IAA Dec/Jan 09

Dec/Jan 2009

www.iaasiaonline.com

MICA(P) 107/10/2008 | ISSN 0219/5615 | PPS 1561/06/2009 (028033)

market outlook ‘

Industry Leaders Reveal Their Plans

Biometrics & Auto-ID:

Body Of Knowledge

IEEE 1588:

Precision Clock Synchronisation

09 Aerospace:

Wing Panel Manipulation

LISTEN. THINK. SOLVE. ®

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Thailand

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Vietnam

Tel: 848 255 6400

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www.rockwellautomation/sea.com

ENQUIRY NO. 896

ENQUIRY NO. 863

contents DEC/JAn 2009

34

Managing A Truckload

Issues & Insights

24

Biometrics & Auto-ID: Body Of Knowledge

Biometrics boasts outstanding features such as ease-of-use, efficiency, user friendliness, and higher levels of safety.

By Augustine Quek

28

Auto ID: Keeping Track Of (Real) Time

Auto-ID technology has become an important component of every identification, communication and information system. By Lim Yee, MD, Sato Asia Pacific

30

Market Outlook 2009: Dealing With Uncertainty

Prominent members of the automation industry reveal their plans and provide their insights and predictions for 2009.

24

38 Control Point

34

Managing A Truckload

Mining and minerals processing companies need to take a closer look at integrated operations management solutions.

By Frost & Sullivan and commissioned by Citect

Biometrics & Auto-ID: Body Of Knowledge

2  industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

SCADA: Control To Calculations, Acquisition To Analysis

38

SCADA: Control To Calculations, Acquisition To Analysis

High-speed production demands require SCADA systems to perform functions in real time.

By Claire Cerrato, GM, automation software, GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms

www.marschner-kuehn.de

The perfect basis for your automation: Sensors from SICK

Leading technologies and expertise worldwide Sensors and their application – that is SICK. From factory automation to logistics automation and process automation, SICK is one of the leading producers of sensors. As a technology and market leader, SICK’s sensors and application solutions for industrial use create the perfect basis for reliable and efficient control of processes, for protecting people from accidents, and for preventing environmental damage.

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

contents DEC/JAN 2009

48

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.

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Aerospace: Winging It

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Software & Networks

Sector Spotlight

42

46 Airport Automation:

Embedded Empowerment The modern embedded computer is a jack of all trades appearing in many forms. By Hector Lin, American product management manager, Advantech

Instrumentation & Measurement

44

IEEE 1588: Precision Clock Synchronisation

Time synchronisation according to IEEE 1588 has become a part of almost all future real-time automation protocols. By Andreas Dreher, strategic technology manager and Dirk Mohl, head of R&D, Hirschmann

contributors and advertisers are not necessarily those of the publisher and editor.

Luggage Identification

The reliable identification of the baggages is a vital component to the operation of an airport.

By Thomas Lim, manager, application centre Asia, Sick

48 Aerospace: Winging It

The wing-assembly operation for the Airbus A380 involves panel fabrication, wing-panel manipulation, wingpanel assembly, and undercarriage reinforcement. By Doug Luedtke, district sales manager, Bosch Rexroth

46

Airport Automation: Luggage Identification

IMPORTANT NOTICE

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

for Advertisers’ Enquiry Numbers

Regulars 8 News 16 Profibus Association S E Asia 18 CAN in Automation 22 EtherCAT Technology Group 52 Products & Services 63 Calendar of Events

42

Embedded Empowerment

4 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

64 Advertising Index / Ad Sales Office 64A Product Enquiry Card

171 Chin Swee Road, #12-01 San Centre, Singapore 169877 Tel: (65) 6533 0014 Fax: (65) 6533 0021 Email: johnny.chia@fcssg.fujielectric.com Website: www.fujielectric.com.sg

ENQUIRY NO. 904

FUJI ELECTRIC FA SINGAPORE PRIVATE. LTD.

EDITOR’s PAGE

Advance

Published by:

EASTERN TRADE MEDIA PTE LTD

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

Kenneth Tan

To Go

Managing Editor

Eileen Chan eileenchan@epl.com.sg assistant editor

Life is – in some ways – like the board game Monopoly. There are the same number of squares (days) every round (year) and it is wrought with both potholes and chances. On top of that, you still have to pay income tax!

But in the end, you end up back at 'Go' and start over again.

As we 'Go' into the new year, uncertainty on three fronts – economic, political and social – confronts us. While it may not be the best of ways to start things off... but, the new year also brings it renewed hope. December and January are only separated by a day but that day provides a sense, albeit an artificial one, of a new beginning.

In the Chinese language, 'crisis' is made up of the words 'danger' and 'opportunity'. This is true as well for the business world. The current economic climate means that risks are aplenty but so are opportunities.

Hold on to this thought as you thumb through the pages of this issue of IAA (the last of 2008 and our first of 2009). We present to you a market outlook feature, where prominent leaders in the automation industry share with us their thoughts on the year past and the year to come. In it, they reveal their intentions for 2009 and how they plan to confront the global economic slowdown.

We at IAA have decided on some restructuring too – in terms of editorial direction. Starting from the next issue, we will be bringing you a whole section devoted to the new industry buzzword: Energy.

Finally, as we round off the year, we would like to thank you for your invaluable support: To one and all, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

year brings with

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

John Ng johnng@epl.com.sg Circulation MANAGER

a new

it renewed

Caroline Rayney carolinerayney@epl.com.sg Contributors

Augustine Quek, Lim Yee, Claire Cerrato, Hector Lin, Andreas Dreher, Dirk Mohl, Thomas Lim, Doug Luedtke Editorial Consultants

hope

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

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Derek Rodriguez Assistant Editor

6 industrial automation asia | Oct/Nov 2008

MICA (P) No. 107/10/2008 ISSN 0219/5615 PPS 1561/06/2009 (028033) Co Reg No. 199908196C Colour Separation: Pica Digital Pte Ltd Printer: Fabulous Printers Pte Ltd

MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC

Thank You!

We would like to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to our valued customers, and business partners for the support and contribution to the growth of our industrial automation products.

From management and staff of

Mitsubishi Electric Asia Pte Ltd

ENQUIRY NO. 905

Your 1st choice strategic partner of automation in Asia

www.MitsubishiElectric.com.sg

Industry News MM Lee On Climate Change

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew (R) with moderator Ong Ken Yong, Institute of Policy Studies director.

Singapore: Speaking at the Singapore Energy Conference on November 4, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew highlighted the importance he placed on a ‘Clean and Green Singapore’.

Said MM Lee: “In this little island, we’ve got to keep pollution down because there’s no way to say these are high quality areas, that’s low quality areas. If you pollute one part of Singapore, you’ve polluted the whole of it.”

Although admitting that Singapore’s role in global climate change is insignificant due to its small size, he stressed that if Singapore did not make an effort, “we’ll lose our status as a clean, green city and we’ll lose our business and we’ll lose our extra premium for being an unusual city.”

When asked by Deepak Waikar of Singapore Polytechnic what barriers Singapore is facing to become an Annex One country (countries who have decided to have mandatory cuts in emissions) under the Kyoto protocol, MM Lee answered: “The problem is, as a small economy, we’ve got to do 8 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

these things (petrochemicals) because it is economic for us to take these high carbon footprints industries which the more developed countries do not want and then we export the products.”

He added: “We hope one day, all these high energy products need not be in Singapore, we move on to high tech, then we are not polluting the world, but that will take some time. That is why we are heading for more R&D, not only in the products which we can use but in the products which we can help others use. We are moving as fast as we can into a more knowledge intensive economy.”

Two countries that will have an impact on global climate change, MM Lee pointed out, are China and India.

“The problem that the world faces is that China and India want to achieve what they think they’ve missed in life – the quality and standards of living which Japan, Europe and especially the Americans have reached,” explained MM Lee. “If they hit the per capita consumption of carbon-based energy that the United States is using, the ice

caps will melt and we are into very serious trouble.”

Although there have been encouraging signs of a green movement in China, such as the “experiment” to build a “greener city” in Tianjin, MM Lee does not believe they will reach European levels of sensitivities within two decades.

Ruling out wind, wave and solar energy as an alternative to fossil fuels in Singapore, MM Lee said: “The real alternative that can produce the electricity generation to match oil and gas is nuclear.” However, Singapore’s small area poses a difficulty since a nuclear power station requires a safety radius of 30 km.

He offered a possible solution for the region. Said MM Lee: “If we understand the complexity and the immensity of the problems the world faces and we will face in Southeast Asia, then we should have a common grid and a common pipeline so that it’s transferable.”

ENQUIRY NO. 8101

Industry News

SolidWorks 2009 Launched In Singapore SolidWorks 2008 and SolidWorks 2009 were used to perform a series of similar tasks simultaneously, with the result going in favour of the new version every time.

SolidWorks 2009 is the newest version of the widely adopted 3D CAD software with a documented speed increase of up to 65 percent over SolidWorks 2008. It also introduces SpeedPak, an approach to large assembly handling that reduces the amount of computer memory needed while maintaining full graphic detail and associatively.

SolidWorks 2009 also includes a simulation advisor that helps users analyse designs for hidden flaws.

Simulation sensors alert users when parts and assemblies deviate from user-defined limits. At any point in the design process, users can set goals like allowable stress, displacement, part

weight, measurement, interference or simulation data.

The Assembly Clearance Verification lets designers and engineers specify keep-out areas around parts because of operating requirements like heat or electromagnetics.

The CircuitWorks software enables integration of electronics and mechanical designs like those required by many electronics products developed.

ENQUIRY NO. 8102

ENQUIRY NO. 898

Singapore: SeaCAD Technologies and Dassault Systemes SolidWorks launched the latest version of its 3D CAD software in Singapore at the SolidWorks Innovation Day 2008 on October 17.

Gathering the members of the SolidWorks community together in one packed ballroom in Merchant Court Swissotel, the primary objective on the day was to showcase SolidWorks 2009.

Departing from the usual standard of introducing the new product’s features, the afternoon-long event was comprised of three main presentations, namely ‘Get your job done faster’, ‘Focus on Design not on CAD’ and ‘Improve the quality of your design’.

Interspersed within the presentations were live demonstrations of the capabilities of SolidWorks 2009.

In front of the eager audience, both

Dec/Jan 2009 | industrial automation asia 9

Industry News

SCMLogistics World Rewards Supply Chain Leaders Singapore: SCMLogistics World returned for its fourth edition on October 13 – 16 at Raffles City Convention Centre, Singapore, shedding light on the latest supply chain and logistics trends and developments in view of the evolving Asian Pacific marketplace.

The event highlighted 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 were tackled to see hot their supply chains should be retooled to respond to the unique needs of the market.

In conjunction with the event, the 4th annual SCMLogistics Excellence Awards was held to recognise and reward companies and professionals who have executed best-in-class supply chain strategies for 2008.

Presided over by a panel of five judges representing the academe as well as the media, the winners were Dow Chemical for the Chemical Manufacturing Supply Chain award, Emirates Shipping Line for the Asia Pacific Shipping Liner award, Jollibee Foods for the FMCG and F&B Supply Chain award, JDA Software and Ariba for the Best Sourcing & Procurement award, DHL for the Asia Pacific 3PL award, Alberto Tureikis, South and Southeast Asia supply chain director, TetraPak for the85x114NEW Asia Pacific Supply Chain Executive SI-492-CF Vielfalt 18.01.2006 9:14 Uhr

Alberto Tureikis (R) of TetraPak receiving his award.

award, Sony Ericsson for the High-Tech Manufacturing Supply Chain award, David Hope, regional MD, Asia and Japan, Lawson for the Best Supply Chain Management Solutions Provider Award, TNT for the Asia Pacific Express Logistics award, Wellcome Taiwan for the Retail Supply Chain award, Oracle for the Best Transportation Management Software award and Piramal Healthcare for the Healthcare and Life Science Manufacturing Supply Chain award.

ENQUIRY NO. 8103

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Industry News

Intermec Enters Partnership With ECS Singapore: Intermec has appointed ECS Computers (Asia) as its value-added distributor (VAD) for the entire range of Intermec mobile computers, bar code printers, and media solutions deployed in the supply chain environment.

The distribution agreement, immediately effective for Singapore from October 8, 2008 will be subsequently rolled out to other Southeast Asian countries including

Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

ECS Computers (Asia) is a Singapore based 100 percent owned subsidiary of ECS Holdings.

The maiden agreement between the two companies adds a new dimension to ECS’ product and service portfolio to target the booming regional supply chain industry. The partnership is also intended to support Intermec and ECS’ expansion into new markets.

“We appointed ECS as our VAD partner and we believe that the relationship is a highly synergistic one,” said Jansen Ek, VP and GM of Intermec, AP. “ Together, we are confident that ECS will help us strengthen our channel presence in Singapore and the rest of Southeast Asia with a view to enabling Intermec to increase its leadership in the supply chain arena and enhance customer relationships.”

Supply chain software continues to be one of the leading technology growth areas and we are keen to capitalise on the burgeoning opportunities it presents in the region,” says Sebastian Chong, president, ECS Computers (Asia).

Jansen Ek, VP and GM of Intermec, AP (L) with Sebastian Chong, president, ECS Computers (Asia)

Regional Network Hitachi Asia Ltd Hitachi Asia (Thailand) Co. Ltd Hitachi Asia (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd

ENQUIRY NO. 8104

As a regional headquarter, Hitachi Asia Ltd (HAS) markets electric motors, air compressors and digitalized inverters. It is also responsible for the marketing of various industrial products such as programmable logic controllers, ink jet printers, hoists, vortex blowers, contactors and circuit breakers.

Hitachi Variable Frequency Drives

Hitachi Asia Ltd – Philippines Branch

SJ-Series

Hitachi Asia Ltd

New

• Hanoi / Ho Chi Minh City Hitachi Asia Ltd – Jakarta Office Hitachi India Trading Pvt. Ltd • Bangalore / Chennai / Mumbai / New Delhi

Regional Distributors / Dealers • Singapore • Malaysia

NEW

SJ700 Series

High Performance Inverter with High Starting Torque and Built-in Programming Function

SJ300 Series Full-feature Performance for Applications Requiring High Starting Torque and Functional Versatility

SJ200 Series Compact Inverter with High Starting Torque and User-friendliness

• Thailand • Indonesia • Philippines

L-Series & X-Series

• Vietnam

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• India

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• Middle East Countries Hitachi Asia Ltd

NEW

24 Jurong Port Road, #03-05 Office Block, CWT Distripark Singapore 619097 Tel: +65 6305 7400 • Fax: +65 6305 7401 • URL: www.hitachi.com/asia • Email: ice@has.hitachi.com.sg

Tel: (81) 3 4345 6063

株式会社 日立産機シスラム Tel: +81 3 4345 6063 (Japan Office)

ENQUIRY NO. 827

• Bangladesh

New

New Generation Compact Inverter with Trip-less and User-friendly Features

Dec/Jan 2009 | industrial automation asia 11

Industry News

WorldSkills Grooms Young Talent

ENQUIRY NO. 900

Singapore: Held on October 23, 2008 at ITE College East, Singapore, the closing ceremony for WorldSkills Singapore was graced by Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, minister for community development, youth and sports.

Organised by Institute of Technical Education (ITE) in conjunction with Singapore Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Temasek Esmond Chun of ABB (R) with finalists from the Industrial Control competition area.

Polytechnic and Republic and companies. Of these, 166 went Polytechnic, this biennial competition, held since 1994, saw on to compete in 17 skill areas in youths from industry and education the finals.

T h e w i n n e r s w i l l re p re s e n t institutes compete with one another to emerge as ‘The Singapore Skills Singapore at the 40th WorldSkills competition in Calgary, Canada in Idol’.

This year’s competition attracted 318 September, 2009. participants from ITE, the polytechnics ENQUIRY NO. 8105

12 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

Wonderware Strengthens Partner Ecosystem Singapore: Wonderware, a business unit of Invensys, has announced the expansion of its current Wonderware Innovation Partner programme with recognition of a new tier of ‘endorsed’ system integrators (SIs).

The three relationship tiers in the Wonderware Innovation Partner programme include registered, certified and endorsed, with endorsed being reserved for the closest business relationships. Endorsed members of the programme benefit from technology sharing, joint marketing and business development, sales support and Wonderware overall knowledge and expertise in the marketplace.

ENQUIRY NO. 8106

Industry News

IPS Appoints MD, India Invensys Process Systems (IPS) has appointed Vijay Srinivasan as managing director of the India Subcontinent region.

In his new role, Srinivasan will be responsible for spearheading the entire operations of IPS in the India subcontinent, overseeing the companys growth and expansion in the region.

ENQUIRY NO. 8107

NI Establishes Facility In Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: National Instruments has announced its first investment in Malaysia to establish an integrated manufacturing, R&D and operations facility, which will include a supply chain management hub, IT development and financial services centre in Malaysia.

The company will be investing about RM280 million (US$77.9 million) in the first and second phases to manufacture and service test, measurement and automation hardware and software products.

This major announcement was made at a press conference which was held at the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA).

During the period January to August 2008, the US was the second largest foreign investor in Malaysia’s manufacturing sector, with investments totaling RM6.28 billion.

Investments from the US for the first eight months of the year also surpassed the amount approved for the whole of 2007, which totaled RM3 billion.

Said Dr James Truchard, president, CEO and cofounder of National Instruments: “The cost-competitive business environment and skilled workforce makes Malaysia ideal for our new facility. “ ENQUIRY NO. 8108

ABB Expands In Oil & Gas Sector Zurich, Switzerland: ABB has signed an agreement to acquire the business of Ber-Mac Electrical and Instrumentation of Calgary, Canada, in order to expand its presence and capabilities in the oil and gas sector.

“The acquisition is perfectly aligned with ABB’s growth initiative to enhance its engineering and service capabilities, and will also increase our presence in the large oil and gas industry in North America,” said Veli–Matti Reinikkala, head of ABB’s Process Automation division.

The acquisition will increase ABB’s presence in North America by more than 400 employees, based in several locations.

ENQUIRY NO. 8109

Tough, Reliable N-TRON Family Line 100 Series Unmanaged Switches including PoE, and IP67

Managed or Unmanaged N-TRON has what you need to keep your industrial network running strong

300-N Series Remote Monitoring Switches with N-View OPC

500-A Series Process Control Switches with Mgmt. and Monitoring

700 Series Fully Managed Switches with SNMP & Web Browser Mgmt. www.n-tron.com • N-TRON_sales@n-tron.com • +1 (251) 342-2164

ENQUIRY NO. 882

APPOINTMENTS & NOTICES

Dec/Jan 2009 | industrial automation asia 13

i

Industry News

Metso To Supply Automation & Safety Solutions Helsinki, Finland: Metso will deliver comprehensive automation and safety solutions for two Neste Oil Corporation greenfield plants in Singapore and in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

The automation systems for both locations include control room stations and equipment, redundant process control stations, integrated safety systems as well as field equipment maintenance stations. Metso Automation will be working closely with Neste Oil and Technip Italy, the main contractor for both sites. Construction has already started in Singapore and the plant is scheduled to be taken into operation by the end of 2010. The Rotterdam plant will be finalised during 2011. The production capacity of the both plants will be 800,000 t/a of NExTBL renewable diesel.

Metso is currently delivering a similar automation solution for a renewable diesel plant at Neste Oil’s Porvoo refinery in Finland, the production line will be taken into operation in 2009. Metso has also delivered an extensive automation system for sulfur-free diesel production to Porvoo refinery in 2007.

ENQUIRY NO. 8110

Safety products for compressed air

CEJN invests in safety. Several of our products significantly reduce the recoil effect of the sudden expansion of air, which in turn reduces the risk of hearing damage and injury from lashing. At the same time, the products are easy and convenient to use, with the same high performance as the rest of the CEJN range. This means that they are safe for the worker while still being effective.

CEJN – profitable safety Vented Safety Coupling with Recoil Dampening Significantly reduces recoil effect and sudden expansion of air on disconnection Hose Kit with Vented Safety Coupling Practical, all-in-one solution prevents leakage and potential Blowgun with Star Tip Prevents damage by diverting the pressure when dead-ended; dampens noise to reduce the risk of hearing damage

ENQUIRY NO. 893

Hose and Cable Reels Minimize risk of tripping by keeping hose and cables clear of floor Blowgun with Safety Regulator Prevents damage by reducing the air pressure to a safe level when the air stream is blocked/dead-ended.

CEJN Products Far East Pte Ltd

70 Bendemeer Road #03-03 Luzerne (Hiap Huat House) Singapore 339940 Tel: +65 6748 6434 Fax: +65 6747 0375 Website: www.cejnsafety.com Email: mkt@cpf-cejn.com.sg

14 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

Citect Integrates With Schneider Electric Sydney, Australia: Citect is integrating its field operations (sales, professional services and training) team with that of parent company, Schneider Electric, and has announced plans to further invest in R&D. Citect will continue to develop both the Vijeo SCADA range as well as the CitectSCADA range in concert with its other software products.

Citect’s market share for SCADA has increased to 25 percent in Asia Pacific, and Schneider Electric won the SCADA/HMI company of the year 2008 for Asia Pacific.

CitectSCADA software will continue to be available from Citect’s network of more than 500 partners located in Asia Pacific, South Africa, Europe and the Americas. The new organisation will come into effect on January 1, 2009.

ENQUIRY NO. 8111

Rockwell Undertakes Restructuring Actions Wisconsin, USA: Rockwell Automation has announced restructuring actions designed to better align resources with growth opportunities and reduce costs in light of current and anticipated market conditions.

The restructuring is the result of a comprehensive analysis of the company’s cost structure and is expected to generate cost savings of approximately US$75 million in fiscal 2009, growing to US$85 million in fiscal 2010. In connection with these actions the company will incur a pre-tax charge in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 of approximately US$50 million, which was not included in previous fiscal 2008 earnings guidance.

The restructuring includes streamlining administrative and operations functions, realigning selling resources to the highest growth opportunities and consolidating business units. The restructuring headcount reductions, primarily in selling, general and administrative functions, equate to approximately three percent of the company’s global workforce. Implementation will begin immediately.

ENQUIRY NO. 8112

Industry News

Parker Hannifin Acquires Origa Group

IPS Wins Contract With US

Department Of Energy

O h i o , U S A : Parker Hannifin, a motion and control technologies company, has acquired Hoerbiger-Origa Holding (Origa Group) from Hoerbiger Holding of Zug, Switzerland. Origa Group is a manufacturer of rodless pneumatic actuators electric actuators, FRLs (filter regulator lubricator), pneumatic cylinders, and valves used in the transportation, semiconductor, packaging and conveying markets.

The Group has major operations in Filderstadt, Germany, Wiener Neustadt, Austria, Glendale Heights, Illinois in the United States and smaller facilities in several other international locations. Origa will continue to serve customers globally, now as a division of Parker Hannifin’s Automation Group.

West Virginia, USA: Invensys Process Systems (IPS) has been selected by the United States Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to provide a dynamic process simulator for an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant with carbon capture.

The IGCC plant simulator is part of the DOE’s initiative to develop new clean-coal power plants that burn more efficiently to produce environmentally friendly electric power. It will be located at NETL’s research and training centre in Morgantown, West Virginia.

IGCC represents a new-generation power plant capable of capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global climate change.

IPS simulation services and technology will be used to demonstrate that IGCC plants can produce environmentally friendly coal-fueled electricity on a commercial scale while eradicating the emissions created by conventional power plants.

ENQUIRY NO. 8113

Robust HMI for Harsh Environment

ENQUIRY NO. 8114

Various HMI Solutions for Industrial Application Display Size from 3.5" to 19.0" NEMA4/IP65 Compliant Front Panel Tempered Glass Screen Touchscreen Capability Diverse Installation Options Supports the following Microsoft Windows OS: - 2000/XP Professional - XP Embedded - CE.Net

TPC Series

© 2008 Advantech Co. Singapore Pte Ltd

www.advantech.com

Authorised Microsoft Windows Embedded Distributor

Singapore (South Asia Pacific Headquarter) Tel: 65-6442 1000 Email: sg@advantech.com Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur Toll-free: 00 800 9898 8998 Email: sales@advantech.com.my Penang Tel: 60-4-397 3788 Email: sales@advantech.com.my Thailand: Bangkok Tel: 66-2-248 3140 Email: sales@advantech.co.th Australia: Melbourne Tel: 61-3-9797 0100 Email: info@advantech.net.au Sydney Tel: 61-2-9482 2999 Email: info@advantech.net.au

IPPC Series

All-in-one Industrial Panel PC with PCI Bus Slots expansion

FPM Series

Industrial Flat Panel Monitor with Sunlight Readable TFT LCD

ENQUIRY NO. 902

Ultra-slim All-in-one Fanless Touch Panel Computer with Comprehensive I/O Ports

Dec/Jan 2009 | industrial automation asia 15

Industry Updates Profisafe

Starter Kit ersion 3.4 of the Profisafe starter kit reflects the present status of the Profisafe profile Version 2.4, respectively of the IEC 61784-3-3.

The version 2.4 of the Profisafe contains a few important add-ons in the area of engineering. In addition, it now satisfies a range of user requests, such as multi-instance capability and variable process data during runtime.

Besides all Profibus and Profinet specifications required for development, the starter kit contains first and foremost the source files for the so called Profisafe driver software (PSD) and a detailed implementation manual in English and German.

SI-697-CF98INI 85x114 16.05.2007

Furthermore, it provides several CRC (cyclic redundancy check) tools and aids for creation of GSD files with safety-related parameters. Sample adaptations of the PSD to commonly used Profibus and Profinet stacks assist the user in performing his own necessary adaptations. Special slow motion monitors allow the Profisafe protocol sequences to be observed in slow motion.

12:06 Uhr Seite 1

ENQUIRY NO. 890

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16 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

ENQUIRY NO. 8115

FDI Team Achieves Development Milestones he FDI (Field Device Integration) team has successfully worked over the past 18 months identifying use cases that encompass all facets of plant operations: from startup and commissioning; to ongoing maintenance activities and plant operations.

This team’s efforts also included drafting an architecture concept that meets the needs of both technologies as they are migrated to a common standard.

Both the draft architecture concept and the complete inventory of use case analysis have been completed due to the close cooperation between key global process control suppliers; including ABB, Emerson, Invensys, Rockwell, Siemens, and Yokogawa.

Future efforts will be focused on completing two remaining documents. The first is a functional specification which will detail how the benefits of EDDL, FDT, and the OPC Unified Architecture will be combined. Release of this draft functional specification is planned for February 2009. Lastly, a comprehensive technical specification will be published.

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igus Singapore Pte Ltd No.15 Shaw Road, #03-02 Singapore 367953 Phone +65-6487 1411 Fax +65-6487 1511 asia-sales@igus.com.sg ®

Likewise a completely new feature is the support for the iPar-Server (option for storage and reload of individual safety parameters) and the TCI interface. The CD-ROM contains example applications for both Profibus and Profinet that guide the user step-by-step in getting started with Profisafe.

ENQUIRY NO. 8116

New Year

Greetings

Dear Advertisers, Readers, Well-Wishers and Supporters,

Our heartfelt thanks for your support to Industrial Automation Asia. We wish you a prosperous new beginning with us in 2009.

Eileen Chan

Sharifah Atikah

Derek Rodriguez

Caroline Rayney Katherine Ching

John Ng

Kenneth Tan

Application Layer The CANopen communication objects (COB) have to be assigned uniquely with CAN identifiers (CAN-ID). In order to simply this assignment, the CANopen specification defines a set of pre-defined CAN-IDs. The resulting CAN-IDs are deriving from function codes and nodeIDs. The system designer is responsible to assign the node-IDs uniquely, so that no CAN-ID is used twice.

Nevertheless, the system designer may reconfigure all CAN-IDs except those, which are defined as fixed.

Fixed CAN-IDs are those for the NMT

PDO PDOs are used to transmit in real-time within one data frame measured data or commands. This is an unconfirmed communication service. Therefore it could happen that one PDO is accidentally transmitted twice. This is because of the seldom scenario that the last bit of end of frame is detected as dominant. The CAN data link layer protocol specifies that the last bit of End of Frame (EOF) shall be transmitted recessive.

If it is disturbed – meaning a dominant bit is detected – the receivers and the transmitter interpret this differently. The transmitting node regards the dominant bit in the last EOF bit as an error condition, and retransmits automatically the last data frame. All receiving nodes regard the dominant

ACK delimiter

message, the Heartbeats, and the Default SDO servers. However, if reconfiguring the CAN-IDs the system designer has to ensure that no CAN-ID is transmitted by to devices; otherwise there could be an unsolvable bus arbitration conflict. This would make one device going into bus-off mode.

In some CANopen application profiles, the CAN-IDs of PDOs are not deriving from the node-IDs. In these specifications up to 512 PDOs are pre-defined regarding the CAN-ID. The other COBs use the CAN-IDs as specified in the pre-defined connection set. An application profile is a system and not a single device interface specification. The system designer has to ensure that each PDO is provided only by one single device.

ACK Slot

than one device is caused to send an error flag. Both devices will retransmit the remote frame automatically.

Of course, the one device will detect again a bit-failure and sends another error flag. Each error flag transmission causes and increase of the transmit error counter, which leads at the end to a bus-off condition.

There is another problem with remote frames: They are differently implemented regarding the response.

Some CAN controllers with receive buffer or receive FIFOs answers remote frames only under CPU control. This means, they forward the request to the application. There is no determined time, when the request will be served.

Therefore, other chipmakers have developed CAN controller, which serves remote frames without CPU control. They send whatever is in the corresponding message buffer. It could be historically, in the case that the CPU was not able to update the message buffer. More badly some CAN implementations provide advanced message storing capability and answer remote frames either automatically or optionally under CPU control.

Due to the limited quality of device documentation, in many cases you will not find a detailed description of remote frame behaviour. Therefore CiA does not recommend requesting PDOs remotely. In addition, CiA recommends to use the Heartbeat services and instead of the old-fashioned node/ life-guarding services.

Interframe space

End of frame 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1

2

Bus Idle

3

Overload or error flag

If the last bit of EOF is disturbed dominantly, the transmitting node automatically retransmits the corrupted data frame, while the receiving nodes have already accepted the frame as correct.

How the node-IDs are assigned is not specified. The device designer has different options. There are also two options to assign the node-ID via the CANopen interface. The Layer Setting Services (LSS) are specified in CiA 305.

They require addressing each CANopen device uniquely in the world. For this purpose the CANopen application layer provides the mandatory identity parameter record (index 0x1018). It comprises the mandatory sub-index 0x01 containing the uniquely assigned vendor-ID as well as the product-code (sub-index 0x02), revision-number (sub-index 0x03), and serial-number (0x04). The identity parameter record is also necessary to claim a node-ID as specified in CiA 416. This nodeID claiming procedure uses also the CANopen interface.

7th EOF bit as an overload condition, because they have already accepted the data frame as correctly received after the 6th EOF bit (if recessive).

If the receiving nodes have accepted the data/remote frame already, and the transmitting node sends it automatically again, they receive the frame twice.

In case of relative data this causes an unexpected behaviour.

The 7th EOF bit is necessary that receiving nodes can indicate a failure (if dominant) in the 6th EOF bit. This means to shorten the EOF doesn’t help to solve the problem. Even it may happen very seldom, that the last EOF bit is dominantly disturbed, you should consider this possibility. Therefore, do not transmit relative data in CAN-based networks!

ENQUIRY NO. 8117

Dec/Jan 2009 | industrial automation asia 19

Newsdesk

System Designers,

Take Note

Although the CANopen application layer is well specified, the system designer could make failures or misuse the services and protocols. By Holger Zeltwanger, MD, CiA

T

he design of the CAN physical layer is the most critical part of the network design. You have to select carefully the bus-line cable, the connector, and all other electromechanical components including the termination resistors at both ends of the bus-lines. The CAN standards (ISO 11898-1 and ISO 11898-2) do not specify in detail the physical layer.

For CANopen networks you find some recommendations in the CiA 303-1 specification. In particular, connector pin assignments and some general hints are given.

If you select a bus-line cable with an impedance matching the termination resistor values, and you use one of the defined sample points for a given bit-rate, than you may use the recommendations regarding the maximal length of not terminated cable stubs.

The maximum length of the terminated bus-lines is determined by the selected bit-rate due to the in bit-time detection of the bit value. This

requirement is necessary because of the arbitration method used in data link layer protocols.

As rule of thumb, you can say: The higher the bit-rate, the lower the network length. In order to maximise speed and length, you may use in large systems repeaters, which shorten the overall length of the network. Of course, you have to consider in your network topology the repeater as a delay element. You can regard a repeater as a piece of cable: Each 5 ns represent an equivalent of a 1 m cable length.

Another possibility is to divide the entire network into different segments interconnected by means of bridge/router devices. The CiA 302-7 specification describes Remote SDOs (service data object) and Remote Emergency messages as well as NMT and Heartbeat request services by means of SDO. Additionally the specification defines the forwarding of PDOs (process data object) from one segment

to another one. Because of timing constraints, it is not recommended to use heavily the forwarding of PDOs. Data Link Layer The CAN data link layer, so to say the CAN protocol, is well defined and stable for a very long time – more than 15 years. However, there is one protocol, which makes a lot of headache: The remote frame protocol. The remote and the requested data frame use the very same CAN identifier. Remote frames have the same structure as data frames with two exceptions: The remote frame as never a data field (it consists always of zero byte), and the DLC (data length code) has to match the DLC of the requested data frame.

However, some device designers implement a DLC of 0 (because the data field has a length of 0). If two devices send at the very same moment the same remote frame, and one implements the correct DLC corresponding to the requested data frame and the other use a DLC of 0,

Remote frame indication

SOF

Arbitration F.

Control F.

CRC F.

ACK

EOF

1 bit

12 bit

6 bit

16 bit

2 bit

7 bit

request(s)

confirmation(s)

Data frame response

SOF

Arbitration F.

Control F.

Data F.

CRC F.

ACK

EOF

1 bit

12 bit

6 bit

0 to 64 bit

16 bit

2 bit

7 bit

The DLC (data length code) provided in the Control Field of a Remote Frame must match the DLC of the requested Data Frame.

18  industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

Central & Eastern European Marketing Committee Forms he newly established Fieldbus Foundation Central and Eastern European Marketing Committee (FFCEEMC) will seek to increase awareness and adoption of Foundation technology throughout the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region through end user-focused activities such as training, technical support, trade show participation, and seminars, the Fieldbus Foundation announced recently. The FFCEEMC will be responsible for marketing activities in Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Turkey.

The FFCEEMC was formally launched at an inaugural meeting on September 2, 2008, in Prague, Czech Republic.

Participants included representatives from Emerson Process Management, Honeywell, Pepperl+Fuchs, R Stahl, and Yokogawa.

During the committee election, Juergen George (Pepperl+Fuchs) was named chairman, Jozef Schulcz (Yokogawa) vice chairman, and Laszlo Marosi (Honeywell) treasurer.

Fieldbus Foundation To Support ISA104 Demonstration

T

he Fieldbus Foundation announced it will join other control industry leaders in supporting Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL) solutions for process automation systems and devices at the ISA104 Standards Committee’s booth at ISA EXPO 2008 in Houston, Texas.

Process automation systems supplied by ABB, Emerson, Invensys, and Siemens will demonstrate EDDL functionality, interoperating with devices from Emerson, Endress+Hauser, Foxboro Eckardt, Metso, MTL, Samson, and Siemens.

At the ISA exhibit, information displayed on automation systems will be controlled by the device manufacturers, yet devices from different vendors will appear consistent on the same systems-a new feature for this year’s demonstration. Device types will include simple transmitters, but the focus will be on complex devices such as variable speed drives, control valve positioners, and bus diagnostics.

ENQUIRY NO. 8119

ENQUIRY NO. 8118

Fieldbus Foundation & ISA Announce Collaboration he Fieldbus Foundation and ISA have announced an agreement to facilitate the implementation of wireless backhaul transpor t networks.

R e p re s e n t a t i v e s f ro m b o t h organisations discussed the wireless project at ISA EXPO 2008 in Houston, Texas, an international exposition focused on the technology and techniques of automation and control.

At an ISA100 meeting in June, ISA100 leaders established a new working group, ISA100.15-Wireless Backhaul Networks Working Groupto develop and maintain a standard to address one or more dedicated or shared wireless backhaul(s)

20 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

to support technologies running multiple applications. The first of these backbones will be the Fieldbus Foundation’s High Speed Ethernet (HSE) implementation.

To expedite the work, the Fieldbus Foundation and ISA have entered into a cross-licensing agreement allowing the two organisations to collaborate on wireless networks. To enable the ISA100.15 working group to develop the wireless backhaul standard, it will be necessary to use extracts of Fieldbus Foundation specifications as well as parts of other ISA standards in development.

As part of the wireless backhaul network initiative, the Fieldbus

Foundation and ISA will develop a standard to interface between different technologies suitable for backhaul networking; address wireless coexistence (frequency sharing) related to the backhaul networks; define prioritisation of multiple applications and ensure quality of ser vice; support multiple application protocol translators; and address security issues on backhaul networks. ISA will publish the technical documents as a standard within the ISA100 family of standards, and the standard will be jointly owned by the two organisations and used accordingly in the marketplace.

ENQUIRY NO. 8120

ENQUIRY NO. 877

Asia Power Over EtherCAT he ETG has enhanced its technology with a new ‘Power over EtherCAT’ option. The specification enhancement makes use of the IEEE802.3af Power over Ethernet (PoE) functionality and can be implemented with commercially available chips. Power over EtherCAT is particularly suitable for encoders or linear position sensors, which now can connected to EtherCAT using a single, standard Ethernet cable.

Stub lines and star topology together with line, tree and redundant ring have always been part of the EtherCAT topology variety. This is now enhanced with the possibility to build devices with just one connector each that are powered over the data line.

For this, the Power over Ethernet Standard IEEE802.3af is used, which supports up to 13 W per device. For EtherCAT slave devices, the ETG specifies mode A of the standard, which only needs four wires: standard Industrial Ethernet connectors such as the 4pin M12 can still be used.

EtherCAT Asia PlugFest he first EtherCAT Asia Plugfest took place in Suncheon, South Korea in the Sunchon National University. The event was hosted by Prof Dr Yong Seon Moon, chairman of the Regional Committee Korea and official ETG Representative Korea.

This opportunity for manufacturers in the Asian region to test the interoperability of their device(s) with other EtherCAT master and/ or slave implementations was well accepted. Experts from the EtherCAT Headquarters (Germany)

attended and supported the PlugFest.

Plug Fests are meetings where master and slave device suppliers gather to test and improve interoperability, to share implementation tips and tricks and clarify questions regarding the technology. The plug fests have established themselves as pragmatic and effective means to achieve interoperable EtherCAT products.

ENQUIRY NO. 8122

ENQUIRY NO. 8121

A Leader In Motion Control o date, 42 vendors have readily available or publicly announced high performance EtherCAT servo drives. This support from drive vendors is evidence that EtherCAT has taken the leading role in motion control. This fact is underlined by the dynamic, new multi-vendor demo at the EtherCAT Technology Group booth that was recently shown: 25 different servo drives from 16 manufacturers operated fully synchronised and also in separate motion profiles.

With distributed clock mechanisms, EtherCAT also supports precise drive synchronisation without special hardware in master devices. Many motion control vendors have also decided to utilise EtherCAT as a system bus. Since EtherCAT was developed not just for motion, but with sensors and I/O in mind, it can replace several legacy fieldbus systems all at once.

ENQUIRY NO. 8123 22 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

issues & insights

Biometrics & Auto-ID:

Body Of

Knowledge Biometrics boasts outstanding features such as ease-of-use, efficiency, user friendliness, and higher levels of safety. By Augustine Quek

B

iometrics and automatic identification are two technologies that work together for detection and recognition. Automatic identification (Auto-ID) is generally associated with tools and techniques for capturing information without human intervention.

Auto-ID technology includes scanners, printers, and software that enable the automatic collection of data consisting of information about the identity of the object or individual scanned.

In its broadest sense, Auto-ID technology includes bar code systems, radio frequency identification (RFID) systems, optical character readers (OCR), and certain biometric identification systems, such as retinal scanners and speaker identification (voice recognition) systems.

Auto-ID applications are extremely broad, tracking everything from people to pallets.

Biometrics, a subset of Auto-ID, is the science and technology of measuring and analysing biological data.

The term ‘biometrics’ has only recently been broadened to include the study of methods for uniquely recognising humans based upon one or more intrinsic physical or behavioural traits.

Biometric characteristics can be divided in two main classes, behavioural and physiological. Physiological traits relate to the distinctive traits of the body that are usually (but not always or entirely) dictated by genetics.

24 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

Behavioural traits are related to the behaviour of a person, such as voice or signature Since both biometrics and Auto-ID have the common function of identification, they are used in two broad areas: tracking and controlling access. There are a variety of uses for these technologies today.

Principles & Products Biometric data can be encoded into magnetic stripes, bar codes, integrated circuits and smart cards, and many organisations have been quick to take advantage of it.

For example, Swedish company Fingerprint Cards AB (FPC) has two complete stand-alone biometric subsystems, the FPC-AM (area module) and FPC-SM (swipe module). The modules feature the rugged fingerprint sensors, FPC1031B or FPC1011C with thick protective coating to prevent the user from touching the sensor chip surface. The coating also protects the sensor against extreme wear and tear.

The technology uses sensors that contain small capacitive plates, each with their own electrical circuit embedded in the chip. The sensors use FPC own method HSPA (High Sensitive Pixel Amplifier) to detect very weak signals with each pixel element in the sensor. Extremely weak electrical charges, sent via the finger, are created, building a pattern between the finger’s ridges or valleys

First Hand Account Another product, the Fujitsu PalmSecure captures the hand’s vein pattern using near-infrared light. The technological principles are similar to Hitachi’s Finger Vein near infra-red system.

The device’s scanner flashes a near-infrared ray on the palm, causing deoxygenated hemoglobin in the blood flowing through the

The vein pattern of a hand can be captured using near-infrared light.

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ENQUIRY NO. 892

and the sensor’s plates.

The capacitance pattern across the surface is measured using these charges. The sensor also uses all 256 gray scale values in each pixel and can be controlled by a host processor sending simple commands for enrolment and verification via a serial interface.

Hitachi’s Finger Vein Biometric System is another biometric technology that also uses the finger for identification, but uses a different principle as it relies on a person’s internal characteristic for identification.

Near-infrared rays generated from a bank of light emitting diodes (LED) permeate the finger and are absorbed by the hemoglobin in the blood. The areas in which the rays are absorbed, like the veins, appear as dark areas in an image taken by a charged coupled device (CCD) camera image.

This pattern is then compressed and digitised so that it can be registered as a template of a person’s biometric authentication data. This method reduces forgery and impersonation, and increases reliability and security.

Fujitsu has a range of fingerprint sensors in the form of small silicon devices that measure the varying capacitance of skin to capture the fingerprint data. Its MBF200 is a 500 DPI 8-bit grayscale solid-state capacitive fingerprint sensor that reliably captures fingerprint images.

The 2-dimensional array consists of 256 x 300 pixels manufactured in standard CMOS. The sensing area is 12.8mm x 15.0mm (0.5” x 0.6”). Each pixel is made up of a metal electrode, which acts as one plate of a capacitor.

The contacting finger acts as the second capacitor plate. A passivation layer on the device surface forms the dielectric between these two plates and provides abrasion and chemical resistance. The fingerprint image is determined by measuring the capacitance at each pixel and converting that data into an 8-bit grayscale image.

The company worked with Phoenix Technologies and its BioTrust ID to implement the Trusted Computing Platform in Fujitsu’s new USB 2.0-compatible MBF320 fingerprint sensor IC. Designed for notebooks, desktops and tablet PCs, the MBF320 also incorporates fingerprint-matching algorithms from Cogent Systems.

Dec/Jan 2009 | industrial automation asia 25

S0268_80x240_BLident_EN-Singapore.indd 1

21.10.2008 08:28:06

issues & insights veins to be illuminated and become visible to the scanner.

Arteries and capillaries, whose blood contains oxygenated hemoglobin, which does not absorb near-infrared light, are invisible to the sensor.

The still image captured by the camera, which photographs in the near-infrared range, appears as a black network, reflecting the palm’s vein pattern against the lighter background of the palm.

An individual’s palm vein image is then converted by algorithms into data points, which is then compressed, encrypted, and stored by the software and registered along with the other details in his profile as a reference for future comparison. Numbers and positions of veins and their crossing points are all compared each time a person attempts to gain access by a palm scan.

An Eye Opener Iris recognition uses individual differences in the complex patterns found within the iris of the human eye to authenticate individual identities. Iris recognition is claimed by some to be the most precise of all biometric identification systems, with false acceptance rate of one in 1.2 million.

Panasonic has an iris reader system called the BMET200. It uses a specialised video camera to capture a detailed close-up of the iris. The Biometric software then makes a template or ‘map’ of each person’s iris pattern, and stores it in the system. To verify identity later, an individual ‘looks into’ a specialised iris camera located at the designated access point. The system then compares the patterns in the individual’s iris against the templates stored in the system.

The system uses a high-speed capture engine that obtains recognition in 0.3 seconds after eye position alignment with the mirrors. Its dual-mirror configuration, mounts two mirrors on the front panel for better eye positioning while a distance guide indicator informs the user of proper iris capture distance.

To adjust the camera for the most optimal eye distance, both voice instructions and a distance indicator lamp guide provide user guidance for the correct capture position. If recognition is not achieved the first time,

Iris recognition is claimed be the most precise of all biometric identification systems.

the operation is automatically repeated at high prompting speeds.

Face Value Face recognition is a method that is unique because of its non-contact process. NEC has a face recognition technology called NecFace Control. The technology utilises the Generalised Matching Face Detection (GMFD) method that provides high speed and high accuracy for facial detection and facial features extraction.

The main logic for facial recognition within GMFD is a modified Generalised Learning Vector Quantisation (GLVQ) algorithm, which searches and selects face area candidates after the generation of potential eye pairs. GLVQ is based on a neural network and is not easily fooled by attempts to conceal identity via the usage of caps, hats, sunglasses, etc.

NEC has developed the PSM algorithm that converts two-dimensional images (eg photographs) into threedimensions (such a process is called ‘Morphing’). The threedimensional representations of the head are then rotated in both the left-to-right and up-and-down directions.

Further processing applies differing illumination across the face, which greatly enhanced the chances of a query ‘faceprint’ for matching against its true mate from the database.

To reduce the impact of adverse local changes (eg

Did You Know?

T

he oldest identification traits that have been used for more than 2,000 years are fingerprints. In Babylon from 1885-1913 BCE, parties to a legal contract impressed their fingerprints into the clay tablet on which the

loans and acknowledgments of debts. contract had been written, to protect against forgery.

The oldest existing documents with fingerprints endorsement date from the China’s Han Dynasty, in the third century BCE. By then, it was common practice for the Chinese to use inked fingerprints on official documents, land sales, contracts,

However, it was not until 1892 that Sir Francis Galton, a British anthropologist and a cousin of Charles Darwin, published a book, ‘Fingerprints’, which established the individuality and permanence of fingerprints. The book also included the first classification system for fingerprints.

ENQUIRY NO. 8201

26 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

One Voice Speaker verification technology is another biometric that uses the power of voice for authentication. A voice biometric solutions company, Tel Aviv-based Persay Ltd has a biometric speaker verification system, FreeSpeech 6.0, that is text content, language and accent independent PerSay FreeSpeech works by listening to a conversation and retrieves the speaker’s audio for processing. The acquired audio is compared to the speaker’s voiceprint stored in the system, and a verification result is generated within seconds. The verification result is then transferred to the agent workstation or CRM system.

As the conversation proceeds and more audio is acquired, further verification results can be generated. It provides secure access to remote transactions, supporting traditional (TDM), VoIP and hybrid single/multi site contact centers and has been successfully deployed worldwide.

Markets & Applications A multitude of law enforcement applications exist for biometrics, including suspect identification and processing.

Some systems control access to buildings, PCs, or computer networks. Employers use technologies such as hand geometry and fingerprint recognition for tracking their hourly employees’ attendance.

ATMs in selected locations use biometrics to ensure that only account holders gain access to their funds.

Industry experts even say biometrics will eventually help secure online transactions as well.

For example, GE Fanuc has added biometric capabilities to its Proficy HMI/SCADA iFIX 4.0 to enhance the safe and compliant operation of pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturing processes. GE Fanuc now offers users a choice between a standard interface to biometric software or developer tools enabling an interface to virtually any other authentication technology.

A wide variety of biometric devices can be integrated, from a simple biometric integrated mouse to an iris scanner and more sophisticated solutions for hazardous, outdoor or sterile environments.

All Rounders Another potential market is multimodal biometrics.

Multimodality is the usage of more than one physiological or behavioural characteristic to identify an individual. It involves the fusion of two or more technologies such as fingerprint, facial recognition, iris scanning, hand geometry, signature verification, or speech recognition.

Many biometrics companies are active in the market

that combines multiple biometrics for large-scale usage.

Motorola’s biometrics unit offers a ‘multi-biometric’ enrollment and verification solutions with support for fingerprinting, 2D/3D facial recognition, and signature verification.

ImageWare Systems also has a middleware product called ‘Biometric Engine’ that can capture finger, face, and iris data to be used for passport and national ID issuance.

Hitachi is developing a ‘sequential selection multimodal authentication system’ that combines face authentication with fingerprint and finger vein pattern authentication.

The state of Qatar in May 2006, announced the rollout of a national identification project, which will store fingerprint, face, and iris biometric data on a smart card.

This merging of multiple modalities has caused modalities such as iris and facial recognition will gain increased acceptance, according to a Frost and Sullivan December 2007 report. The report also states that biometric verification offers a huge advantage over traditional forms of identification such as passwords, because users’ may be forgotten, stolen or hacked into.

Biometric access eliminates the need for passwords by providing relatively hassle-free access to multiple applications and is difficult to clone. With security issue gaining a top priority, biometrics could witness improved adoption due to certain outstanding features such as ease-of-use, efficiency, user friendliness, and higher levels of safety.

ENQUIRY NO. 8202

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ENQUIRY NO. 811

varying facial expression caused by smiling and blinking eyes, and intentional changes caused by the wearing of caps, hats and glasses), NEC’s face recognition technology utilises the Adaptive Regional Blend Matching (ABRM) algorithm, which reduces the impact of such local changes during the matching process. The minimisation of the local changes improves the overall face recognition accuracy.

Dec/Jan 2009 | industrial automation asia 27

issues & insights n a manufacturing environment, Auto-ID technologies work in almost all areas, from ascertaining raw material usage, production and control of final product to delivery to customers.

A system where outgoing goods are tagged for transportation with the use of barcode and RFID is beneficial in some manufacturing processes that rely on weights and measures of raw materials instead of part numbers.

Some applications are:

label on the pallet or container when it is being transported to the lorry. As the pallet travels to its destination, it passes through strategically located RFID gates that monitor its progress into and out of every location. This information is uploaded real-time onto the database. Any user can read these real-time information via a webbased application.

Code (EPC) to support the use of RFID in the inter-connected supply-chains.

The Transportation and Logistics Services (TLS) Industry Action Group RFID pilot programme was introduced to facilitate a smoother supply chain flow for the manufacturers. Supply chain efficiency, asset visibility and traceability as well as enhanced security are all fruits of the labour.

The second phase of the progamme initiated in November 2007 was

Auto ID:

Keeping Track Time Of (Real)

Auto-ID technology has become an important component of every identification, communication and information system. By Lim Yee, MD, Sato Asia Pacific

• Product Identification & Labelling Shipping labels are printed with barcode or RFID printers.

Depending on the requirements, mobile printers or industrial print engines are used for this purpose.

• Shipping Container Identification Barcodes on the goods are read and code paired with a specific EPC and transferred to an RFID transponder. The RFID printer generates the transponders, and affixed to the goods using a tampblow label applicator. An RFID antenna reads the EPCs stored on the transponders, and transfers the information to the printer. Using the collected data, an RFID pallet label is then generated.

• Outgoing – Shipping An RFID gantry reads the RFID 28 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

The Challenges During the tracking and transportation process, radio waves can be subjected to interference from metal and liquid products and the consistency of goods or the packing material may influence the performance of a UHF tag. Sometimes, this can lead to a shorter read distance or to changing frequency, so no reading of the tag is possible. In the market, there are specially designed labels that allow for reading despite the metallic or harsh environment.

Good News EPCglobal, a subisidiary of the global not-for-profit standards organisation GS1 has successfully demonstrated the impact of GS1 EPCglobal Standards on providing visibility of goods on a global level. EPCglobal leads the development of industr y-driven standards for the Electronic Product

recently completed. Initiated by EPCglobal, this phase 2 programme included shipment of parts such as tires and finished goods like laptop computers of international corporations moving from source factories in China to distribution centres in the US. The aim of this project was to prove the capability for unprecedented visibility into the movement, location and disposition of assets, goods and services worldwide. It also aimed to validate the use of both passive and active UHF EPC tags for sea-shipment of containers and cartons shipped between China and the US. This milestone in the industry spells good news for many companies.

Increased visibility and traceability of goods greatly facilitate manufacturers and supply chain operators to better

manage inventory - raw materials, work in process and finished goods, control quality and manage product life cycle.

Overall inventor y levels and labour costs can be greatly lowered.

Manufacturers, retailers and distribution centres from all over the world could collaborate to collect and share real-time information, thus providing complete visibility for every good in the supply chain.

Of course, taking up Auto-ID technology takes a considerable amount of investment, especially RFID. There must be a consistent followthrough for companies to see the rewards. For companies who do not wish to invest in new hardware or IT infrastructure but need to meet RFID compliance requirements, solutions such as SATO’s proprietary Direct Inlay Printing (DIP), provide greater and more flexible RFID solutions and lower cost of consumables. Technically, the transition was smooth. The existing barcode can be converted easily to RFID.

RFID gates at strategic locations.

Emerging Applications Other industries such as the finance and retail are heavy users of Auto-ID technology. Take Wal-Mart for example who initiated the Wal-Mart RFID

initiative to get its top 100 suppliers to start supplying products with RFID tags on cases and pallets. The Metro Group – the German-based retail giant ranks as the fifth largest retailer in the world – followed suit with a pallet and carton level RFID compliance programme.

With the increasing acceptance of RFID technology in retail, item level tagging would soon become a reality.

For examples, businesses would be able to purchase huge tag volumes at lower pricing and get greater savings from using economical tags to be applied on liquids and metals. Higher customer satisfaction is expected as the time to check out items at retail stores would be exponentially faster. There could also possibly be an emerging third standard arising from the merging of existing high frequency and ultra high frequency standards.

ENQUIRY NO. 8203

Lean Logistics and Distributions Magnifying and enhancing the value of instilling Lean approaches into your supply chain Singapore

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Attend this informative event and gain practical insights into: • Re-engineering your logistics and distributions network to be Lean • Benchmarking and generating an efficient logistics outsourcing strategy via a promising Lean model • Equating and associating customer service and profit creation with a flawless and simplified Lean process • Bridging the gap and finding a balance in adapting Green Logistics and ISO standards • Designing effective Order Picking and Kitting measures for effective inventory management • Anticipating the latest development and advancement of Lean Tool

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• Profiling the objectives and the strategic role of Lean in logistics and distributions • Developing advanced leadership roles with Lean to achieve world-class reputation • Acknowledging and benefiting from the importance of Lean tool integration for value enhancement • Maximising productivity and performance levels of Logistics and Distributions with Lean methodologies • Establishing the role of Lean for regional synergies and streamlining transactions and processes

Dec/Jan 2009 | industrial automation asia 29

09 market outlook

In the wake of the recent financial El Nino, major companies have been left bruised and some have even folded. Those in the automation sector have been affected as well.

The storm is not quite over, with reverberations still bouncing across the business world.

Will 2009 be the year of recovery? Will companies scramble for safety, or will they view it as a window of opportunity?

Prominent members of the automation industry reveal their plans and provide their insights and predictions for 2009.

James Foo

President & Country Manager ABB

How has the market been for you in 2008? Was it up to expectations?

Q

For ABB as a whole, at the end of the third quarter, orders for power equipment showed continued robust growth in all regions.

Orders for industrial automation products also increased at a double-digit pace in most markets. Large project orders declined significantly, reflecting in part a comparison with a very strong quarter a year ago.

In addition, customers’ decisions on a number of industrial and infrastructure investments have been delayed as a result of the recent market uncertainty. However we are on target to deliver our 2008’s growth guidance.

Scott J Druery VP Asia Citect

Yes, we are very pleased with our results, confirmed by two independent reports from Frost & Sullivan and ARC (Automation Research Company) accrediting Citect and Schneider as the leading SCADA/HMI vendor in Asia-Pacific with 25.1 percent market share.

Dealing with Uncertainty

Ho Juan Heng

VP, Marketing Emerson Process Management Asia Pacific

Emerson Process Management delivered an exceptional year, with reported sales increasing 17 percent to US$6.7 billion.

Underlying sales growth for the year was 14 percent, which excludes a favourable impact of 4 percent from currency translation and a negative 1 percent impact from the Brooks Instrument divestiture, net of acquisitions.

The margin for this segment expanded 90 basis points to 19.6 percent with significant ongoing strategic investments being made in next generation technologies and geographic expansion.

Substantial project wins were also recorded in 2008 for Emerson Process Management’s Smart Wireless technology, and in the important and growing Chinese nuclear power market.

Au Yeong Pak Kuan

Stuart Thorogood

Regional GM, Southeast Asia Honeywell Process Solutions

Southeast Asia Zone Director Schneider Electric Southeast Asia (HQ)

Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) Southeast Asia has done well this year considering the crippling effects of the recent financial crisis. We have closed several new projects and completed others in the pipeline. New products were also introduced and gaining traction. We are also vigilantly expanding our installed base through our diverse range of services.

2008 has been a good year for us in Southeast Asia. Thanks to the repositioning of Schneider Electric’s Business Portfolio, we have been able to access new markets and offer even more comprehensive solutions for our customers. We are now able to serve end markets such as hospitals, hotels, data centres, mining, oil and gas, water treatment and power supply.

However, even though it appears business as usual at the moment, many customers we have spoken to are cautiously aware of the imminent consumer consumption slowdown.

The most visible slow down currently is across the pulp and paper industries.

Projects which are approved will proceed but capital expenditures not approved will most likely be delayed. Companies are focused in maximising throughput and efficient production rather than spending in new capital projects as funding becomes increasingly scarce or expensive.

Q Q Q

Given the current economic climate, do you see 2009 as a year of consolidation or do you see chance for expansion for your company?

What marketing strategies will your company adopt in 2009?

What will be the star performers for growth in your business in 2009?

What technologies can we expect to see light up 2009?

James Foo

President & Country Manager

Scott J Druery VP Asia

For 2009 and over the long-term, demand for the refurbishment and expansion of power transmission and distribution infrastructure is expected to remain strong in all regions.

Demand for high-efficiency industrial automation systems and equipment that improves customer productivity and reduces environmental impact, is expected to fuel future growth in automation activities.

However, the recent turbulence in the global banking sector and credit markets makes near-term forecasts difficult. The effect of recent developments on global macroeconomic growth in general, and on utility and industrial investments in particular, cannot yet be determined.

2009 is clearly our year for expansion as the global strategy is now to merge the front office sales and support teams of Schneider and Citect, whilst still maintaining our Distribution and Citect integration partner network. The shared services of IT, human resources, finance and administration will streamline our business whilst consolidating the solutions sales skills of both companies and partner networks will actually expand our sales.

Coming from a strong base, we are not scaling back our efforts on the markets and our R&D activities. ABB’s core value proposition in terms of our overarching marketing strategy is our portfolio in both power and automation technology that drives energy efficiency, industrial productivity and grid reliability.

The Citect marketing strategy will change as we merge with Schneider Electric, but our target industries and countries for SCADA remains as broad as ever. We are merging the Citect business inside Schneider, so you may see some changes in the company branding.

In addition to ABB’s core businesses, ABB is also focusing strongly on fast emerging renewal energy sectors of solar, wind and water. ABB’s current strong market position has been built through consistent R&D investment. ABB’s R&D activities focus continuously on improving and developing products for power and automation. Two examples are in the area of energy efficiency (eg advanced transmission systems, highefficiency motors and drives) and flexibility and productivity (eg automation and control software, wireless communication systems).

The average growth rate for the SCADA industry in Asia was reported as 14.5 percent per annum, as compared to a global average of less than 10 percent. We grew with 68 percent growth revenue (2006 to 2007) in products and services in Citect Asia, however with the economic downturn, the effects on SCADA projects halting or cancelling remain to be seen. We expect the consolidation of our sales teams to help our growth of SCADA products overall. That is our clear focus for Southeast Asia. I expect VijeoCitect to be our star performer on top of Schneider Electric PLC’s, particularly with the new combined solutions coming out.

We intend to keep advertising, running technical seminars for partners and customers across the region, and building our presence in all Southeast Asian countries through supporting our customers as a division of Schneider Electric.

Ho Juan Heng VP, Marketing

Au Yeong Pak Kuan

Regional GM, Southeast Asia

Stuart Thorogood

Southeast Asia Zone Director

Emerson’s record of consecutive annual growth span across varying economic cycles.

Once again, we achieved double digit growth in fiscal year 2008. With a strong business and financial fundamentals, we are well positioned as we move into an uncertain year 2009. Emerson’s long term competitiveness is a result of dynamic management process carried out in unrelenting discipline. Our management will continue to focus on strengthening business segments, pursuing technology leadership, globalising assets and driving business efficiency.

We may consolidate certain functions but are always on the lookout to expand in areas where opportunity presents itself. Additionally as we have a fairly strong backlog going into 2009, we may also employ appropriate resources to help meet our customer demands.

Our new business portfolio gives us exposure to many diversified markets. When one market slows down, we are able to refocus our resources in the vibrant ones. It is our belief that even in hard times, opportunities exist. We have positioned ourselves as the energy manager for our customers, providing solutions to improve productivity and promote energy efficiency.

It is the best time to strengthen competitive position. Companies do that by investing strategically to gain both a competitive advantage during tighter times and to position themselves for growth when the tide changes. Our strategies will concentrate on helping our customers to fine-tune operations, focus on asset optimisation, and make cost-effective investments in new technologies. This will position them to capitalise on the opportunities presented by this economic climate. As a result, we want our customers to become more competitive by gaining the agility and strength to respond to market changes, whatever they may be, and be ready to grow when the market does.

We will continue to grow our installed base by providing more enhancement solutions as well as value-added services. We also see a strong growth in training simulation solutions as our customers’ demand for online training simulations increases due to their aging workforce and attritions. We’ll also introduce new solutions that can decrease operating costs for customers in this uncertain climate.

In order to help productivity gains and energy efficiency for our customers in diversified markets, we have developed industryspecific optimised solutions that are simple, easy-to-implement, cost effective and proven for targeted industries such as water, oil and gas, food and beverage, cement and power.

The high reliability and performance of Emerson’s Smart Wireless solutions; expanded range of wireless functions, tighter integration with plant applications, increased confidence of end-users; and significant economic advantages of wireless, will continue to drive the high growth of wireless usage in 2009. As the global financial crisis takes its toll, companies will be spurred to adopt a ‘lean and mean’ philosophy. Under such circumstance, wireless will make more sense than ever.

Wireless technology offers many more creative ways possible to spend limited monies to produce the best value as a return on investment.

We believe the oil and gas (offshore and terminals) sector may continue to stay firm for the next two years. If our predictions are correct, we will continue to serve this sector with our training simulation, business applications, terminal automation, gauging, wireless and the Experion Process Knowledge Solution platform.

Given the current economic climate, we expect to see our solutions designed to improve productivity and energy efficiency continue to grow. The pressure to reduce operating costs and also to a large extent, growing government initiatives and enforcement will continue to boost our solutions.

control point

T

he mining and minerals processing sector is significantly m o re a d v a n c e d i n i t s u s e and appreciation of operations management systems, compared to several other industries. Companies in this sector also display a greater willingness to pay for a standards development phase in a project than firms in many other verticals do.

However, the mining and minerals processing sector is yet to leverage integrated operations management solutions to the maximum potential.

There are several challenges that prevent the industry from receiving the full benefits, including: • User Mindset In the current boom, mining and minerals processing firms are so focussed on producing and selling all they can, that they tend to compromise on detailed analysis or system improvements to ensure that production is optimised.

Engineers also tend to spend more time collecting data than actually analysing that data.

• Standards Another challenge is the failure of many systems integrators to apply best practice standards.

Regulations for tag naming, alarming, programming, template design and trending not only help reduce risks in control system implementation, but also ensure that in the case of site expansion, no re-engineering or new training is required. The standards applied to initial projects can be rolled out across expansion projects; thus

Managing A Truckload Mining and minerals processing companies need to take a closer look at integrated operations management solutions. By Frost & Sullivan and commissioned by Citect

34  industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

reducing time, effort, risk and cost, as well as creating a uniform environment for maintenance and support.

• Inadequate IT Exposure Typically, maintenance technicians at mining and minerals processing sites are automation and control staff that have had inadequate exposure to IT interfaces. Such users have the potential to underutilise or virtually ignore the full suite of features that many reporting solutions have today.

Lack of familiarity with Microsoft reporting services, SQL queries and the publishing of analyses on portals or via emails hinders their ability to get the maximum benefit from reporting solutions.

• Training With mining and minerals processing firms contending with workforce shortages, maintenance projects are increasingly being executed by contractors. These contractors themselves often also see high staff turnover, which means that unless they are trained quickly and adequately on the project’s control systems, any project implemented during scheduled downtime runs the risk of over-running the schedule o r f a i l i n g t o m e e t p ro j e c t objectives.

• Poor Alarm Management When alarms cannot cut through the clutter, real problems are ignored for too long, resulting in process breakdowns which means lost production, higher lifecycle cost of equipment and higher operator costs through overtime. When operators do not read the early signs of a developing problem, their response to many alarms typically takes the form of stabilising the process through reducing the rate of throughput.

Ineffective alarm management also results in production errors, higher operator stress levels, and potentially, industrial accidents.

Inadequate Understanding Lack of familiarity with the benefits of modern operations management systems may lead to a discounting of the potential value of these systems.

Better ‘operations’ information and visibility across a demand chain has far reaching synergistic effects on many areas, including better planning, logistics management and product quality.

• Extracting Maximum Value Some of the key areas that the mining and minerals processing sector needs to focus on to derive maximum benefit from integrated operations management systems are the following: • Repeatability, Reliability, Replicability System stability and scalability are of paramount importance as end users look for systems that allow them to keep the same functionality when upgrading or migrating to a newer technology.

In a situation where site managers have optimised a process, they can look to their SCADA system to achieve repeatability and replicability of the optimised process.

• Analysis & Fine-Tuning U l t i m a t e l y, p ro d u c t i v i t y i s c o m p ro m i s e d i f d a t a f ro m standalone systems is collected, but not analysed. With the current

commodities boom, analysis can lead to fine tuning and control intervention that could positively impact productivity and profitability. The key is to ensure that analysis and subsequent system improvements are not seen as a double-edged sword that could lead to productivity benefits, but could temporarily hinder production through downtime for the system implementation.

• Managing Upgrades Mining and minerals processing firms are demanding shorter delivery times for their operations management and control needs, with minimal interruption to their operations. They also require shorter project implementation and commissioning times, and very often require that no additional downtime is needed, scheduling system changeovers during one of the regular maintenance shutdowns.

• Synergy With Other Systems Companies that take a holistic view of operations and identify e f f i c i e n c i e s a n d s y n e rg i e s across operations, stand to reap many benefits from integrating operations management software such as SCADA and MES with other business systems. Unless companies proactively seek to integrate operations management systems with their business Dec/Jan 2009 | industrial automation asia 35

control point expertise in the specific types of processes to which they need to apply operations management.

The mining and minerals processing sector is yet to leverage integrated operations management solutions to the maximum potential.

systems, useful and relevant information from the production layer of operations is not integrated, despite the significant investment in those business systems.

• Reporting Tools Regulatory compliance reporting, long term data record management, as well as risk management reporting, have now taken on a ‘whole-of-business’ significance.

To aid operations and IT staff in meeting these requirements, mining and minerals processing companies need an accessible, easy-to-use and secure reporting tool.

• Ease Of Use Mining and minerals processing c o m p a n i e s a re l o o k i n g f o r integrated operations management solutions that are easy to operate and take less time to programme, implement and upscale if their requirements change.

• Impact On ‘Green’ Initiatives Companies in the mining and minerals processing sector should 36 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

look to leverage control systems that can demonstrate flow-on impacts to energy or water savings, as well as have a positive influence on environmental considerations.

This can be achieved through visibility across assets and automatic reporting of energy consumption, alarms to indicate any overrun in daily energy budget, flexibility to record spot purchases of energy and the tracking of energy flow out of the site.

• Single Partner Solutions As the trend toward consolidation gathers momentum, the i n c re a s i n g l y g e o g r a p h i c a l l y dispersed locations of mining and minerals processing firms will result in a higher tendency to seek a single source partner.

• ‘Partnering’ Relationships Mining and minerals processing companies should be seeking ‘partnering’ relationships with their automation and control solution suppliers. This means working with the partner who has demonstrated knowledge and

Overcoming Challenges To help overcome the hurdles discussed above, mining and minerals processing firms can turn to operations management solutions partners. To aid the process of selecting a solutions partner, there are key questions that need answering. While product/ system-related questions are mostly obvious, equally critical are questions relating to the partner. These questions include: Does the operations management solutions partner have: • Mining and minerals processing site references of large and complex implementations?

• Mining and minerals processing expertise across all major phases of operations; from ore to milled product?

• The product and service range to cover all or most requirements for control software, instrumentation, support and training?

• Global locations with local support staff?

• A network of partners/systems integrators?

• Longevity in the industry and established upgrade paths for its products?

• A n h o l i s t i c a n d s t r u c t u re d approach to understanding and meeting customer requirements?

• Best practice standards for project implementation?

Future Directions Even as operations management systems adapt to the changing needs of the mining and minerals processing sector, future directions in mine design and operation are likely to call for the deployment of even more agile operating systems. Autonomous haulage systems, unmanned sites and systems that facilitate the removal of operators from dangerous or risky zones are some of the ideas being conceptualised for the future.

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control point

SCADA Control To Calculations, High-speed production demands require SCADA systems to perform functions in real time. By Claire Cerrato, GM, automation software, GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms

upervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems originally were designed for just supervisory control and data acquisition. They’d provide a reliable means of aggregating the analysis being performed by multiple field or equipment based controllers.

N o w, h o w e v e r, h i g h - s p e e d production demands require SCADA systems to do more. They must perform functions in real time on the plant 38 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

Acquisition To Analysis

floor, effectively combining the once disparate worlds of HMI and SCADA. SCADA system users today need far more than supervisory control and data acquisition. They need a tool that empowers them with extended realtime capabilities that literally redefine this well-known industry term, turning HMI/SCADA systems into supervisory calculation and data analysis tools— and giving manufacturers who harness this technology a huge advantage.

A New Definition To be most effective, HMI must deliver the analytics of a typical SCADA and must be able to perform analysis and calculations at the device level to maximise the speed, accuracy, and scalability required by a real-time, data-driven production environment.

In addition, plant floor operators n e e d a c c e s s t o m o re d e t a i l e d information than in the past. Instead of simply recording when a system went

down and for how long, they have to be able to determine why, and install safeguards to prevent future problems and protect future performance.

Evolving systems from supervisory control and acquisition to calculation and analysis requires a change in perspective, and before moving ahead, it is important to review the logical progression of this trend, to reinforce that the technology is ready and available today.

The new millennium ushered in an era of stability for PCs in automation.

The initial growth stage of rushing to put in a PC to visualise and supervise to improve operator efficiency was over. Few, if any, are installing HMIs for the first time. The market is mature.

Companies have built equipment and process histories and know how to use them. They’re experienced with their automation systems.

With that, we stand today at the threshold of the next wave as SCADA systems embrace business analytics more than ever before. Fewer processes are left to automate and

fewer places remain where significant performance gains may be made. The automation market is poised for the next generation of growth.

But this time, rather than focusing on automation basics, companies are turning to optimisation. Optimisation requires a great deal of data, additional sensors, and the proper analysis tools. To accomplish this, companies are integrating data historians in the enterprise and seeking—and developing—advanced data analysis tools. The HMI of the past is being tasked with greater levels of analysis and data collection.

Higher-level control applications rely on super visory control and data acquisition software, the kind of SCADA used for the distributed automation found in oil and gas, power, and water and wastewater industries.

These systems deliver communications, process control, math and logic capabilities, data logging, and alarming and trending. As the analytics of these functions grow

Products & Solutions:

Through The Door

T

he GE Fanuc SCADA solutions c o n s i s t o f CIMPLICITY and iFIX. Proficy View-Machine Edition is a scalable offering for both Windows and Embedded (Windows CE) platforms.

Proficy View is often coupled with GE Fanuc SCADA solutions, aggregating information from the plant floor for further analysis.

The overall Proficy platform consists of numerous pieces, each designed to handle a specific function. These include the HMI/SCADA, historian, and information portal, and an MES module.

G E F a n u c ’s P ro f i c y Information Portal solution is

an interactive door to all types of information. The web-based technology can talk to an HMI/ SCADA system to gather realtime information. It can also talk to Proficy Historian to gather archive information; and to company business systems to gather relational database information, inventory levels, jobs that have to run, schedules coming out of the database system, and more.

O p e n a n d l a y e re d , Proficy works with standard technologies already in use to improve production operation while leveraging existing IT and manufacturing investments. It is a wideranging, modular solution

in importance, HMI systems must be equipped to deliver them.

As a result, all HMI systems are now adopting the classic capabilities of SCADA to deliver such key performance indicators (KPIs) as quality, production speed, downtime, or overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). The focus is on adding the components required to do the long-term optimisation that puts the Calculation and the Analysis in SCADA. Fine-Tuning The System Without question, industrial operations know the importance of maintaining a competitive edge—in automation and in general. If everyone has already automated with HMI and/ or SCADA software, what then is the next step? How does one become more competitive? The answer is to improve the automation, not by adding more, but by fine-tuning what is in place.

That requires a concentration on process optimisation. And process

Business Systems

Enterprise Application Integration Plant Application Plant Data Repository Plant Floor Automation

that connects to any existing manufacturing infrastructure to take advantage of the capabilities required and allowing the addition of modules in the future. Proficy Historian normalises the flow of information in an advanced,

secure, and high performance data management system to provide access to all key plant metrics from, and becomes the basis for the next dimension of analysis.

ENQUIRY NO. 8302

Dec/Jan 2009 | industrial automation asia 39

control point optimisation is all about incremental sustainable improvements. “How can I keep my machine running a little bit faster?” “How can I improve the quality of the part that comes out of it?” “Can downtime associated with a machine be reduced through better maintenance or by more rapidly capturing and responding to a fault?”

“How can I avoid that fault going forward?”

Visualisation on the Go

Alarm Actions & Notifications

combined with an historian. As a result, companies are adding enterprise-wide historians that become the repository for long-term data.

These historians become a new source of data for SCADA analytics.

This new combination of real-time data, combined with the depth delivered by a historian, enables the next generation of optimisation that the market demands.

Analysis & Optimization Remote Operators

Central SCADA

Central Historian & Analysis

Graphics, Alarms, History

Graphics, Alarms, History, Control

Source Desalination, Drilling, Mining, Power Generation, Filtration

Transport Water Distribution, Power T&D, Rail & Road Transport, O&G Pipelines

Incremental sustainable improvements are achieved through lots and lots of data acquisition.

Production needs a base level and a history of data that allow an operation to perform all kinds of analyses, even analyses that may not have been thought of initially. A company may need multiple years of historical data to be able to go back sufficiently to do meaningful, required analyses.

From a SCADA software perspective that translates to a system that does data acquisition, visualises the process, performs analytics and translates the data into actionable information. That’s what sets SCADA systems apart in today’s market.

There is an analytics or controls component in a SCADA system not typically present in an HMI alone. In addition, because a SCADA system must work with such a depth of information, it almost always is 40 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

Graphics, History, Reports Processing Wastewater Mgmt, Metal Processing, Refining, Energy Mgmt

Performance Analytics The emphasis today is on performance analytics. Performance analytics fall into two categories. The first is data analysis that runs as a matter of course. This technique generates performance indicators that show up on a graphics dashboard and are made available through Web technology. The system measures the daily operations of the production floor. These are the analytics that let a plant manager see at a glance that uptime looks good, all machines are active, and the lines are running.

The second, ad hoc analytics, refers to situations to which someone must respond. In other words, “I don’t know ahead of time what I may need to look at. I can’t pre-build a visualisation screen for it. But I need a tool that will let me drill down into whatever information I need to reach, at any time I need to, essentially from anywhere.”

Most HMI/SCADA systems are designed for the standard ‘canned’ analytics. These allow the building of screens so that an operator can see required data all the time based on predetermined parameters, a dashboard that an operator or manager can retrieve when needed.

To create the HMI/SCADA system it wants and needs, a manufacturer may turn to a system integrator to prebuild a range of conceivable options that are likely to be needed to manage and control the processes.

But to create a true ad hoc concept or to be able to drill into any information from anywhere at any time, the end-user must combine its SCADA system and historian solution with something else to achieve that capability—a technology that allows the interaction and interconnection of all HMI/SCADA components.

GE Fanuc Automation calls that portal technology. It enables users to analyse data from any SCADA historian system without affecting the operation of the system or altering the systems code.

A Web-Based Future The beauty of a web solution is that it is designed to allow the building of ad hoc custom views of information.

For example, an end-user can, through a web interface, choose to look at several years’ worth of history on a particular value and do a database query for the last 50 product codes that ran, then display the data almost immediately thanks to this easy-touse tool.

This portal product certainly has the ability to show canned pre-built screens, but its real strength is as an ad hoc tool that can do virtually any queries and build any new views of information that may be needed to troubleshoot or optimise a process.

And, it is a focal point to do the kind of performance analytics that need to be done in today’s marketplace.

Although some smaller companies may also use a product as an enterprise portal, the intent of this technology is to focus on automation data, to being able to resolve complex situations

by allowing the end-user to drill in and do analytics on the fly. However, the product is synergistic with other business systems. For instance, an SAP or Oracle query can be made from the portal, and the resulting information combined with automation data that has been queried from the plant floor.

The portal’s web technology also allows the results to be hosted within other environments. Larger companies using products such as Microsoft’s SharePoint—which provides a higherlevel business tool for other types of corporate information—typically link to an automation portal delivering the need for one unified interface to all systems in the enterprise.

Achieving A Competitive Edge The definition of SCADA, once applied only to vertical process markets, should now be better known as the next generation of HMI, applied in all markets, with a new focus on supervisory calculation and data analysis. A central component to achieving a truly real-time enterprise is

control microsystems:

The beauty of a web solution is that it is designed to allow the building of ad hoc custom views of information having one integrated tool for accessing, analysing, and visualising production data.

The shift in the market today is unquestionable. A solutions suite, not a single answer or a number of isolated products, is required. Manufacturers are moving from assembling bestin-class pieces of software into their own automation solutions to acquiring an entire solution from one vendor.

Such an approach offers one point of support, one point of purchase.

Software has matured to the point where one vendor can be an expert or a significant player in all aspects of the automation solution.

A company doesn’t have to go to

ethernet data radio

T

one vendor for the best graphics capability and to another for the best historian.

Companies can deliver an entire solution and also provide added benefits. These include minimised integration risks and data incompatibility, lower cost of ownership, better and easier training, and higher-level and more comprehensive local support—and through that suite, provide the new SCADA, the supervisory calculation and data analysis, needed to optimise the process and achieve the competitive edge for success.

aking advantage of ‘IP over Ethernet’ technologies, Control Microsystems’ SCADAWave JR50 spread spectrum Ethernet data radio utilises portable network access to extend corporate offices onto the plant floor and beyond to remote assets such as field-installed controllers and intelligent sensors.

Co mb ining stand ard features like dual Ethernet ports, a built-in Ethernet switch, extended operational temperature range and ruggedised metal enclosure, the JR50 is designed for challenging applications. The product is configured using an embedded HTML web server that also provides network management and remote diagnostics capabilities. No additional

ENQUIRY NO. 8303

software is required.

Using the advanced radio features found in the UltraSeries family, the JR50 includes a 1 W transmitter (900MHz model) and ultra-sensitive receiver, unique-to-SCADAWave MultiStreamTM, LinkXtendTM and KwikStreamTM technologies, and high speed, over-the-air data throughput (up to 256Kbps).

The Trusted Remotes/ Masters functionality further supports the security feature of the product’s frequencyhopping algorithm, increasing security by restricting com-munication to permitted devices only; and the JR50’s 256-bit AES encryption makes it virtually impossible to hack into.

ENQUIRY NO. 8304

Dec/Jan 2009 | industrial automation asia 41

software & Networks

Embedded

Empowerment Empowerment The modern embedded computer is a jack of all trades appearing in many forms. By Hector Lin, American product management manager, Advantech

E

ver ywhere we look we find computers. Many of them don’t look like traditional desktops, or laptops. In industrial infrastructure, we find them in displays, in networking appliances, in machine controllers, in HMIs and in industrial controllers and PACs (programmable automation controllers). We find them in low power, portable devices, and even in field transmitters.

Some Background The first key to this development is the embedded processor. When PCs first appeared in the early 1980s, the processor chip was extremely expensive, and required special power supplies and cooling.

It was not economically feasible to embed them in hardware and appliance type devices. Typically, smaller, lower capability processors were used, or hardwired digital logic was used.

By the late 1980s and early 1990s, however, the cost to produce an Intel or AMD x86 level processor had reduced to the point where engineers and product designers found they could use standard ‘PClevel’ processors instead of older, smaller, less capable designs like the venerable Z80 or Z88, or custom designed logical devices.

The very first convergence from this newfound ability was the ability 42 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

to programme in higher order programming languages like C, C++ and C#, thus opening the world of appliance design to the general run of programmers trained to programme for the PC. The next convergence was the very vastly increased capability to perform operations. The ability for the processor to perform highly complex native mathematical operations made it easy to give the device or appliance features it never would have had before. Where previous generations might have lookup tables, modern embedded processors run the same mathematical models as desktop PC devices might run.

For several years, the speed and performance of the embedded processor was held back by the unavailability of industrial grade, yet inexpensive peripherals and auxiliary equipment. In addition, the operating systems tended to be custom, which led to difficulties in networking devices and maintaining legacy instruments.

Finally, the second key appeared.

The development of the tablet PC and the various Windows versions designed to run on low power portable PCs, PDAs and smartphones led concurrently to the design of industrial grade versions of these devices, for use as PACs, HMIs, graphical displays, and machine controllers.

All of them were compatible with standard PC-based architecture for printing, networking, and keyboard and touchscreen input, and all of them ran some version of the Windows operating system designed specifically for such devices.

T h e i n c re a s i n g u b i q u i t y o f industrial Ethernet and USB hardware interconnection have also made the transition from single purpose designed processors to using embedded processors in a variety of guises not only possible but quite easy, and is the third key to the development of ubiquitous embedded computing.

So what we see is a plethora of general purpose computing devices, performing the tasks that special purpose processors and devices were built to perform a decade ago.

t

Choosing Embedded Devices Not all embedded computers are created equal. You cannot take just any PC off the shelf and install it in an industrial environment. It is important that the devices you select are suitable for the service you intend to use them in.

First, the design must have no moving parts. Especially when used in field devices such as touch screen panels, or distributed I/O modules, or even in network appliances such as a managed Ethernet switch, the design must be fanless. No cooler should be required for the CPU. The power supply must not require fan cooling, and there should not be a system fan either. This should not be at the expense of power and performance, either.

Users often do not consider the HDD (hard disk) as a moving part, but it is a significant one. Solid state storage has improved to the point that commercially available CF (compact flash) and USB storage modules are available up to 8 Gb for less than US$100.

Additionally, it is very important that there be as few cables as possible to prevent failure from vibration. The embedded computer design should have no internal cable connection.

Every part should be soldered solidly to the circuit board.

In the industrial environment, it is imperative that the embedded device function over a wide range of ambient conditions.

The industrial environment demands better construction than the commercial environment, as

An embedded computer used as a touch panel display.

An embedded single board computer.

well. Embedded computing devices must meet industrial standards for enclosures.

The design should be capable of running Windows’ embedded OS. Embedding the operating system frees up storage for data and other essential operations. These embedded operating systems provide all of the features found in the RAMresident versions, but are provided on flash memory so they boot up immediately on startup and do not require shutdown.

These embedded computing devices make excellent notepads for wireless workers, as well as networking appliances, displays, field controllers and PACs. Multiple Uses As is clear from the proliferation of embedded computing devices, embedded computing is everywhere in the industrial environment. One of the most significant changes in the past few years is the growth in the PAC (programmable automation controller) market.

Using the same embedded processor found in the display, in the network appliances, in the I/O modules, these devices are configured to do all the same functions as a hardwired or special purpose field controller was designed to do.

Taking the use of embedded computers even further, automation systems can be built using fully

featured embedded automation computers.

These types of device are designed from the bottom up to be used in the plant floor industrial environment. They conform to the checklist found in the sidebar in this paper, and use embedded operating systems like Windows XP-e (the embedded version of the common Windows XP operating system).

Because they use a straightforward and widely used OS, there are few compatibility issues with peripherals, communications, networking and input/output devices.

This design’s use of Windows XP embedded permits the use of optimized device drivers, and is more compact and reliable than even the general run of ‘industrial PCs.’ And they can be furnished in many different form factors.

Machine builders are able to use embedded automation computers to reduce the number of device types necessary to provide machine controls, and reduce the complexity of after-sale service and support requirements.

Embedded computing devices have changed the world of industrial automation. Users can be sure that selecting a device from a company with a wide selection of these devices will give them a platform that will perform successfully, regardless of the form factor the user selects for each individual device.

ENQUIRY NO. 8304 Dec/Jan 2009 | industrial automation asia 43

instrumentation & Measurement

IEEE 1588:

Clock

Precision Synchronisation recise time information is especially important for distributed systems in automation technology. With the Precision Time Protocol (PTP) described in IEEE 1588, it is possible to synchronise distributed clocks with an accuracy of less than 1 microsecond via Ethernet networks for the very first time. The demands on the local clocks and the network and computing capacity are relatively low.

Why Time Synchronisation Many technical systems have a sense of time. An implicit system time exists when there is no actual clock and the timing behaviour is determined by processes in the hardware and software. This is often sufficient in a lot of systems.

An implicit time system is implemented, for example, by regular trigger events to every user which indicate the beginning of a unit of time and then trigger the appropriate actions.

The system time is explicitly available when it is represented by a clock. This is often necessary in complex systems especially. This decouples the communication from the execution.

But not every clock is exact.

Now and again it has to be checked whether the deviation is tolerable 44  industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

Time synchronisation according to IEEE 1588 has become a part of almost all future real-time automation protocols. By Andreas Dreher (L), strategic technology manager and Dirk Mohl (R), head of R&D, Hirschmann

and whether the clock needs to be corrected. Communication between the individual clocks is necessary for this.

Two effects are in evidence when setting or synchronising clocks: Independent clocks initially run at an offset for one thing. To synchronise them, the more inaccurate clock is set to the more accurate one (offset correction). Another thing is that real clocks do not run at exactly the same speed. Therefore, the speed of the more inaccurate clock has to be regulated constantly (drift correction).

PTP Applications PTP is arousing interest in many different applications. In automation technology, PTP is in demand wherever processes need to be synchronised exactly. Here motion control is an important field of application in the broadest sense.

Because PTP helps to synchronise drives in a robot or a printing, packing or paper processing machine for example. Interactive robots are also connected by high-precision

clocks or whole machine or plant parts are linked closely by PTP so that the processes that run can be synchronised exactly.

Clocks running synchronously in every component enable distributed structures to be set up and the processes to be decoupled from the communication and processing of the control commands.

For this reason, the time s y n c h ro n i s a t i o n a c c o rd i n g t o IEEE 1588 has since become a part of almost all future real-time automation protocols. CIPsync, part of the Ethernet/IP frameworks of the ODVA, relies totally on PTP for motion control applications. Profinet (PNO) has PTP as a synchronisation protocol on its roadmap and Ethernet Powerlink (EPSG) will also use PTP for synchronising real-time segments.

Functional Principle PTP knows two types of clocks, masters and slaves. A clock in a terminating device is known as an ordinary clock, a clock in a transmission component like an Ethernet Switch as a boundary

clock. A master which is controlled ideally by a radio clock or a GPS receiver, synchronises the respective slaves connected to it.

The synchronisation process is divided into two phases. First the time difference between the master and the slave is corrected, this is the offset correction. To do this, the master sends a synchronisation message with an estimated value of the time cyclically to the connected slaves.

Parallel to this, the time at which the message leaves the sender is measured as precisely as possible, if

routers between the users, this is no longer the case. The so-called boundar y clock was defined for such devices for this reason. Such a switch contains a clock which is synchronised to a connected master and then behaves as a master at every other port and synchronises the connected slaves.

In this way, the synchronisation always takes place in a point to point connection which exhibits very symmetrical run times and practically no jitter. Therefore, wait times or jitter when passing through the switches

When using additional hardware support for time stamping, the precision can be increased considerably and effected virtually independently of the software. A little logic is necessary for this which can be integrated, for example, as FPGA or in ASICs directly at the network input.

If PTP is used through Ethernet networks, special attention must be paid to the network infrastructure.

Since hubs have almost no influence on the accuracy of the protocol due to their practically constant throughput time, the run times must be taken into account when using switches.

Boundary clock switches works as slaves in relation to the master clock and supply the other connected slaves as a master.

possible by hardware support directly on the medium. The master then sends this actual exact transmission time of the corresponding sync message to the slaves in a second message, a follow up message.

These also measure the reception time of these messages as exactly as possible and can correct the correction value (offset) to the master from it.

The slave clock is then corrected by this offset. If the transmission line were to have no delay, both clocks would be synchronised.

The second phase of the synchronisation, the delay measurement, determines the run time between slave and master. This is determined by so-called Delay Request and Delay Response messages in a similar way and the clocks adjusted accordingly.

However, it is a symmetrical delay between the master and slave, ie same values for there and back, that is decisive for a delay measurement and its accuracy. This is satisfied practically by a direct connection with a length of cable.

However, if there are network components such as switches or

have no influence on the accuracy of the synchronisation.

PTP Implementation If the Precision Time Protocol is to be used in a system, the PTP protocol stack must be implemented. This can be implemented very compactly and only makes minimum demands on the processor performance and the network bandwidth.

This is very important for the implementation in simple and low-cost devices. PTP can even be implemented without any trouble in embedded systems with simple 16 or 32 bit microcontrollers.

The only requirement for achieving a high precision is as exact a measurement of the PTP message transmission and reception times as possible. This must take place very close to the hardware (eg directly in the driver software) and with as great an accuracy as possible.

In implementations as a purely software solution, therefore, the architecture and performance of the system restrict the attainable accuracy directly.

PTP measures the run times in the network and measures the clocks accordingly. However, run time variations, as they always occur in switches, lead to inaccuracy.

Since switches save the received data packets completely and queue effects can considerably delay the transmission under certain circumstances, great fluctuations may occur here.

At low network load, this effect hardly has an influence, but at greater network load or in temporary load situations, this can considerably worsen the synchronisation accuracy.

This is counteracted by using socalled boundary clock switches. These contain their own PTP instance which operates as a PTP slave in relation to the connected master clock and is therefore exactly synchronised by it.

In relation to the connected terminating devices, the PTP slaves, ever y single switch por t then operates in turn as a PTP master and synchronises these slaves with its internal time. This compensates all run time fluctuations and wait times in the switches and enables maximum accuracy to be achieved even through larger Ethernet networks.

ENQUIRY NO. 8401

Dec/Jan 2009 | industrial automation asia  45

sector spotlight

Airport Aut omation:

Luggage Iden tification

The reliable identification of the baggages is a vital component to the operation of an airport.

By Thomas Lim, manager, application centre Asia, Sick

irports around the world aim to achieve reliable management and smooth transport of checkin and transfer baggages, avoidance of loading errors and misdirection of baggages.

The reliable identification of the baggages in an airport’s baggage handling system presents a vital component to the whole operation of the airport.

The airport luggage identification system is a fully automatic barcode reading gate. The system consists of the framework, scanner heads with autofocus function, a local network controller which provides host interfacing to the baggage handling system for supplying its identification information. The system can be adapted to belt conveyors and tilt-tray sorter systems.

The complete system consists 46  industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

up to 24 barcode readers, depending on the application. The connectivity between the scanner heads and the controller is made via Controller Area Networking (CAN) scanner network. A photoelectric switch is connected to the controller to sense the presence of the luggage. There will also be an interface for the connection of an increment encoder to track the position of the luggage through the reading zone of the system.

When a luggage comes into the reading area of the airport luggage identification system, the lasers in the reading heads will turn on by the presence sensing of the photoelectric switched mounted just before the start of the reading zone.

Each scanner head will detect the presence of the barcode printed on the tag in all orientations. Due to the redundant design of the scanner head

positions, more than one scanner head will pick up the barcode.

These barcodes information will be sent to the controller, where it processes and presents the identification data to the host of the baggage handling system.

The use of the increment encoder allows the controller to track the luggage being read and to ensure that the barcode identification will be electronically tagged to the correct piece of luggage, when there is a continuous flow of luggage.

Easy Parts Replacement The reading gate is based upon a modular structure, with careful consideration being given to replacement of indiv idua l component s. T he replacement of the code reader heads and the photocells (object-trigger) can be achieved in approximately a maximum of five minutes.

The scanner configuration is stored in an EEPROM included in the plug. When connecting a scanner, the configuration is downloaded automatically. The controller is preloaded with all the necessary parameters, so replacement can be facilitated in less than 10 minutes.

Reading Redundancy The reading gates are designed to give highest read rates. Highest read rates can be achieved only by using a system configuration with a uniform coverage of reading zones. This can be achieved by using a high number of scan heads.

The high number of scan heads results in an optimum Read redundancy. A typical loss of read rate is 0.5 percent to 1 percent in case of a single scanner failure. Even in case of a double scanner failure, the read rate will typically not be decreased more than 5 percent.

Features Of The System • Use of an industrial controller.

• Central access to all scanners via controller.

• Service and maintenance tools integrated in the remote diagnostics tool.

• Extended display for system relevant information: – Scanner read rate statistics – Total read rate statistics – Daily read rate statistics • Adjustable and adaptable for T-Code and Linear-Code.

• Adjustable and adaptable for belt conveyors and tray sorter.

• Hundred percent redundant design.

• High performance due to uniform coverage of reading zone.

• Use of the same scanner type for any configuration.

• Use of quick release brackets for easy scanner replacement.

• Flexible mechanical construction.

• Low maintenance costs.

• Highest read rates due to optimised system design regarding number of scan heads and geometrical position.

• High read redundancy (Typical loss of read rate is less then 1 percent in case of a single scanner failure).

• Improved read rates due to adaptive code assignment.

Minimal Maintenance Effort The airport reading gates are designed to be maintenance free. There is no re-calibration required for the

Encoder

Object detection (Photo eye)

CAN Bus / CAN Open Protocol Terminator Controller OTS400 Host Connection CLV490

CLV490

CLV490

Basic System Design

Encoder 1 Encoder 2

Object detection 1 (photo eye) Object detection 2 (photo eye)

Controller OTS400 #1 & 24V

Host 1/2

CAN Bus / CAN Open Protocol & 24V #1 Terminator

HOST 1

CLV490 #1

CLV490 #2 ....

Controller OTS400 #2 & 24V HOST 2

CLV490 #n Terminator

CAN Bus / CAN Open Protocol & 24V #2 RDT400 (redundant)

Redundant System Design

optical heads and their position is fixed by the quick release brackets.

Ease of access is greatly improved by the use of small, light optical heads unhindered by ambient light protective screens.

All the connections to the code reader heads, and the controlling light beam switches are plug and socket.

The system’s control cabinet is free standing and can be mounted in such a position as to allow easy access to logically arrange internal wiring connections via the hinged and glass fronted door.

T h e c o d e re a d e r h e a d s d o require varying periodical cleaning depending upon their position in the configuration. For example, the heads

positioned underneath the conveyor would attract more debris that the overhead ones.

To assist in the programming of this cleaning function, the monitoring PC has a built in threshold monitor which gives an alarm output when an individual head falls below the normal percentage read rate.

The airport luggage identification system reaches documented reading rates of more than 98 percent for check-in baggage and figures around 95 percent for transfer baggage. This high reading performance materialises – despite heavily fluctuating barcode qualities on the IATA labels.

ENQUIRY NO. 8402 Dec/Jan 2009 | industrial automation asia 47

sector spotlight

t I g n i g n i W

Aerospace:

The wing-assembly operation for the Airbus A380 involves panel fabrication, wing-panel manipulation, wingpanel assembly, and undercarriage reinforcement. By Doug Luedtke, district sales manager, Bosch Rexroth

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le c t roimpac t of Mu k ilte o, Wa s h i n g t o n , i s t h e p r i m e contractor for supply ing automation tools to the Airbus plant in Broughton, UK, which assembles the wings of the Airbus A380, the world’s largest aircraft.

The assembly process occurs in several phases: 1) wingpanel assembly (Stage 00), which employs four 165 metre long automated wing-skin production lines using Electroimpact’s E4380 riveting-bolting machines; 2) wing-panel manipulators, which use servo hydraulic arms to position the panels for the next stage; 3) wingassembly production (Stage 01), which uses a massive four-story-high jig that incorporates Electroimpact’s HAWDE (Horizontal Automated Wing Drilling Equipment), a portable CNC 48 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

drilling machine and hydraulically operated remote tool/worker-access platforms. This equipment works in conjunction with the GRAWDE (Gear Rib Automated Wing Drilling Equipment) mobile system used for attaching the undercarriage to the lower wing.

Electroimpact collaborated with Rexroth to provide hydraulic and linear-motion solutions to meet technology specifications and schedule requirements. Electroimpact needed to phase in delivery of machinery as the facility ramped up operations to position, drill, rivet, and bolt the approximately 180,000 holes needed to produce a single Airbus 380 wing box.

Thanks to a high level of automation, the Broughton plant can employ a process flow model to produce four pairs of wings a month.

Scope Of The Challenge The wing manufacturing process for the A380 consists of creating a framework from spars and ribs — the wing structure — which is eventually covered with a skin of metal panels.

Spars run the length of the wing. In addition to front and rear spars, an immense spar runs down the centre.

Ribs cross the spars, extending from the leading to the trailing edges of the wing. Panels, which consist of an aluminum alloy skin reinforced by stringers, are then attached to this framework.

The panels are produced concurrently in a separate operation.

First, skins are formed to the proper curvature. Stringers are made to fit that contour, then are attached to the skin to ensure proper shape and strength by the E4380 machines in the Stage 00 cell. The A380’s upper wing uses the largest single skin, which is 111 feet long.

T h e c o m p l e t e d p a n e l s a re then moved to the structure for assembly. After being loaded into a jig, the panels are positioned, drilled, countersunk, riveted or bolted with titanium lockbolts onto the pre-drilled framework.

The entire process is both labour and automation intensive - a complete ‘wing box’ takes weeks to produce.

Stages Of Wing Construction “The assembly process is done in two stages,” explains Electroimpact’s Ben Hempstead. “For the initial stage, which Airbus calls Stage 00, Electroimpact provided four lines of fixtures for building up the upper and lower wing panels. This is a highly automated process in which riveting-bolting machines traverse the panels attaching stringers to the skin.

Virtually no manual labour is required in this cell.”

Next, the panels are moved to the structural wing-assembly process. The huge size of a completed panel — up to 111 feet long and weighing 8,818 pounds — poses a big problem. “Using cranes doesn’t work,” says Electroimpact’s Ted Karagias. “The wing panels are distorted when suspended from the cranes.”

Instead, Electroimpact devised a multi-arm manipulator to maintain the panel’s proper form and provide precise positional control while presenting the panel to the wing structure for fastening.

The Stage 01 structural-wing assembly process is more labour intensive than the Stage 00 operation.

The assembled skin panels are positioned by the manipulator into four storey high jigs, which contain other wing parts — ribs, spars, leading and trailing edges. For the upper wing, a combination of mobile drilling machinery (HAWDE) and manpower accessibility is required over the large surface area of the upper wing panels.

For the lower wing, holes as large as 1.25 inches in diameter are drilled for bolting the lower wingskins to undercarriage reinforcements.

Wing Panel Assembly Acco rd i n g to H e mp s te a d , “ We faced several challenges in this programme, namely how to bring a fixture of stringers and machined skin panels together in a precise build configuration, while an automated machine tool fastens the components into a skin panel assembly. At this stage, speed, accuracy, and operator

safety are critical to this success.”

Each wing surface is comprised of five panel assemblies, 20 panels total.

The Airbus Stage 00 facility produces 16 of these panels.

Traditionally, these panel assemblies were built on manual jigs, requiring many skilled workers to locate and drill holes, pull components apart for deburring and cleaning, apply sealant, and insert two-piece lockbolt fasteners. Panel assemblies were then transported to a riveting machine for final rivet installation. Production rates were limited by the number of jigs in production, worker access and speed, and hole quality and rework requirements. Finished panel quality was also limited by how well the fixture held the components in proper contour.

But Electroimpact believed there was a better way. “Building on our previous work for the Broughton facility, we ended up expanding the system’s performance envelope and accuracy of earlier panel production machinery,” says Hempstead. “The result is a new generation of wing panel machines. Our design goal was to enable one operator to set up, load NC tapes, verify accuracy, and configure the fixtures.”

For the Airbus A380 panel

Massive, multi-arm manipulator maintains proper wing panel shape during transfer to the Stage 01 jig.

production facility, Electroimpact built four machine lines, each with two machines for upper and lower surface panels. Each line includes

A view of the E4380 machine and Stage 00 jigs.

Dec/Jan 2009 | industrial automation asia 49

sector spotlight three fixtures, where four panels are loaded. The jigs hold the components in accurate form and location while the automated machines drill, rivet, and bolt the components together.

Sealant is applied to the components during the jig load. No temporary fasteners are used.

Thus after fastening, the wing panel assemblies are complete. No interim operations are needed to clean and deburr. The oneup assembly process reduces handling damage and positioning inaccuracies (datum errors). The machines can install rivets and bolts in diameters of 1/4 to 1/2 inch, with a stack range up to 2.5 inches. Automated cold working, hole probing, countersink sealing, and collar installation are all included.

Panel Installation After the wing panels are produced, they must be moved to the wingstructure jigs. Because the largest panel is up to 111 feet long, the huge scale creates a big material handling problem.

To meet this challenge, Theodore Karagias of Electroimpact was called upon. Instead of cranes, Electroimpact created an array of six coordinated servo hydraulic arms that engages the panel along its entire length.

The entire process is both labour and automation intensive - a complete ‘wing box’ takes weeks to produce.

According to Karagias handling a wing panel with multiple support points is very difficult. “Basically you have a statically indeterminate system.

The panels will twist, bend, and kick as they react to the forces introduced by lifting equipment.”

“To overcome this problem, two of the six arms control the vertical position of the panel,” says Karagias.

“The other four arms act as slaves imparting a constant programmed force upon the wing panel. That way, when the positioning arms are commanded to move either up or down, the load-seeking arms follow along to maintain the panel’s form.”

The primary axis of movement is maintained in closed-loop servo control by a Rexroth HNC 100 servo hydraulic controller. The HNC integrates an SSI linear scale, load cell, and a Rexroth servo solenoid valve. This configuration provides fine position control with seamless transition

between position and force control.

According to Karagias, the servo axis provides exceptional control over panel position, and the Rexroth HNC controller imparts several important system benefits, namely: • Reducing the statically indeterminate problem to a determinate one, allowing flexible wing panels to move as if they are a rigid part.

• Controlling distribution of force imparted upon the wing panel to control the panel’s shape and how it is presented to the wing structure.

• Simplifying system level PLC l o g i c a n d p o s i t i o n c o n t ro l instructions.

• Allowing direct access to all critical system components and providing servo control via the SSI port using analogue and digital I/O, Profibus, and CANbus fieldbuses, regardless of PLC scan rates or network speeds.

Wing Structure Assembly After the wing panels are loaded in the Stage 01 jig, two operations are performed: 1) fastening the wing panels to the rib and spar structure, which requires automated drilling, bolting, and positioning employing Electroimpact’s HAWDE machine; and 2) attaching the undercarriage reinforcement through the lower wing skin, which uses Electroimpact’s GRAWDE system.

The E4380 wing panel machine attaches stringers to the skin in the stage 00 cell.

50 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

• HAWDE Airbus approached Electroimpact to automate wing-panel fastening to the wing structure.

Traditionally, this task is done by drilling, bolting and positioning the panels manually. Automating the process meant overcoming

several challenges with unique solutions.

“The basic challenge was how to transport equipment from jig to jig between port and starboard wings, while accommodating necessary manual work on all ver tical levels,” says Ryan Haldimann of Electroimpact’s HAWDE team. “In effect, the machine tool needed to be transported along Y (vertical) and X (horizontal) directions of travel, similar to a tool head in a gigantic CNC machine.”

Electroimpact created the HAWDE machine — a portable unit that can travel around a panel section by using elements integrated into each jig. To give workers access all around the wing structure, the jig incorporates ‘flip’ flooring. Each flip floor consists of a small platform for worker access, which is pivoted up when the completed wing is removed. A single jig uses 150 flip floors, each employing a Rexroth hydraulic cylinder. Ultimately, four jigs will be in use, requiring 600 Rexroth cylinders.

Because Electroimpact is responsible for both the jig and the HAWDE unit, an unprecedented level of integration was achieved.

Right from the initial concepts, all mobile elements of the machine were integrated into the jig. To move the 7000-lb machine from jig to jig, a transporter crane is used.

Level-to-level movement employs an elevator that is capable of aligning the machine beds to within 0.005 inch.

In addition to facilitating worker access, the HAWDE unit must drill holes in the wing where the flip floors are located. To reach areas of the wing where flooring is normally located, the machine performs a ‘Y-Shift’, where the Y-column of the machine extends above its normal position by about one metre. This is accomplished using a Rexroth size 45 roller rail system for guiding, and a hydraulic cylinder for lifting the floor.

The custom built HAWDE machine speeds wing panel production.

Movement along the X axis uses a square rail guide way and a gear rack. All other axes use traditional linear and rotational bearings.

The machine incorporates a number of tools: a drill spindle capable of up to 7,000 rpm in 1/4 to 5/8-inch diameters, a bolt inserter for inserting slave fasteners, a hole probe for measuring hole diameters and a camera for synchronising the machine to positioning (datum) holes in the wing.

• GRAWDE Concurrent with wing-panel attachment, Stage 01 production also involves attaching the undercarriage reinforcing and wing skins to the landing gear structure.

Titanium flathead bolts up to 1.25-inch in diameter are inserted through a stack of materials up to four inches thick.

In conjunction with the Airbus UK team, Electroimpact developed a mobile automated drilling system for the A380 undercarriage a r e a — t h e G R AW D E . T h e programme involved an extensive cutter development effort. The machine can drill up to 1.25-inchdiameter holes with countersink in a single operation and 12 different

wing surfaces in total.

Similar in design to a five-axis post mill, the GRAWDE uses a Rexroth roller rail for the X, Y, and Z axes. The Y and Z axes use Rexroth ball screws.

T h e G R AW D E m a c h i n e pushes on the parts being drilled with a specialised pressure foot to stabilise the wing skin while drilling. Sensors or preprogrammed angles ensure the holes are drilled normal to the curved aerodynamic surface.

A s w i t h H AW D E , i t w a s important to integrate the machine with the wing jig. “Over 90 percent of the wing box build is manual,” Brent Thayer, the Electroimpact engineer in charge o f a u t o m a t i n g t h i s p ro c e s s emphasises. “So an ergonomic design that facilitates manual work access is a must.

“Because the machine needs to drill holes near the factory floor level, the top of the machine beds are located below grade.

Bi-fold decking at the factory floor level covers the machine b e d s a n d p ro v i d e s p ro p e r ergonomic work zones for manual operations.”

ENQUIRY NO. 8403 Dec/Jan 2009 | industrial automation asia 51

products & Services ABB: Busbar Protection System ABB’s high-speed substation busbar protection system for utility and industrial power sy ste m s is ba se d on t he compa ny’s R E F615 feeder protection relay with native support for the IEC 61850 sta nda rd ‘Communication net work s a nd system s in substations’ and its GOOSE services.

The REF615 feeder protection relay offers short-circuit, time overcurrent and thermal overload protection. It also features directional and non-directional earth-fault protection, sensitive earth-fault protection (SEF) and sophisticated transient-measuring earth-fault protection including detection of intermittent earth-faults in cable networks.

Furthermore, the relay possesses three-pole autoreclose capability and basic circuit-breaker control functionality. Optionally, the relay can be enhanced with a three-channel arc-fault protection unit.

Arc Informatique: SCADA Software

The latest version of PcVue software from ARC Informatique is totally compatible with AutoCAD, and enables the conversion of FactoryLink data. It also supports VMware, which allows a single PC to manage several virtual machines, where before several dozen machines were needed.

With version V.8.2, PcVue integrates the existing data of old control platforms, such as FactoryLink, as well as AutoCAD files and more general files (.dwg or .dxf).

The Web services connectors are improved through an open web connection interface that allows third party applications, such as ERP or MES, to connect to PcVue V.8.2, independently of the number of machines or their geographic location.

Enquiry no. 8601

Enquiry no. 8603

Advantech: Embedded Automation Controller

Ashtead: Inspection System

Advantech’s UNO-4678 fanless embedded automation controller has an onboard Celeron M 1 GHz processor and 512 MB of memory. There are eight isolated RS-232/422/485 ports with automatic flow control and three 10/100Base-T RJ-45 ports.

The UNO-4678 supports Lm sensor which can retrieve CPU and board temperatures for monitoring purposes.

Other features include: two USB ports, one type I/II CF card, Windows CE 5.0 and Windows XP Embedded ready solution, Windows 2000/XP driver ready and Linux driver support, Windows XP Embedded (SP2) ready platform with write protection (EWF) onboard system, and I/O LED indicators.

Front panel LEDs are for monitoring port status and for monitoring operation, administration, and maintenance status.

The XL Go videoprobe system, an addition to Ashtead’s rental fleet of remote visual inspection equipment, features a high-output white LED and a VGA LCD screen and weighs less than 2 kg.

The XL Go can record up to 1GB of both video and stills images on the internal flash memory, backed up by two USB 2.0 ports and a VGA video out.

Other features i n c lu d e a 10 0 d e g minimum probe tip articulation, an IP55 rated dust and water re sista nce a nd a five but ton u se r i nte r face .

It is able to capture noncompressed bmps, compressed jpgs or mpeg video.

Enquiry no. 8602

52 industrial automation asia Dec/Jan 2009

Enquiry no. 8604

products & Services

Baumer: Load Cells

Fuji Electric: Inverter

Baumer’s load cells are characterised by accurate force absorption and precise, low-noise, dynamic signal processing during measuring tasks. Accuracy levels of 0.3 percent can be achieved. Their IP 65/IP 67 protection and stainless steel housing enable the sensor to be used in harsh environments. Diameters start at 32 mm.

The DLRx line of force measurement cells covers a force range of 0.5 - 100 kN). The S/G (strain gages) are arranged to compensate non-centrally applied forces. In addition, they can be used for both static or dynamic applications and can be employed to measure both compression and tension/compression.

Fuji Electric’s Frenic Mega inver ter, which ha s a design life of 10 years, features the following co nt ro l m e t ho d s: P G vector control, sendorless vector control, dynamic torque vector control and V/f control.

It ha s a n overload capacity of 200 percent for 3 s and 150 percent for 1 min. It has a speed control range of 1:1500 and current response of 500 Hz, and a speed response of 100 Hz and speed control accuracy of 0.01 percent.

Besides the port (RJ-45 connector) shared with the keypad, a RS-485 terminal is provided as a standard function. Two types of keypads are available: the multifunction keypad and the keypad with USB port.

Enquiry no. 8605

Enquiry no. 8607

Delta Tau: Motion Computer

Flir: Thermal Imagers

T h e Pow e r PM AC b y D e l t a Ta u employs a full Linux o p e r a t i n g s y s te m with a ha rd -rea l time kernel, creating a complete generalpurpose computing environment.

In virtually all aspects of the machine control, users have the choice between using the built-in algorithm and providing their own software, written in C or C++ and compiled with the publicdomain GNU compiler.

The Power PMAC supports the new 3rd-generation machine-interface ASIC. The ASIC supports quadrature encoders with hardware 1/T interpolation, as well as sinusoidal encoders and resolvers with hardware arctangent interpolation, and most of the common serial encoder protocols such as EnDat2.2TM and SSI, plus analogue, PWM, and pulse-and-direction outputs.

Built for in-house predictive maintenance, Flir System’s i60 thermal imager, has a 3.5” (89 mm) color LCD with an IR resolution of 180 x 180 pixels and a 2.3 megapixels visual resolution. It weighes 1.3 pounds (600g) and has a built-in laser LocatIRTM pointer.

The Fusion Picture in Picture (PIP) displays thermal image super-imposed over a digital image. It has an adjustable emissivity in camera and thermal sensitivity better than 0.1 deg C. Its battery allows 5 hours of continuous use. It comes with a 1 GB micro SD card, Li-ion rechargeable battery, power supply, Quick Report software, USB cable, lens cap, hand strap and heavy duty case.

Enquiry no. 8606

Enquiry no. 8608

Dec/Jan 2009 | industrial automation asia 53

products & Services

Ganter: Standard Machine Elements

Intermec: Mobile Computer

Corrosion resistance, hygiene and material quality are important properties in many areas, for instance in the pharmaceutical and the food industry, hospital e n g i n e e r i n g , w a te r a n d wa stewater systems, the packaging industry, conveyor eng ine er ing, me cha nica l engineering and plant construction.

Ga nter of Fur twa ngen supplies these industries with a range of standard stainless steel (Inox) elements such as machine, closing, fixture, connecting, drive, clamping and fixing elements.

The term Inox is used for rust and acid resistant steel grades. Stainless steel has a minimum 12 percent fraction of chromium dissolved in austenitic or ferritic mixed crystal solid solution. The effect is the forming of a thick protective coating of chromium oxide on the surface of the material.

Intermec’s CK3 mobile computer incorporates many capabilities including 1D a nd 2D ba rcode sca nning. It is offers high performance on poor quality and damaged barcodes. It features a 802.11a/b/g Wireless LAN Radio with Cisco Compatible Extensions (CCX ) certification and is VoIP communications supported.

It is sp e e ch re cog n it ion capable and has Bluetooth radio communications. It is able to be deployed in handheld or ‘gun’ formats, has a R FID reader option and offers support for a line of compatible Intermec mobile printers.

The CK3 operates on Windows Mobile 6.1 and has a complete line of accessories including a variety of docking stations, attachable scan handle, and a snap-on IP30 handheld RFID reader.

Enquiry no. 8609

Omnivision: Image Sensor

Igus: Plastic Cable Carrier

The Energy Chain ‘E4.350’ by igus, the largest-ever plastic cable carrier in the world, is wear proof, maintenance free and resistant to seawater and mineral oil.

The cable carrier is made from igus’ plastics and is corrosion resistant. The cable carrier has an internal height of approximately 14 inches and a variable inner width of eight inches to over three feet, giving a large internal capacity.

Large cables and hoses with diameters up to around 12 inches are ably guided by the plastic chain, with loads possible in the region of 70 pounds per foot. The E4.350 series will be available in 2009.

Enquiry no. 8610

54 industrial automation asia Dec/Jan 2009

Enquiry no. 8611

OmniVision Technologies’ 1/4inch, a l l d i g i t a l OV 7 710 VG A CameraChip sensor is used in a range of automotive vision systems, including display- ba sed a nd signa l processing applications.

The OV7710 incorporates a 640 x 480 pixel image array capable of operating at up to 30 frames per second (fps) and features a dual static overlay f u nc t io n e n a bl i n g o n - s c re e n reference frames and guiding systems for rear view and parking assist cameras.

The sensor technology uses complex algorithms to cancel fixed pattern noise (FPN), eliminate smearing and reduce blooming. It can operate in a temperature range from –40 deg C to +105 deg C. Other key features include its low power consumption, progressive scanning, external frame sync (Genlock) capability and support for both 10-bit raw data and 8-bit YUV/RGB outputs.

Enquiry no. 8612

products & Services products & Services

Omron: Field Network

Turck: Position Sensor

CompoNet, Omron’s sensor and actuator network, fulfills the requirements of applications using large numbers of simple sensors and actuators. A compliment to the family of the CIP networks, it utilises Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technology, providing a deterministic network with the ability to update large number of nodes.

Omron’s CX-Integrator software, a GUI interface, built with maintenance features, allows users to identify wiring errors, power failure or device malfunctions.

With varieties of slaves, IP54 slaves enable users to connect freely in the network without hassle. The design of SmartSlice IO remote terminal enable users the flexibility of a mixed of IO type: digital, analogue, thermocouple, high speed counter etc.

Turck’s WIM200 magnetic field sensor provides a measuring range of up to 200 mm. It consists of up to 50 Hall elements and a micro-processor that processes the input data. The sensor is immune to external magnetic fields of limited intensity.

The sensor’s output signal is linear and independent of the magnet’s direction within the cylinder. In this way, the characteristic line can be changed from 0-10 volt to 10-0 volt by simply turning the sensor over. An additional in-range function detects whether the magnet is within measuring range or not, and where it has left the effective range.

Enquiry no. 8613 6613

Enquiry no. 8615

Siemens: Laser Scanners

Advertisement

Siemens’ Simatic FS660 SR (short range) laser scanner is suitable for safety-related use in small protection zones of up to 2.15 m. The Simatic FS670 laser sca nner for motion monitoring has been specially designed for transfer carriages.

Typical applications for the Simatic FS660 SR include low-speed driverless transport systems of up to 2 m with a short braking path. The Simatic FS670 calculates positioning distances and speeds. It monitors as many as six different speeds and can automatically correct the selected protection zone.

Both scanners are certified according to Type 3 as per IEC/EN 61496-1 and -3, SIL 2 as per IEC 61508 and PL d as per EN ISO 13849. They are parameterised using the LS4Soft software.

Enquiry no. 8614

Mini dimensions, maxi operation

H

igh-tech in mini format: the W4S-3 photoelectric switch is the powerful solution wherever major demands are made and mounting space is limited. This is the first scanner of its class to offer a second sender LED for spatial detection, and thus unambiguous differentiation between object and background – regardless of whether the object is bright, jet black, transparent, reflective, smooth, curved or structured.

Simple handing offers more advantages: the 5-position potentiometer permits precise adjustment of the scanning distance, a clearly visible light spot allows rapid and easy alignment. And the device autonomously signals when the reflector needs cleaning. W4S-3 – a really big little sensor.

Enquiry no. 8616

Dec/Jan 2009 | industrial automation asia 55

EVENT review

Globaltronics 2008

lobaltronics 2008 closed on September 12 to a flurry of deals that demonstrated the electronics manufacturing industry’s resilience amidst the grim outlook of the global economy. Close to US$40 million worth of deals are expected to be transacted and carried out over a 12-month period.

A total of 9,881 attendees from 28 countries representing the different electronics manufacturing segments congregated at the heart of the exhibition for the electronics manufacturing industry to network and do business.

Held over a four-day period from 9–12 September, visitors saw more

than 62 companies showcasing new, technologically-advanced products designed to enhance business efficiency.

Attendees also participated in the Embedded Systems Seminar, which presented a broad array of topics and exhibits from leading companies in the embedded systems field, as well as the Globaltronics Supply Chain and Logistics Conference, where industry professionals shared their views on the latest developments and issues.

Held once ever y two years, Globaltronics 2010 is scheduled to take place from September 15–17 at Suntec Convention Centre in Singapore.

Suntec Convention Centre Singapore September 9 – 12, 2008 ENQUIRY NO. 8701

NI Roundtable

H

eld in conjuction with Globaltronics was a media roundtable jointly organised by National Instruments and Reed Exhibitions and hosted by Chandran Nair, MD, NI ASEAN and Tracy Khoo, project director, Reed exhibitions.

The agenda of the roundtable included the launch of new NI products, namely the 6.6 GHz PXI Express RF vector signal analyser and vector signal generator, the latest version of the graphical system design software platform LabView 8.6 and Wi-Fi and Ethernet data acquisition devices, NI’s current business outlook and future plans and a discussion on the overall outlook on the industry and future developments of the electronics manufacturing industry in Asia.

ENQUIRY NO. 8702

56 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

ENQUIRY NO. 871

EVENT review

ndustrial Automation Vietnam 2008, closed on a positive note on September 19. The three-day show attracted 61 participating companies and an audience of 4,570 professional visitors.

The strong response reflects the opportunities automation offers to manufacturers to assist in maintaining cost and quality control and overcoming shortages of trained personnel. The rapid growth rates of Vietnam in excess of 7.5 percent in recent years have created challenges, which are accelerating the introduction of the latest technologies.

Foreign Direct Investment pledges totalling US$46.3 billion in the first eight months of 2008, combined with relocation of manufacturing operations from China are added factors driving opportunity for suppliers of industrial automation solutions.

Leading organisations at the show included Autonics, Camozzi, Festo, IDEC, Profibus, Siemens and Rittal.

Commenting on the attendance at the event, Manuel Huesken, director international sales, Rittal & Co said: “We have been very busy and have distributed all 2,000 brochures in the first two and a half days of the show.

We are very pleased with the response and look forward to participating in

Industrial Automation

Vietnam Industrial Automation Vietnam 2009.”

Philip Tan, chief representative from Festo commented: “As this is our first IA show for six years, we feel that there is a great improvement since then. We look forward to participating in future similar shows.”

“Industries in Vietnam are moving from no automation to high end automation to improve quality and efficiency and acceptance of international standards,” said Volker Schulz, secretary of Profibus, Southeast Asia.

The 2008 show was co-located with shows for the electrical engineering, building installation and security sectors. In response to the demand for an annual event the organisers have announced the dates of the second show to be September 16-18, 2009.

The show will be held in conjunction with PIA Vietnam, the country’s key event for process engineering, instrumentation and laborator y equipment. The combined event will be held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Ho Chi Minh City International Exhibition & Convention Centre Vietnam September 17 – 19, 2008

ENQUIRY NO. 8703 58 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

15 - 18 JULY 2009

Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Malaysia

... g n i ur rs Feat Builde ent hine ocurem c a M & Pr ons i s s e e g Villa ecast S For Endorsed By:

Official Media Partner:

Supporting Media Partners:

Official Hotel:

Organised By: MALAYSIAN EXHIBITION SERVICES SDN BHD

asia

Supported By:

Manufacturing Automation, Instrumentation & Process Controls

MINISTRY OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

MALAYSIA EXTERNAL TRADE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

(58243-X)

FMM-AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY GROUP (FMM-ATIG)

www.asean-ia.com

REPLY COUPON

Please send me more information on exhibiting at IA 2009.

Name

Please send me more information on visiting IA 2009.

Position :

For further information, please call / fax to : 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: ETM - IAA

:

Company : Address : OR ATTACH YOUR BUSINESS CARD HERE

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EVENT review

International

Energy Week

Singapore’s inaugural International Energy Week illustrated the country’s intent to become the centre for developing energy policies and strategies.

By Augustine Quek

he International Energy Week (IEW) proved to be a week of insightful and exciting seminars, workshops and exhibitions. The highlight of the week, as well as the flagship event of the IEW was the Singapore Energy Conference, which was held from November 4-5. Jointly organised by the Energy Market Authority (EMA) and Energy Studies Institute (ESI), the two day conference was filled with informative and enlightening lectures, speeches and forums.

DPM Prof S Jayakumar

60 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

Urban Living It was opened by Deputy Prime Minister Prof S Jayakumar, whose speech ‘Energy in an Age of Cities’ highlighted the challenges and opportunities of energy supply and consumption of cities in the future. According to him, 60 percent of the world’s population will live in cities by 2030.

This also marks the first time in human

history when majority of the world’s population are urbanised. This set the tone for the entire conference.

The conference theme ‘Powering Cities for the Future’ also resonated throughout the entire week, addressing how people living in cities, like Singapore, can live sustainably without exceeding the planet’s limits. Energy resource consumption, including oil, gas and coal were featured alongside renewable energy sources, like wind, solar and biofuels.

Topic Of Sustainability In several roundtable forums that were run concurrently later, several questions were posed and discussed.

Why do cities want to be sustainable?

In what ways can they be sustainable and how? It became clear during the discussions that sustainable has two meanings – self-sufficient in terms of resource needs and ecological damage from urban activities. Under the first

Minister for Trade & Industry Mr Lim Hng Kiang

definition of sustainability, it is likely that cities can never be sustainable in some areas, such as food production.

Over the five days of discussions, it has also emerged that some resourcescared cities like Singapore would not be sustainable in energy supply.

This is because while cities currently cover only 2 percent of the Earth’s surface, they account for 75 percent of the world’s energy consumption. The disproportionately large consumption is due to two main characteristics of cities: their routine functions require vast quantities of energy (lighting, heating/cooling, transportation etc) and its economic and social activities consume energy throughout the 24-hour day.

However, it was revealed that cities can have at least one major positive impact on the environment.

Cities can engage in research and development (R&D) activities that promote sustainability. Singapore will contribute in various ways in this respect.

Green Initiatives On the opening night, Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang revealed a slew of initiatives to promote energy research in Singapore.

The National Research Foundation (NRF) will use S$170 million (US$112

million) for clean energy research, including fuel cells, hydrogen storage and biofuels, to be undertaken by A*Star and various institutes of higher learning. The Clean Energy Programme Office (CEPO) has also launched the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) at the National University of Singapore.

Several test-bedding schemes are also well underway, including the Solar Capability Scheme and Singapore’s first Zero Energy Building, currently being retro-fitted at the Building and Construction Agency Academy.

In addition, a new Energy Research and Development Fund (ERDF) have been set up by the Energy Market Authority of Singapore (EMA), with S$25 million to be spent over the next five years on small scale projects, aimed at developing capabilities and knowledge. An example, cited by the minister, is the development and optimisation of electric vehicle’s supporting infrastructure.

Nuclear Power Another likely trend in the future that will impact Singapore was discussed in another public forum, ‘Should Southeast Asia Go Nuclear?’ held at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. There, several experts weighed in on the issue of nuclear power

as alternative source of power for Southeast Asian (SEA) countries.

According to Fumio Murata, technology executive, head of International Cooperation Office Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy, nuclear energy has several advantages. It is less expensive compared to renewable, it uses less land area and its clean compared to fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) and generates electricity at very high efficient ratios. However, Tara Buakamsri, Thailand’s campaign manager for Greenpeace Southeast Asia does not believe that SEA can solve its environmental problems with nuclear power. He cites an IEA report, which states that continuous building of 32 nuclear power plants worldwide every year until 2015 will see a mere 6 percent reduction in carbon emissions from energy production. In addition, the legacy of radioactive nuclear wastes, currently at 200,000 tonnes worldwide, will continue to haunt our descendents for many millennia.

It was T S Gopi Rethinaraj, assistant professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, which summed the case for SEA. There are technological benefits in pursuing nuclear energy, which develops human resources and expands industrial base and infrastructures. This can be used for future needs even if no plants are to be build currently. However, nuclear waste cannot be processed in SEA and have to exported. The existing weak regulatory institutions and a culture of negligence also hampers a successful nuclear programme. In the short run, cheaper alternatives exists, coal, natural gas and even geothermal, would make nuclear uneconomical.

Thus, using mature technologies like nuclear power or engaging in R&D for new ones, IEW has become an important event not just for experts in the field, but also for all decision makers in energy consumption in Singapore.

Raffles City Convention Centre Singapore November 3 – 7, 2008 ENQUIRY NO. 8704

Dec/Jan 2009 | industrial automation asia 61

EVENT PREVIEW

China EPower 2009

aunched in 2001, China EPower - The China International Electric Power & Electric Engineering Technology Exhibition is a professional power exhibition annually held in Shanghai, China, covering power generation, power transmission and distribution, electric power automation, electric power construction, electric factory energy conservation and emission reduction and electric products, etc.

The past eight shows have drawn the participation of more than 2,500 exhibitors and 200,000 visitors from more than 30 countries and regions.

The ninth China International Electric Power & Electric Engineering Technology Exhibition will be held on April 23–25, 2009 at Intex Shanghai, providing 15,000 sq m. It is estimated that the show will attract the participation of 400 exhibitors and 18,000 target visitors from home and abroad.

Besides displaying the equipment and technologies, a series of seminars by experts and individual enterprises will be held in conjunction with the show. The concurrent China Power Forum 2009 focusing on technologies and design of electric power and other relative issues is expected to draw a number of high level visitors and industry players worldwide.

Intex Shanghai China April 23 – 25, 2009 ENQUIRY NO. 8705

Lean Logistics & Distribution Conference rganised by Marcus Evans, the Lean Logistics & Distribution Conference will be held from March 2–3, 2009 in Singapore. The venue will be set at a date closer to the event.

Lean Thinking is defined as the dynamic, knowledge-driven and customer-focused process through which people in an enterprise continuously eliminate waste with the goal of creating value. It is now an established fundamental approach for the world-class manufacture, distribution, and service sectors.

Lean Logistics and Distribution is a natural extension of eliminating waste in the material replenishment process by synchronising or linking the entire value chain.

About The Conference Lean does not apply to just manufacturing processes alone, it’s fundamental idea could be applied globally for various industries

62 industrial automation asia | Dec/Jan 2009

eg: banking or financial services, healthcare, oil and gas etc.

Assuming significant progress on economic and investment law reforms, opportunities should abound in the telecommunications, transportation, oil and gas, electric power, water treatment and sanitation and engineering sectors.

Large infrastructure and reconstruction projects should drive increasing demand for all types of construction machinery and building materials.

Main Topics Attendees of the event can expect to profit from the following subjects: • Adapting to Lean to maintain the profitability of an organisation by reducing wastage and enhancing value.

• Applying Lean principles to take wasted time and steps out of transactional, receiving, stocking, picking, packing, and shipping processes results in improved safety, quality, delivery and cost.

• Identifying the ways to improve companies’ credibility by adopting lean approach.

• Adhering to provisioned take time maintains the KPI therefore improves the credibility of a company by maintaining or exceeding customers expectation thus attracting more business opportunities.

• Focusing on effective customisation of useful tools for a successful project management through Lean.

• Lean logistics and distribution improves safety, quality, on-time delivery and cost through Kaizen and the implementation of Lean disciplines.

• Building versatile leadership ability to maximise productivity while minimising wastage with Lean.

Singapore March 2 – 3, 2009

ENQUIRY NO. 8706

CalendarOf Events2009 January 21 – 22 Indonesia Biofuels

Hotel Borobudur Jakarta, Indonesia The Asia Business Forum Email: iza.jumri@abf.com.sg Web: www.abf-asia.com

February 8 – 11 SolidWorks World 2009

Swan & Dolphin Hotel Orlando, Florida, USA SolidWorks Email: swworldinfo@solidworks.com Web: www.solidworks.com

MARCH 17 – 19 Global Security Asia

Singapore Expo GSA Exhibitions Email: shirley@globalsecasia.com Web: globalsecasia.com

22 – 24 RFID World Asia 2009

Suntec, Singapore Terrapinn Email: sylwin.ang@terrapinn.com Web: www.terrapinn.com

25 –28 MTA 2009

Singapore Expo Singapore Exhibition Services Email: lim@sesallworld.com Web: www.mta-asia.com

30 – 3 (Apr) Asia Power & Energy Congress

Raffles City Convention Centre Singapore Terrapinn Email: joan.ong@terrapinn.com Web: www.terrapinn.com

April

23 – 25 China EPower 2009

Intex Shanghai China MP Zhongmao International (Shanghai) Email: helen@zhongmao.com.cn Web: www.china-epower.com

May 6 – 10 MetalTech 2009

PWTC Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Trade-Link Exhibition Services Email: info@tradelink.com.my Web: www.tradelink.com.my

12 –13 World Engineering Congress 2009

Bangkok, Thailand Marcus Evans Email: Cindyc@marcusevanskl.com Web: www.worldengineeringcongress. com

13 – 17 Intermach 2009

BITEC Bangkok, Thailand CMP Media (Thailand) Email: intermach@cmpthailand.com Web: www.thai-exhibition.com

Hannover Fair Grounds Deutsche Messe Email: info@hf-singapore.com Web: www.hannovermesse.de

Singapore Expo Singapore Exhibition Services Email: pin@sesallworld.com Web: www.communicasia.com

18 – 20 E5 The Engineering Series

BITEC Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok Exhibition Services Email: elenex@besallworld.com Web: www.e5thailand.com

25 – 28 Assembly Technology

BITEC Bangkok, Thailand Reed Tradex Email: assemblytech@reedtradex.co.th Web: www.assemblytechexpo.com

September 16 – 18 Industrial Automation Vietnam 2009

Saigon Exhibition & Convention Centre Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Hong Kong Exhibition Services Email: exhibit@hkesallworld.com Web: www.iavietnam.com

20 – 22 Semicon Singapore 2009

Suntec, Singapore Semicon Singapore Email: cchan@semi.org Web: www.semiconsingapore.org

20 – 23 Renewable Energy Asia

BITEC Bangkok, Thailand CMP Media (Thailand) Email: naowarat@cmpthailand.com Web: www.thai-exhibition.com

JUNE 10 – 12 OGA 2009

20 – 24 Hannover Messe 2009

16 – 19 Communicasia 2009

KLCC Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Malasia Exhibition Services Email: ajones@mesallworld.com Web: www.oilandgas-asia.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

Dec/Jan 2009 industrial | industrial automation automation asia asia 63 63

Advertising Index

64

|

IndustrialAutomationAsia

ADVERTISING I N D E X

ADVERTISER

PAGE NO

ENQ NO

ADVANTECH CO. SINGAPORE PTE LTD

15

902

HEAD OFFICE

CEJN PRODUCTS FAR EAST PTE LTD

14

893

COEX

1

863

DAIFUKU MECHATRONICS (SINGAPORE) PTE LTD

9

898

IBC

694

FUJI ELECTRIC FA SINGAPORE PTE LTD

5

904

SINGAPORE Eastern TRADE MEDIA PTE LTD 1100 Lower Delta Road #04-02 EPL Building Singapore 169206 Tel: 65-6379 2888 Fax: 65-6379 2805/6379 2806

HITACHI ASIA PTE LTD

11

827

EXXON MOBIL ASIA PACIFIC

IGUS SINGAPORE PTE LTD

ADVERTISING SALES OFFICES

SINGAPORE: John Ng johnng@epl.com.sg

10 / 16

889 / 890

MALAYSIAN EXHIBITION SERVICES SDN BHD

37

897

MALAYSIAN EXHIBITION SERVICES SDN BHD

59

894

MARCUS EVANS (M) SDN BHD

29

895

MISUMI SOUTH EAST ASIA PTE LTD

OBC

901

MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC ASIA PTE LTD

7

905

MP ZHONGMAO INTERNATIONAL (SHANGHAI) PTE LTD

57

871

N-TRON

13

899

OMRON ASIA PACIFIC PTE LTD

12

900

PIAB ASIA PACIFIC PTE LTD

27

811

Young-Seoh Chinn Jes Media International Tel: 82-2-481 3411/3 Fax: 82-2-481 3414 jesmedia@unitel.co.kr

TAIWAN:

ROCKWELL AUTOMATION SOUTHEAST ASIA PTE LTD

IFC

896

3 / 55

903 / 8616

SM COMPONENTS

10

888

SINGAPORE EXHIBITION SERVICES PTE LTD

23

891

TURCK SINGAPORE PTE LTD

25

892

YAMATAKE

21

877

SICK AG

MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES JAPAN:

Ted Asoshina Echo Japan Corporation Tel: 81-3-32635065 Fax: 81-3-32342064 aso@echo-japan.co.jp

KOREA:

Robert Yu Worldwide Services Co Ltd Tel: 886-4-23251784 Fax: 886-4-23252967 sales@wwstaiwan.com The closing date for placing advertisements is not less than FOUR WEEKS before the date of publication.

Please contact our nearest advertising office for more details.

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