centres.

SICK sensor systems combine safety, regulatory and control functions and thus increase transparency in the automation process. Integrated solutions for logistics automation that always keep the whole in sight.

SICK Optic-Electronic Pte. Ltd. | 31, Admiralty Road | 739984 Singapore | +65 6744 3732 China | India | Japan | Republic of Korea | Singapore | Taiwan | www.sick.com

software & Networks

A complete business analytics solution must integrate all of the corporate data coming from ERP, legacy and specialised systems.

By Soh Kiat Hong, manufacturing and supply chain head, SAS

ERP:

Analyse round the world, thousands of companies have turned to enterprise systems for help in automating and integrating business processes. Yet few have experienced the full business benefits of exploiting enterprise information for enhanced decision-making power.

As such systems become more prevalent, and as more resources and money are poured into their implementation, organisations are expecting to achieve a substantial return on their ERP investment. The question is – are they getting it? Unfortunately, the answer is often “no”.

Getting Returns In fact, many have invested vast sums of money in enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations, only to find that enterprise information delivery is more difficult to achieve than ever.

The best that can be said of these 34 industrial automation asia | September 2008

systems is that they make you as good as your best competitor. But to be a leader in business, you must be capable of doing some things differently from – and better than – the common herd.

That’s not to say that ERP is a bad thing. However, manufacturers are right to expect more business value from their IT investments than can be delivered by surfacing the cost and impact of individual transactions.

Businesses and decision processes are much more complex and nuanced than that. Interrelationships, both inside and outside the organisation, are more important than one-off transactions.

It is only when you get insights into the underlying drivers of costs and revenues that information becomes a competitive weapon. In our current economy, it is not enough to know how much you sold yesterday, what are the stock levels of your most profitable

This! products, how much revenue your best customer generated, or who is the most unreliable supplier.

ERP systems contain all this elementary data on the past, but innovative companies want to know what will happen in the future, how they can benefit from a newly discovered trend, how they can anticipate events and how they can become more agile.

Innovative companies are forwardlooking, not backward-looking.

To cope with these complex business challenges, companies need to be able to focus their creativity by applying advanced techniques such as constraint-based optimisation, advanced forecasting, strategic planning, business simulation and modeling.

The umbrella term for these techniques is ‘business analytics’, which combines the capabilities of business intelligence solutions with strong forward-looking analysis that

is designed to support and improve decision-making.

A complete business analytics solution must integrate all of the corporate data coming from ERP, legacy and specialised systems. In addition, it must offer collaborative tools so that managers and employees can take decisions rapidly and in harmony.

Collaboration The never-ending changes in the economic, political and social environment make today’s business decisions very complex – so much so that no single individual has all the knowledge necessary to make intelligent and fact-based decisions.

That’s why knowledge workers, whose skills and experience must combine with factual information, look to ERP systems containing the needed information in a common pool of knowledge.

We refer to the technology that makes this possible as an ‘enterprise intelligence platform’.

Such intelligence-based collaboration brings the collective knowledge of an entire organisation together, enabling it to make decisions.

Traditionally, collaboration has been characterised by meetings, committees and bureaucracy, whereas agile and smart companies want to make decisions quickly.

Manufacturers, in particular, want to identify problems or new trends, analyse their impact, decide how to react and then disseminate this information to people who can act on it, all across the enterprise – and even outside the enterprise, w i t h l o g i s t i c s o r o u t s o u rc i n g partners. Subsequently, they want to monitor the impact of such decisions.

The overall speed of all these steps in the decision-making process determines your ‘time to intelligence’, which can make for a company’s success or failure.

Total Cost Of Ownership H o w e v e r, t h e re a re i m p o r t a n t differences between analytics and ERP. Business analytics delivers sustainable return on investment because it supports innovation and creativity, while ERP is a blunt instrument. With the latter, the return on investment diminishes rapidly.

Some companies have, in the past, been urged to add a new ERP system or to build additional layers on existing ERP systems. But knowing that ERP systems require major investments of time and money to modify them to do precisely what you want, these same companies have found that it makes sense to step back and think about alternatives.

Standard query and reporting BI tools are commoditised and no longer a strong competitive advantage, unlike advance analytics (predictive modelling).

A major consumer electronics company went ahead to develop demand forecasting capabilities within the existing ERP and had to come to realise that the result is simply unacceptable. The motive behind the project was to deliver a better demand planning process. But after it invested countless mandays, the company realised that ERP was never going to deliver the quality of information it sought.

Another major oil and gas company commented that their ERP system ‘is a jungle of data’. Faced with the limits of ERP, the company proceeded with its implementation of a business analytics platform, applying predictive analytics capabilities to streamline processes, identify problem areas fast and at the same time fulfill re q u i re m e n t s f ro m re g u l a t o r y authorities.

Taking these realities into account, should we conclude that business analytics solutions compete with ERP systems? Absolutely not! They complement each other. One doesn’t make sense without the other. Their relationship is comparable to the interworkings of the human body.

ERP Physiology While ERP systems are the muscles and blood of your organisation, business analytics are the brains and nerves. Any human being needs both, working together, to survive.

Likewise, innovative companies invest in the best ERP software and the best business analytics. They have brains and brawn!

By adding smart brains to brawn, by adding sophistication to raw power through the integration of business analytics and ERP, a manufacturer can make the most out of their ERP investment.

Business analytics can make efficient organisations even more innovative and agile without straining resources.

In short, this powerful synergy of efficiency and adaptability generates the high business value that business users and executives expect.

ENQUIRY NO. 6302 September 2008 | industrial automation asia 35

instrumentation & Measurement

Data Acquisition:

s o rg a n i s a t i o n s d r i v e f o r optimised processes, energy conservation, and automated workflow, the need for measurement, monitoring and control systems continue to increase.

Tremendously sophisticated systems are being implemented by engineers using versatile, modular hardware and software architectures with a framework called Graphical System design. The use of Graphical System design spans many different application areas and industries.

For example to gain better insight into the mechanical processes of expensive machiner y as well as predictive maintenance, several industrial automation, process control, and test applications monitor plant efficiency by measuring pressure, strain, flow, voltage, and current signals.

Traditionally, high-performance measurement systems were not designed for industrial environments involving hazardous voltages, transient signals, high common-mode voltages, and fluctuating ground potentials.

Measure It,

Control It,

Fix It

It is possible to use accurate measurement results pinpointing bottlenecks and inefficiencies information to implement algorithm engineering techniques and design a better control system.

By Chandran Nair, MD, National Instruments, South East Asia

36  industrial automation asia | September 2008

This resulted in the ubiquitous use of programmable logic controllers (PLCs) for both measurement and control tasks. Because PLCs are not designed to take accurate measurements at high sampling rates, speed and accuracy are often sacrificed.

To overcome these challenges, programmable automation controllers (PAC) were introduced. PACs are modular, highly versatile systems that possess the ruggedness of PLCs and the computational power of PCs. S o m e o f t h e c o m m o n PA C hardware platforms are PXI, cRIO, some Industrial PCs and all these are commonly powered by PAC software. Modern PACs are designed to include high-performance industrial measurement systems with builtin digital isolation technologies, analogue technologies, and built in computational systems to handle increasingly complex algorithms.

With digital isolation, you can take safer measurements without sacrificing speed or accuracy and keep measurement system costs low. Many

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instrumentation & Measurement Digital Isolation: Channel-to-Channel or Bank ±20 mA Current or ±10 V Analogue I/O

Analogue Front End

Backplane

Analogue Signal Isolator 37-Pin I/O Connector

Analogue Ground Isolation Barrier

24 V or 5 V TTL Digital I/O, Counter and Timer

High-Perfomance Timing, Amplification, and Calibration with NI-STC 2, NI-MCal, and NI-PGIA 2

Figure 1: These devices offer built-in digital isolation, ±20 mA current, and 24 V digital I/O channels.

Earth Ground

Figure 2: Isolated analogue inputs offer safety from voltage spikes, reject common-mode voltages, and prevent ground loops from forming.

industrial data acquisition systems require devices with isolation and builtin high-speed digital isolation with a variety of input and output channels.

• Improved noise immunity.

• Ground-loop removal.

• Increased common mode voltage rejection.

Isolation Isolation offers safety by electrically separating the sensor signals, which can be exposed to hazardous voltages, from the measurement system’s lowvoltage backplane by way of a layer of insulation. Signals are transmitted across the insulation barrier using light, inductance, or capacitance without the use of any physical contact. Isolation offers several benefits, including: • Protection for expensive equipment, the user, and data from transient voltages.

Isolated measurement systems provide separate ground planes for the analogue or digital front end and the system backplane. The ground reference of the isolated front end is a floating pin that can operate at a different potential than the earth ground, as shown in Figure 2.

Any common-mode voltage that exists between the sensor ground a n d t h e m e a s u re m e n t s y s t e m ground is rejected. This rejection prevents ground loops from forming and removes any noise common to the sensor lines and ground.

Digital Isolation Technologies For analogue I/O channels, you can apply isolation either in the analogue or the digital sections of the circuit.

Isolation applied in the analogue section of the circuit before the analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) has digitised the signal is called analogue isolation. Isolation applied after the ADC has digitised the signal is called digital isolation. Figure 3 shows both analogue and digital isolation.

Analogue Isolation Analogue isolation is generally implemented by using an isolation amplifier in the analogue front end of the data acquisition device. The ISO amp in Figure 3a represents an isolation amplifier. The analogue

Analogue In

I/O Connector

Isolation Barrier

Gain Amp

Analogue Signal

ADC

Digital Isolators

AI FIFO

Digital Signal

Figure 3a: Analogue isolation applies isolation before the signal passes through the ADC and can add gain, nonlinearity, and offset to the signal.

38 industrial automation asia | September 2008

AI Data

Analogue In

I/O Connector

Isolation Barrier

Gain Amp

ISO Amp

ADC

AI FIFO

AI Data

Digital Signal

Analogue Signal

Figure 3b: Digital isolation applies isolation after the signal passes through the ADC, so it can receive the original analogue sensor signal.

signal from a sensor is passed to the isolation amplifier, which provides isolation and passes the signal to the analogue-to-digital conversion circuitry.

For best performance, the input signal to the ADC should be as close to the original sensor signal as possible.

Passing the signal through an isolation amplifier can add errors such as gain, nonlinearity, and offset before the signal reaches the ADC. You can improve performance by placing the ADC close to the original sensor signal. Digital isolation is based on this principle.

Digital Isolation Along with higher performance, digital isolation components are also lower in cost, offer higher data transfer speeds, and give analogue designers more flexibility to choose components and develop optimal analogue front ends for measurement devices.

Optocouplers, digital isolators based on optical coupling principles, are one of the oldest and most commonly used methods for digital isolation. They can withstand high voltages and offer high immunity to electrical and magnetic noise.

Engineers often use optocouplers in industrial digital I/O products. For high-speed analogue measurements, however, optocouplers suffer from speed, power dissipation, and LED lifetime limitations. Isolation based on capacitive and inductive coupling can

provide higher data transfer rates and higher transient immunity. Compared with optical and capacitive isolation methods, inductive isolation offers lower power consumption.

Safe & Accurate Measurements By integrating digital isolation with high-speed, accurate data acquisition, devices with isolation offer a reliable, low-cost measurement solution for applications involving hazardous environments.

Isolation offers safety from voltage spikes and removes common analogue measurement problems such as ground loops and common-mode voltages. High-speed digital isolation provides safety with no sacrifice in speed or accuracy.

Efficient Design Once you can measure your inefficiencies in a process or work

Measure It Measurement Identifies Inefficiency

flow, you are on the way to creating a more effective design. Specifically for machines, the ability and insight to understand issues, ranging from machine condition monitoring to predictive maintenance to power monitoring, reveals areas of opportunity for design improvements.

Critical Measurements Assume you have identified issues in your current machine or device; perhaps you are measuring reactor power consumption and realise you are pulling more power than needed.

You can use this data as an input to your control algorithm and improve or fix power consumption.

Similarly, you can measure machine vibration to discover potential failures or recognise inefficiencies. This realworld input is extremely valuable for creating accurate models to design more effective and efficient devices.

Fix It Area to Improve

Design Model

More Efficient Design

Iterate

Figure 4: By accurately measuring an issue, you can more precisely detect the problem. This detection, combined with design techniques, offers a strong starting point for a better design.

September 2008 | industrial automation asia  39

instrumentation & Measurement Algorithm Engineering Many applications, from automotive to medical device design, cannot rely on a ‘design only’ or ‘simulation only’ design process because of their critical nature. Rather, these sophisticated control applications require a hardware and software platform conducive to iteration and exploration.

To t r u l y a p p l y t h e l e s s o n s learned in the measurement phase of your project, you must integrate real-world data for simulation and design validation. The sooner you can integrate this data, the shorter the overall process becomes and, oftentimes, the more accurate the model or final design proposal becomes.

The combination of theoretical algorithm design with real-world data is called algorithm engineering. By combining an algorithm with a real world hardware device, you can more accurately verify and validate the algorithm results and behavior.

The real-world device can be a simple data acquisition or stimulus device, or you can take the algorithm and implement it on an embedded platform such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or microprocessor similar to the final system design.

Figure 5: Algorithm engineering combines theoretical algorithm designs with real-world data from prototypes to provide more accurate end designs.

Figure 6: The NI LabVIEW Control Design and Simulation Module provides built-in control capabilities such as Kalman filters and MIMO state feedback control integrated with control hardware platforms, ensuring a reliable algorithm engineering and deployment platform.

ENQUIRY NO. 6401

Case Study:

Dynamic Positioning On A Split-Hopper Vessel

S

eaplace, a Spanish engineering and consulting firm based in Madrid offering services to both naval shipbuilding and offshore industries, needed to develop an efficient dynamic positioning (DP) system to implement on a split-hopper vessel.

The purpose of the DP system is to interact with thrusters and propellers to maintain a fixed position and heading while the ship deposits stones to

build a dike in the water.

DP is a complex problem re q u i r i n g i n f o r m a t i o n sensor acquisition including GPS and differential GPS, gyroscopes, chip logs, and anemometers to measure ship position and the effect of wind and current waves.

The sensor information is fed into an estimation algorithm, such as a Kalman filter, to determine the actuation needed on the main propellers and side thrusters to keep the ship

40 industrial automation asia | September 2008

in place. These system specifications required software that provided algorithm engineering capabilities including dynamic system modeling as well as robust, reliable execution on a hardware system offering the computational power needed to run complex algorithms, real-time sensor acquisition, and actuator updates and redundancy.

The solution adopted

by Seaplace relies on a PXI-

based, high-performance, real-time controller used as the main system CPU where high-level algorithms are carried out while two NI CompactRIO systems simultaneously execute the code to control the thrusters. This FPGA-based hardware plays a key role in implementing safety guards to keep actuation under control in case of a link error with the master PXI system.

ENQUIRY NO. 6402

4th annual

Logistics World 2008 Perfect fit

13 – 16 October 2008, Raffles City Convention Centre, Singapore

Asia Pacific’s largest knowledge and networking platform for supply chain and logistics

Didier Chenneveau Executive Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer LG Electronics

Professor Hau Lee Founder & Director Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum, USA

Kevin O'Marah Chief Strategy Officer AMR Research

David Cutter Asia Pacific Supply Director Diageo

Bjorn Vang Jensen Vice President, Global Freight and Logistics Services Electrolux

Lars Jarmander Director, Head of Logistics Innovation, Supply Chain Operations Sony Ericsson

Eduardo Hagad Supply Chain and Logistics Director Sanofi-Aventis

Abhijit Upadhye Director, Supply Chain and Sachin Saxena Menu Management Director, India Operations McDonald’s Nokia

Mark Holloway Shalyn Lee Vice President, Customer Vice President, Personal Service and Logistics Systems Group Supply Excellence, Asia and AMET Chain, Asia Pacific Japan Unilever Hewlett Packard

Stephen Cherian General Manager, Customer Support Logistics Volvo

professionals

Eric Song Supply Chain Director Wellcome

Tonet Rivera Vice President, Asia Supply Chain Bristol-Myers Squibb

Andrew Chiang Director, Supply Chain Strategy Gap

William S. Lorenzana Vice President, Commissary and Corporate Supply Chain Jollibee

OUR A-LIST SPEAKERS SCMLogistics World 2008 will be held from 13-16 October 2008 at Raffles City Convention Centre, Singapore. Professor Hau Lee, Director, Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum, Stanford Graduate School of Business will be helming the conference and sharing with us on finding the “Perfect Fit” for our supply chain. Featuring 5 function specific tracks, 6 industry driven tracks, 2 workshops and 1 exclusive Supply Chain Leadership Executive Summit, you can customize your learning experience according to your needs! SCMLogistics World 2008 also features an exhibition that is open to trade. This is the event that you will not want to miss.

The SCMLogistics World 2008 conference brochure is now available for download at www.terrapinn.com/2008/scmlog. Register online now to rub shoulders with the industry leaders! SCMLogistics World Exhibition is now open for pre-registeration. Pre-registered visitors will get the show directory for FREE! Visit www.terrapinn.com/2008/scmlog to pre-register or email Chua Yee Ling at yeeling.chua@terrapinn.com.

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sector spotlight

Operation

Automation

Industrial Supply Chains: Automation can dramatically improve operations by providing realtime data to all the interdependent parts of the supply chain. By Jack Tay, senior manager, marketing, Asia Pacific, Intermec

echnology has driven fundamental changes in the way industrial and manufacturing companies manage their businesses. With the addition of sophisticated solutions, like warehouse management and ERP systems, as well as advanced data capture and wireless networking tools, companies are squeezing more efficiency out of their operations every day.

In most cases though, companies have built silos of applications defined

42 industrial automation asia | September 2008

by departments or processes (eg: WMS to manage the warehouse).

These solutions deliver significant improvements for the specific areas they’re designed to manage, but do nothing to unite the entire supply chain.

It’s rare for companies to have reached that level of automation or, in some cases, even understand the value of doing so. But the rapidly changing marketplace is creating a greater demand for manufacturers to

be more agile and flexible in order to meet their needs, and that, in turn, is placing more pressure on managing supply chains.

It’s not uncommon for companies to gain 20 percent more productivity in areas they’ve automated. Now imagine those same gains across every function. Or the dramatic increase in manufacturing flexibility gained by having total visibility into your upstream supply chain as well as changes in demand downstream.

That’s what total automation can do for an industrial/manufacturing enterprise. It can dramatically improve operations by providing real-time data to all the interdependent parts of the supply chain.

Agile Manufacturing Manufacturers face an increasingly fastpaced, sometime fickle, marketplace where product demand changes almost daily. Companies have adopted agile manufacturing processes to keep up with the market dynamics, allowing them to change product direction at a moment’s notice.

As diverse as manufacturing companies are, there are common issues faced by all.

Rapid Product Development Product development cycles are faster than ever, requiring manufacturers to often outsource parts of their m a nu fac t u r i n g a nd so me t i me s design. This agile manufacturing de ma nds a more col lab orat ive approach between manufacturers and suppliers, requiring better supply chain management.

By automating the real-time information exchanges between manufacturer and suppliers via data collected by wireless handheld scanners and computers over industrial wireless networks, companies can make quick, informed product decisions.

Reducing Costs Errors in orders and shipments cost billions of dollars annually. By automating ordering and tracking shipments in real-time along the supply chain, companies can reduce costly and time-consuming mistakes.

Infrastructure Investments According to the Gartner Group, ma nu factu r ing bu sine sse s t hat make investments in ERP-directed manufacturing applications, but fail to provide for accurate real-time information from the process, achieve at least 50 percent lower return on those investments. Additional automation via standards-based

technology maximises the value of existing IT investments as companies add new functionality.

In addition, bridging technologies extend the useful life of older devices by giving them the ability to tap new, more universal data sources.

Complete automation of the supply chain helps companies to adopt agile manufacturing processes to meet these challenges. The ‘extended enterprise’ requires real-time data flowing from suppliers to manufacturers to distributors to customers—and the only effective way to achieve that is through automation.

Supply Chain Technologies Supply chain automation requires a suite of technologies that work seamlessly together to gather data even in the most severe industrial settings. Which set of technology depends on the specific needs of a company’s operations, the environmental conditions, and complexity of its supply chain.

Asset Tracking Tracking production assets is the fou ndat ion of a ma nu fac tu r ing business. The basic tool for asset tracking has been the linear bar code printed on a label, which for many applications is still the most cost efficient method.

The addition of new symbologies (eg reduced space symbology, 2D matrix and PDF codes) and special label media that can withstand specialised industrial environments allows bar codes to fulfill a large portion of asset tracking needs.

Sophisticated printing software can also combine asset tracking with compliance labeling requirements.

Direct Part Marking It’s harder to track assets when they’re high-performance metal parts. Direct part marking extends bar coding to areas where applying a label is impractical or impossible. Direct part marking etches a bar code symbol, in many cases using matrix symbology, directly onto the metal part. Because of their low contrast, etched codes require special bar code readers.

RFID tags do not require line-of-sight to be read, so they can very quickly and easily be read.

The Air Transport Association (ATA) SPEC 2000 standard calls for all line-replaceable units (LRU) installed in commercial and military airplanes to be marked with their own individual number.

While as many as 80 percent of the parts on a typical aircraft can be identified with a simple, pressure-sensitive bar code label, high performance parts including turbine blades and wing surfaces require direct marking through technologies such as laser engraving or chemical etching. Direct part marking is a key element in the aerospace industry automating its supply chain and tracking every part.

RFID Technology What if the information a bar code can carr y isn’t enough or if the labour involved in re ading ba r codes is slowing productivity? Radio Frequency Identification ( R F ID) technology is the obvious answer.

RFID technology is based on embedding a small chip with an antenna into a tag. The RFID tag holds much more data than any bar code symbology and can be read and September 2008 | industrial automation asia 43

sector spotlight because they lack the moving parts of a laser.

Scanning technology continues to improve on performance with a wide variety of form factors—from handheld and fixed scanners to scan engine embedded into handheld wireless computers.

Automating has reduced errors, improved traceability, enhanced its stock control function, and they’ve seen substantial customer relationship advantages. They’ve also been able to increase production without increasing staff and consequent overhead costs.

The investment in the new system will be repaid purely by the increase in productivity.

By automating real-time information exchanges, companies can make quick, informed product decisions.

written to thousands of times, acting as a portable database. Unlike bar codes, RFID tags do not require lineof-sight to be read, so they can very quickly and easily be read without the extra time and labour to reorient the item the code is on.

For example, in a typical warehouse operation, one worker may be responsible for pulling product off a trailer and placing it in a staging area, while a second worker will move the product to an inventory location, and a third will move it to an outbound trailer.

With RFID tags on the cartons and/or pallets, an RFID reader with an antenna array around the dock door can read every tag automatically as it passes through, saving time and reducing errors. In a cross dock application, the RFID tags would be read and the host system would 44 industrial automation asia | September 2008

immediately direct the forklift operator, via a vehicle mount terminal, to the dock the goods are being transferred to, eliminating the extra handling. RFID technology is being used successfully today at the pallet and case level.

Scanning Technology S ca n ning te chnolog y ha s b e en c h a n g i n g d r a m a t i c a l l y. L a s e r sca n eng ine s, once considered the workhorses for most scanning applications, have been surpassed by new imaging scan engines—linear imagers, Active pixel CMOS sensors (APS), 2D imagers that are more powerful and reliable.

It has also enabled the convergence of scan engines into a wider variety of devices. The new solid-state imagers cost less than comparable laser scanners and are more reliable

Wireless Handhelds/Networks More and more, industrial workers are mobile workers and tethering them to wired devices reduces productivity and slows data. Wireless technology is not only the heart of every realtime system, it adds flexibility in manufacturing lines by eliminating wired limitations.

Wireless handheld terminals and computers send a regular flow of data to hosts systems that can be shared with suppliers and customers immediately, speeding the flow of goods and reducing errors. They can also direct workers while they’re on the floor, reducing handling errors.

Logistics Moving goods can often be the black hole of supply chain data. Wireless devices that can operate on wireless w ide - a re a net work s along with powerful logistics applications keep the flow of information alive. It also gives companies the flexibility to make changes mid-course, redirecting goods as needs change.

Wireless & Smart Printing Printing of bar code and compliance labels is an area often overlooked when planning automation, but the right printers can save time and money as well as increase efficiencies.

Wireless printing is the next logical step in extending the benefits of wireless networks. Not only does it support the

mobility of workers and improve their productivity, but it also enhances the flexibility of facilities so they can adapt quickly to new requirements or opportunities in a highly competitive business landscape.

Companies save considerable time and money by placing printers where they are needed—not where the wires are—to complete work efficiently without having to pay the cost of running network cables.

Smart printers are capable of operating without a computer, transforming the printer into a ‘smart client’ capable of executing userdefined programmes. The printers can replace computing devices and middleware with their ability to communicate with and even control other industrial/computer devices such as scanners and other printers.

They can also act as a programmable logic controller (PLC) running and controlling production line devices and processes.

Automating The Supply Chain In most industrial companies, agile processes are enabling manufacturers to meet fast-changing market demands.

The extended enterprise that agile manufacturing requires is placing more demands for real-time data across the entire supply chain so that everyone—suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and customers—have visibility to accurate, appropriate data at a moment’s notice. And this is driving the move from automation silos to comprehensive supply chain automation.

Automation Checklist Just as implementing other solutions takes planning, so does automating a company’s entire supply chain. The checklist below is a simple reminder of things to consider as you automate.

• Conduct A Supply Chain Audit Before you get started, document where you are currently. What processes are now automated?

Can they be improved? Where are manual processes still being used? Are there obvious slow

The extended enterprise that agile manufacturing requires is placing more demands for real-time data.

areas in your supply chain? Look for interdependencies between processes across the supply chain.

• Develop A Plan Developing a written plan helps avoid the pitfalls of implementing new technologies and business processes.

1. P r i o r i t i s e t h e a r e a s t o implement. Where can you gain the most value the fastest?

Which areas will demonstrate success faster?

2. Define your processes, changes and improvements. Automating your supply chain is as much about changing business processes as it is implementing technology.

3. Look for interdependencies— internally and externally— that might affect the project.

Missing a link in the chain will not only set back the project, but could severely affect your ability to do business now.

4. Investigate the best options for hardware and software solutions and vendors. Make sure vendors and their partners have a proven track record in your industry. Check their support track record. Be sure any solutions you choose are based on open standards, not proprietary systems.

5. Involve everyone impacted by the automation— employees, suppliers, and vendors. Make sure they understand what the changes will be, what the results should be and why it’s so important. Training must be part of the plan—internally and externally. Don’t assume someone else will do it.

6. Build in contingencies. It’s rare for implementations to go 100 pervent to plan. Build in time and budget to deal with the unforeseen.

7. Plan for growth. Implement a system that will fulfill your needs now and can easily grow as your business changes and grows.

8. Define the ROI. Go into the p ro j e c t k n o w i n g h o w i t s success will be measured as well as how and who will collect and report the data.

• Rollout Automation Methodically It’s easy to get sidetracked when implementing large, complex systems. Once you’ve established the plan and timeline, stick to it.

Train all who will be affected by the rollout.

• Measure The Results With each rollout, measure, measure, measure. It’s easy to let gather metrics slide as other priorities arise, but measuring the success of the project will help streamline future implementations as well as justify the project to upper management. ROI measurement is a critical part of any implementation.

ENQUIRY NO. 6403 September 2008 | industrial automation asia 45

sector spotlight Ilker, Turkey

Rapid Improvements In

The rapid growth of the RTLS market can be attributed to the emergence of several new and affordable technologies.

By Dr Peter Harrop, chairman, IDTechEx

ne reason why the market for Real Time Locating Systems (RTLS) is growing rapidly to pass the (US) billion dollar mark well within 10 years is technology. It is improving rapidly, with new variants for the many new sub sectors of the market that are emerging.

Improvements In UWB RTLS Ultra Wide Band (UWB) RTLS usually gives the best accuracy and best immunity to interference in and out.

46  industrial automation asia | September 2008

3,000 Tags

Systems

2,500

2,000 US$ millions

Indeed, without new, affordable technologies to cover ranges from centimetres to kilometres and other parameters differing by many magnitudes, the predicted huge market for RTLS that is shown below in Figure 1 will not be created.

RTLS

1,500

1,000

500

0 2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Figure 1: IDTechEx forecast of global RTLS market by value 2008-2018.

2018

That has come at a cost, limiting it to the quality end of the market.

However, Time Domain has just announced a low cost version of its system and Ubisense has announced a system that combines passive UHF and active UHF on automotive production lines.

Ubisense already combines two signalling techniques, time of arrival (TOA) and angle of arrival (AOA), that we explain below, for superlative performance. The functionality is also rapidly improving with advances in UWB such as the DecaWave chips that use time difference of arrivals (TDOA) favoured by market leader WhereNet but have much added functionality such as mesh networking and much longer range than has previously been possible with UWB. Hand Held Readers Increasingly, the more sophisticated systems have more than a fixed infrastructure. For finding goods on foot, even outside the fixed reader network, hand held readers are increasingly offered as an extra facility.

Indeed, at the bottom of the market, the Loc8tor hand held reader, used without fixed infrastructure, has had huge success in the last year. Although some may refer to this as primitive, its range and functionality exceeds that of some far more expensive fixed systems.

It can set ring fencing alarms to protect assets and children etc.

The tag can has an alarm button and flashing light and the hand held device vibrates, shows vectors and lights up. Indeed up to 25 tags can be programmed with a large menu driven screen.

Active & Passive RTLS Active RFID RTLS will not necessarily be replaced by the new passive tag RTLS. For instance, where sensing inputs must be recorded in the tag, active RFID is required and it is difficult to see how it can ever perform full mesh networking where tags talk to tags in scalable, fault

Frequency

Locate all staff in 3D with absolute certainty in an oil refinery disaster Know – most of the time – where nurse is in a hospital when she presses panic button on tag

UWB

Signal processing

Zonal Cell ID

2.4 GHz

433 MHz

Find car keys

High cost, accurate, tolerant of interence, unlikely to interfere with other systems

TOA TDOA AOA

RSSI

Low cost, less accurate and can have interference issues

Figure 2: The main choices of active tag RTLS frequency and signalling compared.

tolerant systems.

Active tags are also needed where there is a need to initiate a signal as with a nurse’s alarm pendant.

Ubiquitous Sensor Networks (USN) are being researched in many places across the world. RTLS and USN are converging.

Energy Harvesting Energy harvesting is likely to be important for much RTLS and for USN. This is where photovoltaics or other methods are used to charge batteries during use. Indeed, there are now the painfully named supercabatteries in the laborator y that combine the virtues of both batteries and capacitors.

In photovoltaics, there is rapid progress with various inorganic and composite formulations being printed reel to reel for low cost and easy use because they can be stuck to uneven surfaces like tags.

Choice Of Signal Processing There are different signal processing te chnique s used even at g iven frequencies and sometimes more t ha n o ne i s u se d i n t he s a me system. Indeed, to improve the poor performance of Cell ID (ie zonal RTLS), infrared has been used with the sa me tag a nd some systems also provide GPS or GPRS location.

For active RFID RTLS, the main options are shown below in Figure 2.

Cell ID is losing share because it is quite expensive yet has one of the poorest accuracies. It consists of having many readers with overlapping ranges. All other systems use beams of electromagnetic radiation, which is more precise.

Here TOA (Travel time trilateration against reference points also known as time of flight (TOF)) using one frequency for metering, TDOA (differential travel time triangulation against reference points using more than one frequency for metering), AOA (travel time triangulation against reference points (AOA) using more than one receiver for metering).

Zonal or cell ID refer to having many readers with overlapping ranges so the accuracy is poor, being simply the range of the reader. This is losing market share though some are sold with the enhancement and extra cost of infra red sensing.

Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), a low cost method (eg Loc8tor) that is even used for some mid range systems (eg Awarepoint), when its problems accuracy and of metal and water disturbing the signal are overcome by high reader density, the system still being competitive on price. Indeed, with plug and play and self calibration due to ZigBee backhaul, the Awarepoint RTLS is highly rated and over 30 such systems have been sold in a short time.

ENQUIRY NO. 6404 September 2008 | industrial automation asia 47

IN business

Capturing

IP

The value of intellectual property skyrockets when it is embedded electronically into the product model’s digital file. By Mark A Walker, director, product management, PTC

In Product

Development

48 industrial automation asia | September 2008

nyone who has ever designed a product using CAD software will tell you that the value of a 3D model is typically more, much more, than the sum of its parts.

The model’s geometr y, along with its likely materials, strength requirements, maintenance needs, and other relevant characteristics are frequently reflected in the image presented on-screen, thanks to the knowledge and forethought of the design engineer.

For instance, if the product-tobe is intended for use in a hostile environment, the engineer has likely added extra bracing, or has specified a super-tough surface material.

Likewise, if the product is targeted toward users who can perform a basic level of selfservice, the engineer has probably made the design compatible with

some simplified maintenance and assembly procedures.

Often, the design engineer is asked by manufacturing to reduce the product’s weight for any number or reasons. Or, engineering may want to build-in a design correction made on a similar product as the result of an engineering change order (ECO).

In each case, the reasoning behind the designer’s decision is a critical part of the product’s intellectual property, or IP, and should be captured in a way that it can be easily shared with others who will be working with the product.

These operatives range from a new designer working on the next-generation product, to the manufacturing engineer who would like to substitute a different surface material.

T r a d i t i o n a l l y, i n o r d e r t o capture IP, design engineers kept handwritten notes or impromptu notebooks to record their reasons for design decisions. However, today’s designers, design teams and product development enterprises may not have the luxury of close personal communication and interaction.

In today’s world of global product development, design teams are very often geographically dispersed; teams often change in mid-design; and products are now being designed and tested by engineers in three different countries, then sent to a fourth country for manufacturing.

As a result, for many product design applications, it’s now vital that all of the design IP associated with the CAD model be captured automatically and preserved digitally as an integral part of the product development process.

Changing Business Models In the 21st century, businesses are changing, products are changing, and the processes that drive product development are also changing.

According to John MacKrell, senior consultant for industr y analyst CIMdata, the success of products is no longer confined to the traditional ‘time, cost, and quality’ equation.

Today, success also must take into account the following factors:

• Globalisation Today’s products are being designed, built, marketed and maintained in many parts of the world.

• Product Complexity Increased parts counts, plus the growing popularity of build-toorder and mass-customisation paradigms, are all adding more complexity to designs.

• Pricing Pressure Pricing can no longer be a ‘hit-ormiss’ proposition, because the window of opportunity may close before the price can be corrected.

Accurate pricing means that companies must know their costs up front, so they can positively impact margins as much as possible before product prices are set.

• Competition Product differentiation must also be more precise, and differentiation must emanate from product development processes–along with tightened supply chains–as well as through the products themselves.

Against these pressures, it is more critical than ever that product development companies do their utmost to sharpen their competitive edge. Companies must, according to MacKrell, foster innovation as the principle means of competitive differentiation. Without a sustainable programme for driving innovation, companies will be threatened by faster-moving competitors.

Quest For Innovation “An organisation’s ability to enable innovation provides a competitive advantage,” says MacKrell. “And an organisation’s intellectual assets drive innovation.”

He points out that innovation is central to improving many key areas of the business, including profitability, shareholder value, and market capitalisation for product development companies. And a key to sustaining innovation lies in harnessing the intellectual assets, that is, the knowledge, of the company’s

engineering professionals. To do that, product development companies should follow these basic principles: • Institutionalise IP Capture Companies should build comprehensive IP capture into the product design process, rather than leaving it up to engineers to document their work after the fact – a practice that can be erratic, inaccurate, and less than complete.

F o r s h o r t - t e r m p ro j e c t s , engineers often don’t have the time to write up documentation– they’re too busy with the next project. For long-term projects such as shipbuilding, the design staff may change dramatically before the typical 10 to 12 year project is finished, so a great deal of knowledge can be lost if it’s not documented as part of the design process itself.

• PDM/PLM Repositories A sophisticated product data management (PDM) or product lifecycle management (PLM) system doesn’t automatically ensure library quality knowledgestorage: information quality is only as good as the documentation stored with the design files.

In a research library, infor-mation is typically vetted for accuracy and completeness. Product development companies need to do the same with the documentation in their PDM/PLM repositories.

For instance, design engineers s h o u l d i n c l u d e t h i rd - p a r t y attributions in their documentation wherever possible; or, if an engineer uses a formula found in a reference book, that resource should be cited in the documentation. This level of record-keeping requires both a concerted effort and clear direction from senior management.

• Document Failures & Successes Information completeness requires that every aspect, both positive and negative, of the design project be documented because today, more than ever, documentation is critical

to cross-team involvement.

For time-critical or expensive product development projects, for instance, it’s important to involve quality assurance teams early in the process, before manufacturing and testing. Doing this requires that documentation be complete and reliable.

• Technology Tools As digital information becomes more ubiquitous, best-practice IP capture grows more feasible for product development companies of all sizes. PLM and PDM systems are an example of this ubiquity: once digital information is entered into a part file, it stays there for the life of the file.

Automated workflows are another example because they create clear trails of reviews and approvals, alerts, and other elements of product development that can later be referenced for insight into product design decisions and actions.

For engineers, a valuable tool for electronically capturing IP is engineering calculation software. Thousands of companies worldwide are now using engineering calculation software because these tools make it easy to capture information during–not after–the design phase, and to perform calculations that can later be referenced for verification.

Engineering calculation software also helps companies establish norms and practices that aid in institutionalising IP capture. Some examples include: • Documenting Names & Constant Values Engineering calculation software makes calculations easy to understand; for instance, constants used in calculations, such as material properties or modulus of elasticity, can be highlighted for easy reference. In addition, calculation software can be used for notes, names of procedures, September 2008 | industrial automation asia 49

IN business and even the reasoning behind the operations.

• Using Computational Graphics A wide range of graphics options make it easy for engineers to visualise the results of many types of calculations. The more sophisticated the calculation software, the more types of graphics it can support.

Weighing the Benefits L ike it or not, today’s product development environment is far different from what it was 20 years ago. Today, your product design teams and your company’s supply chain may stretch around the world. Your competition, as well, may come from anywhere and appear at any time, thanks to the ‘24/7’ nature of modernday business.

By capturing all of the engineering IP associated with a product design, t o d a y ’s p ro d u c t d e v e l o p m e n t companies can take a giant step forward in helping itself survive, and even thrive, against today’s challenges.

Comprehensive knowledge-capture also helps companies both to tighten budgets through design reuse, and to

Business Drivers To Innovation product complexity

Globalisation

Reduced Time

improved product quality

lowered costs

innovation pricing pressure

competition

shorten time-to market by enabling a faster product development process.

IP capture also helps companies continuously improve product quality and ergonomics, rather than constantly having to ‘reinvent the wheel’ with new product designs. And, IP capture helps transfer invaluable knowledge from highly experienced experts to fledgling engineers, so that critical concepts and subtle techniques are

preserved, and not lost to job change or engineer retirement.

Perhaps most important, complete IP capture adds to the company’s core value, and as that value grows, it puts the company in an increasingly better position to differentiate itself against competitors, by having better products and better business processes.

ENQUIRY NO. 6501

Mathcad For IP Capture

E

ngineering calculation software is a valuable enabler in helping product development companies capture IP. The ideal soluton should be both powerful and intuitive: powerful enough to support highly complex engineering formulas and symbols, yet intuitive enough that the design engineer won’t have to stop what they’re doing to figure out how to enter and manipulate data.

Mathcad is easy-to-use, yet advanced enough to perform high-end numerics,

differential equation solving, and other tasks. It easily supports live symbolics, vector and matrix handling, and wideranging data analysis, plus it offers numerous display and graphics options.

At the same time, it is intuitive, because it lets engineers enter equations and text via near-freeform input, simply by typing data anywhere in the worksheet.

Unlike other computational applications that use specialised programming languages to perform calculations, Mathcad uses natural math notation,

50 industrial automation asia | September 2008

so others can read and understand the content.

Engineers can mix units of measurements, and then automatically check and correct them, as necessary.

And, Mathcad supports the documentation process by enabling engineers to enter equations, text and graphics on the same worksheet.

ENQUIRY NO. 6502

Inspiration 2008

field-proven solutions to help manage, monitor, p ro t e c t , d i s t r i b u t e , automate, and control the use of electricity.

The ‘Inspiration 2008’ symposium brought together Schneider Electric and its companies APC-MGE, ISC and TAC, to present solutions that can be applied in almost any energyrelated operating environment.

chneider Electric, as a global specialist in energy management, has helped corporations and consumers achieve and maximise their energy goals, especially in the climate of increasing energy costs and decreasing resources.

In line with its global vision, Schneider Electric Singapore Pte Ltd hosted a technical symposium ‘Schneider Electric Inspiration 2008: Energy Efficiency with Power and Automation’, on August 14-15, 2008, at the Republic Polytechnic in Singapore.

The event also showcased Schneider Electric solutions, applications and products that can effectively optimise energy utilisation.

This first-ever symposium brought together business leaders and decisionmakers from numerous industries, such as residential, commercial, industrial, data centres, water and wastewater treatment, oil and gas, energy and infrastructure, and provide key decision-makers with practical and

Republic Polytechnic Singapore August 14 – 15, 2008

For Innovation Winning entries from the Energy Efficiency Competition organised

by Schneider Electric at the Nanyang Technological University were also displayed.

Prizes were presented to the winners during the plenary session by the guestof-honour, Dr A my K hor, senior parliamentary secretary, Ministry of t he E nv iron ment a nd Water Resources.

In addition to the educational seminars, ‘Inspiration 2008’ featured industry-specific exhibits, where customers could interact with Schneider Electric’s wide range of solutions via displays in the exhibition hall that focused on applications and solutions for electrical power distribution, industrial automation and SCADA software, building automation and security, installation system and control (including home automation), critical power and cooling, energy monitoring and control systems.

Empowering Efficiency “Inspiration 2008 is a must-attend event for those ta sked with making decisions related to energy efficiency,” said Alex Khoo, zone director, Schneider Electric SEA. “Faced with tremendous pressure on ‘input’ inflation, triggered mainly by ever escalating and unpredictable energy costs, companies will be hard-pressed to seek ways to increase productivity and reduce energy bill in order to improve profitability.

Such a symposium serves as an ideal platform for distilling knowledge and experience on energy management solutions into a digestible format that will be very beneficial for busy professionals and executives.”

ENQUIRY NO. 6503 September 2008 | industrial automation asia 51

IN business

Leading The Way Assuming a leadership role in energy efficiency, Schneider Electric continues to create awareness by offering energy efficient solutions as well as setting an example. By Derek Rodriguez

T

he rise in cost of energ y consumption has pushed the subject of energy efficiency into the spotlight. However, despite the growing focus on energy efficiency, the understanding of what it involves and how it can be implemented is still a grey area.

Schneider Electric has defined two approaches to energy efficiency, namely passive energy efficiency and active energy efficiency. Alex Khoo, senior VP/zone director, SEA, Schneider Electric Asia Pacific Operating Division, tells IAA more about this and discusses the company’s role in energy efficiency.

IAA: Do you think the industry as a whole is more aware of rising energy costs?

AK: I think the industry as a whole certainly is. Just two years ago, energy cost us no more than US$60 per barrel and today it is hovering in the range of US$120 per barrel so to say the public is not aware of the energy cost is incorrect. The question is: What can they do?

We have two groups of people, one is totally ignorant; they don’t know who to approach, they don’t know of 52 industrial automation asia | September 2008

the existence of big companies like us that can help. Then there are also people who know about us but are stuck at what are called ‘roadblocks’.

This means that they are expecting others to show them the way.

IAA: Is energy efficiency more of a ‘hot topic’ in Asia or in the western countries?

AK: It is a hot topic everywhere in the world, as long as you burn fossil fuels and as long as you pay for your energy consumption. The big difference is the level of awareness. I guess in this part of the world there is much more that needs to be done to create awareness.

One approach is the passive approach and one is the active approach. At Schneider we advocate the active approach. Meaning to say, we should not stop at just using energy efficient equipment to save energy. But actively manage and control them, to maximise energy conservation.

Of course we will be pushing on

what we call the supply side; we will be investing in renewable sources but we still believe that the most efficient way to reduce energy cost is on the demand side.

When we talk about energy efficiency, we also talk about reliable, clean, safe, and productive energy.

This is really what Schneider is all about, driving on the demand side because we believe that the demand side is the fastest, the safest and the cleanest way of improving energy efficiency.

IAA: How does Schneider Electric contribute to the conservation of resources?

AK: Internally, we are aware that if we want to advertise the fact that we can help industries to reduce their energy consumption, we have to set the example and do it in-house too. As we like to say in Schneider, we have to ‘drink our own champagne’.

There are a number of things we have done. Number one, we embarked

on having a clear understanding of our own carbon footprint. We made sure that this company embraces what we call sustainable development.

This is very important because we have to incorporate these concerns in the way we manage our business, the way we construct our industrial plants, the way we manufacture our products, the way we choose our products, all these have to change. We have to make sure that the products are RoHS compliant and that we comply to the REACH requirements also.

Other important examples would include our utilisation of Schneider’s electrical performance monitoring products and variable speed drives inside our own manufacturing facilities to ensure we minimise our consumption of electricity.

We also make sure that we have the tracking of our products and raw materials in place. We also ensure that the factories are ISO 14001 compliant.

These are just some of the approaches that we have done internally to help conserve resources.

IAA: Do you engineer products with energy efficiency in mind? How are these products different from the regular/old products?

AK: One way for us to contribute to the conservation of resources is to look inward first. We look at the way we manufacture and the way plants are constructed. This means to say that these plants are environmentally friendly plants and we design the manufacturing processes with this in mind. These manufacturing processes ensure that our products are RoHS compliant. These are very different from previous generations of plants and processes.

In addition, every time we produce a product, we think of how to help our customers minimise their electrical usage. We ensure that our products operate efficiently and that our products have got the lowest possible level of energy consumption. Very importantly, we have also embedded in our products a lot of controls and communication possibilities

because by having these control and communication possibilities, we enable our customers to practice active energy efficiency.

money on research and development, and as a result we have, lined up for the future even more energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions.

I A A: In what ot her ways doe s Schneider Electric promote energy efficiency?

IAA: How much emphasis is Schneider Electric placing on energy efficiency now and in the future?

AK: By accepting a leadership role, we want to be the one creating awareness in the market.

One of the ways we have done this is by having competitions like the one we have organised with NTU, where we actively involve students. This makes sure that student bodies are aware of these important issues and allow students the opportunity to put on their thinking caps and come up with creative ideas to help society. This is not limited to Singapore. This concept has been extended to the other South East Asian countries as well.

We a r e a l s o c o l l a b o r a t i n g with industrial organisations in Singapore like the SMA (Singapore Manufacturers’ Association) and the SBF (Singapore Business Federation).

We are, in addition, involved with various government initiatives like helping our customers with things such as green mark applications and energy efficiency.

Apart from the existing Schneider products, we are spending a lot of

AK: I think this is the one of the biggest and key growth drivers for Schneider. We expect it to grow tremendously in the years to come because energy efficiency is really at the top of the agenda for government bodies, companies and individuals.

It is important for us to put together all our different resources, in terms of R&D, people, products and organisation, so that we can help as many companies as possible. This is an issue that is close to the heart of the Singapore government and we will like to explore every possibility to work with them.

Alex Khoo provides an argument for energy efficiency at Inspiration 2008

IAA: How big of an impact can a technology company have on the world's view on energy efficiency?

AK: The answer is very big. We are in Asia, a very exciting and challenging area to be in. One of the reasons is that energy consumption is shifting tremendously to the developing cou nt r ie s w it h China a nd I ndia consuming a lot more energy and yet most of the proven energy saving technologies are from the developed countries like the US, France, the UK and Japan. The mindset here is somewhat too conservative. I think we really need to let the customers know it’s time we do something. We cannot adopt the attitude of ‘wait and see’.

As a company, we are able to show that with our solutions and our technology, we are able to help corporations save 10-30 percent of their energy consumption.

Our numbers have really grown, with 20 percent of our business in energy efficiency. We think it is just the beginning. Once it triggers, this growth is going to be dramatic.

ENQUIRY NO. 6504 September 2008 | industrial automation asia 53

products & Services Adlink: Frame Grabbers

Amphenol: USB 2.0 Connections

A d l i n k Te c h n o lo g y ’s PCIe-GIE62, a PCI Express GigE Vision frame grabber is designed for alignment, measurement, and identification uses in a variety of vision applications. The PCIeGIE62 fully utilises the ba ndwidth of a PCI Express x4 lane to support up to 1000 Mbps image acquisition rates and to provide two independent Gigabit Ethernet ports to connect to multiple GigE Vision cameras.

The PCIe-GIE62 supports ‘jumbo frames’ – larger 9 kB data packets over the 1.5 kB standard - to reduce interrupts generated by incoming packets.

It is also suited for automation applications by providing two of each isolated TTL digital inputs, outputs, and programmable trigger output pulses to connect to external devices such as position sensors and strobe lighting.

Amphenol has its first full range of USB 2.0 connections for harsh environments: the USB A connectors have now been joined by USB B cables and connectors (to link up peripherals).

The sheaths of the USB leads are reinforced with double shielding. They comply with Fire and Smoke regulations.

All these solutions ensure excellent resistance to industrial and military environments: IP67 waterproofing and resistance to salt spray for 48 to 500 hours depending on the type protection. They can be used in a wide temperature range, from –40°C to +85°C.

Enquiry no. 6601

Enquiry no. 6603

Advantech: Ethernet Switches

Beijer: Operator Panel

Advantech’s four new managed industrial Ethernet switches with integrated 100Mbps fibre optic ports, the EKI-7554MI, EKI-7554SI, EKI-7559MI, and EKI-7559SI offer advanced traffic control for optimum network performance and security, along with rapid self-healing fibre optic ring capabilities.

The EKI-7554MI and EKI-7554SI offer four 10/100BaseTX ports and two 100Base-FX fibre ports, while the EKI7559MI and EKI-7559SI offer eight 10/100Base-TX ports and two 100Base-FX fibre ports. All models are equipped with SC type optical fibre connections, and are available in multi-mode (MI models) and single-mode (SI models) fibre configurations. Additionally, these ruggedised switches feature an extended operating temperature range of –40 to 167°F (–40 to 75°C).

The Exter Sun Readable from Beijer Electronics offers readable displays in all light conditions, essential for complete process management.

This compact sun-readable model offers all the functionality and intuitive configuration software from the standard Exter series, but with a sun-readable display that provides viewing performance in the direct glare of sunlight.

This sun-readable system features a brighter display, a polarisation filter and an antireflection filter. The Exter Sun Readable features a clear, high-resolution screen, TFT display for optimal viewing and a 100 percent dimmable backlight to ensure the best possible night-time vision, making it the perfect all-weather, 24-hour a day HMI solution.

Enquiry no. 6602

54 industrial automation asia | September 2008

Enquiry no. 6604

products & Services

Contec: Embedded Computer

Exact Flow: Turbine Flowmeter

Contec’s box PC 950 series model is a fanless embedded computer packaged in a chassis of 25 mm height. The GPC-BX950T1 series, which has a 1.20GHz Core (TM) Duo processor, 945GME chip set, and 1GB DDR2 SDRAM memory, achieves a high-speed computing and accelerated graphics ability.

It adopts air-cooling system using a large heat sink (fanless) and CF card as its storage device (bootable).

It also includes a variety of extended interface such as 1000BASE-T, USB2.0, or serial. Embedded-type CPU and chip set have been adopted. The use of readily available parts ensures the ease of the use of the product.

The performa nce provided by Exact Flow’s DXDL dua l - rotor turbine flowmeter enhances Universal Viscousit y Cur ve s (UVCs) and extends the u s a ble me a su re me nt f low ra nge. F low straighteners are n o t r e q u i r e d to control process fluid swirl, as the dualrotor system cancels out rotor acceleration effect.

Exact Flow dual-rotor turbine flowmeters have a repeatable flow range of up to 500:1 and a UVC turndown range of 60:1 in contrast to 100:1 and 10:1 respectively for many single-rotor turbine meters. This allows the user to deploy fewer flowmeters to cover a wide range of flow. It also lowers the initial purchase cost, as well as simplifying system integration and future maintenance.

Enquiry no. 6605

Enquiry no. 6607

Euresys: Image Analysis Tools

GE Fanuc: Batch Formulation

Open eVision 1.0 from Euresys is a suite of software tools dedicated to image processing and analysis.

D e s i g n e d to b e integrated into your application, it offers Libraries ( DLLs), ActiveX controls, .NET classes and an extensive support of development environments. The distribution, installation and licensing procedures of Open eVision have been specifically tailored to the needs of OEMs and system integrators.

Open eVision 1.0 includes a software-based licensing system designed to help install the vision software tools and deploy the application on any platform. Open eVision offers a flexible choice of licenses including portable licenses –from platform to platform– as well as bundles, packs or an SDK.

GE Fanuc Intelligent Plat for ms’ Profic y Batch E xecution 5.1 simplifies batch systems development and deployment while providing the comprehensive capability and power of S88. Whether prov iding batch solutions for an OEM skid or replacing a previous custom batch system, Proficy Batch Execution software provides a cost-effective simple batch approach that can scale and be standards based.

In addition, Batch 5.1 leverages GE Fanuc’s Proficy suite. From Proficy Plant Applications that includes batch analysis, production/genealogy, quality, and efficiency modules, to Proficy Process Systems which provides the latest in process control technologies, customers now have the ability to completely integrate their batch operations from their control systems to their business systems.

Enquiry no. 6606

Enquiry no. 6608

September 2008 | industrial automation asia 55

products & Services

ICP DAS: PAC

N-Tron: Ethernet Switch

WinPAC is the second generation PAC of ICPDAS. It equips a PXA270 CPU (520MHz) running a Windows CE NET 5.0 operating system, variant connectivities (VGA, USB, Ethernet, RS-232/485) and 4/8 slots for high performance parallel I/O modules (high profile I-8K series) and serialtype I/O modules (high profile I-87K I/O modules).

Its operating system, Windows CE 5.0, has many advantages, including hard real-time capability, small core size, fast boot speed, interrupt handling at a deeper level, achievable deterministic control and low cost. Using it gives the ability to run PC-based Control software such as Visual Basic NET, Visual C#, Embedded Visual C++, SCADA software, Soft PLC etc.

N-Tron’s 708M12 industrial Ethernet switch offers advanced management and monitoring features, an IP67 rated enclosure, a nd a sp ace s av i n g package all at a very affordable price. The 70 8M12 is ide a l for use in outdoor, wash down, offshore, military, transportation, power substation, and any other application where a fully-managed switch is required and exposure to liquids and excessive dirt and dust must be tolerated.

Industrial M12 Connectors have been tested and proven in tough automation environments, assuring there will be no ingress of liquids or dust. The 708M12 provides eight 10/100BaseTX M12 D-Coded copper ports and is fully managed.

It comes standard with IGMP Snooping, VLAN, QoS, Trunking, Port Mirroring, RSTP, DHCP Client, and N-Tron’s N-Ring Technology.

Enquiry no. 6609

Enquiry no. 6611

Jetter: Ethernet Interface

NI: Data Acquisition Devices

Jetter has a freely programmable Ethernet interface based on the TCP/IP protocol for the JetControl controllers together with the JetSym STX programming language.

Users have the option of communicating data on the application level with end devices equipped with an Ethernet interface. Such devices can be scales, cameras, measuring instruments and power supply units. The interface can be initialised and configured with the functions already provided internally in the operating system.

U s e r s a r e t h e n a b l e to configure the timeout period for connection or communication with TCP or UDP, for example.

Data can be sent and read with the aid of additional functions and also imported, eva luated a nd processed in the user programme.

National Instruments Wi-Fi data acquisition (DAQ) devices combine IEEE 802.11 wireless or Ethernet communication, direct sensor connectivity, and the flexibility of NI LabVIEW software for remote monitoring of electrical, physical, mechanical, and acoustical signals.

NI Wi-Fi DAQ devices can stream data on each channel at more than 50 kS/s with 24 bits of resolution. In addition, built-in NIST-approved 128 -bit AES encryption and advanced network authentication methods offer network security.

Enquiry no. 6610

56 industrial automation asia | September 2008

Enquiry no. 6612

products & Services products & Services

Parker: Cartridge Valves Parker Fluid Control D i v i s i o n ’s l i n e o f manifold mount ca r t r idge va lve s is offered in two - and three-way models with a stainless steel body.

It offers a space-saving a p p ro a c h , w i t h o u t manifold orifices to machine or press.

Fully assembled, the valve offers no loose parts to assemble together - the sleeve, plunger, spring and orifice are pressed together as one unit.

Ultimately, less machining means lower manifold costs to the buyer.

Cartridge valves are 100 percent tested for quality and durability. Available with all 204 and 304 coils, the valves are offered normally closed or open with a sleeve port size of 1/8”. The valves’ orifice sizes range from 3/64” through 5/32”.

Enquiry no. 6613

Sensortechnics: Pressure Sensors

Sensortechnics’ HCE series offers precision pressure measurement from 10 mbar up to 10 bar. The HCE sensors perform digital signal conditioning to provide highly accurate digital and analogue output signals. They comply with the SPI bus protocol and can directly communicate with microcontrollers and microprocessors. I 2C bus, switching or custom specific outputs are available on request.

The HCE series utilises the latest ASIC technologies to achieve high total accuracies, with a Total Error Band (TEB) better than ±0.5 percent FSS, including all temperature effects. A 3 V supply voltage and special low power versions (optional) make these sensors ideal for battery powered portable device applications.

Enquiry no. 6614

Turck: IMS Interface Module

Turck’s IMS interface module measures 6.2 mm wide and may be configured with a laterally mounted DIP switch. It provides complete galvanic isolation, and up to 2.5 kV for the input, output and power supply.

Galvanically isolated IMS modules are available with signal conditioning that acts as a dead-zero to live-zero signal, or one and two channel modules are available without signal conditioning.

Modules are also available for temperature detection using Pt-100 technology or other thermo-elements. Those that use Pt-100 technology achieve 0.3 percent of the full scale, and are available with 2, 3 or 4 wire connections.

An analogue signal transmitter that achieves 0.1 percent of the full scale completes the IMS line.

Enquiry no. 6615

Innovative LFT filling level sensor from SICK for almost all liquids Limit switch and continuous filling level measurement system in one: with its combination of innovative sensor te c hnol o g y an d highly resistant s t a i n l e s s steel coaxial measurement probe, the new LFT filling level sensor from SICK is the right choice for almost all water- and oil-based liquids.

As a result of innovative TDR technology the filling level is accurately measured to within a few millimetres by means of electromagnetic pulses. As an alternative to, for example, capacitive sensors, the LFT is ideal for economical and reliable filling level measurement, regardless of the application. It can also be used for detecting limit levels.

Typical areas of use for the LFT are containers and tanks with differing filling media such as coolants, grinding and hydraulic oils, detergents, degreasers and disinfectants.

Enquiry no. 6616

September 2008 | industrial automation asia 57

EVENT review The fourth Vietnam International Exhibition on Machine Tools and Precision Engineering played host to 382 companies from 25 countries and territories in the four-day exhibition held at the Giang Vo Exhibition Centre in Hanoi.

MTA Vietnam 2008, Hanoi

T

58 industrial automation asia | September 2008

he fourth Vietnam International Exhibition on Machine Tools and Precision Engineering played host to 382 companies from 25 countries and territories in the four-day exhibition held at the Giang Vo Exhibition Centre in Hanoi. Eight international group pavilions represented by Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan were on hand to showcase machine tools and solutions to nearly 6,000 local and overseas trade visitors.

The country is steadily emerging a s a n i m p o r t a n t e l e c t ro n i c s manufacturing destination, and foreign investors are moving to accelerate their establishment in the local market, and local manufacturers to further strengthen their business network, operations, infrastructure and support.

Germany’s participation at the event was evident as 14 its companies took part in the exhibition on a net exhibition floor space of over 358 sq m. German Machine Tool Builders’ Association project director Christoph Miller said the event created opportunities for German companies to meet Vietnamese customers. This was the first German joint participation in the trade event and Mr Miller added it was a sign of the significance German enterprises attached to the Vietnamese market.

A two-day seminar on manufacturing solutions was held on the sidelines of the exhibition. The conference aimed to equip parts and component professionals with the latest in technologies, materials and p ro c e s s e s f o r a u t o m o t i v e a n d electronics markets.

Giang Vo Exhibition Centre Hanoi, Vietnam July 9 – 12, 2008

ENQUIRY NO. 6701

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J=HDQ ;GMHGF Please send me more information on exhibiting at OGA 2009.

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MALAYSIAN EXHIBITION SERVICES SDN BHD (58243-X) Suite 1402, 14th Floor, Plaza Permata, Jalan Kampar, Off Jalan Tun Razak, 50400 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel : +603 4041 0311 Fax : +603 4043 7241 E-Mail : enquiry@mesallworld.com Ref : IAA Magazine

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ENQUIRY NO. 861

For further information, please call / fax to :

SCMLogistics World 2008

EVENT PREVIEW

60 industrial automation asia | September 2008

SCMLogistics World returns this year for its fourth installment with the theme ‘Perfect Fit’, highlighting the demand for supply chain leaders to customise their supply chain strategies.

cheduled to be held on October 13 – 16 of this year, SCMLogistics World 2008 returns for its fourth edition to shed light on the latest supply chain and logistics trends and developments in view of the evolving Asia Pacific marketplace.

Professor Hau Lee, director of the Stanford Global Supply Chain

Management Forum and international supply chain guru will keynote the event along with other supply chain leaders from Fortune 500 companies worldwide and from the Asia Pacific.

The theme for the event is ‘Perfect Fit’, which highlights the demand for supply chain leaders to customise their supply chain strategies across the Asia Pacific’s diverse marketplace.

Challenges and opportunities faced by the region’s professionals are tackled to see how their supply chains should be retooled to respond to the unique needs of the market.

In conjunction with the event, the annual SCMLogistics Excellence Awards will be held on October 14 to recognise and reward companies and professionals who have executed best-in-class supply chain strategies for 2008. Since its inception in 2005, more than 40 companies have been recognised for their excewllence in supply chain management and logistics.

Last year, SCMLogistics World attracted over 450 conference delegates and over 1,500 trade visitors from 15 countries across eight different sectors of the manufacturing industry.

Raffles City Convention Centre Singapore October 13 – 16, 2008

ENQUIRY NO. 6702

ProcessCEM Asia 2008

ProcessCEM Asia 2008 is primed to debut in October with some 150 exhibitors and 3,000 visitors expected over the three days of exhibition.

et to take place in Suntec Singapore from October 22-24, 2008, ProcessCEM Asia 2008 is a high-level business-to-business platform developed specially to address the concerns and challenges of the industry. It aims to provide a global platform for process industry players to network, update and upgrade to accelerate and enhance Asia’s fledgling process industry so as to tap on the tremendous growth in the global arena.

Leading Showcase Managed by MP Asia, a professional exhibition and conference organiser, the exhibition component of ProcessCEM Asia will feature 150 exhibitors from around the region on its 4,000 sq m of exhibition space. Expected to attract some 3,000 visitors, the show will also showcase a wide range of technologies, services, products and materials and systems and equipment for the process industry.

The exhibit profile consists of products and materials such as actuators, anti corrosion materials, cooling towers, electric drives, field devices and components, industrial centrifuges, industrial explosion proof products, measuring instruments, plant accessories; systems and equipment such as automation, energy storage, filtration, pollution management and environmental control systems, chemical handling, storage, transport, safety, separation, testing equipment,

industrial networks, process control and management systems and software as well as turnkey plants; services including consultancy, education, infrastructure development, plant contracting, design and engineering.

Participation by leading key industry stakeholders includes: Aedge Technologies, Boilermaster, DNR Process Solutions, Endress+Hauser SEA, Honeywell Analytics, McConnell Dowell SEA, Plant Electrical Instrumentation, Rotary Engineering, Siemens, Thermal Limitec, VEGA I n s t r u m e n t s , We i d m u e l e r a n d Yokogawa ProcessCEM Asia Summit Held alongside the trade exhibition, the ProcessCEM Asia 2008 Summit, taking place on October 22-23 2008, is a confluence of global and regional business leaders and experts to discuss pertinent issues and challenges faced by the process industry.

Themed ‘Innovation and Sustainability Strategies for Profitable Growth’, the summit will feature topics such as leadership in plant safety and health; asset life cycle management, sustainability as well as compliance and environmental policies and regulations.

Practitioner focused, the summit will have prominent and internationally-renowned speakers sharing their experiences and offering practical insights.

ProcessCEM Asia 2008 is organised by the Association of Process Industry (ASPRI) Singapore and event managed

by MP Asia Pte Ltd. It has the support of the Economic Development Board, SPRING Singapore, International Enterprise Singapore, Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau, Workforce Development Agency, Institution of Engineers Singapore, Singapore Chemical Industr y Council and the Asian Productivity Organisation.

Suntec Singapore October 22 – 24, 2008 ENQUIRY NO. 6703

September 2008 | industrial automation asia 61

ietnam’s economy is progressing remarkably with an estimated annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 8.5 percent in 2007. This year, its foreign investment alone is predicted to increase 10 percent, and economic growth rate to increase to 8.7 percent.

The country is steadily emerging as an important electronics manufacturing destination, and foreign investors are moving to accelerate their establishment in the local market, and local manufacturers to further strengthen their business network, operations, infrastructure and support.

Ho Chi Minh City has witnessed several key advancements, especially in its high-tech industrial parks and the export processing zone. In 2007, Intel began construction of a computer chip assembly plant worth US$1 billion in the Saigon HiTech Park, and Japan’s Nidec Group has announced plans to invest US$1 billion in 10 high-technology plans also in the Saigon Hi-Tech Park by 2010. The Nidec Group has invested nearly US$10 million in factories in the Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone.

There will be more than 80 percent of overseas exhibitors and group pavilions at MTA Vietnam 2008. The exhibition will provide an immense opportunity for the automotive, precision engineering, electrical, electronics and contract manufacturing sectors in Vietnam to access the latest and most relevant precision engineering and machine tool technologies.

These include the latest manufacturing solutions in metal-cutting, sheet metalcutting and metal-forming, cutting tools, test and measurement, and industrial tools and components, all aimed to boost business profit, productivity and efficiency.

“With a proven track record of bringing a host of international reputable brand names and the latest tool technologies available in the global manufacturing industry to Vietnam, we hope, through MTA Vietnam 2008, to cultivate Vietnam’s role as Asia’s leading manufacturing powerhouse”, said William Lim, project director for MTA Vietnam.

HIECC Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam September 3 – 6, 2008 ENQUIRY NO. 6704

62 industrial automation asia | September 2008

n the past, plant maintenance was carried out on a ‘fix it when it breaks’ mentality. Later, as technology evolved and innovation hastened, the idea of predictive maintenance emerged.

Also, escalating production cost, globalisation and stiff competition requires production to be efficient for profit maximisation. The need to schedule plant shutdowns is crucial in order to minimise the cost of operations.

T h ro u g h t h e u s e o f s i m p l e o r sophisticated condition monitoring techniques and instrumentation, engineers can now accurately monitor essential parameters such as temperature, machine vibration, lubricant condition and liquid levels.

Organised by Marcus Evans, a training course will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia.

It will be headed by international course trainer Simon Mills, director of training services, AV Technology Ltd, who is a BINDT PCN accredited trainer for Level 1 and 2 vibration analyst training.

The key benefits and learning outcomes for attending this training are gaining insights into the latest innovations on predicting machinery failure, mastering best practices to enhance level of skills in the usage of monitoring instrumentation, identifying the type of condition monitoring usage for different types of equipment, gaining practical approaches to minimise the risk of plant and machiner y breakdowns, minimising potential losses whilst maximising profits and productivity of labour and volume, exploring best methods in engaging the right mindset for predicting machinery failure, developing and creating new strategies to effectively mitigate and manage risks, keeping abreast on latest technologies in predictive maintenance, understanding the latest innovation and practical uses of condition Based maintenance and benchmarking and exchanging ideas with various delegates on their methods and strategies.

Jakarta Indonesia October 20 – 21, 2008

ENQUIRY NO. 6705

Condition Based Mantenance

MTA Vietnam 2008

EVENT Preview

CalendarOf Events2008 september 9 – 12 Globaltronics 2008

Suntec, Singapore Reed Exhibitions Email: melanie.mostafa@reedexpo. com.sg Web: www.globaltronics.com.sg

17 – 19 Industrial Automation Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City Int’l Exhibition & Convention Centre (HIECC) Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Hongkong Exhibition Services Ltd Email: exhibit@hkesallworld.com Web: www.iavietnam.com

18 – 20 Power Tajikistan 2008

Kohi-Borbad Congress Hall Dushanbe, Tajikistan Iteca LLP Email: contact@iteca.kz Web: www.tajikpower.iteca.kz/en/2008

25 – 28 Automation 2008

Bombay Exhibition Centre, India IED Communications Ltd Email: ied@vsnl.com Web: www.automation2008.com

october 7 – 11 Taiwan RFID

TWTC Nangang Exhibition Hall Taipei, Taiwan Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) Email: rfid@taitra.org.tw Web: www.rfidtaiwan.com.tw

9 – 11 PSCT 2008

Jinhan Exhibition Centre Guangzhou, China IIR Exhibitions Pte Ltd Email: psct@iirx.com.sg Web: www.iirx.com.sg

13 – 16 SCM Logistics World 2008

Raffles City Convention Centre, Singapore Terrapin Pte Ltd Email: stella.teo@terrapinn.com Web: www.terrapinn.com/2008/scmlog

14 – 16 Vietwater 2008

National Convention Centre Hanoi, Vietnam AMB Events Sdn Bhd Email: info@vietwater.com Web: www.vietwater.com

22 – 24 ProcessCEM Asia 2008

Suntec, Singapore Association of Process Industry (ASPRI) Email: processcem2008@aspri.com.sg Web: www.processcemasia.com

22 – 25 International Machine Tools Expo 2008

Bombay Exhibition Centre Mumbai, India Conventions & Fairs Pvt Ltd Email: conventions@mtnl.net.in Web: www.imexonline.com

30 – 2 (Nov) EPM – Machine Tool Saigon

Saigon Exhibition & Convention Centre Vietnam Chan Chao Int’l Co Ltd Email: linkage@linkage-vn.com Web: www.epm-machinetool-saigon. com

november 4 – 6 Machine Tools Automation Pakistan 2008

Karachi Expo Centre, Pakistan Pegasus Consultancy Pvt Ltd Email: info@automation.com.pk Web: www.machinetoolpakistan.com

14 – 16 IPVS 2008

Hitex Exhibition Centre Hyderabad, India Orbitz Exhibitions Pvt Ltd Email: ipvs@orbitz-world.com Web: www.pumpsandsystemsindia.com

18 – 20 China Int’l Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Expo 2008

Shanghai Everbright Convention & Exhibition Centre Shanghai, China China Association For Hydrogen Energy Email: hydrogen@tsinghua.edu.cn Web: www.hfce.cn

19 – 20 Rockwell Automation Fair 2008

Gaylord Opryland Complex Nashville, Tennessee, USA Rockwell Automation Email: KLester@ra.rockwell.com Web: www.rockwellautomation.com/ events/automationfair

19 – 21 InfoComm Asia 2008

Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre Hong Kong InfoCommAsia Pte Ltd Email: jyeoh@infocommasia.org Web: www.infocomm-asia.com

20 – 23 Metalex 2008, Thailand

BITEC, Bangkok, Thailand Reed Tradex Email: metalex@reedtradex.co.th Web: www.metalex.co.th

december 2 – 5 OSEA2008

Suntec, Singapore Singapore Email: es@sesallworld.com Web: www.osea-asia.com

3 – 6 Automation Technology Indonesia 2008

JIExpo, Indonesia PT Pamerindo Buana Abadi Email: info@pamerindo.com Web: www.pamerindo.com

NOTES To be considered for inclusion in the Calendar of Events, send details of event (name, date, venue, organiser contact) to: The Assistant Editor IAA. Eastern Trade Media Pte Ltd. 1100 Lower Delta Road, EPL Building #04-02, Singapore 169206 Tel: (65) 6379 2888 Fax: (65) 6379 2805 Email: derekrodriguez@epl.com.sg

September 2008 industrial | industrial automation automation asia asia 63 63

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Name: (Surname) ________________________________________ (Given Name) ___________________________ Company: ______________________________________________ Job Title: _______________________________ Address: ________________________________________________________________________________________ Country: _______________________________________________ Telephone No: __________________________ E-mail:_________________________________________________ Fax No: ________________________________ Commencing From: ____________ (Year) ___________ (Month)

I wish to pay by: Cheque - made payable to Eastern Trade Media Pte Ltd

❑ Credit Card

❑

Telegraphic Transfer Payment

Cardholder’s Name ________________________________

UNITED OVERSEAS BANK, SINGPORE BANK CODE : 7375 BRANCH CODE : 037 ACCOUNT NO : 921-343-851-0 COMPANY : EASTERN TRADE MEDIA PTE LTD

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❑ Amex

❑ Visa

❑ Mastercard

Account Number

Security ID –

Receipt will only be issued upon request!

Expiry Date Signature

Mail or Fax this form to: Circulation Department, Eastern Trade Media Pte Ltd

1100 Lower Delta Road #04-02 EPL Building Singapore 169206 Fax: (65) 6379 2806

Your Business Activity ❑ 500 ❑ 505 ❑ 510 ❑ 515 ❑ 520 ❑ 525 ❑ 530 ❑ 535 ❑ 540 ❑ 545 ❑ 550 ❑ 555

Semi-Conductor Foundry Services Semi-Conductor Equipment Mfg Electrical & Electronics Mfg Automated Assembly Precision Engineering & Sub-contracting Aerospace Automotive Material,Storage & Handling Systems Design & Programme Building and Construction Rubber & Plastic Manufacturing Assembly/Packaging

❑ 560 ❑ 565 ❑ 570 ❑ 575 ❑ 580 ❑ 585 ❑ 590 ❑ 595 ❑ 600 ❑ 605 ❑ 610

(Please tick)

Food & Beverage Processing Pulp & Paper Oil & Gas Production Power Generation Chemical and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Environmental Management Water & Waste Water Management & Recycling Shipbuilding & Repair Trade Association/Institutions/Government Agency Agents/Distributors/Representatives Others (Please be specific)

YOUR JOB FUNCTION

(Please tick)

❑ 50 Executive Management ❑ 52 Maintenance Engineering ❑ 54 Manufacturing Engineering

❑ 62 System Support Engineering ❑ 64 Testing & Inspection/Quality Control ❑ 66 Purchasing/Sourcing

❑ 56 Design Engineering ❑ 58 Packaging Engineering ❑ 60 Process Engineering

❑ 68 Research & Development ❑ 70 Sales & Marketing ❑ 72 Others (Please be specific)

Size of company (Please tick) ❑ 001 1 – 10

❑ 002 11 – 30

❑ 003 31 – 50

❑ 004 51 – 100

❑ 005 101 – 499

❑ 006 500 or more

ENQUIRY NO. 835

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Process Innovation Tour

E20001-F440-P210-X-7600 E20001-F440-P210-X-7600

Hanoi 11th to 12th July-06 HO CHI MINH CityËš 20th to 21th July-06

process SAFETY ENQUIRY NO. 747