Can the process control system provide a reliable basis for collaboration?

PROCESS CONTROL

Engineering on a global scale!

Traditionally, engineering projects were carried out within a department of the operating company itself, maybe with support from a system integrator or a machine builder. This is now changing and sticking with familiar working methods, silo mentality and serial work will mean that plant owners and operators will no longer be able to compete.

New forms of cooperation and knowledge transfer are necessary. One factor is web-based collaboration in engineering, which integrates all stakeholders and ensures that they can work consistently and in parallel. This need can be met with the Simatic PCS neo process control system. The system software is based on web technologies and has a consistent object-oriented data model. It is no longer necessary to install software on specific workstations for administration, engineering, and plant operation. Thanks to HTML5, it is possible to have secure access to the system and to operate it efficiently, just requiring a common browser.

To create an intuitive operating environment, Siemens has simplified the operating philosophy across all applications and implemented the concept of ‘one workbench’ for all applications and tasks: An authorised user can toggle between an engineering view and a monitoring & control (operational) view with one single mouse click. Access to operating elements, control sequences, alarms, or interlocks is therefore directly achievable at any time from a single point of entry.

Administration is integrated into this Today’s engineering projects are executed by a variety of stakeholders. But, can the process control system provide a reliable basis for effective and efficient collaboration? Manuel Keldenich believes they can.

concept. License and user management is controlled from here as well as the administration of all software- and security-related procedures. As the applications are carried out via the browser, local installations, such as on-site updates, become increasingly redundant: The application is in the latest version every time it restarts.

Collaboration Interdisciplinary collaboration of new project teams assembled from all parts of the world is already a reality for many. Simatic PCS neo tackles this trend with functions designed to enable global collaboration. For example, consistent, object-oriented data management with centralised data storage ensures that everyone involved in a project can access up-to-date data at any time. At the same time, they bring knowledge from their own working environment to the centrally administered project. A clear session concept with automatic consistency checks ensures that all data is always free of contradictions: A new session starts with each opening of a project and all user activities are recorded in their own change context. If several users access the public database, e.g. during concurrent engineering, it is clearly visible which changes the logged on user has made himself and where object processing is currently restricted due to the work of other users. Individual objects are locked automatically by the system and not manually by the user. If changes have been made and can be shared with other colleagues, they must be published. During the publish process, changed object sets are consistently and controllably introduced into the system automatically. On this basis, change tracking and versioning for the engineering data is also implemented. In this way, the various project statuses can be identified and restored at any time. These technical principles allow engineering and operational processes to be developed simultaneously. Project engineering that is not dependent on the hardware also offers an extremely high degree of flexibility. The following > p12

Sponsored article

Bridge your diagnostcs gap with the PROCNTEC EtherTAP

You have identfed the problem on your network, but wouldn't you rather know the soluton? PROCENTEC's new EtherTAP monitoring interface is the bridge to the Osiris functonality on their portable Mercury tablet and permanent Atlas module. Both devices run on diagnostcs platorm Osiris to analyse the informaton feed from the EtherTAP. This enables the build-in assistant Delphi to come up with a soluton to help you to quickly and efectvely get your operatons running again.

Instead of having to analyse, interpret and formulate a way to solve your network issues yourself, by trying to make sense of all the messages, PROCENTEC ofers a virtual network engineer who does all that in a fracton of the tme, Delphi. With Atlas you realise 24/7 monitoring with total accuracy. The Osiris diagnostcs platorm on Mercury and Atlas already ofered advanced actve monitoring for your network, now with therelease of thePROCENTEC EtherTAP it also features passive monitoring for any Ethernet or PROFINET network. The advantages are multple.

Advanced Insight The passive set-up allows for an easy plug & play installaton without any confguraton. The EtherTAP is placed between the PLC and the frst switch. It produces insight into the messages travelling on the network and the Osiris sofware does the advanced analysis. An efectve set-up to monitor network load, detect CRC errors, capture PROFINET alarms, check communicaton cycle tmes of your PLC, notce dropped packets and measure the jiter in the PROFINET real-tme communicaton. All this data is contnuously logged, and you will get a notfcaton in case of issues.

The TAP in EtherTAP stands for Test Access Point, which translates into being able to easily connect and see real tme what is traveling on your network without interference. EtherTAP is the reliable hardware bridge between your network and a computer with diagnostc sofware. The sofware is easy to use, but to get the best out of the platorm it is recommended to partcipate in PROCENTEC’s PROFINET certfed trainings. Check out the upcoming trainings at www.procentec.co.uk/ training/. Reliable Soluton The EtherTAP is designed for Industrial Ethernet environments, it has a reliable USB link that streams the captured messages to the accompanying driver, which emulates an additonal Ethernet port and hands the messages over to Osiris for interpretaton and actve Delphi soluton suggestons. Mercury and Atlas can be connected and disconnected to the EtherTAP USB port on the go. The EtherTAP also prevents the device connected to the USB link to send out messages on its own initatve, which could jeopardize the real-tme behaviour and security of the network. It realizes a feed with no loss of messages and communicates tme stamped messages with the precision of just a few nanoseconds to be able to accurately pinpoint the problem on your Ethernet or PROFINET network and prevent costly downtme.

PROCENTEC will be present at this year’s SPS Nuremberg, 26 Nov 2019 - 28 Nov 2019, at which the newest releases will be announced. Make sure to check them out!

PROCESS CONTROL

observation shows what this means in practice: Imagine how much coordination effort is saved if an onsite team in the field has access to all project data via mobile devices during commissioning (for example during loop-check) and can complete changes to the central project in real time. In parallel, employees can toggle between engineering and monitoring & control views with a single click – and all on the same device.

Easy-to-capture screens have been designed for typical processes such as hardware engineering or process signal interconnection. Beginners in engineering with Simatic PCS neo can quickly access the system via intuitive procedures such as drag-and-drop of objects for interconnection in Continuous Function Chart (CFC). At the same time, the understanding of the fundamental object model grows. The fact that not only user groups are supported in a taskoriented manner, but that users can also expect assistance corresponding to their level of experience, can be demonstrated by means of ‘spreadsheet engineering’ which offers the ability to quickly query all objects. The properties of the query results can then be bundled and edited. Further improvements in efficiency can also be expected through support of individual working methods: The decoupling of the equipment hierarchy from the target hardware means that planning and assignment of the hardware, and thus the distribution of the entire system, can take place at the latest possible stage. In future, project engineers will be able to dispense with creating channel driver modules and plan technological projects without hardware addressing. Because signals are assigned to real hardware addresses at a very late stage, it is possible, for example, to first plan the cabinet and then generate the technological plan. This so-called late binding, on the other hand, makes it possible to first map the process from templates and then plan the control cabinet. The signal mapping between the equipment hierarchy and the technological (hardware) hierarchy is done using a convenient drag-and-drop in the signal editor. In addition to the support of individual procedures, the user benefits from late binding above all in terms of safety and cost-savings, as changes can be considered and implemented quickly and easily right up to the end.

IT security Strict adherence to the principle of ‘security by design’ was a primary concern during the design of Simatic PCS neo. Extremely high security standards were applied to the design of the hardware and software from the outset. This includes, for example, taking all security mechanisms known today into consideration when transferring data. In addition to functional tests, the engineers and software developers also continuously checked the security measures already implemented. The development process was carried out in accordance with the international series of standards IEC 62443, Industrial Communication Networks – IT Security for Networks and Systems. These defined secure coding standards provided to coders, architects, and designers with guidelines for producing secure source code.

The implemented security functions then take effect during their subsequent use. Modern encryption processes are obviously used to produce secure communication between web servers and web browsers (client). Access to the system is only possible following authentication and authorisation and the overall communication is based on certificates. Users, computers, or devices must identify themselves using a digital certificate which sits in the background before they are granted access to an application. The new control system also fits into the defense-in-depth concept based on the recommendations in IEC 62443. This deeply structured defense concept combines plant and network security with elements of system integrity to form a comprehensive protection concept.

Conclusion Due to its web-based nature, the new process system is designed for interdisciplinary collaboration. No matter whether you work synchronously or asynchronously, it allows a traceable, versioned processing of projects and thus contributes to time and costs savings. At the same time, the handling of individual control system functions has become clearer and more comprehensible – regardless of whether one or more users access the system. !

Manuel Keldenich is a project manager at Siemens Digital Industries.

Maximum performance in minimum space The C6030 ultra-compact Industrial PC

Processors up to Intel ® Core™ i7 with four 3.6 GHz cores Dimensions 132 x 132 x 67 mm

www.beckhoff.com/C6030

With the extremely powerful C6030 ultra-compact Industrial PC, Beckhoff covers the range of highly complex, performance-oriented yet space-saving applications. Whether extensive axis controls, complex HMI applications, extremely short cycle times or large-volume data handling: the computing power is suitable for almost any automation and visualisation task. processor: up to Intel ® Core™ i7 with four 3.6 GHz cores interfaces: 4 Ethernet, 4 USB, 2 DisplayPort main memory: up to 32 GB DDR4 RAM

Ultra-compact

Ultra-high performance

Hall 7, booth 406

PLC NEXT STORE

Sponsored article

MAKING EXPERTISE MORE ACCESSIBLE Phoenix Contact has set up an independent digital marketplace for its PLCnext Technology ecosystem. With the apps available there, applications for automation projects can be realised easily and more quickly, says Daniel Buschatzky.

Today’s automation projects have to be adapted dynamically to new conditions which requires specialist knowledge because special software functions are having to be embedded in the automation solutions. This challenge is evident in applications where the software architectures for automation tasks contain more than just logical programming instructions.

Two years ago Phoenix Contact launched PLCnext Technology, an open ecosystem for automation. The ecosystem’s range of applications reaches beyond classic automation applications and makes data (pre)processing for IT-related applications possible. The aim of PLCnext Technology is to rethink automation and to create a platform that responds to the advancing convergence of worlds of automation and IT.

To make the expertise of the entire automation industry available to all users of the ecosystem, Phoenix Contact provides a selection of turnkey software functions. These functions, which are intended to run easily on, say, a PLCnext Control device, are called PLCnext apps. To provide these apps with a suitable platform, Phoenix Contact has given them their own presence on the Internet: The PLCnext Store (www.plcnextstore.com).

The PLCnext Store has been designed as an open digital marketplace to

provide all users access to the most comprehensive range of apps possible. The store can be used by all companies in the software and automation industry to market apps that they have developed themselves. The PLCnext Store includes software functions in various forms, including fullyprogrammed turnkey solutions, modules that help develop apps more The PLCnext Store provides software applications which enable the user to expand the functions of PLCnext Control devices directly and easily.

quickly, and apps that help customise the runtime environment of the controller. This means that, on the digital marketplace, users will find function libraries created in accordance with IEC 61131-3, firmware extensions for the PLCnext runtime system, and solution apps that can be used for automation applications without programming knowledge.

Documentation and tests Phoenix Contact maintains close contact with the contributors – the companies that make their own apps available in the PLCnext Store. This creates mutual trust, and technical questions can be clarified quickly. To ensure that the apps provided can also be trusted by the users, every app is extensively documented and tested by the provider. Furthermore, the user can contact the contributor directly to discuss any questions.

Particular attention is paid to the licensing of apps in the PLCnext Store. All software licenses purchased by users are either linked directly to a particular PLCnext Control device or stored in a license pool in the PLCnext Store. The user can then assign the required license from the pool to one of his or her devices. Installing the app and activating the license on a PLCnext Control device is particularly convenient when the device is linked to the PLCnext Store.

Continuous expansion For software providers, the PLCnext Store opens up an additional distribution channel for PLCnext software functions. Phoenix Contact takes care of the licensing and sales process. The profit made from the sale of their apps is passed on to the contributors. As the operator of the PLCnext Store, Phoenix Contact will only retain a small commission for each PLCnext app sold. This revenue will be used to continue to expand the store functions. www.phoenixcontact.com/plcnext

Daniel Buschatzky is team member in the PLCnext Technology department of the Automation Systems Business Unit, Phoenix Contact Electronics GmbH.

enhance your automation thinking

Hall 9, Booth 9-310

PLCnext Technology

PLCnext Technology makes it possible to implement automation projects without the limits of proprietary systems. You work freely with your favorite programming languages and development tools, open-source software and apps. You can also integrate cloud services and future technologies individually. It is time for a platform that provides completely new levels of freedom for automation. It is time to think in new ways. It is time for PLCnext Technology.

#enhance #plcnext phoenixcontact.com/plcnext