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MAY 2017 Vol. 64 Number 5

Features 24 Robots, humans collaborate on safety Cover Story: A new age of collaborative robots put people closer to technology, with risks, opportunities.

28 Robotic safety: What you don’t know Cover story: With robotic safety, what you don’t know CAN hurt you. Get what you need to know about robotic safety, terms, and standards affecting robotic implementations.

24 COVER: While moving a collaborative robot’s arm to “teach” it a task is an important part of collaboration, it’s not the same as hand guiding a robot, one of the four methods of collaborative operation: Courtesy: RIA/Yaskawa

30 Four things to remember about DCS migration At a refinery, chemical plant, or other process-related facility, the primary control system must operate efficiently, safely, and economically. If it doesn’t, perhaps it’s time for an upgrade.

33 IT, OT teams need to keep manufacturing systems running Security professionals in information technology (IT) and in operations technology (OT) must the manufacturer’s systems running at all times.

34 How to navigate the future of IIoT systems It’s critical to understand which IIoT connectivity technologies to use for each application in the IIoT space.

36 Control Engineering Salary and Career Survey Control Engineering salary and career survey research shows an average salary of $96,045 in 2017, up slightly from the 2016 results; job satisfaction continues among respondents. Lifelong learning remains critically important. Invest more in science, technology, engineering, and math education and in high-profile projects, respondents said.

43 Engineering advice: Get lifelong education, consider workplace strategies Control Engineering career and salary survey respondents offer advice on education, workplace strategies, attitude, and more.

45 Top 4 job-hunting tips Finding a job in engineering takes skill, focus, and persistence.

46 Defining and measuring project quality Using a standardized methodology to define project quality ensures deliverables fit customer specifications and receive high customer satisfaction when managing projects.

57 Digital Edition Exclusives Machine vision technologies boost warehouse efficiency, transparency Learning tough lessons from ICS attacks.

MAY 2017

CONTROL ENGINEERING

36 CONTROL ENGINEERING (ISSN 0010-8049, Vol. 64, No. 5, GST #123397457) is published 12x per year, Monthly by CFE Media, LLC, 1111 W. 22nd Street, Suite #250, Oak Brook, IL 60523. Jim Langhenry, Group Publisher /Co-Founder; Steve Rourke CEO/COO/ Co-Founder. CONTROL ENGINEERING copyright 2017 by CFE Media, LLC. All rights reserved. CONTROL ENGINEERING is a registered trademark of CFE Media, LLC used under license. Periodicals postage paid at Oak Brook, IL 60523 and additional mailing offices. Circulation records are maintained at CFE Media, LLC, 1111 W. 22nd Street, Suite #250, Oak Brook, IL 60523. E-mail: customerservice@cfemedia.com. Postmaster: send address changes to CONTROL ENGINEERING, 1111 W. 22nd Street, Suite #250, Oak Brook, IL 60523. Publications Mail Agreement No. 40685520. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: 1111 W. 22nd Street, Suite #250, Oak Brook, IL 60523. Email: customerservice@ cfemedia.com. Rates for nonqualified subscriptions, including all issues: USA, $150/yr; Canada/Mexico, $180/yr (includes 7% GST, GST#123397457); International air delivery $325/yr. Except for special issues where price changes are indicated, single copies are available for $30.00 US and $35.00 foreign. Please address all subscription mail to CONTROL ENGINEERING, 1111 W. 22nd Street, Suite #250, Oak Brook, IL 60523. Printed in the USA. CFE Media, LLC does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions in the material contained herein, regardless of whether such errors result from negligence, accident or any other cause whatsoever.

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Namur sensors may have the opposite contact action of existing simple dry contact position switches and require inverted control system logic.

Inside Process

â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Appears after page 48; Also, see the Digital Edition: www.controleng.com/DigitalEdition

P1 Signaling considerations for control system migrations Not every analog field instrument can be wired to any given analog input (AI) module, nor can any discrete output (DO) module be wired to any given discrete final control element.

P3 Understanding upstream and downstream pipe diameters for flow measurement While there are some creative ways to get flowmeters piped, certain installation best practices should be adhered to whenever possible.

Departments 8 Think Again Automation careers: Inspire, engage, teach.

10 Control Engineering International

Products

60 ABOVE: Automated checkweigher system; RIGHT: Differential measurement system; Also on page 60: Touchless rotary angle sensor series; Data logger; Power supplies for automation, process control

Sensors have Industrie 4.0 capabilities.

Integrator Update 12 Your most valuable asset: Managing your system integration business as an investment 14 The changing landscape for buyers and investors in growing technology markets

64 Back to Basics Six tips for testing motor insulation systems

News 16 18 18 19 20 22 22

Roundup: Hannover Messe 2017 collaboration Five positive IIoT impacts on manufacturing Frank Lamb joins Editorial Advisory Board.

61 ABOVE: Software package for schematic generation; RIGHT: Combustion analyzer for hazardous conditions; Also on page 61: Surface sensing temperature measurement; Rugged dc/dc converter; Ceramic chip resistors

Events and online headlines Faster automation and robots Services for obsolete electronics Cloud-based SaaS contact platform

www.controleng.com

62 LEFT: Radar level transmitters with diagnostics and instrument verification

CONTROL ENGINEERING

MAY 2017

| 5

More resources posted daily at:

MAY

IIoT

www.controleng.com

New Products

Control Systems

Process Manufacturing Discrete Manufacturing

System Integration

Manufacturers still not embracing IIoT There’s a lot more to read online. Go to www.controleng.com/news to read Control Engineering’s exclusive Web content. Six questions to ask when choosing an open-loop or closed-loop hydraulic system Scientists develop method to control water movement Shop floor marketplace emerges with Industrie 4.0 IIoT security a major concern, according to survey.

Control Engineering provides unique automation-related research: See more on the salary and career survey in this issue. Read other research summaries and sign up to download the full reports at www.controleng.com/ce-research.

NEWSLETTER: MACHINE CONTROL

Matrix drives reduce energy consumption for transporter system Keep up with the latest industry news by subscribing to Control Engineering’s 16 newsletters at www.controleng.com/newsletters: Motion controllers can adapt themselves Proof of concept, testing for integrated vision applications Alliance for robotics in manufacturing will improve innovation, industry growth.

Point, click, watch GAMS 2016: How Maintenance and Big Data Can Coexist The 2016 Global Automation and Manufacturing Summit (GAMS), presented by CFE Media, will bring together experts from all areas of the Industrial Internet of Things (lloT) to look at not just the current state of lloT but also at the potential benefits of deployment for the manufacturing industry.

Networking & Security

Info Management

Education & Training

Upcoming Webcast Series: Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) is a suite Webcasts of applications for the integrated management of core business processes, from manufacturing to distribution, finance and human resources, using a common process and data model. This webcast series, starting in March 2017, will focus on topics such as critical implementation, how ERP streamlines operations for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and when to move ERP to the cloud. Couldn’t catch a recent webcast? See it on-demand at www.controleng.com/webcasts.

Oil & Gas Engineering April issue Oil & Gas Engineering provides industry-specific solutions designed to maximize uptime and increase productivity through the use of industry best practices and new innovations, increase efficiency from the wellhead to the refinery by implementing automation and monitoring strategies, and maintain and improve safety for workers and the work environment. Read the digital edition at www.oilandgaseng.com

Read this on your tablet Tablet and digital editions of this publication have unique content for digital subscribers. This month has digital exclusives on: Machine vision technologies boost warehouse efficiency, transparency; Learning tough lessons from ICS attacks.

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MAY 2017

CONTROL ENGINEERING

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THINK AGAIN career help 1111 W. 22nd St. Suite 250, Oak Brook, IL 60523 630-571-4070, Fax 630-214-4504

Automation careers: Inspire, engage, teach To develop a workforce for an automated future provide inspiration about automation, engage youth and teach the next generation and others about how rewarding automation careers can be, including robotics, said advanced technology professionals at Automate 2017 in April.

Filling the skills gap in manufacturing requires inspiring potential candidates about automation, then engaging and teaching youth and others about rewards in manufacturing automation. More can be done to inspire young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers, including robotics and manufacturing. More than 300,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs are unfilled for lack of qualified candidates, said Ted Rozier, engineering development manager, Festo Didactic. Bob Doyle, Association for Advancing Automation (A3) media contact, introduced the Automate 2017 conference session, “Developing your workforce for an automated future.” Doyle said robots increase the number of jobs in manufacturing by increasing efficiency, competitiveness, and market growth. Rozier, in charge of designing equipment, technical education, and competence development for technology education in North America, said: “It gives me goosebumps when I peer into the future of automation technology” and how it’s adding productivity. In addition to training, Festo Didactic helps inspire STEM youth toward manufacturing by using innovative educational materials. Festo Bionic Learning Network displays fun technologies, such as automated animals, insects, and an exohand controller that moves a robotic hand. “Parents think manufacturing’s dark and gloomy, and there’s no future in it, but that’s just not so,” Rozier said, noting that 84% of executives agreed about a U.S. manufacturing MORE

ADVICE GO ONLINE See the career survey and advice coverage in this issue. Link to more on training, with photos, and more about robotics with this article online, search the headline at www.controleng.com. Also see www.bls.gov, www.nam.org, and www.robotics.org.

MAY 2017

CONTROL ENGINEERING

talent shortage, citing an inability to recruit and hire personnel with the right skill sets to match hiring needs. Association of Manufacturing Technology research points to opportunities in computer, mechanical, and electrical engineering. In North America, the greatest need is for service technicians. Mechatronics (combining computer science, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering) must be the foundation for the training, Rozier said. Hot areas include system integration, mobile robots, highly flexible transport, intelligent products, wireless communications, mobile devices, simulation, and programming. Robotic coworkers save jobs

Integrating robots as team members in plant-floor applications can add efficiency, increase quality, compete against low-cost countries, fill the skills gap, fill vacancies for mundane work, and reduce human hazards and injuries, explained Matthew Bush, cofounder of Hirebotics LLC, which provides robots to manufacturers as a service. Communicating the right message within companies about robots is important to alleviate apprehension, Bush said. Involve employees early and often when bringing in robots to provide valuable insights into the benefits. Throughout the process, think again about how robots are introduced and used, Bush advised, along with related communications. Any replacement is best by attrition. Seeing the need firsthand, Bush advocates for the mechatronics program at his local high school. Manufacturing technology experts, robotics and automation need to work together early and often. ce

Mark T. Hoske, Content Manager MHoske@CFEMedia.com

Content Specialists/Editorial

Mark T. Hoske, Content Manager 847-830-3215, MHoske@CFEMedia.com Jack Smith, Content Manager 630-907-1622, JSmith@CFEMedia.com senior contributing Kevin Parker, Senior Contributingeditor, Editor,IIoT, IIoT,O&GE OGE 630-890-9682, KParker@CFEMedia.com Emily Guenther, Associate Content Manager 630-571-4070 x2220, eguenther@cfemedia.com Amanda Pelliccione, Director of Research 631-320-0655, APelliccione@CFEMedia.com 978-302-3463, Joy Chang, Digital Project Manager 630-571-4070 x2225, JChang@CFEMedia.com Chris Vavra, Production Editor 630-571-4070 x2219, CVavra@CFEMedia.com

Contributing Content Specialists Frank J. Bartos, P.E., braunbart@sbcglobal.net Peter Welander, PWelander@CFEMedia.com Vance VanDoren, Ph.D., P.E., controleng@msn.com Suzanne Gill, Control Engineering Europe suzanne.gill@imlgroup.co.uk Ekaterina Kosareva, Control Engineering Russia ekaterina.kosareva@fsmedia.ru Wojciech Stasiak, Control Engineering Poland wojciech.stasiak@trademedia.us Lukáš Smelík, Control Engineering Czech Republic lukas.smelik@trademedia.us Aileen Jin, Control Engineering China aileenjin@cechina.cn

Publication Services

Jim Langhenry, Co-Founder/Publisher, CFE Media 630-571-4070, x2203; JLanghenry@CFEMedia.com Steve Rourke, Co-Founder, CFE Media 630-571-4070, x2204, SRourke@CFEMedia.com Trudy Kelly, Executive Assistant, 630-571-4070, x2205, TKelly@CFEMedia.com Elena Moeller-Younger, Marketing Manager 773-815-3795, EMYounger@CFEMedia.com Kristen Nimmo, Marketing Manager 630-571-4070, x2215, KNimmo@CFEMedia.com Brian Gross, Marketing Consultant, Global SI Database 630-571-4070, x2217, BGross@CFEMedia.com Michael Smith, Creative Director 630-779-8910, MSmith@CFEMedia.com Paul Brouch, Director of Operations 630-571-4070, x2208, PBrouch@CFEMedia.com Michael Rotz, Print Production Manager 717-766-0211 x4207, Fax: 717-506-7238 mike.rotz@frycomm.com Director Infogroup Targeting Solutions Maria Bartell, Account Director, Infogroup Targeting Solutions 847-378-2275, maria.bartell@infogroup.com 847-378-2275, maria.bartell@infogroup.com Rick Ellis, Audience Management Director Rick Ellis, Audience Management Director 303-246-1250, REllis@CFEMedia.com 303-246-1250, REllis@CFEMedia.com Letters to the editor: Please e-mail us your opinions to Letters to the editor: Please e-mail us your opinions to should MHoske@CFEMedia.com or fax 630-214-4504. Letters MHoske@CFEMedia.com or fax us at 630-214-4504. include name, company, and address, and may be edited. Letters should include name, company, and address, Information: For a Media Kit or Editorial Calendar, and may be edited for space and clarity. email Trudy Kelly at TKelly@CFEMedia.com. Information: For a Media Kit or Editorial Calendar, Marketing consultants: See ad index. email Trudy Kelly at TKelly@CFEMedia.com. Custom reprints, electronic: Brett Petillo Reprints Wright’s Media, 281-419-5725, bpetillo@wrightsmedia.com For custom reprints or electronic usage, contact: Brett Petillo, Wright’s MediaBoard www.controleng.com/EAB Editorial Advisory 281-419-5725, bpetillo@wrightsmedia.com Doug Bell, president, InterConnecting Automation, www.interconnectingautomation.com Publication Sales: ad index David Bishop, president andSee a founder Matrix Technologies, www.matrixti.com president, Diversified Technical Services Inc. Daniel E. Capano, Editorial Advisory Board of Stamford, CT, www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-capano-7b886bb0 www.controleng.com/EAB Frank Lamb, founder and owner David Bishop, president and a founder Automation Consulting LLC, www.automationllc.com Matrix Technologies, www.matrixti.com Joe Joe Martin, Martin, president president and and founder founder Martin Martin Control Control Systems, Systems, www.martincsi.com www.martincsi.com Rick Rick Pierro, Pierro, president president and and co-founder co-founder Superior Superior Controls, Controls, www.superiorcontrols.com www.superiorcontrols.com Mark Mark Voigtmann, Voigtmann, partner, partner, automation automation practice practice lead lead Faegre www.FaegreBD.com Faegre Baker Baker Daniels, Daniels, www.FaegreBD.com\ www.controleng.com

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CONTROL ENGINEERING international

Sensors have Industrie 4.0 capabilities A sensor’s process data and its metadata can be transferred directly to the Azure Cloud via OPC UA without an intermediate gateway, after collaboration between Microsoft and Leuze electronic, as explained by Control Engineering Europe.

The result of collaboration between

‘

The lowest level device can be addressed from the cloud without the need for another

Moving data

’

gateway. MORE

ADVICE

KEY CONCEPTS Cooperation between Microsoft and Leuze resulted in a sensor that communicates with the Microsoft Azure cloud. Sensor-cloud-communications help enable the goals of Industrie 4.0 OPC UA helps with communication. GO ONLINE www.controleng.com/international The April 3 article, “A sensor solution with Industrie 4.0 capabilities” has more information. www.controlengeurope.com CONSIDER THIS How can your sensor communications better enable Industrie 4.0 or Industrial Internet of Things?

MAY 2017

Microsoft and Leuze electronic GmbH has been the creation of a sensor whose process data and metadata can be transferred directly to the Microsoft Azure Cloud via OPC UA from the OPC Foundation without the need for an intermediate gateway. A prerequisite for high data transparency is an intelligent and standardized data interface. However, this alone is not enough to be able to realize Industrie 4.0 systems. The Reference Architecture Model of Industrie 4.0 (RAMI) model of the Industrie 4.0 platform offers a representation for industry. RAMI depicts the properties of Industrie 4.0 components in three dimensions. In the product life cycle description, product data is collected. In the next dimension, a hierarchy is recorded, while the third dimension is the information technology (IT) representation. Industrie 4.0 components need to be describable using the RAMI 4.0 model, so a true Industrie 4.0 sensor must be able to communicate across IT levels. This impossible for a sensor with a classic fieldbus interface, which communicates with the control and does not pass data to the upper IT levels. Unlike classic fieldbus interfaces, an interface that is expanded with the OPC UA communication model can transport data to higher IT levels of the RAMI model. OPC UA includes a security implementation that consists of authentication, authorization, encryption and data integrity with signatures. Unlike communication methods typically used in industrial environments, it allows for secure communication. From the field level of the automation pyramid, OPC UA can communicate via two mechanisms—either via client/server communication or via a publisher process. With client/server communication, an OPC UA server is integrated in the data source—a sensor that can deliver data to a data recipient. With the publisher process, an OPC UA publisher is integrated in the data source. This can then make its data available to various data recipients. If there is more than one data source in the system, the data recipient can decide which data it would like to receive from which publisher. This means that the recipient does not always need to accept the data

CONTROL ENGINEERING

from all publishers. Using this process, communication from data sources to data recipients is possible. A data cloud can also retrieve data directly from the data source. Communication in the opposite direction—from the cloud to the sensor—also will be possible in the future. Industrie 4.0 requires compatible communication and OPC UA can virtually “tunnel through” the layers of the automation pyramid and transport data to the higher levels of the RAMI model. This makes standardized communication of sensors and actuators from various manufacturers directly with a cloud-based ERP system possible. With secure communication, even the exchange of data between different systems via public channels is conceivable. Microsoft Azure cloud

The provision of data from components via OPC UA communication alone is not enough for an Industrie 4.0 application. Additional mechanisms are needed for data acquisition from the cloud. To realize telemetry data without more components, such as an Industrie 4.0 gateway, Leuze electronic and Microsoft have collaborated on a solution demonstrated at the SPS IPC Drives event in November 2016. Sensor data from a barcode reader can be transmitted via the OPC UA Publish/Subscriber Communication Model (PSCM) to Microsoft’s Azure IoT Hub. Data is recorded by the IoT hub for the Azure Cloud Services for analysis and visualization. The collaboration demonstrates how an embedded device can be controlled from the Azure Cloud. Using the barcode reader as an example, Leuze electronic has shown how a device can be addressed from the cloud on the lowest RAMI level without needing another gateway. The reading gate of a barcode reader can be controlled from anywhere in the world by any mobile device via the Azure Cloud. The sensor data recorded by the IoT hub also can be analyzed by analysis tools of the cloud according to predetermined criteria and this can trigger events in the Industrie 4.0 total system. ce

Edited from an April 3 Control Engineering Europe post, “A sensor solution with Industry 4.0 capabilities,” by Mark T. Hoske, content manager, Control Engineering, mhoske@cfemedia.com. www.controleng.com

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INTEGRATOR UPDATE business value

Managing your system integration business as an investment There are many factors to consider to manage a business now, and for the future, to maximize value.

As a business owner

who wears many hats, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-today workings of the business. However, it’s critical to the company’s long-term success (and any retirement goals) to carve out time to look at the business as you would any other investment. Whether there is a plan to sell the business in the coming years or pass the business on to the next generation, knowing the value of the business investment and how that changes over time is critical. Once the value of the business is determined, it is then possible to increase value or to know if management decisions are resulting in increasing value over time. Is the business going to attract buyers?

ADVICE KEY CONCEPTS How to drive value to a business. How to attract potential buyers. Identifying what to consider when potentially selling a business. GO ONLINE For more about business valuations and links to parts 1 through 9 of this series, read this article online. In the digital edition, click on the headline or search the headline for www.controleng.com. Read more online on how to drive business value and creating a buy-sell agreement. CONSIDER THIS How often should a business valuation be considered?

MAY 2017

Before getting into the details of business valuation first determine if the business is “transferable,” meaning it would be worth more than liquidation value and therefore attractive to a potential buyer. There are two questions to consider: 1. Are there profits available to the business owner to provide a return on investment? Is the business profitable? 2. Is the business too dependent on the business owner? If the business is profitable after adjusting for market compensation so the business owner can earn a return on investment and the business can continue without the business owner, the business would be considered to be transferable by appraisers. If the answer is “no” to the first question, or “yes” to the second question, unfortunately the business is likely not transferable. It is possible to become a transferable business; however, this takes time and investment. Buyers for a system integration business?

Once the business is transferable, it’s time to think about the type of buyer who may be interested in the business. Again, whether there is a plan to sell now or in the future, understanding who the potential buyers might be and making sure they know about the business can help define how to transition out of the business smoothly. Interestingly, every privately owned business has many different values depending on the buyer.

CONTROL ENGINEERING

Different types of buyers are willing to pay different values for a company because each group is motivated differently and perceives risk differently. Before selling, identifying who the buyers might be and what their expectations and concerns might be will position you to make changes to maximize business value. Business valuation: It is not about a multiple

Many business owners have a number in their head that they need the value to be, but are left unsure how much the business is actually worth. So, in an effort to save time and/or money, some owners will ballpark value with their accountant using multiples of earnings or revenues. There is so much more to a business than a number on an income statement multiplied times a baseless number. Since we should not just rely on multipliers of a number on an income statement, experienced business appraisers will look at three approaches to value a business: the asset approach, the market approach, and the income approach. All three should be considered when determining a meaningful conclusion of value. Creating a buy-sell agreement

Protecting the ownership interest, or “share,” of the business is critical. Don’t get into business with anyone without first defining how to get out of business. The way to define and document how to handle the buy-out of one (or more) of the owners is by creating a buy-sell agreement. The buy-sell agreement outlines what happens to the shares of an owner who leaves the business, for any reason. It is a legally binding agreement that is typically drafted by an attorney. If you walk away with nothing else, take the time to review (or create if needed) the buy-sell agreement if there is more than one owner in the business. ce

Catherine J. Durham is accredited senior analyst, principal, and president, Capital Valuation Group; edited by Emily Guenther, associate content manager, Control Engineering, CFE Media, eguenther@cfemedia.com. www.controleng.com

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INTEGRATOR UPDATE automation business

The changing landscape for buyers and investors in growing technology markets Due to controls and automation and Internet of Things (IoT) markets growing, buyers and investors are taking advantage.

services segment

The past four years have seen a rapidly changing landscape for potential buyers and investors in the controls and automation and Internet of Things (IoT) industry segments. The business world continues to focus on methods to improve productivity through the adoption of software, robotics, and monitoring tools. The result has been rapid growth in the controls and automation and IoT markets, which is attracting a new group of private equity and growth equity investors, as well as industry, or strategic, buyers focused on taking advantage of this growth. The options available to business owners for growth capital and/or selling a business have increased substantially over the past few years.

is producing a

Private and growth equity

‘

The rapidly

evolving demand for quality technology offerings and engineeringdriven technical

non-traditional, aggressive class of strategic buyers.

’

ADVICE KEY CONCEPTS Buying and investing in growing markets. A business owner’s options for selling the business. What the growth in technology means for business owners in the control and automation and Internet of Things (IoT) industry segments. GO ONLINE For related links about investing, read this article online. In the digital edition, click on the headline or search the headline for www.controleng.com. CONSIDER THIS Will business owners and investors be ready during the next market plateau or slowing?

MAY 2017

Private equity groups are private pools of capital, managed by investment professionals, which typically acquire a majority equity percentage, but not 100%, of a company. Growth equity groups are similar in profile, but usually are focused on completing minority equity investments, or a combination of debt and minority equity, in high-growth companies. Private and growth equity groups are focused on investing in growth markets and finding ways to help management expand through organic growth opportunities and add-on acquisitions. Within the past few years, a wave of private and growth equity groups have entered the market, validating the controls and automation segment as an attractive segment. A critical mass of other private and growth equity groups are eager to break into the controls and automation market through a platform investment.

Classical versus new strategic buyers

Strategic buyers have been active and continue to be very relevant players in the controls and automation segment. The legacy, or classical, strategic buyers maintain a relatively consistent acquisition strategy that focuses on obtaining new market share and augmenting existing capabilities.

CONTROL ENGINEERING

The rapidly evolving demand for quality technology offerings and engineering-driven technical services segment is producing a non-traditional, aggressive class of strategic buyers. These groups are using acquisitions to redefine their overall strategy. The enormous opportunities that the controls and automation segment offers are motivating strategic buyers to redefine their strategy and consider any number of acquisitions, so they can stay ahead of the competitive business curve. Internet of Things

The IoT emergence is driven by the market demand for more information, gathered through any manner of sensors, with the primary purpose of maintaining and improving productivity at the most basic level of a machine or piece of equipment. Plamen Nedelrchev, IT engineer with Cisco, stated that there were “1,000 internet devices in 1984, 1 million internet devices in 1992, and 10 billion in 2008. Fifty billion devices are expected to be connected by 2020.” Nedelrchev highlighted that in 2011, the number of new things connected to the internet exceeded the number of new users connected to the internet. The IoT explosion also has been driven by cloud computing and the technological ability to store, access, and interpret data at any given time. Recognizing that we are still in the early stages of the IoT market expansion, strategic buyers and growth equity investors are the key suitors for the burgeoning IoT technologies and companies currently in the market. Increased strategic, private equity, and growth equity demand for acquisitions and investments in the controls and automation and IoT markets lead to stronger business valuations, which plays to the advantage of shareholders and managers active within these segments. ce Clint Bundy is a managing director with Bundy Group. Edited by Emily Guenther, associate content manager, Control Engineering, CFE Media, eguenther@cfemedia.com. www.controleng.com

Call 1-800-322-3225 or visit: www.phoenixcontact.com/confidence_relays

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INDUSTRY NEWS and events

Hannover Messe 2017 collaboration The robots are looking more like humans, and the humans are looking more like robots. At the Opening Ceremonies of Hannover Messe 2017, the world’s largest industrial trade show, Schunk won the 2017 Hermes Award for innovation for its intelligent gripper module for robots that interacts with humans. Its flexible jaws can measure and learn the tactile strength needed, and the module includes two cameras so the gripper can “see.” The grippers were on display as part of the pre-show press tour preceding the gala opening ceremony. In the tour demonstration, a human-looking robot was grabbing, fastening and staging small toy cars, as part of a larger robotic application. Attendees at the opening ceremony reacted strongly to Swiss-based Noonee’s wearable leg exoskeleton, which allows a worker free movement while wearing the device can fully support the worker in a seated position. The “Chairless Chair” allows workers to switch between standing, sitting, and walking at the push of a button.

Schunk won the 2017 Hermes Award for innovation for its intelligent gripper module for robots that interacts with humans. Its flexible jaws can measure and learn the tactile strength needed for its work, and the module includes two cameras to allow the gripper to see its surroundings. Courtesy: Bob Vavra, CFE Media

MAY 2017

CONTROL ENGINEERING

IIoT will be built with pieces from a With Poland as the Partner Country, the opening of the 70th Hannover Messe variety of hardware and software ven(Hannover Fair, in English) was a consid- dors and driven by separate analytics and erably lower-key affair than the 2016 event, co-located on a series of cloud-based data which featured President Obama lead- platforms. At Hannover Messe 2017, it ing the U.S. delegation. But while his suc- was clear that the pace of the partnercessor’s name was not mentioned by the ships between disparate companies is speakers, Obama’s name was mentioned accelerating. Schneider Electric and Microsoft on a few occasions as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Poland Prime Minister announced a collaboration around mixed reality (what Beata Szydlo opened the event. IIoT pieces from a variety company officials describe as a cross Perhaps the most of vendors, driven by between augmentspontaneous applause ed reality and virof the night came separate analytics, will tual reality) even as during the remarks Schneider Electric of Professor Dieter be co-located on cloudwas announcing its Kempf, president of new EcoStruxure the Federation of Gerbased data platforms. for Industry, which man Industries. “Trade relations are a win-win situ- is a full suite of connected devices, edge ation,” Kempf said. “They can benefit computing, and applications using the everyone’s prosperity. In view of increas- Microsoft Azure cloud platform. Microing attempts to support protectionism and soft announced its own collaborations, isolationism on both sides of the Atlantic, with robotics manufacturer Comau and the message from the former President of with end users such as Tetra Pak and Jabil. the United States, Barack Obama, that we It also held a press conference Monday to heard last year, was quite important. But tout its new Azure IoT Suite Connected Factory that will collaborate as part of the this is a task we must all rise to.” Kempf praised Merkel for her message OPC UA protocol from OPC Foundation. Another innovation is Phoenix Consupporting free trade discussions between Europe and the United State during her tact’s PLCnext Technology, which offers visit with President Trump last month in a collaborative environment. PLCnext Washington. Kempf also called the deci- will enable open-source programming sion of Great Britain to leave the Europe- for traditional PLC functions on a Linux an Union “regrettable,” adding that he was platform. The product will be available disappointed that “the British government in conjunction with the SPC show in did not succeed in explaining that Europe Nuremburg in November, company officials said; PLCnext will combine “classic is the solution and not the problem.” The Partner Country message of “Smart PLC programming and high-level lanis Poland” emphasized by Szydlo during guage programming and enables the creher opening remarks. “The Poland you ation of modern applications within the will see at Hannover Messe 2017 is a young context of Industrie 4.0.” Poland, with new and innovative ideas.” Poland’s high-tech, high-energy artis- Mexico is 2018 Partner Country Hannover Messe announced Mexico tic presentation honored the contributions of three major Polish scientists—Coperni- will be the 2018 Partner Country. Hancus, Marie Curie, and Jacek Karpinski, who nover Messe officials see Mexico’s emerdeveloped the first mini-computer with gence as a manufacturing power very an expandable memory—in an innovative differently than some political leaders in the U.S. “Mexico is Latin America’s secondcomputer-generated opening number. largest economy and has steadily grown in Collaboration, hardware, software importance as a market and investment Just four months into 2017, if manu- location for companies in many European facturing were to have a word of the year it countries, including Germany,” fair officials would be “collaboration.” said in a press release.

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Digital edition? Click on headlines for more details. See news daily at www.controleng.com/news

HMI expands scope

The human-machine interface (HMI) has had a long and storied history in manufacturing, and its use as a simple way to manage and control machine operations at the machine has dramatically improved plant floor efficiency. But with the increasing digitization of manufacturing and the use of tablets, smartphones, and handheld devices, every device is now an HMI, among trends related to Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industrie 4.0 observed at Hannover Messe 2017. Once limited to the smarts inside the HMI box, the device-driven displays can pull real-time data from the system analytics in the cloud computing world or via Wi-Fi and make everything about the machines—its health, maintenance record and full parts list—with the tap of a button. Another major trend was the discussion of opening the digital plant to outside application developers. More downloadable apps for manufacturing are coming. The Predix platform by GE is expanding, and the OPC UA press conference touted collaborative efforts among OPC Foundation members to drive a more open platform among users. The digital platform of sensors and controls feed data to the cloud for analytics and return the knowledge to plant employees ready to act on that data. In reality (another word used often at Hannover Messe), manufacturing will use many HMIs. But the HMI as we know it will need to be reconsidered, as a tool and as an offering from a supplier community firmly embracing a digital future. Maybe HMI will retire as a noun, and continue as a verb.

today, but get them better for the jobs of tomorrow. We need to use technologies to get those individual to work together.” Rob McKeel, vice president of automation at GE, said: “Let the data flow, and use technology to find the right answer,” he said. “In the absence of data, everyone will keep doing it the way they’ve always done it.” Bob Vavra is content manager, Plant Engineering, bvavra@cfemedia.com; edited

by Mark T. Hoske, content manager, Control Engineering, mhoske@cfemedia.com.

ADVICE Read this story online at www.controleng.com for more information including a story about how IHS Markit’s survey on how manufacturers still aren’t embracing the IIoT and what this means for the industry as a whole.

IBM partnership announced

ABB and IBM announced a partnership around IBM’s Watson cognitive computing and ABB’s Ability digital platform. During that event, Harriett Green, group general manager of IBM Watson, took a step beyond the idea of artificial intelligence. “We don’t talk about AI in this context,” she said. “We’re talking about augmenting intelligence-enhancing intelligence.” Sanjay Ravi of Microsoft said, “We’re able to augment new employees doing machine learning modules.” Paul Brooks of Rockwell Automation said, “The way people work needs to change. We have to make sure we are educating people for the jobs they are doing today, but they need to be not just good at the jobs they are doing CONTROL ENGINEERING

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Digital edition? Click on headlines for more details. See news daily at www.controleng.com/news

Headlines online Industry events At www.controleng.com, on the right side, click on the events box and scroll by month to see related industry events including: Rockwell Automation TechED, Orlando, June 11-16 www.rockwellautomation.com/global/events/ra-teched/usa/overview.page Sensors Expo, San Jose, Calif., June 27-29 www.sensorsexpo.com

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FABTECH, Chicago, Nov. 6-9 www.fabtechexpo.com/about 2017 Global Automation and Manufacturing Summit, McCormick Place, Nov. 7 http://www.controleng.com/single-article/hannover-fairs-usa-fabtech-topartner-on-iana-event/0fa4780c3b5f4986b296b6ad14e2b8f9.html

Top five Control Engineering articles April 17-23: The most visited articles included Ethernet benefits, safety integrity levels, matrix drives, sensors and control system inputs, and liquid level measurement sensors. Reverse engineering reduced repair time, costs for steel manufacturer A steel manufacturer that needed two impellers repaired found a solution through reverse engineering that was faster and more cost-effective. Estimate how safety pays a company OSHA’s “$afety Pays” program is designed to help employers assess the impact of injuries and illnesses on profitability and find ways to mitigate those potential costs. Shop floor marketplace emerges with Industrie 4.0 The shop floor marketplace is becoming a reality with Industrie 4.0 as companies are required to make products quickly and cost-effectively, as well as make unique products that are tailored to a specific user. Graphene used to create cheaper semiconductor wafers MIT engineers have developed a technique to reduce the overall cost of wafer technology by using graphene as a copy machine to transfer intricate crystalline patterns from an underlying semiconductor wafer to a top layer of identical material. Manufacturers still not embracing IIoT Seven manufacturing market trends for 2017, according to an IHS Markit report at Hannover Messe, include more growth and an attention shift from remote cloud-based analytics to local and edge computing. Seven benefits of modular project design Modular project design provides engineers many potential benefits such as saving time and money and also making customization much easier. Energy company to collaborate with artificial intelligence company to improve operations Dover Energy Automation (DEA) and SparkCognition announced the two companies would collaborate to bring predictive capabilities. See webcasts at www.controleng.com/webcasts.

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MAY 2017

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INDUSTRY NEWS and events Digital edition? Click on headlines for more details. See news daily at www.controleng.com/news

Faster automation and robots Automate 2017 at McCormick Place in Chicago demonstrated plenty of advances in robotics, software development, and other advances that are taking manufacturing in places that seemed unthinkable just a few years ago. As the technology becomes more intertwined, the possibilities grow. Highlights from the show floor follow. Expanding into e-commerce

Honeywell’s 2016 Intelligrated acquisition has allowed both companies to look for new ways to expand in the material handling and packaging industries. There’s a focus on helping companies in the e-commerce business, dominated by Amazon. Other companies are looking to follow suit and improve productivity. With fierce retail competition, “companies are trying to find new ways to capture and retain customers in an industry where is a tremendous amount of growth,” said Chris Cole, chairman and general manager, Intelligrated, at a press conference. There is a huge premium, Cole said, on efficiency and labor is becoming more expensive and harder to retain in the picking and packing industry. Downtime, he said, is not an option. “The relationship between the employer and the employee is changing and it’s becoming more difficult.” Companies developing their e-commerce business, Cole said, are realizing it is a 24/7 business. “In e-commerce, business stops if

you can’t ship. Developments are all about keeping uptime.” “Whatever we develop for companies is all about keeping the customers safe,” said Brian Hovey, chief marketing officer, Honeywell Safety and Productivity Solutions (SPS). Honeywell and Intelligrated are focused on expanding operations beyond North America and developing sortation technologies, software, and support services, to improve productivity. “The industry has evolved from reactive to proactive,” said Chuck Adams, chief commercial officer and general manager, Intelligrated. “It’s about maximizing uptime and being cost-competitive.” Robotics consortium goes global

ROS-Industrial (ROS-I), an opensource industrial robotic software and working group established by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), has expanded with partnerships in Europe and the United States. In May 2017, it will become a global outfit with the official launch of ROS Asia-Pacific in Singapore. “We will truly have a worldwide network, and we’re glad to have Asia-Pacific in our group,” said Paul Evans, director, SwRI. Having a global entity that spans three continents “allows each group to focus on addressing regional manufacturing issues. It also allows each group to collaborate and deal with crosscutting issues. More people are supporting the leadership team from each side,” Evans said. Each entity also brings its own priorities, which allows the group to learn and grow in an open, collaborative environment. While the U.S. is more focused on advanced applications, Europe is more focused in code quality, and the issues feed into one another, which creates a stronger overTM Robotics moved golf tees and balls, and the robot all robot software putted a ball into a hole. Courtesy: Chris Vavra, CFE Media that can do more.

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Robots: smarter, safer

Rethink Robotics’ Intera 5 software was on display with the collaborative robot, Sawyer, at Automate. Intera’s features include an embedded sensor and direct interaction with an intuitive interface. It allows the user to start a task from scratch and create a program that allows the robot to pick-and-place items up to 5 kg. Sawyer is already used for tending and inspection applications and the updated software allows it to work faster and perform more intuitive tasks for pick-and-place jobs. It can be used in industries including “automotive, electronics, and other industries where you have human-scale repetitive tasks,” said Mike Fair, customer success manager, Rethink Robotics. In another display, Sawyer inspected spark plugs. Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR) recently released the MiR200, an autonomous mobile robot, and several of the robots roamed the booth without help or assistance. When a person moved in front of the robot, sensor helped the robot stop. Thomas Visti, MiR’s CEO, believes there’s a place for autonomous mobile robots in the workplace now and in the future. “We see a trend where companies redesign facilities to change to cell production and you need to have mobile transportation to move items from place to place.” Mobile robots, he said, offer flexibility. “You never know what next year will bring and having something fixed can cost you a few years down the road.” MiR robots have a basic core design that can be redesigned and retrofitted for many manufacturing and medical applications to give the user a greater amount of freedom in how they use the product. TM Robotics’ president Nigel Smith admitted that collaborative robots have been a strong trend in the industry the last five years. “The question is, though: Do customers need it? It depends on their application and what they want to do. TM Robotics’ focus remains on industrial robots by developing Cartesian, Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm (SCARA) and axis robots for many applications across multiple industries. Chris Vavra, production editor, Control Engineering, cvavra@cfemedia.com.

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Being knowledgeable of the proper safety measures, codes, and regulations in both new and existing facilities is an absolute necessity. It just might even save your life one day. Safety First: Arc Flash 101 is a new online and on-demand course CFE Edu is offering for you to stay up to date on the latest electrical safety information. CFE Edu is an interactive online platform taught by industry experts that offers exclusive, multi-media content on engineering topics that are critical to your work.

Safety First: Arc Flash 101 will:

✓ Explain the importance of electrical safety ✓ Define codes and standards as they relate to electrical safety ✓ Explore arc flash and safety measures ✓ Summarize codes and standards for electrical safety (i.e. NFPA 70E)

Led by industry experts Lanny Floyd and Hugh Hoagland, this on-demand online course offers instructor-led discussions, videos, and high-quality presentations on an interactive and intuitive platform. The course is self-paced, accessible 24/7, and approved for one (1) AIA CES learning unit and one (1) HSW credit.

What’s included in all CFE Edu courses:

✓ Exclusive content--not found anywhere else--that includes research and expert knowledge from instructors working within the industry ✓ Interaction with course authors ✓ Videos, quizzes, and interactive content designed for a proven learning experience with associated CEU credits ✓ Full access to your course 24/7 with a computer, tablet or smartphone ✓ Course cost is $39.99

Learn more and register at CFEedu.cfemedia.com * Contact CFE Edu Manager, Emily Guenther, at eguenther@cfemedia.com for more information or with any questions about CFE Edu.

INDUSTRY NEWS and events Digital edition? Click on headlines for more details. See news daily at www.controleng.com/news

Services for obsolete electronics Industrial processes have relied on electronic controls for decades and as the technology has advanced, these controls have also become more complex and usually more compact. As competition in this sector has increased, some of the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have gone out of business, leaving end users with some considerable challenges in the event of a failure.

but often with no reference material. This control inoperative, the power supply card was missing and the components—such can prove to be quite a challenge. Since programmable logic controllers as the semiconductors—dated back to the (PLCs) took on the mainstream role of 1990s. The scale of the challenge was process control in the 1980s, their complexity, size, and general design have increased by the fact that the OEM was changed immeasurably. However, some of no longer in business, leaving no spares this pioneering equipment is still in ser- and no replacement products, while the client needed the convice and the end users trol panel back in need to have spare A new controller service as soon as posparts available in order Keeping systems operational to minimize any downcreated from modern sible. In many applicaFor many businesses, the easiest option time. One failed card tions a new controller is to replace the control equipment with a could potentially precould be created from components offers more modern equivalent that also offers vent a million pound modern components, more functionality new features, improved efficiency, and machine from operatoffering more functakes up considerably less space. Although ing, so creating more tionality and reliability, and reliability. this may not always be the most cost effi- spare parts is a proacall from a more comcient solution, the long-term benefits and tive method of maintepact enclosure. the improved availability of spares will nance management. As specifying new equipment for the reduce the total cost of ownership. oil and gas industry can be a very drawn However, some industrial sectors, such Re-manufacturing a solution out process, this meant the best solution This can be illustrated by a recent would be to re-manufacture the elecas nuclear, military, and oil and gas have very strict protocols regarding the replace- example from the oil and gas industry tronic circuits, down to component level ment of components, meaning that retain- where the control system for a recipro- and to the original specification. ing proven systems and keeping them cating compressor had failed and needed The repair process can be used to genoperational is essential. In such situations to be repaired at the earliest opportunity. erate design drawings if they are unavailit is necessary to replicate existing compo- The initial inspection showed that a multi- able, source obsolete semi-conductors and nents—ideally from existing drawings— ple card failure had rendered the sequence create test procedures for final testing. The complete reverse engineering procedure can replicate printed circuit boards (PCBs) and if necessary, hand drawing the Cloud-based SaaS contact platform complete circuit diagram for both design and future use. CFE Media’s ContactStream is a software as a service (SaaS) cloud-based delivery platSimilar situations arise in the nuclear form that provides engineering contacts who buy or specify products at all stages of the industry as well as with military applisales cycle. Through prequalification, ContactStream provides current and relevant contact cations where there is a requirement to data such as name, company, title, phone, and email address to the marketer. The prequalifiprove functionality at the beginning, cation process also provides information designed to position the contact in a specific stage document the whole process, and witof the buying journey while identifying vendor preferences and preferred product characterness functionality at the end, before istic ratings. the new components are signed off and “This is exactly the type of purchasing intent information that our customers have been accepted. looking to acquire,” said CFE Media CEO Steve Rourke. “Marketers can now use a simple In this way, applications that require online interface to identify and download contacts that can be used by their marketing autoobsolete electronics to be repaired or mation systems to generate marketing qualified leads and sales qualified leads.” replaced can be effectively maintained With more than 13,500 contacts within the vertical industries and markets serviced by using a preventative servicing regime. In CFE Media, ContactStream’s interface allows the marketer to refine and segment a puraddition, for those industries that allow chase intent search based on product category, purchase time frame, buying stage, indusit, more modern technology and software can be incorporated into existing try, and other relevant criteria. Contacts can be imported directly into a marketing automacontrol packages, increasing productivtion system or a client relationship management system. Contacts also can be exported into ity and flexibility. local Microsoft Excel or .csv files for specific feeds, searches, and applications. Brian Park, regional sales manager for ContactStream also is designed to work in tandem with CFE Media’s ContentStream, a Scotland, Sulzer. Edited by Chris Vavra, cloud-based platform designed to provide relevant engineer-centric content. production editor, Control Engineering, Edited from a CFE Media press release. CFE Media, cvavra@cfemedia.com.

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WEBCAST SERIES

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is a transformational strategy that is revolutionizing manufacturing operations across the world. CFE Media publications take an in-depth look at IIoT-related issues, strategies, and opportunities in the 2017 IIoT Webcast series.

The 2017 Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Webcast Series: Webcast One: Get your head into the cloud Available On-Demand This Webcast focuses on how emergent IIoT technologies change the way process and automation engineers execute projects and sustain productivity in today’s, and tomorrow’s, cyber-physical world.

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IT, OT manufacturing

IT, OT teams need to keep manufacturing systems running Security professionals on the information technology (IT) and the operations technology (OT) sides of the house have to truly understand the main goal, which is keeping the manufacturer’s systems up and running at all times.

ecurity professionals on the informaOT side. You have to get the two groups togethtion technology (IT) and the operaer so they understand the packet that is going tions technology (OT) sides of the through does not brick the system. Now, they house have to not only be able to work both understand they have a common enemy— together, they have to truly understand the and (that enemy) does not care what they do.” main goal. That goal is keeping the manufacAttackers really don’t play by the rules, they turer’s systems—from the IT enterprise to the don’t follow standards, but they know what they OT processes—up and are. Instead, their goal is very running at all times. single minded, they want to As cybersecurity “You have to understand get into a system and they the business outcome,” said want to get in via the easiest attacks ratchet up, Caglayan Arkan, general method as possible. manager of Microsoft’s “We monitor threat landmanufacturers need to scape daily,” Rotoloni said. worldwide manufacturing and resources sec“Bad guys try to use the elevate their ability to tor enterprise and partner most basic attack, whatever group during a panel disis the easiest. As the devicmonitor and adjust to cussion at the Automation es get more hardened, they Perspectives conference just get more sophisticated. what they are facing. at Rockwell Automation’s Advanced persistent threats Automation Fair in Atlanta. are more advanced and The panel, hosted by Sujeet Chand, senior vice attackers are more sophisticated.” president and chief technology officer at RockWhile some end users understand the secuwell Automation, featured major IT companies rity threat and are doing something about it, Microsoft and Cisco and a leading university there are others, however, that are aware, but focused on security, Georgia Tech. not moving forward with a security program. “It is about humans working together,” said Either way, attackers will continue to probe and Jeff Reed, senior vice president and general when the time is right jump in and take what manager, Enterprise Infrastructure and Solu- they want. That is why as attacks ratchet up, tions, Cisco. “It is really about getting the teams manufacturers need to elevate their ability to together and ensuring security. IT and OT need monitor and adjust to what they are facing. to work together, and manufacturing needs to “There are more sophisticated ways to monihelp bridge that divide.” tor security,” Reed said. “Networks (can end up In talking about IT and OT working used to) identify behavior and use the network together, Francis (Bo) Rotoloni, deputy director as a sensor.” ce of research and principle research engineer for the Information and Cyber Sciences Gregory Hale is the editor and founder of IndusDirectorate, Georgia Tech Research Institute, trial Safety and Security Source (ISSSource.com), a CFE Media content partner. Edited by Chris likened it to dogs and cats getting along. “You get to start them young and they get Vavra, production editor, CFE Media, Control along well. Enterprise IT didn’t understand the Engineering, cvavra@cfemedia.com.

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RESEARCH 30% of end users are seriously concerned about the cybersecurity of wireless communications devices and protocols within their facilities. Source: Control Engineering 2016 Cybersecurity Study www.controleng.com/CE-Research

ADVICE KEY CONCEPTS Information technology (IT) and operations technology (OT) need to work together to prevent possible cyber attacks. Management needs to work to bridge the divide between IT and OT, which have very different focuses when it comes to work. Manufacturers need to elevate their ability to respond to potential attacks as they become more sophisticated. GO ONLINE Read this story online at www.controleng.com and see other stories from EASA. CONSIDER THIS What else can manufacturers do to ward off potential cyber threats?

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How to navigate the future of IIoT systems It’s critical to understand which IIoT connectivity technologies to use for each application in the IIoT space.

ADVICE KEY CONCEPTS Understanding the IIoT space and IIoT systems. Determining which technology to use for each application/project. How to choose the right technology for the IIoT space. GO ONLINE For related links about IIoT technologies, read this article online. In the digital edition, click on the headline or search the headline for www.controleng.com. Read more about IIC use case examples and choosing technology for the IIoT online. CONSIDER THIS Once the proper technology is chosen, what is the next step in implementing a true IIoT solution in the industrial space?

MAY 2017

he Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) recently published the Industrial Internet Connectivity Framework (IICF) after two years of analyzing Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies. The IICF includes the insights and strong opinions from many experts, including those from the top industry consortia, many companies, and most important standards. The most surprising conclusion: the IIoT is big. It’s so big that the technologies don’t really overlap. Designers may think to choose any standard, including the data distribution services (DDS from the Object Management Group), OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA), MQ Telemetry Transport (MQTT), or oneM2M and succeed. But this implies the IIoT connectivity solution space overlaps, as shown in Figure 1. The reality is very different. The IIoT covers many industries and with very different use cases. In fact, the IIoT space is so big that the technology options rarely, if ever, overlap. Today’s architecture challenge in the IIoT space is therefore not one of choosing among overlapping technologies that may each be able to reasonably solve a problem. The challenge is understanding the technologies, comparing the intended use to the application, and choosing the one that best addresses the particular challenge the applications faces. If you look at a more realistic map of the situation, it looks more like the sparse Venn diagram shown in Figure 2 than the overlapping one in Figure 1. The real problem isn’t choosing between similar options, it’s understanding the very different options and overcoming biases. The IICF directly addresses this. How to choose technology for the IIoT

Let’s take this process a bit further. It’s possible to ask a few questions for each technology option and quickly narrow the choices. These questions may somewhat oversimplify the problem, but they are a great starting point. The IICF identifies four potential “core connectivity standards” DDS, OPC UA, oneM2M, and RESTful HTTP. The first three are analyzed below. RESTful HTTP is well

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understood, so it’s not analyzed here. MQTT is also examined because of its wide awareness, even though it doesn’t qualify as an IICF “core connectivity standard” because it doesn’t have a standard typing system required for interoperability. DDS

DDS is the standard that defines a databus. A databus is data-centric information flow control. It’s a similar concept to a database, which is datacentric information storage. The key difference: a database saves old information that can be searched by relating properties of the stored data. A databus manages future information by filtering by properties of the incoming data. Both understand the data contents and let applications act directly on and through the data rather than with each other. Applications using a database or a databus do not have a direct relationship with peer applications. With knowledge of the structure, contents and demands on data, the databus can manage the dataflow. The databus can control Quality of Service (QoS) like update rate, reliability and guaranteed notification of data liveliness. It also can discover and control and secure data flows, offering them to applications and generic tools alike. This accessible data greatly eases system integration and scale. OPC UA

OPC UA technology targets device interoperability. Before OPC UA (or its predecessor OPC), applications simply accessed devices directly through proprietary application program interfaces (APIs) provided by device vendors. Unfortunately, this meant that applications became dependent on the particular device they controlled. Worse, higher-level applications such as human-machine interfaces (HMI) had no easy way to find, connect to, or control the various devices in factories. OPC UA divides system software into clients and servers. The servers usually reside on a device or higher-level Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). They provide a way to access the device through a standard “device model.” There are standard device models for dozens of types of devices. Each manufacturer is responsible for prowww.controleng.com

Technology appropriateness: Overlapping choices

OneM2M

OneM2M results from cooperation among many mobile wireless providers. It targets networks of mobile devices that communicate mostly or only through the base-station infrastructure. The core design of oneM2M is to define services that mobile devices can use to cooperate and integrate. If you are going to use those services, plainly, you need to connect to them. They will be running in the platform layer (cloud) connected mostly through the cellular data infrastructure. Other technologies also use the IP traffic over the cell network, but they usually also heavily leverage LAN, local wireless, or WAN networking technologies in their designs.

MQTT

MQTT is a simple protocol designed mostly for the “data collection” use case. It does not qualify as a “core connectivity standard” per the IICF guidelines, because it has no standard type system. Thus, it can communicate only opaque data types, not typed data structures. Without a type system, it cannot offer a standard ability to interoperate at the “syntactic” data-structure level. Nonetheless, MQTT enjoys significant awareness. Because of its simplicity, simple questions about your system will help determine if it’s appropriate. Working together

Much of the IICT is dedicated to an architecture for integrating these technologies. This is critical for the emergence of the “Internet” part of the IIoT. The reference architecture requires standards-based core gateways between core connectivity standards. Someday, there will be integrations, such as manufacturing systems integrated with transportation and power. Sophisticated autonomy software will reconfigure workcells, creating a bold new www.controleng.com

Your application: Choose B or C

Choose A

X B

Choose A or B

Requirement 1, e.g. latency Figure 1: This diagram shows a common misconception: that many technologies meet requirements in the IIoT connectivity space. The choices, given each application (X marks the spot), are B or C. If these technologies in fact overlapped, either B or C would work. All graphics courtesy: Real-Time Innovations, Industrial Internet Consortium

Technology appropriateness: Get close and make it work Choose B

Requirement 2, e.g. fan-out

viding the server that maps the generic device model to its particular device. The servers expose an object-oriented, remotely-callable API that implements the device model. Clients can connect to a device and call functions from the generic device model. Thus, client software is independent of the actual device, and factory integrators are free to switch manufacturers or models as needed. So, OPC UA provides the connectivity needed to drive the system. Note that the device model also provides a level of “semantic” interoperability, because the device model defines the generic object APIs in known units and specified reference points.

Requirement 2, e.g. fan-out

Choose B

Your application: Choose B; it’s the best you’ll get Choose A

Nothing fits well

Requirement 1, e.g. latency

world for component device vendors. Wireless 5G systems will interoperate with freeway controllers and autonomous vehicles. Wireless 5G may even directly control factory devices, eliminating wiring in manufacturing. However, designers should consider the vastness of the space. Today, there are few concrete needs to bridge the light years between connectivity systems. That doesn’t mean the industry isn’t responding to the obvious need. Long term, these integrations will allow bigger systems to combine technologies. For now, designers must understand the vast differences between technologies and choose the one that best fits their problem space. ce

Figure 2: This diagram is closer to reality. The connectivity technologies turn out to not overlap. Most applications can only logically use one technology. The challenge is often choosing something imperfect and making it work.

Stan Schneider, PhD, CEO of Real-Time Innovations Inc., and member of the Industrial Internet Consortium Steering Committee. Edited by Emily Guenther, associate content manager, Control Engineering, CFE Media, eguenther@cfemedia.com. CONTROL ENGINEERING

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2017 CAREER UPDATE

Control Engineering

Salary and career survey Control Engineering salary and career survey research shows an average salary of $96,045 in 2017, up slightly from the 2016 results; job satisfaction continues among respondents. Life-long learning remains critically important. To get youth interested in engineering, more investments in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and high-profile projects need to be made, respondents said.

T Image across the top courtesy: Bosch Rexroth Above: NexDefense

ADVICE KEY CONCEPTS Most engineers like their jobs, and technical challenge and feeling of accomplishment rank higher than financial compensation. See engineering salaries by various benchmarks. GO ONLINE In the digital edition, click on the headline to get to more analysis online, or click in at www.controleng.com/CE-research. Online see more including respondents’ businesses, primary job functions, size of employers, management responsibilities, growth expectations, process evaluation, maturity levels in four areas, and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) level of understanding and implementation plans. CONSIDER THIS How do you document your value? See advice on p.43; job hunting tips, p.45; and project management help, p.46.

MAY 2017

he average salary for respondents of the 2017 Control Engineering Salary and Career Survey increased less than 1.4% to $96,045, from $94,747 in 2016, about 5% more than the average salary of respondents in 2015. Data analyses of engineering salaries and career-related topics here include tables showing compensation by eight criteria for benchmarking: age, education, years with current employer, years with current industry, business, job function, number of people supervised, and location in the U.S. Technical challenge and feeling of accomplishment top the next two factors for job satisfaction— financial compensation and relationship with colleagues—by more than 20 percentage points. More than 80% were satisfied with their jobs, and 46% love going to work. Among the biggest threat to manufacturing business remains the economy at 19% (down from 29% last year), with lack of available skilled workers a statistical dead heat at 17%.

Expected change to 2017 base annual salary Increase more than 6% Increase 4% to 6%

Decrease Stay the same

Worker shortage, cyber-insecurity

The survey asked for opinions related to the continuing concern about lack of skilled workers. Among responses 33% “strongly agree” that: More public, private, and/or academic partnerships related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) need to be made to get more youth interested in engineering-related studies. More inspirational, high-profile STEM-related investments need to be made to get more youth interested in engineering-related studies (such as space exploration and colonization, big science, advanced energy projects, Manufacturing USA Innovation Institutes, etc.). Similarly, 17% strongly agree that their company needs to be more involved in STEM activities. Just 9% of respondents felt they personally should be more involved with STEM activities. Also among respondents: 14% strongly agreed there wouldn’t be a

Expected change to 2017 non-salary compensation Increase more than 6%

4 2% 2 9% 4%

4% 6% 29%

Decrease

Increase 4% to 6%

11%

17%

56%

62%

Increase 1% to 3%

Figure 1: Among respondents, 69% expect a salary increase in 2017; 29% expect the same salary; and just 2% expect less. All figures courtesy: Control Engineering 2017 Salary and Career Survey research report.

Figure 2: Among respondents, 27% expect more nonsalary compensation in 2017, 62% expect about the same, and 11% expect less.

CONTROL ENGINEERING

Stay the same

www.controleng.com

shortage if companies would pay enough. 12% strongly agreed greater investments in time and resources need to be made in standards to enable interoperability and easier system integration to more easily get by with fewer workers. 11% strongly agreed greater investments in time and resources need to be made in advanced technologies so we can more easily get by with fewer workers (like in many agriculture industries).

Compensation statistics

And in the 3% to 5% strongly agree range: We cannot get the talent we need at any price. We cannot pay an adequate amount for talent because that would make us uncompetitive. Immigration policy needs revising so we can get the talent needed to remain competitive. H1-B worker visa policies need revising so we can get the talent needed to remain competitive. Despite consistent warnings and related coverage on the topic, 14% of respondents said no cybersecurity program was in place at their site, no better than last year. (See a separate cybersecurity research report from Control Engineering at www.controleng.com/CE-Research.) Online, methods

See related articles on engineering advice, jobhunting tips, and on project management, one of the skills identified as important for success in this survey. More information and graphics appear with the online version of this article; search on the headline at www.controleng.com or, if reading the digital edition, click on the headline. Thank you to survey respondents; with 218 responding between March 13 and April 10 via a web-based survey, the margin of error is plus or minus 6.6% at a 95% confidence level. A gift card incentive was used.

Salary increases

The average base annual salary for the 2017 set of respondents to Control Engineering Salary and Career Survey was $96,045, up from $94,747 in 2016, and up from $90,367 in 2015. In 2017, 69% expect a salary increase about the same as 2016. Among respondents, 56% expect a 1% to 3% increase, 9% expect a salary increase of 4% to 6%, and just 4% expect a more than 6% increase. About 29% of respondents expected salaries to stay the same, and only 2% expect a pay cut in 2017 (see Figure 1). The salary expectations are similar to 2016, although year to year those answering the survey differ; this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s demographic information is provided in text later. The nonsalary compensation average among the 67% of respondents getting a bonus was $14,216 www.controleng.com

Compensation statistics Average of 203 respondents

$96,045

Minimum

$25,000

Maximum

$216,513

Non-salary compensation Average (all respondents)

$9,594

Percentage of respondents that receive bonus

67%

Average (respondents that receive bonus)

$14,216

Figure 3: Average salary is $96,045, and average nonsalary compensation is $9,594 among all respondents, with $14,216 among the 67% of respondents getting any extra.

Criteria for non-salary compensation Company profitability

59%

Personal performance

43%

Safety metrics

23%

Product profitability

21%

Quality metrics

18%

Plant or line productivity

17%

Reducing plant costs

14%

Uptime/downtime

12%

Energy efficiencies

Other

in 2017, and among all respondents, the average is $9,594. In 2017, 38% of respondents expect more nonsalary compensation, 11% expect less, and 62% expect the same (see Figures 2 and 3). A larger majority of survey takers, 59%, said bonuses are tied to company profits compared to 80% last year. Among criteria, personal performance was 43%, down from 59%, and safety at 23% compared to 31%. Other criteria were product profitability at 21%, quality at 18%, plant or line productivity at 17%, reducing plant costs at 14%, uptime/downtime at 12%, and energy efficiencies at 6% (see Figure 4).

Figure 4: Company profits and personal performance were the leading criteria for nonsalary compensation, followed by safety, product profitability, quality, plant or line productivity, plant cost reduction, uptime/ downtime, and energy efficiencies.

Salary benchmarks

Figure 5 tables show totals for each benchmark area by age, sample sizes, and with additional trends, graphics, and analysis; download the salary survey report at www.controleng.com/CE-research. Showing upward pressure on engineering salaries for younger respondents, salary averages under 30 years of age increased significantly to $66,924 from $58,376 in 2016. Average nonsalary CONTROL ENGINEERING

MAY 2017

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2017 CAREER UPDATE

Salary and non-salary compensation benchmarks Average compensation by age Current age

Average compensation by primary business

Average base annual salary

Average non-salary compensation

Primary business

Average base annual salary

Average non-salary compensation

Under 30

$66,924

$4,291

Agriculture or construction

$184,000

30 to 39

$93,447

$8,547

40 to 49

$91,671

$11,455

Oil, gas, and petroleum, including refining

$119,075

$23,456

50 to 59

$99,316

$9,957

Chemical manufacturing

$110,529

$14,262

60 to 69

$104,007

$10,908

$107,333

$1,000

70 or over

$87,444

$3,528

Plant/facilities engineering or maintenance services Computers, communications, consumer electronics, and electronic product manufacturing

$106,167

$13,000

Electrical equipment, appliance, and component manufacturing

$106,040

$13,682

Pharmaceutical manufacturing

$105,975

$5,833

$102,583

$14,857

Average compensation by highest level of education Highest level of education

Average base annual salary

Average non-salary compensation

High school diploma

$65,000

$333

Trade/technical school diploma

$80,175

$1,389

College attendance

$79,729

$7,922

Associate’s degree

$87,882

$6,313

Automotive and other transportation equipment manufacturing

Bachelor’s degree

$98,591

$10,880

Other

$102,083

$4,217

Dual bachelor’s degree

$102,860

$13,833

Master’s degree

$101,854

$13,005

Wood, paper manufacturing, and related printing activities

$101,483

$8,789

Doctoral degree

$109,114

$5,379

Instrumentation, control systems, test, measurement, or medical equipment manufacturing

$100,273

$9,770

Average compensation by number of years with current employer Number of years with current employer Fewer than 5

Average base annual salary

Average non-salary compensation

$85,097

$6,454

5 to 9

$93,116

$8,103

10 to 14

$90,675

$4,573

15 to 19

$95,729

$14,288

20 to 24

$105,677

$7,937

25 to 29

$120,903

$19,442

30 to 34

$108,700

$6,725

35 to 39

$109,125

$33,313

40 or more

$82,000

$2,100

Average compensation by number of years in current industry Number of years in current industry

Average base annual salary

Average non-salary compensation

Fewer than 5

$85,486

$12,888

5 to 9

$83,328

$8,256

10 to 14

$91,403

$3,189

15 to 19

$84,349

$8,714

20 to 24

$99,630

$10,355

25 to 29

$101,922

$8,513

30 to 34

$99,464

$8,824

35 to 39

$104,102

$11,506

40 or more

$97,168

$12,554

Figure 5: Benchmark salary and other compensation by age, education, years with employer and in current industry, primary business (see 15 more online), primary job function, number of employees supervised, and U.S. location (see page 41).

MAY 2017

CONTROL ENGINEERING

Average compensation by primary job function Primary job function

Average base annual salary

Average non-salary compensation

General or corporate management

$104,415

$20,159

Operations or maintenance

$88,994

$10,814

Other engineering, including evaluation, QC, standards, reliability, test, project, software, plant, electrical, mechanical, or electronic engineering

$102,495

$7,991

Process, production, or manufacturing engineering

$92,768

$9,695

System integration or consulting

$87,993

3,814

System or product design, control or instrument engineering

$94,602

$8,836

Other

$119,933

$9,659

Average compensation by number of employees managed/supervised Number of employees managed/ supervised

Average base annual salary

Average non-salary compensation $8,174

$94,581

1 to 5

$93,801

$7,300

6 to 25

$98,539

$17,185

26 to 100

$111,380

$20,860

More than 100

$120,000

www.controleng.com

Job satisfaction factors Technical challenge Feeling of accomplishment Financial compensation Relationship with colleagues Benefits Job security

2017 2016

Relationship with boss Location Feeling of recognition

Figure 6: Leading job satisfaction factors are technical challenge and feeling of accomplishment in a statistical tie, followed by financial compensation, and relationship with colleagues, tied for second, closely followed by a tie between benefits and job security.

Advancement opportunities Company's financial health Workload Leading a team Managing people Physical or ergonomic environment Company size Travel Relationship with subordinates Other

10%

20%

30%

40%

Areas of operations Automation and controls Operations Safety Training, education

Highest emphasis Should have highest emphasis

Equipment upgrades Systems Maintenance

Figure 7: The area getting the highest emphasis was operations, but automation and controls should have had that top spot.

Instrumentation Energy Manufacturing IT Human Resources Other

10%

15%

20%

25%

Highest level of education Master's degree

High school diploma 2% Doctoral degree Trade/technical school diploma College attendance

19%

11%

46% Dual bachelor's degree 3%

Job satisfaction Associate's degree Bachelor's degree

Figure 8: Bachelor’s and master’s degrees are the two most common. www.controleng.com

compensation for this age group decreased to $4,291 in 2017 from $7,211 in 2016. Salary averages increased to $93,447 for those in their 30s (up from $86,113 in 2016), nearly $91,671 for those in their 40s (down from $96,939), $99,316 for those in their 50s (up from $94,928, perhaps trying to dissuade talent from early retirement), $104,007 in their 60s (down from $106,100), and $87,444 for 70 or older (down from $105,592). More education resulted in more salary. Compared to last year, however, those with a trade/ technical school diploma received significantly more, an average of $80,175, compared to $71,906 in 2016. Those with a high-school diploma had the highest level decrease, to an average of $65,000 from $77,916 in 2016. While sample sizes for cross-tabulated results are smaller and have a higher margin of error than general questions, these trends do match greater expressed need for tech school education beyond high school training. Average salaries by number of years with current employer seemed designed to reward those with tenure in the 5 to 9 year group at $93,116, up significantly from those in the fewer than five year group, $85,097. Those with under five years in their current industry received the largest average non-salary compensation, even topping those with 35 or more years of industry experience. While sample size is small, it is in line with hiring pressures. Best three industries for overall compensation (salary plus non-salary compensation) were: 1) agriculture and construction at $184,000; 2) Oil, gas, and petroleum, including refining at $142,531; 3) Chemical manufacturing at $124,791; 4) Electrical equipment, appliance, and component manufacturing at $119,722; and 5) Computers, communications, consumer electronics, and electronic product manufacturing at $119,167. Highest total compensation for primary job functions in named categories (other than general “Other”) were “General or corporate management” at $124,574, and “Other engineering, including evaluation, QC, standards, reliability, test, project, software, plant, electrical, mechanical, or electronic engineering” at $110,486. Compensation increased with numbers of employees managed, except for those who manage no one (higher that those who manage one to five employees, perhaps reflecting pressure to attract new engineers. For salary by regions, see Figure 12. Job satisfaction remains high, at more than 80%; 37% responded that they thought their jobs were satisfactory, and 46% reported that they love going CONTROL ENGINEERING

MAY 2017

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2017 CAREER UPDATE

to work; 15% are tolerating it and are willing to consider a change; only 2% said they’re leaving soon. The survey found that the top five factors contributing to job satisfaction were technical challenge, 46% (up from 39% last year), about the same as feeling of accomplishment, 45% (up from 33%). Financial compensation, 25% (down from 37%), tied with relationship with colleagues, 25% (same as last year). Benefits at 21% was nearly a tie with job security at 20% (both about the same as last year). Job security, relationship with the boss, and location were statistically equal, also, at 16%, 15%, and 14% respectively. See Figure 6 for other factors. The large majority—73%—considered manufacturing secure, about the same as last year. Control Engineering subscribers often have different views about what areas should get emphasis compared to areas that actually get emphasis. According to respondents, the three areas that should get the highest emphasis are operations (29%), automation and controls (23%), and safety (15%). Just 12% of respondents said operations should get the highest emphasis; 27% (the highest) said automation and controls should get the highest emphasis; 17% said safety should get the highest; and training and education is the most neglected area, getting 2% of the emphasis, when it should get 13%, respondents said (see Figure 7). Education, skills

Survey respondents are well-educated. When asked about their highest level of education, 46% have one bachelor’s degree (another 3% have two), 19% have a master’s degree, and 7% have a doctoral degree. Other responses included associate’s degree (11%), some college (7%), trade or technical school diploma or certificate (5%), and high school diploma (2%) (see Figure 8). Among engineering disciplines studied by respondents, electrical and electronic were the most popular by far, followed by controls, instrumentation, mechanical, industrial, and chemical, all in double digits (see Figure 9). Among skills needed to advance, respondents not surprisingly agreed that engineering skills are most necessary, 67%, with project management at 56%, computer at 45%, communication and presentation skills at 44%, and team building at 38%, rounding out the top five (see Figure 10).

Outsourcing and why

When outsourcing was needed, maintenance and system integration were the two most common functions, statistically equal, at 20% and 19% respectively; 40% didn’t outsource. See Figure 11. Reasons for outsourcing were better cost

MAY 2017

CONTROL ENGINEERING

Engineering disciplines studied Electrical (EE) or electronic Controls

2017 2016 2015

Instrumentation Mechanical (ME)

Figure 9: Electrical or electronic engineering remained the largest group of engineering discipline studies, more than twice that of controls, solidly in second; instrumentation and mechanical engineering were tied for third.

Industrial Chemical Civil Other

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Skills needed to advance Engineering Project management Computer

2017 2016 2015

Communication/ presentation Team-building Language

Figure 10: The top five skill sets needed to advance are: engineering, project management, computer, communication/presentation, and team-building.

Finance/accounting Marketing/sales Other

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Outsourced functions Maintenance

Figure 11: Nearly 40% of respondents said there’s no outsourcing at their location; among those that do outsource, maintenance and system integration are the functions outsourced the most.

System integration Human resources/ recruitment Logistics/procurement System management Asset management Other None

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

www.controleng.com

Average compensation by location within U.S. $91,250 $96,177 $99,929

$96,267

$17,825 $107,139

$76,202 $7,798

Middle Atlantic

$14,519

$3,282 $9,100

West W est North Central

East North Central

New England $92,979

Mountain

Pacific

$6,107

$102,429

$123,915

$5,817

$82,857

South Atlantic $4,857 $20,056

East South Central

$10,012

West W est South Central Centra

Based outside of the U.S.

management (45%), better focus on core competencies (34%), and lack of skilled staff (28%). Other factors, such as competitiveness at 8%, and quality control 4%, were considerably less important. In a question about threats to manufacturing business, just 4% chose outsourcing or downsizing or lack of investments for equipment software upgrade/replacement, all significantly behind the economy at 19%, lack of available skilled workers at 17% (up from 13% in 2016), inadequate management at 9%, government or political interference at 8%, and regulations, codes, standards, etc., at 7%.

14 years, 12%; 15 to 19 years, 9%; 20 to 24 years, 12%; 25 to 29 years, 9%; and 30 or more years, 12%. Similarly, the large majority of respondents, 75%, reported having been in their industry for 15 years or more, about the same as last year. The largest five-year-period for respondents in their industry was 30 to 34, 18%. For hours of work per week, the most common range is 40 to 44 hours at 41%, 45 to 49 at 29%; 50 to 54 at 17%. Just 4% worked 55 or more hours per week and 9% worked fewer than 40 hours per week.

Age, experience, hours

The region where the most respondents work is East North Central at 22%. Reported next was outside the U.S., 15%, and South Atlantic, 13%, Pacific, 10%, Mountain, West South Central, Middle Atlantic all were 8%, New England and West North Central each with 7%, and East South Central, 3%. Looking at salary regionally, West South Central had the highest average base annual salary, $123,915, and highest average other compensation, $20,056, perhaps reflecting petrochemical industry competition. The Pacific region was next (Figure 12). ce

Among respondents, the largest 10-year age period is 50 to 59 at 34%, down from 40% in 2016 and 37% in 2015. The largest five-year age period is 55 to 59 at 18%. In 2016, 50 to 54 was the largest group at 23%. The 50s decade had more respondents (34%) than everyone under 45 combined (28%); and 40% of respondents are 60 and older. An aging workforce may increase pressure to find enough engineers with the desired skill sets. Again in 2017, more than half of respondents reported working for current employers for more than 10 years, the largest single group. Respondents who have been with their current employer less than five years is now 31%, up from 27%. Continuing up the scale, five to nine years, 16%; 10 to www.controleng.com

Figure 12: Looking at salary among regions, West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) had the highest average base annual salary, $123,915, and highest average non-salary compensation, $20,056, perhaps reflecting petrochemical industry competition for engineering talent.

Region and salaries

Mark T. Hoske, content manager, Control Engineering, CFE Media, mhoske@cfemedia.com, with data from Amanda Pelliccione, CFE Media research director, apelliccione@cfemedia.com. CONTROL ENGINEERING

MAY 2017

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CFE Mediaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

New Products for Engineers Database Looking for new products? Look no further! The New Products for Engineers Database is a platform that provides an opportunity for engineering and technical professionals to access the latest NEW product information for the manufacturing, commercial construction, and manufacturing control industries.

Start searching now! www.controleng.com/NP4E

2017 CAREER UPDATE

Get lifelong education, consider workplace strategies Control Engineering career and salary survey advice is offered by survey respondents. Educationrelated advice was the biggest topic for engineering advice, then workplace strategies, and attitude.

mportance of lifelong learning is among engineering career advice offered as a write-in option on the Control Engineering salary survey. Among subscribers taking the Control Engineering salary survey in 2016, 89 respondents offered write-in advice, grouped for analysis and presentation into six categories: education, workplace strategies, attitude, communication, project management, and engineering tips. While some advice could be grouped into multiple categories, one was chosen for the table, far right. A sampling of advice follows. Education

Always build on your knowledge to move ahead. Be proactive. Always learn new aspects of your field. Be an expert in Industrial Internet of Things. Continue to study. When you stop learning new things, you lose flexibility to adapt to change. Get experience. Co-op while in school. Learn the ins and outs of different engineering fields. Get an engineering degree, preferably with a double major in two engineering disciplines or with engineering and business. The pay jump for engineering versus non-engineering is large. Industrial technical experts are unlikely to be let go. A technical degree with an MBA is a good choice if you plan on getting into management. Invest in formal education early in your career and keep updating your skills. Focus on business development and communication skills. Keep current on technology trends. Get involved with science, technology, engineering, and math and encourage youth to get interested. Seek novel ideas to apply to your product. Read or view short articles or videos to stay current. Ask questions of those willing to help. Learn many skills and software/hardware platforms. Look to systems, industrial, electrical engineering or computer engineering to develop into automation engineering. Read, take courses, experiment; keep a journal.

Workplace strategies

Ask for mentoring and help, early and often. Learn early so you don’t have to figure all of it out. Avoid large corporations; work for a small www.controleng.com

company. There are job security risks, but job satisfaction will be much higher. Be prepared to move around to several different employers during your career. Find what you like to do and become the best at it, then your job is your hobby and not a drag. Don’t give up until you get the job you’re looking for. Research the company prior to the interview. Attitude

Be flexible to industry changes. Engineering is absorbing and time consuming; it gives a great satisfaction when projects are finished. Sometimes the market goes low; be patient.

Communication

Share skills and working knowledge of the company systems and products with existing and new employees. Work on people skills. To excel develop people skills. Learn how to work, and work with all types of people. Take care of the details, and listen to your team!

Project management

Be a guru at automating your own processes. Do your best to identify your customers’ problems and develop practical solutions that can be implemented by and with your customers. If you have a business-oriented mind, seek project management roles initially. Learn how to program so you can communicate with programmers. Look at the big picture. Engineering tips

Automation and controls, manufacturing IT, instrumentation, maintenance, and systems Electronic engineering, industrial engineering, food engineering, alternative energy engineering Learn the technology to develop adequate skills to perform engineering analysis, design, evaluation, and implementation. ce

Mark T. Hoske is content manager, Control Engineering, CFE Media, mhoske@cfemedia.com. Data provided by CFE Media research director, Amanda Pelliccione, apelliccione@cfemedia.com.

2017 Career advice 42

Education

Workplace strategies

Attitude

Communication

Project management

Engineering tips

ADVICE GO ONLINE www.controleng.com/CE-Research This article has more than double the advice online; if reading the digital edition, click on the headline. If not, search for the article headlines at www.controleng.com. GET MORE EDUCATION: www.controleng.com/enewsletters www.controleng.com/webcasts www.CFEedu.cfemedia.com

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MAY 2017

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CFE Media’s

Global System Integrator Database CFE Media’s Global System Integrator Database is an interactive community of global end-users and system integrators hosted by Control Engineering, Plant Engineering, and our global partners in Asia and Europe. The newest version of the online database is even easier to use. Features and updates:

• Relevancy score indicates how closely

• New feature allows an end-user to

• Users can now preview the most

• The most relevant data about an

an integrator’s qualifications match a user’s search criteria

pertinent data of a System Integrator before clicking to view the full corporate profile

“

request a quote for a project directly from the database site

integrator’s engineering services appear on one page on their corporate profile – other details are organized by tabs.

As a Systems Integrator there are quite a few options available for online advertising. They vary in functionality and design, but the Global System Integrator Database has been our go to. It is easy to use, professionally designed, and has given us a great deal of exposure to clients we wouldn’t normally be able to reach. We have had more clients contact us with this solution than any other System Integrator database combined. We not only going to renew our profile this year, we plan on upgrading.

”

William Aja, Panacea Technologies

Find and connect with the most suitable service provider for your unique application.

www.controleng.com/global-si-database

2017 CAREER UPDATE

Top 4 job-hunting tips Finding a job in engineering takes skill, focus, and persistence.

inding a job in today’s job market can be challenging, especially for new graduates. Here are some key tips to follow for putting your best foot forward when job hunting within the engineering industry:

1. Be concise

Have a 2-minute speech ready highlighting the value you would bring to the firm—think of it as an executive summary of your resume. Ask yourself questions like: How do your passions align with the firm’s core values? Did a recent job or experience further affirm your interest in this career? Avoid long, drawn-out explanations where the recruiter is forced to interrupt and hurry you along. A concise summary of your experience and what you’ve learned is a great foundation for the interview.

2. Be interested

When you love something, learning is not limited to the classroom. There is nothing more uninspiring than someone who wants to be an engineer because he or she didn’t know what else to be, or because someone told them that they should be. Companies want to hire the next generation of leaders who can not only grow into management roles, but also can provide crucial thought leadership. If you are passionate about a topic, elaborate on what inspires you about it. The engineering industry changes fast, and there’s a need to stay aware of news and debates both in the field and in general. Updated energy code amendments, the Paris Agreement, and debates over the value of integrated project delivery are just a few examples of important topics to be knowledgeable about. Additionally, following companies that you’re interested in as well as thought leaders on various social media channels is a great way to stay in the know.

3. Be focused

As a new graduate, you may be familiar with a few big-name companies in the industry. However, it is best to focus your search so it suits your specific interests based on size, niche, location, etc. www.controleng.com

For example, I remember speaking with a candidate and realizing his passions were in were in façade design. When I recommended firms that specialized in façade design, he didn’t know such firms existed. The best way to discover these firms is by conducting online searches and researching what is available. Top firms often produce a range of engaging content such as white papers, op-eds, and videos you can look into. Also, ask your professors, mentors, and alumni for recommendations and review lists of companies that recruit at your college.

4. Be persistent

Job hunting is not for the faint of heart. For most, rejection letters will be a part of the journey, but they must not deter you from your goal. Look frequently and apply often. For example, I mentored a woman who recently graduated and wanted to find a job in the United States. Her visa-sponsorship requirements made her job hunt even more challenging, and she endured a number of rescinded offers once her visa status was understood. After applying for two or three jobs a day for 6 months, she landed an offer from a firm willing to sponsor her. Her peers who were not as persistent also weren’t as successful in reaching their goals. Additionally, be sure to attend job fairs. Network with industry professionals at conferences, seminars, and networking events. Join local chapters of professional associations, such as ASHRAE, U.S. Green Building Council, and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Following these tips will help you succeed in interviews and separate you from other applicants. Employers look for applicants who are poised and engaged in their future career. ce

Rebecca Delaney is the mechanical team leader at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s sustainable engineering studio. She is a hiring manager and engineer recognized for her industry leadership in mentoring students and sharing her passion of engineering around the globe. Edited by Emily Guenther, associate content manager, Control Engineering, CFE Media, eguenther@cfemedia.com.

ADVICE KEY CONCEPTS Learn how to job hunt in the engineering industry. What to do in order to get more exposure within the industry. How to prepare for a successful interview. GO ONLINE For related links about career advice, read this article online. In the digital edition, click on the headline or search the headline for www.controleng.com. CONSIDER THIS Should additional steps be taken for job seekers who aren’t breaking into the industry for the first time?

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Project management help

Defining and measuring project quality Using a standardized methodology to define project quality ensures deliverables fit customer specifications and receive high customer satisfaction when managing projects.

ADVICE KEY CONCEPTS How to define project quality. What to consider when measuring project quality. The differences between quality control and quality assurance. GO ONLINE For related links about quality control and project management, read this article online. In the digital edition, click on the headline or search the headline for www.controleng.com CONSIDER THIS How should a quality assurance plan be tailored for a particular industry or particular products?

MAY 2017

sing a standardized methodology to define project quality ensures deliverables are fit for their intended purpose with high customer satisfaction. Quality is often described in vague terms that are difficult, if not impossible, to make quantitative measurements. Quality is apparent to the customer, especially when lacking, but what exactly is quality? Quality may have different meanings to various project stakeholders, and it’s important to figure out what that meaning is for each. The idea of quality, on the surface, is abstract, ambiguous and difficult to define and measure. Measuring and managing quality in the context of project-based work further complicates matters as individual projects are often unique making it difficult to develop a set of criteria to measure against. Project quality relies on identification of the customers and of their requirements. At the early phases of a project, requirements might be vague and unmeasurable. As the project progresses, requirements must be refined into specifications that are measurable. The definition of quality as it relates to the project should be determined up front and well-defined with customer input so that at the end of the project, the customers perceive the deliverables as being high quality. Defining quality

To manage project quality, it is imperative to understand what quality is and how it relates to the project. Joseph M. Juran, widely held to be the father of quality, defined quality as “fitness for use” which was later revised to “fitness for purpose” in the 6th edition of “Juran’s Quality Handbook.” Juran also emphasized two components of quality that are critical to managing it: features that meet customer needs and freedom from failures.

CONTROL ENGINEERING

In the context of project quality, it is important to meet the customer’s needs while not “gold plating” the deliverables with expensive features that add little or no value to the customer. The Project Management Institute defines quality as “the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements.” While it is important not to gold plate the deliverables, it is also important not to simply meet the bare minimum of requirements as specified in the project contract. Kenneth Rose, author of “Project Quality Management: Why, What and How,” describes a simple set of statements related to project specifications: If you don’t meet the specifications, you are in breach. If you want to complete the current contract, meet the contract specifications. If you want to win the next contract, meet or exceed the customer’s expectations. Exceeding the minimum requirements is important so the customer is satisfied. However, this must be done in a way that exceeding the project requirements adds value to the customer and not adding features that won’t benefit them. Quality assurance versus quality control

Quality assurance and quality control are terms that are often used interchangeably but have different meanings. Quality assurance focuses on the process and preventing defects before they occur. Quality control focuses on the products and identifing and correcting defects after they have been produced. Another way to compare the two is that quality assurance is performed by people that need to understand the quality of a product but are external to the production. Quality control is www.controleng.com

performed by those responsible for producing the product. Understanding the customers of a project is very important when trying to define quality as it relates to a project. The most obvious customer of a project is the person or organization that is paying the bills. However, this is often not the only customer. Customers can include multiple organizations and multiple people within each of those organizations. The client commissioning the project is often different from the end user for the project. Regulatory bodies are also customers as applicable requirements that apply to the project have to be met. Some customers may be difficult to identify for a project as some may not be readily apparent or may not appear to later on in the project. The cost of project quality

Quality is often misunderstood as an additional cost to the project, which is incorrect. When quality is integral to the project from the beginning, the time required to maintain quality is covered by the savings produced. For quality to produce savings, it is important that it is included in the project from the beginning. If quality is ignored during a project, the defects will be discovered at the end of the project by the customer (see Figure 1). Letting defects exist to this point are not only very costly to correct, but can cause extreme damage to reputation. Often, quality is thought of as a process that occurs at the end of a project prior to shipping or turning over a product. Discovering defects during the testing /inspection phase is better than letting the customer find them, however, this still results in costly rework to correct the defects. Identifying and correcting defects during the implementation phase of the project is an improvement, but may result in some degree of rework. Ideally, quality plans are created upfront during the specification/design phase of the project. At this phase of the project, correcting potential defects produces the least amount of additional cost and rework. For quality, there is a rule known as the 1:10:100 rule that explains this concept: what costs $1 to correct in the specification and design phase would cost $10 to correct in the implementation phase and $100 to correct in the testing and inspection phase. During the project’s customer turnover phase, the cost of a dissatisfied customer or damaged reputation is impossible to measure. www.controleng.com

Quality and project constraints

Projects tend to follow the triple constraint: scope, schedule, and budget. When considering quality, this is still a triple constraint. At no time, should quality be traded off in favor of scope, schedule, or budget. Practicing project quality management is important for maintaining the project scope. Proper quality assurance during the project ensures that all of the project scope items will be met adequately. Quality control during the project inspects each scope item to ensure the requirements are met without defect, or remedies scope items that are found to have defects. Scope and quality should not be confused. If tradeoffs during a project occur, as a member of the project team, you may feel that only the scope is being reduced. However, to a customer of the project, they may feel that the quality of the deliverable(s) is being reduced. A project often may have an aggressive and tight schedule for implementation. Even in this case, it does not mean that quality should be compromised. The old adage, “there is never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it over,” applies here. A project that maintains its schedule, but cannot perform what it is intended to do, provides little value to anyone. Correcting the project defects at the end of the schedule will not only require costly rework, it will still be late. For the project budget, quality is not an item that should be restricted by a budget. When properly implemented, a quality project will pay for itself by reducing waste, defects, and rework. In the 4th edition of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide, quality was

Figure 1: Quality issues must be addressed during all phases of a project from the start through final customer turn-over. All images courtesy: Huffman Engineering

‘

For the project budget, quality is not an item that should be restricted by budget. When properly implemented, a quality project will pay for itself by reducing waste, defects, and rework.

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MAY 2017

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2017 CAREER UPDATE

added as a project constraint in addition to the traditional triple constraint along with risk and resources, shown in Figure 2. While quality is a constraint of the project, it remains imperative that it is not omitted in favor of scope, schedule, or budget.

process is the link between quality planning and quality control. It involves auditing the quality requirements and results from quality control to ensure appropriate quality standards and operational definitions are used. A quality assurance plan should be developed for tracking quality activities. This provides a manageable list of quality activities and results for future reference. A quality assurance plan should contain the following information: Task/work breakdown structure reference Requirement Specification Assurance activity Schedule Responsible party.

Figure 2: Project constraints have evolved from the traditional budget, scope, and schedule (left) to include risk, resources, and quality as well (right).

Project quality management methodology

The PMBOK Guide lists three processes for project quality management: quality planning, quality assurance, and quality control. Juran did not distinguish between quality assurance and quality control, but he did add one more important process: quality improvement. Good project quality starts with planning for quality during the early stages of a project, and not relying on inspection near or at the end. Quality planning is a three-step process: identify customers, identify quality requirements, and develop specifications. Identifying all the customers of a project is the first step. This is important to consider any potential customers that may not be readily apparent at the start of a project but may appear during or after the project is over. Identifying these customers earlier in the project will result in a smoother project. The next step is to identify the quality requirements. This step will involve working with the customers to identify what the requirements are. Some requirements may also be implied. Requirements now can be used to formulate specifications. A requirement is generic in nature, such as “the coffee will be hot.” A specification, on the other hand, specifies what will be measured and how to measure it. Fulfilling quality requirements

Quality assurance provides confidence that the quality requirements will be fulfilled. This

MAY 2017

CONTROL ENGINEERING

This plan contains the necessary information to define what will be done (assurance activity), when it will be done (schedule), and who will perform it (the responsible party). Auditing the project quality may be performed by a member of the project team but should be someone removed from the actual development of what is being audited. Trying to audit one’s own work may not identify every defect. Quality control and improvement

Quality control is the process of accessing the products and validating the scope of the project. Products are checked against the specifications for conformance. If a product is out of spec, then quality control is the process in which it is corrected. The second part of quality control is recommending updates for quality assurance to correct the process and reduce defects. This is the last part of the quality process, improvement. Quality is a constant process of change and improvement— not a destination. Effective quality management is a tool to increase competitiveness and performance as it relates to the project. While difficult to define, quality management is an essential aspect of the broader topic of project management. A systematic approach to quality should be used as a method to identify customers, define requirements and specifications, and perform quality planning, assurance, and control. ce

Jay Steinman is a mechanical engineer at CSIA Certified system integrator, Huffman Engineering. Edited by Emily Guenther, associate content manager, Control Engineering, CFE Media, eguenther@cfemedia.com. www.controleng.com

INSIDE PROCESS migration

Signaling considerations for control system migrations Not every analog field instrument can be wired to any given analog input (AI) module, nor can any discrete output (DO) module be wired to any given discrete final control element.

ontrol system migrations inherent- ac discrete signals unless the project designs and ly require a large variety of technical installs interposing relays. The variations in I/O details to be analyzed and addressed module types referenced above can result in sigin preparation for installation and nificant variations in I/O densities (channels per start-up. In addition to software con- module), which then affect the physical cabinet figuration and development, this also applies space and I/O rack infrastructure required for a when connecting the software to the process. given I/O count. At a high level, and Signal isolators or conespecially during early ditioners may be required Namur sensors also project scoping stages, it is to make existing field siguseful and appropriate to nals compatible with the may have the opposite base control system migraI/O modules offered on contact action of existing the new system or to pretion analyses largely on input/output (I/O) counts vent purchasing different simple dry contact by general types: analog I/O module types for only inputs (AI), discrete inputs a small quantity of unique position switches and (DI), analog outputs (AO), field signals. DIs on the discrete outputs (DO), and new control system could require inverted control soft tags. After the early have higher input impedsystem logic. scoping stages—but before ances than the existing sysbudgets are finalized and tem, which makes them detailed design begins—the project team should more vulnerable to induced voltage on long cable consider signaling details that can impact project runs than DIs on the existing control system. costs and schedule. Existing solid-state, output discrete, field device signals, unlike dry contacts, normally Control system criteria require a minimum current to fully conduct and There are many signaling details that need to switch on such that a dropping resistor may be be considered during a migration project. This is needed if the input impedance at the new conespecially true if the project is based on retaining trol system’s DI modules is too high. In addition existing field instrumentation. to field instruments, solid-state output signals The control system could require a mix are encountered when hard-wiring DOs from of single-ended and isolated DO modules to one control system, such as a small, packaged be compatible with existing field signals that unit equipment programmable logic controller include both simple solenoid valves and start/ (PLC), to a supervisory control system, such as a stop signals that are wired directly into and pow- plant distributed control system (DCS). ered by existing motor control circuit transformAs a part of the migration project, the plant ers. The control system could require a mix of also could be installing discrete field instruments single-ended, differential, HART-capable, and with Namur sensors that may not be compatiisolated AI module types to be compatible with a ble with all of the DI modules on the new conmix of existing loop powered transmitters, self- trol system. Also, when Namur sensors are newly powered transmitters, HART transmitters, and introduced to an existing plant, maintenance known ground loop issues. personnel should be trained on the operation The new control system could require several of Namur signals that, unlike simple dry condifferent DI and DO module types to be com- tact position switches, require excitation voltpatible with a mix of existing 24 V dc and 120 V age to function. Namur sensors also may have

‘

’

www.controleng.com

ADVICE KEY CONCEPTS It is useful to base control system migration analyses on input/output (I/O) counts by general types, which includes analog inputs (AI), discrete inputs (DI), analog outputs (AO), discrete outputs (DO), and soft tags. There are many signaling details that need to be considered during a migration project, especially if the project is based on retaining existing field instrumentation. The field excitation voltage for analog inputs (AI) on the new control system can be significantly different than the existing control system, which can lead maintenance personnel troubleshooting efforts astray. GO ONLINE Read this story online at www.controleng.com for more information on control system migration, as well as related stories from Maverick Technologies. CONSIDER THIS Do you know how the control system in your plant is wired?

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MAY 2017

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INSIDE PROCESS migration the opposite contact action of existing simple dry contact position switches and require inverted control system logic. Additional requirements

As part of the migration, the plant may want to change motor control circuits (MCCs) from two-wire control (single maintained signal) to three-wire

control (momentarily requiring an additional DO) to enhance safety or for other process reasons associated with recovery from power interruptions. Existing MCCs in older facilities could use 480 V ac signaling (tapped from two power phases) for motor start, stop, and run confirmation signals that would almost certainly require interposing relays on the

new system unless the existing motor starters are replaced. Existing AOs that currently drive a pair of split-range control valves may need to be implemented on the new system as two separate AOs to ensure sufficient voltage drop or to provide an intuitive operator interface on humanmachine interface (HMI) graphics. The

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;

There are many signaling details that need to be considered during a

â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

migration project.

plant could use obsolete thermocouplesensing temperature transmitters whose 4-20 mA outputs do not vary linearly with temperature and are supported by the existing, legacy control system but are not compatible with the new control system. The plant could have field transmitters with an older, primitive fieldbus technology that was never widely adopted and hence is not supported on the new control system but is providing critical process data to operations personnel on the existing, legacy control system. Although many newer control system DO modules have internalized this functionality, some 24 V dc DO modules require reverse bias diodes across their outputs to prevent the energy from the collapsing magnetic fields on inductive loads from generating excessive voltages that then damage electronics. The field excitation voltage for AIs on the new control system can be significantly different than the existing control system, which can lead maintenance personnel troubleshooting efforts astray. ce Shane Hudson is a senior engineer at Maverick Technologies. Maverick Technologies is a CFE Media content partner, a CSIA Level 1 member, the Control Engineering System Integrator of the Year in 2011, and was inducted into the Control Engineering System Integrator Hall of Fame in 2012. Edited by Jack Smith, content manager, CFE Media, Control Engineering, jsmith@cfemedia.com. input #13 at www.controleng.com/information

MAY 2017

CONTROL ENGINEERING

INSIDE PROCESS flow measurement

Understanding upstream and downstream pipe diameters for flow measurement While there are some creative ways to get flowmeters piped, there are certain installation best practices that should be adhered to whenever possible.

ne of the most common issues with flow measurement is an incorrectly sized flowmeter, followed by poor installation. While there are some creative ways to get flowmeters piped, they can neglect the fact that there are certain installation best practices that should be followed for each flowmeter type, and those should be adhered to whenever possible. Incorrect flowmeter installation

After all the trouble you went through selecting the proper meter for an application, why not ensure it’s installed in a manner that will produce optimal measurement results? A lot has changed over the years in terms of flowmeter technology. However, you can’t argue with physics. Fluid flowing through a pipe generally assumes a desirable flow profile at or near the center of the pipe. Flow disturbances (distortion and swirl) can occur via improper flowmeter installation, thus reducing measurement accuracy. Aside from improper sizing, material incompatibility, and meter misapplication, a number of issues with flow measurement arise from improper piping practices. A lot of time, effort, and money can go into the purchase of a flowmeter. However, it seems that not as much consideration is given to its installation. Perhaps this is due to limited changes that can be made to existing piping (time and expense), the end users having a technology they are not familiar with and making assumptions based on what they have done in the past, or a mechanical contractor having limited experience with various flowmeter technologies, etc. In this case, when talking about improper installation, the focus is on the placement of the meter in the process piping and its relation to valves, elbows, strainers, reducers, and a host of other devices that can be inserted into the piping that can have an www.controleng.com

effect on the flow profile. There are some general guidelines and best practices that all users should follow. The old adage, “If you don’t know something, ask,” applies here. There are no bad questions when trying to determine proper meter placement. Ask the manufacturer

Each technology has specific recommendations for meter placement and recommended pipe diameters upstream and downstream. Perhaps one of the most overlooked resources is speaking with the account manager/sales resource for that particular vendor. Most, if not all, flow measurement professionals have been through extensive training on their products and are familiar with a host of applications. They should be the first call when you have questions or concerns about where the meter should be placed in the pipe. In many cases, these professionals will assess each installation and give you the recommendations needed to ensure proper performance. One size does not fit all

ADVICE

One technology does not fit all applications. We all may have our favorite technology that we swear by, but you can’t fit a round peg in a square hole, and the same goes for flowmeters. Just because there’s a spare meter lying in the storeroom doesn’t mean it will be the most suitable. There are many options to consider, especially if you have existing piping that can’t be modified easily. It’s important to start thinking about the importance of installation effects and how this could impact the type of meter that is chosen. If you find that your flowmeter performance is suffering from installation effects, all is not lost. Ideally, the meter could be moved to a more suitable location that would ensure proper upstream and downstream straight pipe. Another option would be to change the type

KEY CONCEPTS There are installation best practices that should be followed and adhered to for each flowmeter type. One size does not fit all with flowmeters and there are many options to consider. Use relevant standards and ask questions to get the most out of your flowmeter investment. GO ONLINE Read this story online at www.controleng.com for more information on flowmeter measurement, as well as related stories from Cross Co. CONSIDER THIS What other questions should be asked when measuring flowmeters?

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INSIDE PROCESS flow measurement

‘

As there are

of meter or change to a different design of the same kind of meter. For example, changing from a standard vortex to a reducer vortex.

multiple flow technologies

Upstream and downstream requirements

available, so

for proper meter

As there are multiple flow technologies available, so too are the recommendations for proper meter placement in process piping. While each manufacturer may have different guidelines, below is a general overview of typical upstream and downstream piping requirements.

placement in

Magnetic flowmeters

too are the recommendations

process piping.

upstream piping runs. Elbows, reducers, and other devices upstream of the sensor will distort the flow profile, so adequate straight runs need to be accounted for. Typical recommendations suggest 35 straight pipe diameters upstream and five straight pipe diameters downstream. If you don’t have sufficient upstream straight run, some manufacturers allow for K-factor corrections that could reduce this requirement. If using temperature and pressure compensations to derive mass flow, then the temperature and pressure transmitters should be installed downstream of the flowmeter at a minimum of four to six straight pipe diameters.

’

Magnetic flowmeters are fairly forgiving in terms of varying flow profile. To ensure specified accuracy over a broader range of process conditions first, ensure that the meter is piped in a manner so it always remains full. Second, install the flowmeter a minimum of five straight pipe diameters upstream and a minimum of two straight pipe diameters downstream from the electrode plane.

Coriolis flowmeters

Coriolis flowmeters are designed to measure mass flow and density directly. Their measurements are insensitive to fluid profile, have very few installation limitations, and therefore don’t require upstream and downstream straight pipe runs. The main guidelines for Coriolis sensors are to make sure the sensor tubes remain full. If installed in a vertical pipe, make sure the fluid (liquid and slurries) flows up and gasses flow down and do not use the meter to align misaligned pipe.

Vortex flowmeters

Vortex flowmeters like a fully developed flow profile and typically require long straight

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INSIDE PROCESS flow measurement

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Ultrasonic flowmeters require fully developed flow conditions to ensure the meters will perform as specified.

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Turbine flowmeters

Turbine flowmeters must be installed in a manner that minimizes measurement errors caused by turbulence or damage to the moving parts caused by high flow rates. It also is recommended that a strainer is used upstream of the turbine meter to capture any contaminants that could damage the moving components. Sufficient back pressure also should be maintained to avoid any potential flashing or cavitation. The general guidelines suggested by manufacturers of turbine flowmeters are 15 to 20 straight pipe diameters (inclusive of the strainer) straight pipe runs upstream and five straight pipe diameters straight pipe runs downstream. The upstream requirement can be increased if, for example, there are two elbows in different planes (up to 50 straight pipe diameters). Alternatively, the upstream straight run requirement can be reduced if some form of flow straightening is used, down to 10 straight pipe diameters upstream.

Ultrasonic flowmeters

Ultrasonic flowmeters require fully developed flow conditions to ensure the meters will

perform as specified. There are two basic types of measuring principles, Doppler and transit time, with the latter being more commonly used for fiscal custody transfer applications of gas and petroleum liquids. As with other technologies, these sensors do require adhering to basic installation guidelines to minimize errors caused by flow profile disturbances. Consult the standards, ask questions

Requirements vary by manufacturer, which could lead to some confusion. In a fiscal custody transfer application of either a liquid or gas, make sure to be fully versed in the current standards. By asking the right questions, consulting with the manufacturer, and having a good understanding of the existing guidelines and standards, you should be well on your way to getting the most for your flowmeter investment. ce Jeff Weiss is an account manager with Cross Co., a CFE Media content partner. Edited by Chris Vavra, production editor, Control Engineering, CFE Media, cvavra@cfemedia.com.

For Kyle, automation is a team sport. Festo helps him make customer dreams a reality. Plexus is The Product Realization Company™ - transforming customer concepts into products. For Kyle, the process starts and ends with collaboration. That’s why when he needs a control or automation solution, he trusts Festo to provide the best advice. And the best products. Solutions through teamwork. That’s what moves Kyle. What moves you?

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digital edition Exclusives, Online Extras: Benefits of the Control Engineering Digital Edition include tablet-friendly viewing (HTML5), exclusive content in every issue; headlines link to the longer version posted online; links are live where a URL is provided; and an email link arrives when ready. In addition, link to additional “Online Extra” articles.

DIGITAL EDITION EXCLUSIVES

DE1 Machine vision technologies

boost warehouse efficiency, transparency The machine vision industry is providing warehouses with technology to leverage the data generated by cameras, sensors and imagers across the entire enterprise in order to maximize efficiency and productivity.

DE3 Learning tough lessons from ICS attacks

A security incident can cause damage to brand reputation, loss of competitive advantage, legal or regulatory non-compliance issues, considerable financial damage, and harm to the environment and community.

ONLINE EXTRAS

(Click on the headlines or search www.controleng.com.)

Researchers design coatings to prevent pipeline clogging Researchers at MIT have developed a coating that could stop the buildup of hydrate ices that slow or block oil and gas flow, which could help prevent another disaster such as Deepwater Horizon.

Reverse engineering reduced repair time, costs for steel manufacturer A steel manufacturer that needed two impellers repaired found a solution through reverse engineering that was faster and more cost-effective.

Predictive, preventive, and breakdown maintenance tips Predictive, preventive, and breakdown maintenance are common maintenance programs that provide their own unique benefits and plant managers should know when to employ them.

Three ways to increase efficiency at a spirit manufacturing plant Manufacturers at a spirit manufacturing plant can increase production and efficiency by setting realistic expectations, simplify their model, and asking for a third-party’s input with an overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) analysis.

Cybersecurity attacks on IIoT infrastructure expected to increase in 2017 A survey by security company Tripwire found that 96% of IT security professionals expected attacks on critical Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) infrastructure segments such as energy, utilities, government, health care, and finance.

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MAY 2017

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DIGITAL EDITION exclusive

Machine vision boosts efficiency, transparency The machine vision industry is providing warehouses with technology to leverage the data generated by cameras, sensors and imagers across the entire enterprise to help maximize efficiency and productivity.

mazon has gotten warehouse efficiency down to a science, and vision and imaging technologies share in the credit. Meanwhile, human pickers are equipped with handheld image-based barcode readers, and merchandise gets scanned at a series of points throughout the fulfillment process. It’s not just retail giants. Warehouses of all types and sizes are realizing they don’t have to be an e-commerce gorilla to benefit from vision and imaging offerings ranging from 3-D empty tray detection to smartphone-based scanners. Not only is the vision industry providing the hardware, but they’re helping their warehouse customers leverage the data generated by cameras, sensors and imagers across the entire enterprise in order to maximize efficiency and productivity. Moving beyond the barcode

ADVICE KEY CONCEPTS The machine vision industry is providing hardware and the tools to allow warehouse customers to leverage the data they are receiving. Companies need to effectively manage the data they receive from all of their mobile devices. Embracing mobility could be a major boost for the machine vision industry and for workers in the warehouse. GO ONLINE Read this story at www.controleng.com for more information about machine vision technologies and additional stories from the AIA. CONSIDER THIS What other developments could have a major impact on machine vision technologies in the warehouse?

DE1

MAY 2017

Barcode readers continue to be the bread and butter of imaging applications in the warehouse. These industrial imagers may require less complexity than their traditional machine vision system counterparts, but they nevertheless have a demanding job. “Compared to factory automation and its many applications, the warehouse is more focused and contained because you are just trying to read a barcode and guide a box where to go,” said Bryan Boatner, director of product marketing - mobile and handheld products for Cognex. “But in another sense, because the boxes are moving so fast and throughput is at such a premium, it can be a lot more challenging.” When image-based industrial barcode readers first debuted, their primary value proposition was providing better read rates and capturing more data than their laser scanner counterparts ever could. In reading direct part mark (DPM), 1-D, and 2-D barcodes, image-based devices allowed warehouses to save images of codes that couldn’t be read in order to perform

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troubleshooting and root cause analysis to help improve the process. Once customers saw that benefit, they started to explore ways to use other information available from the barcode image. Until recently, much of that data was tossed aside, said Bradley Weber, manufacturing industry product specialist and application engineering manager at Datalogic. “It used to be taking that image, running it through algorithms such as reading the barcode, and processing it right then and there, and then moving onto the next package,” Weber said. “It’s changing now where a lot of that information is being stored and analyzed for later so you can identify trends over time.” To help keep its customers’ data from languishing, Cognex developed the Cognex Explorer real time monitoring (RTM) system. When an unread barcode is detected, it automatically transfers the image to RTM, which is designed to evaluate each image and categorize it into a group based on the error—for example, missing labels and poorly printed labels. Categorized images are stored in a database accessible via a web browser. Just as warehouses are relying on the additional data generated by barcode readers, they’re embracing a multipart vision system to track a product from the front end to the back end. “Datalogic is helping our customers to build a fingerprint of the package traveling through the facility using different vision technologies, including barcode readers that integrate optical character recognition (OCR) functionality, sensors that detect the presence or absence of a package, dimensioners that scan the package to provide its volume, and machine vision cameras capturing what is on that package,” Weber said. For its part, Cognex is investigating ways to employ its vision technology on its handheld readers and mobile terminals to automate OCR. “We plan to demonstrate to customers how they can use vision on handheld readers to read ZIP www.controleng.com

codes off the label in addition to scanning the bin location barcode,” Boatner said. “You can even conceive the ability to do the entire form reading where you convert printed fields to an automated data collection service.” Image-based warehouse management machine vision systems are enabling companies to be more transparent—and therefore better partners—to their customers. Datalogic’s Weber says that all information gathered together from dimensioner, weight, images, or other sensors can be combined to have a unique ID for a package. “The customers will be able to access it all,” Weber said. Shop floor to top floor

Delving this deep into the data, of course, depends on the ability of the manufacturing plant or distribution center to connect disparate business activities, enabling dataflow for centralized decision-making. But many of these systems, including warehouse management, continue to operate in silos. To tie warehouse activities into front office operations—colloquially known as “shop floor to top floor”—vision products and systems ideally will integrate with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, which centrally manages an organization’s business activities and the data generated by them. But an ERP comes with its own challenges. “The ERP does just enough to get by, and it’s not very nimble,” said Dan Hare, vice president of Matrix SSI, which provides technology solutions to centralize inventory control. “It doesn’t do a good job at device management, which is part of the inventory control because you’re printing labels and scanning. We understand the workflow that happens in the warehouse better.” Of particular focus for manufacturers is automatically tracking work-in-process inventory, or the raw materials that are being transformed into finished goods. “A lot of this is being done with serialization and lot-type tracking, and older systems just don’t do a good job of that,” Hare said. “We’ve seen a big uptick in our solution used as an overlay for [ERP systems such as] SAP and Oracle, and that’s even in brand-new installations.” And without being responsive to the needs of the warehouse worker, workflow is likely to suffer. “Many ERPs are designed for big computer screens with a mouse at a desk,” Hare said. “Matrix SSI is designed to run on handhelds on the shop floor.” Matrix SSI, which is hardware-agnostic, has spent the past 15 years building an integration tool to connect all silos and disparate systems in a warehouse. It’s an engineering effort that vision companies are starting to make for their customers as well. www.controleng.com

Cognex’s RTM, for example, is designed to harness all the data it collects on images, which can be distilled and presented to office managers so they can assess the information and make changes. The vision-enabled mobile terminal employs technology used across the entire enterprise and leverages a variety of Android and iOS smartphones as the user interface of the device. The phones are set within a ruggedized housing equipped with barcode reading algorithms. Boatner said, “It’s a much

NUMBERS: Control Engineering 2016 research on system integration said 58% of respondents integrate discrete sensors, which inclwude machine vision technologies. More research: www.controleng.com/CE-Research

‘

Integration opportunities: optical character recognition, sensors that detect the presence or absence of a package, dimensioners that scan the package to provide its volume, and

’

machine vision cameras.

easier solution to deploy because you have one device that is managed by IT that is deployed in your warehouse, front office, field team, and so on.” Today, the machine vision industry is chasing every opportunity to catch the “killer app,” which is usually associated with the massive installed base of smartphones around the world. The warehouse—with its controlled, demanding environment—may be the gateway that brings machine vision technology to everyone’s pocket, whether they are a distribution center manager or a customer. ce Winn Hardin is contributing editor, AIA. This article originally appeared on the AIA website. The AIA is a part of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), a CFE Media content partner. Edited by Chris Vavra, production editor, Control Engineering, CFE Media, cvavra@cfemedia.com.

CONTROL ENGINEERING

MAY 2017

| DE2

DIGITAL EDITION exclusive

Learning tough lessons from ICS attacks A security incident can cause damage to brand reputation, loss of competitive advantage, legal or regulatory non-compliance issues, considerable financial damage, and harm to the environment and community.

ADVICE KEY CONCEPTS Industrial control systems (ICSs) are vulnerable to cyber attacks just like a computer. Companies need to be better educated and more proactive in their defense measures. GO ONLINE Read this story at www.controleng.com for more information about ICSs and stories from ISSSource. CONSIDER THIS What other preventive measures should be taken to prevent a breach to an ICS?

DE3

MAY 2017

ndustrial control systems (ICSs), much to the industry’s chagrin, are not immune to data breaches, ransomware attacks, viruses, malware, insider attacks or any other form of assault. On top of that, there are some experts that say they need tangible proof attacks really happen. Well, there is. Just take a look at the Verizon 2016 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR). The report details 16 common breach scenarios, and the cases are each told from the perspective of the stakeholders involved, such as corporate communications, legal counsel, or the human resources professional. In one poignant scenario, a manufacturer fell victim and had to get their house in order fairly quickly. Here is what the report said about this one incident: “A company, we’ll call Gator-Grasp Fasteners, retained the Verizon RISK Team to perform a health check of their industrial environment. This particular customer was in the business of fabricating specialized fasteners, which were required to pass very specific engineering requirements, such as meeting or surpassing certain strength, tensile stress, mechanical properties and material content thresholds. “At the onset of the health check, Gator-Grasp Fasteners’ automation engineers expressed skepticism and mild dissent, arguing that a “health check” was not necessary. In their many years of being on the job, the “patient” had always functioned well and had shown no signs of being “unhealthy.” So why mess with things? They assured their management that the operational technology (OT) environment was secure and that they expected there would be no significant findings. After all, the automation engineers were experts and they knew what they were doing. Nonetheless, management insisted and the automation engineers reluctantly agreed to work with the RISK Team.

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Not in my house

“As with any engagement, there was a kickoff meeting, which was used to introduce everyone, set initial expectations, discuss the in-scope environment, request additional information and schedule the onsite visit. “The requested information included a list of network segments, IP address ranges, IP address assignments, and an asset inventory. “The GatorGrasp Fasteners Team was instructed not to create any new documentation in order to avoid a situation where the creation of new documentation would potentially mask a procedural deficiency. In assembling the requested documentation, Gator-Grasp Fasteners quickly realized that what it did have was inadequate. “During the on-site visit, the automation engineers, the RISK Team’s critical infrastructure protection/cybersecurity (CIP/CS) specialists and other subject matter experts (SMEs) discussed the various OT systems, in-place security measures and other operational procedures. This included processes and practices (aka “institutional knowledge”) that are followed, but were not necessarily documented. These discussions revealed that over the past few months, the network seemed “sluggish,” which the automation engineers and SMEs attributed to older, legacy equipment. With an understanding of the situation in mind, we visited various locations where we walked the manufacturing floor and made additional observations. “One of the first things we noticed was some OT systems had anti-virus protection while others didn’t. For those that didn’t, we were told that, since they were isolated, they didn’t need protection. Incredibly, when we looked at the anti-virus logs on the OT systems that had malware protection, we found them replete with malware detections, deletions, and quarantine alerts. Of the 57 systems in total, 33 systems had at least one malware alert, and many had multiple alerts. www.controleng.com

“When we inquired about these alerts, we found that the automation engineers and operators were well aware. They reasoned that since the malware protection was correcting and “repairing” the problems, everything was acceptable. We explained that there was clearly an underlying problem leading to the repeat infections and recommended a more detailed review to identify the root cause.” Need logging

“Gator-Grasp Fasteners had no documented incident response (IR) process for investigating incidents, so we took the lead. The company did not have a centralized logging solution and what devices did log did not provide insight into how the malware was getting into the network. The problem? We needed more visibility. “With the cooperation of Gator-Grasp Fasteners, we set up a Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) port and deployed a passive network analyzer to collect and analyze the traffic. Using indicators related to the identified malware, we reviewed network traffic and quickly identified multiple potentially infected systems. As we expected, the network traffic revealed malware infections associated with the legacy OT systems that did not have antivirus protection. Further analysis revealed that a number of misconfigurations existed —which had allowed unauthorized network communication. “The infected systems, many of which were very actively searching for new systems, were a good candidate for the “slow network” problems identified during earlier interviews. Using the collected network traffic, we ran statistics on data transfer rates and quickly realized that the scanning attempts were saturating legacy network connections with probes. With a concrete list of infected systems, we targeted the population of compromised endpoints. “Despite the widespread infection, GatorGrasp Fasteners had been fortunate. Review of the malware resident on each system revealed common drive-by infections, all targeted at stealing banking credentials. As none of the infected OT systems were utilized for anything other than process management, it was unlikely that further damage had occurred. The network trouble was an unintended side effect of the malware’s attempts to find new systems compounded with overly permissive firewall rules. “We provided a list of known infected systems to Gator-Grasp Fasteners, which quickly began rebuilding them from known good images. www.controleng.com

To keep remediated systems remediated during this process, we continued network traffic monitoring for known indicators and behaviors associated with the identified malware. With the current issue well on the path to being resolved, we turned our attention to the uninfected, but still “troubled” OT systems.” Verizon RISK team broke down some recommendations into three categories covering the company’s entire OT environment:

1. Unnecessary legacy systems in unmanned locations. These systems ended up removed from the network and decommissioned. These were difficult to track down as they were not documented, making them hard to find, which ultimately delayed the containment and eradication activities.

‘

Network traffic revealed malware infections associated with the legacy OT systems that did not have anti-virus protection; a number of misconfigurations had allowed unauthorized network communication.

’

2. Necessary legacy systems unable to end

up protected by an anti-virus solution. The RISK team manually removed the existing malware and the systems ended up hardened from a best practices standpoint. Stringent firewall rules ended up deployed to prevent access to and from these systems, designed to limit the reach of any future compromises.

3. New systems not patched or protected by an anti-virus solution. These computer systems ended up patched and malware protection installed. Best practices

Just as in the non-ICS world, a security incident can cause damage to brand reputation, loss of competitive advantage, legal or regulatory non-compliance issues, considerable financial damage, and harm to the environment and community. The biggest lessons learned could be summed up in one automation engineer’s comments: “…Well, being here for over 25 years, I thought I knew all the ins and outs. I didn’t CONTROL ENGINEERING

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| DE4

DIGITAL EDITION exclusive

NUMBERS: 30% of end users are seriously concerned about cybersecurity of wireless communications devices and protocols in their facilities. Source: Control Engineering 2016 Cybersecurity Study. More research: www.controleng.com/CE-research

consider documentation very important, but in the end, I realized, there was a lot that I didn’t know, and what I didn’t know ended up being a big part of the problem.” The RISK team found there were multiple corrective actions that Gator-Grasp Fasteners needed to take to shore up their detection, mitigation, and response efforts, including: Perform IR planning. An IR plan is critical to resolving security issues by providing direction and guidance to responders. Conduct first responder training. Train those most likely to identify security issues about the IR Plan; educate them to collect information and triage immediately. Harden OT systems. Devices with overly permissive default configurations should end up reviewed and unneeded configuration options disabled, to reduce the risk of misuse. Patch and patch often. Develop a patch management program to properly secure assets and networks. Security patches fix known vulnerabilities and mitigate the spread of malware. Use anti-virus/intrusion detection system (IDS) protection. Install a host-based

anti-virus solution or intrusion detection system on all IT/OT systems and keep the definitions up-to-date. Configure logging, monitoring and alerting. Centralize logging from all devices into one location and periodically review logs for signs of suspicious activity such as antivirus alerts, failed log-in attempts, or network communications involving external systems. Maintain IR/disaster recovery plans. It is essential to have well-documented and runtested IR and disaster recovery (DR) plans. If not, the response and recovery process will be disorganized, potentially incomplete, and take much longer. ce

Gregory Hale is the editor and founder of Industrial Safety and Security Source (ISSSource.com), a news and information Website covering safety and security issues in the manufacturing automation sector. This content originally appeared on ISSSource.com. ISSSource is a CFE Media content partner. Edited by Joy Chang, CFE Media, jchang@cfemedia.com.

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NEW PRODUCTS and software Automated checkweigher system for in-motion items Hardy Process Solutions’ Dynamic Checkweigher is a fully automated system designed to weigh items automatically in-motion. The checkweigher controller can communicate both upstream and downstream across the Connected Enterprise Network. Automated control is done with an embedded programmable logic controller (PLC) while communicating with the Hardy HI 4050CW check weighing controller. The checkweigher system can process between 20 to 350 pieces per minute. Each checkweigher has a stainless steel base and cabinet, for maximum durability and easy washdown. Flexible and highly accurate, it weighs products of virtually any shape or size in containers such as boxes, cans, bottles, rigid shrink-wrapped packages, or flexible packages. Hardy Process Solutions,

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Touchless rotary angle sensor series Novotechnik’s RFC4800 series of touchless rotary angle sensors provide absolute, rotary position. They use a magnetic pickup to provide a touchless measurement range of 0 to 360 degrees and make measurements through air and non-magnetic materials. A magnetic pickup mounts to a shaft on users application with seven size markers available for dimensional flexibility and to optimize detection for different applications. Key specifications include ingress protection from liquids and dust up to the IP69K standard, resolution of 14 bits, and independent linearity of ±0.5%. Versions include CANopen and IO-Link, and they have an operating temperature range of -40 to 125°C. Novotechnik,

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Differential measurement system for space-limited applications Kaman Precision Products’ KD-5100 differential measurement system is designed to provide resolution to a nanometer of positional change and can be used for applications such as night vision systems, precision telescope positioning, fast steering mirrors (FSM) for space-based and airborne applications, and image stabilization systems. Featuring a small package size of 2 x 2.12 x 0.75 in., the KD-5100 is designed for applications where space is a limiting factor. The KD-5100 features rugged construction, with a mean time between failures of more than 238,000 hours in a space flight environment and 55,000 hours in a tactical environment. Kaman also offers a commercial version. Kaman Precision Products,

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Power supplies for automation, process control applications XP Power’s DPC series of DIN rail ac/dc power supplies are available in 30, 50 and 70 W single output models, and they accept the universal input range from 90 to 264 V ac without the need for any input selector switches. Offering all the nominal output voltages from 5 to 48 V dc, the single output can be adjusted up to 30% of stated nominal to accommodate non-standard voltage requirements or to make up for line losses. All models feature a green LED to indicate output on. The DPC series is designed for applications such as include factory automation, process control and other industrial applications. It uses screw terminals for input and output connections. XP Power,

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Data logger for profiling painted, powder-coated products Fluke’s Datapaq EasyTrack 3 system is a data logger designed to make profiling oven cure of painted and powder-coated products easier. The data logger has a polycarbonate casing that can withstand harsh treatment and heat up to 100°C without distortion and without harm to the electronics. Versions with four or six thermocouple channels are available. Data is stored in a non-volatile memory—the capacity has been tripled to up to 18,000 readings per channel. Calibration certificates stored aboard the logger can be printed anytime. For remote diagnostics, status data can be emailed to the manufacturer’s tech support. The software includes advanced analysis functions such as rise/fall, peak difference, area under curve calculation, marking of up to six oven zones in the temperature graph, a probe map for high repeatability, saved zooms for even more comfortable reviewing and sharing of data, and customized profile reports. Fluke,

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Software package for schematic generation Eplan’s Cogineer is software package that generates schematics automatically and is designed to be a deployable tool for occasional users and power users alike. Expert knowledge about configuration or variant management isn’t required. A mechatronic rulebook and configuration interfaces can be put together without knowledge of any high-level programming languages. Cogineer can generate complete electro-technical documentation, which is designed to ensure error-free implementation of all defined rules and structures, guaranteeing high quality documentation and potentially shortening the entire order fulfillment timeline. Cogineer is integrated into the Eplan Platform, which allows users to create project data in another Eplan program and then generate the schematics using that data in Cogineer without duplication. Eplan,

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Surface sensing temperature measurement transmitter Emerson’s Rosemount X-well Technology surface sensing temperature measurement solution uses a Rosemount 3144P transmitter, designed for plants and facilities where wired networks are already installed, or where WirelessHART has not yet been deployed. X-well Technology works by measuring the pipe surface temperature and ambient temperature, and combining this information with an understanding of the thermal conductivity properties of the installation and process piping to produce an accurate process temperature measurement. It is designed to take the measurement without process intrusions or penetrations, allowing for quicker and easier installation along with simplified long-term maintenance. Wake frequency calculations are eliminated, as well as time spent determining material compatibility, the correct insertion length, and the necessary profile. Emerson,

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Combustion analyzer for hazardous conditions

Ruggedized dc/dc converter for harsh environments Traco Power’s THN 15WIR family of ruggedized dc/dc converters are designed for harsh environments and offer increased resistance against electromagnetic interference, shock/vibration, and thermal shock. They are ideal for harsh industrial environments, railway, and transportation systems. There are 27 models, and the input range satisfies a ±40% deviation of nominal required of today’s railway and transportation systems. These models feature I/O isolation of 3000 V dc and efficiency of 88-91% (model dependent). They have a full-load operating temperature range of -40 to 75°C (up to 90°C with load derating), input under-voltage-lockout, short circuit protection, remote on/off, and output voltage trim. Traco Power,

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The Thermox WDG-V combustion analyzer from Ametek Process Instruments is certified for Zone 1 hazardous locations, which allows the unit to operate in areas in which hazardous vapors and gases will continuously be present. The analyzer offers redundancy and diagnostics that provide end users with digitally transmitted information via Modbus and Ethernet that can be used to implement predictive and proactive asset management maintenance programs. The reliable detection of low-combustion oxygen and/or high combustibles (CO) in a fired heater or boiler is critical to the effectiveness of burner management systems. It is IEC 61508 capable of implementation into SIL-2 applications and is suitable for process streams up to 3200°F (1760°C). Ametek Process Instruments,

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Ceramic chip resistors with metal foil TT Electronics’ MFC series of metal foil chip resistors are designed for current sensing duties in power electronics applications and can be used in industrial and medical applications. The parts are ideal for power supplies, dc/dc convertors, small motor drives, actuator drives, and lighting drives. The MFC resistors’ metal foil resistance material is bonded onto a 96% alumina substrate and features a protective coating that is resistant to all normal industrial cleaning solvents suitable for printed circuits. Metal foil on ceramic technology has better surge tolerance than thickfilm, offering improved reliability in the presence of current surges. The resistors’ operating temperature is -55 to 155°C. TT Electronics,

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| 63

BACK TO BASICS motor insulation

Six tips for testing motor insulation systems Insulation resistance (IR) tests are useful for motor insulation systems and users should take steps such as recording conditions and watching for factors that may have an impact on the test to ensure maximum accuracy.

Although there

ADVICE KEY CONCEPTS Insulation resistance (IR) tests are useful for determining whether a motor should be removed. During the test, the user should discharge for safety and accuracy and record important test conditions. Users should also be aware of factors that might affect the IR test. GO ONLINE Read this story online at www.controleng.com and see more tables associated with this story, as well as links to other stories from EASA. CONSIDER THIS What other aspects should users watch for while performing an IR test on a motor?

are many ways to assess motor insulation systems, the insulation resistance (IR) test remains a useful tool for determining if a motor should be removed from or placed into service. When conducting the test and evaluating the results, consider these six tips. 1. Discharge for safety and accuracy. Discharge the winding to ground before and after IR testing. A good rule of thumb is to ground the winding for 15 minutes or four times the test time, whichever is greater. 2. Winding configuration for testing. If possible, isolate and test each phase separately and ground the two phases not under test. This allows for testing of the phase-to-phase insulation as well as the ground insulation. 3. Record important test conditions. Document the ambient temperature, relative humidity, dew point, winding temperature, time since service, test voltage and connection arrangement. 4. Simple test procedure. Energize the winding for one minute at an appropriate voltage (see Table 1) and correct the measured IR value to 40°C by multiplying by a KT from Table 2, online. Most modern insulation falls under the “Thermosetting” category. Use the “Thermoplastic” values if you know it is a much older winding with an asphaltic or shellac mica system.

Table 1: Recommended dc voltages for insulation resistance tests Winding rated voltage V(a)

Insulation resistance test direct voltage (V)

<1000

500

1000-2500

500-1000

2501-5000

1000-2500

5001-12000

2500-5000

>12,000

5000-10,000

a: Rated line-to-line voltage for three-phase ac machines, line-to-line ground (earth) for single phase machines, and rated direct voltage for dc machines or field windings. Reference: IEEE Stds. 43, Table 1

Table 1 Guidelines for dc voltages to be applied during insulation resistance tests. Courtesy: EASA, IEEE

MAY 2017

CONTROL ENGINEERING

‘

Document the ambient temperature, relative humidity, winding temperature, and other

’

attributes in the test.

5. Watch for factors that can affect the IR test. During the test, watch out for these four factors that can have an impact on the test and its results: Surface contamination such as oil, dust and salts may be conductive, causing lower IR. Cleaning and drying the winding will usually improve the IR. If the winding temperature is at or below the dew point, moisture may accumulate on the surface, causing low IR values. When the winding is otherwise in good condition, drying will resolve this issue. Winding IR decreases when winding temperature increases, which is why correction to a baseline temperature is recommended. Voltage magnitude and existing charge also can affect IR, but selecting the voltage from Table 1 and following proper grounding practices before testing should eliminate this issue. 6. Evaluate the test results. Table 3 online shows the recommended values for the corrected IR. Lower values warrant further investigation before the unit is placed into service. Some machines do operate below these values. Having historical data on-hand is valuable. ce Mike Howell is a technical support specialist at the Electrical Apparatus Service Association (EASA), a CFE Media content partner. Edited by Chris Vavra, production editor, Control Engineering, CFE Media, cvavra@cfemedia.com. www.controleng.com

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