By Craig Resnick and Larry O'Brien, ARC Advisory Group
Summary
Rockwell Automation held its 18th annual Automation Fair event in Anaheim, California on November 11-12, 2009. Attendance was approximately 7,700, with over 4,500 coming from manufacturers, processors, and OEMs. This year’s theme was smart, safe, and sustainable manufacturing solutions focused on plant-wide optimization, machine-builder performance, and sustainable production. Automation Fair’s popularity is driven by its free user training, technical sessions, tutorials, workshops, hands-on labs, and forums for the food & beverage, OEM machine builder, life science, oil & gas, and water & wastewater industries. This provides the justification that end users and OEMs require to send key personnel to the event, especially during these recovering but still turbulent economic times.
State of and Rate of the Global Economic Recession and Recovery Kicks off Manufacturing Perspectives
Prior to the opening of the Automation Fair event on November 10, the company held a program on Manufacturing Perspectives, a daylong inter-active session with the global automation media. The session included Rockwell Automation CEO Keith Nosbusch presenting major trends in manufacturing, his global economic outlook, Rockwell Automation capabilities, and what was new at this year’s Automation Fair event. Following Keith’s presentation, Jeremy Leonard, an Economist from the Manufacturers Alliance, presented the short- and long-run outlook for US manufacturers. Jeremy’s presentation assessed how global competition and innovation will affect manufacturing in these changing conditions, and how this relates to smart, safe, and sustainable manufacturing as a strategy to make US manufacturing competitive globally.
Other sessions focused on the evolution of plantwide optimization. These assessed the convergence of the four main disciplines on the plant floor: control, communications, information, and power. Productivity, globalization, innovation, and sustainability drive this convergence. The companies that invest in plantwide optimization will be well-positioned to profit first from the economic recovery. Another session focused on how OEMs optimize machine builder performance. Machine builders realize that scalable architecture is a key differentiator that allows them to improve productivity while reducing their total cost to design, develop, and deliver machines with optimal performance. A final session focused on new opportunities and energy’s importance in sustainable production. Plantwide optimization also enables new sustainable production strategies and approaches to better manage and reduce industrial energy costs.
New FactoryTalk Information Solutions Draw Attention
At Automation Fair, Rockwell Automation announced the availability of its FactoryTalk Historian Machine Edition (ME) software. This machine-level data historian is an embedded, solid-state module hardened for on-machine data collection that features a limited software footprint, no moving parts, and reduced risk of data loss due to network or other system interruption. It was designed as part of a distributed, tiered architecture that allows personnel in different locations and operating levels to view and analyze role-appropriate historical data.
FactoryTalk Historian ME’s stand-alone design makes the module suitable for remote data capture in environments such as drilling rigs, wells and other inaccessible locations. The software is directly installed in the Allen-Bradley ControlLogix backplane, then autodetects the controllers and configures all tags to be historized. The application also leverages backplane communication to increase data collection speed. The software also allows machine builders to pre-qualify the data collection of their machines.
Rockwell Automation also introduced FactoryTalk VantagePoint EMI business intelligence software. This provides information from web-based dashboards and reports on key performance indicators (KPIs) from multiple manufacturing and business data sources. The software connects to multiple real-time, historical, relational and transactional data sources, creating a single resource that can access, aggregate and correlate information via a web browser. The new application is based on a unified production model (UPM) that offers a unified view of disparate manufacturing data and provides context for relationships among equip-ment, product, materials and people. The UPM organizes various manufacturing and enterprise data using commonly referenced business terms.
The new FactoryTalk VantagePoint EMI business intelligence software allows users to report data through a variety of tools, including Microsoft Excel, Trend, and SAP Business Objects Dashboard Builder, and view it through the FactoryTalk VantagePoint software, Microsoft SharePoint, and other portals. The new application can be used to address single or multiple manufacturing lines, on one site or across a global enterprise. In addition, the software can be used to address specific manufacturing needs, such as downtime reporting, status tracking, or multiple control-system reporting.
PlantPAx Process Automation System Core to Future
Rockwell Automation used Automation Fair to outline the six areas of focus for its PlantPAx process automation system: core process control capabilities, design productivity, process networks and field device integration, asset management, process safety and critical control, and operations productivity. Process control is critically important for Rockwell Automation’s future.
Core process control capabilities are part of the Rockwell Automation’s Integrated Architecture system, which leverages a single control platform for discrete, batch, process, safety, drives, and motion control. The supervisory-layer visualization servers and operator workstations are delivered ready to configure, and the entire PlantPAx system is tested as a single entity versus requiring individual product testing. Design productivity integrates standard Integrated Architecture technologies with process-focused system configuration tools, designed to reduce project engineering time and costs. It also extends its set of tools and utilities to speed project development, such as a library of standard process control objects comprised of the control logic, visualization components and supporting documentation.
Process networks and field-device integration involves a continuing alliance with Endress+Hauser for field-device integration. The two companies conduct interoperability testing between Endress+Hauser field devices and the Rockwell Automation PlantPAx system, including device connectivity verification on HART, Profibus PA and Foundation Fieldbus. Rockwell Automation also has established a position in fieldbus connectivity on EtherNet/IP for the ability to manage and share instrumentation profiles.
PlantPAx addresses asset management for change management, engineer-ing configuration security, and disaster recovery applications. In addition, Rockwell Automation promotes FDT/DTM technology for performing asset performance monitoring, plantwide information access, and process optimization. Process safety and critical control focuses on system availability and process uptime and is addressed with PlantPAx’s integrated control and safety system, including network redundancy and redundant I/O. Operations productivity involves data management and a decision support framework, and is addressed with the FactoryTalk VantagePoint application, which provides a single reporting and analysis tool to access system information.
Integrated Motion on EtherNet/IP Portfolio
Rockwell Automation also announced a portfolio of products for closed and open-loop drive control on EtherNet/IP, providing Integrated Motion solutions for the new Allen-Bradley ControlLogix L73 and ControlLogix L75 programmable automation controllers (PACs), Allen Bradley Kinetix 6500 servo drives, and enhanced Allen-Bradley Power Flex 755 AC drives. Rockwell Automation’s Integrated Motion on EtherNet/IP uses Common Industrial Protocol (CIP) Motion and CIP Sync technology from ODVA.
EtherNet/IP motion control has also been incorporated into the new Allen-Bradley ControlLogix L73 and ControlLogix L75 PACs, which in addition to a common programming environment, common network, and common control engine, also offers enhanced memory technology and redundancy performance. These PACs target information-intensive applications, such as batch processing, where additional memory is needed for recipe management.
Embedded EtherNet/IP has been added to the new Kinetix 6500 modular servo drive. When used with the ControlLogix PAC, the Kinetix 6500 servo drive provides an integrated drive solution on EtherNet/IP. With the addition of the Kinetix 6500 drive, EtherNet/IP can integrate high-performance drive control, I/O, smart actuators and other EtherNet/IP-connected devices. Embedded switch technology supports linear and device level ring (DLR) topologies.
CIP Motion support has been added to the PowerFlex 755 AC drive with an embedded Ethernet port. The PowerFlex 755 AC drive can now be configured, programmed, commissioned, and maintained using motion profile and instruction sets within RSLogixTM 5000 software. This allows integrated motion instructions to be used for coordinated drive control and provides a common solution for PowerFlex 755 AC drives and Kinetix 6500 servo drives. With the addition of the PowerFlex 755 AC drive, Integrated Motion can now be used to control drives from 1 Hp to 350 Hp.
Adding Virtualization Capabilities to Manufacturing
To bring additional virtualization capabilities to the manufacturing environment, Rockwell Automation announced its support of the use of automation software on virtualization solutions from VMware. Virtualization can fundamentally change the way hardware resources are used. Virtualization works by inserting a thin layer of software called a “hypervisor” directly on the computer hardware or a host operating system. This layer contains virtual machines that can be transparently allocated to hardware resources as needed. Multiple operating systems can run concurrently in isolated virtual machines on a single physical computer and share hardware resources with each other.
By encapsulating an entire machine, including CPU, memory, operating system, and network devices, a virtual machine can be compatible with standard x86 operating systems, applications, and device drivers. Virtual machines can be run on a virtualization-enabled physical server, creating a pool of compute resources that helps ensure that high-priority applications will have the resources needed without requiring hardware that may only be utilized during peak times.
Virtualization technology also simplifies the distribution of bundled offers, such as the Rockwell Automation PlantPAx process automation system, and extends the life of software. One of the primary issues continuously sited by manufacturing end users is the great disparity between the long product lifecycle of their automation hardware versus the short product lifecycle of their automation software. VMware’s “VMware Ready” products are designed to extend the product lifecycle of automation software. Rockwell Automation will also participate in a VMware Ready program, with plans to validate its Rockwell Software configuration, human interface and, information products.
Encompass Partners and Solutions Providers are Key
Rockwell Automation’s Encompass Product Partners and Solutions Providers, as well as other partners that exhibited at Automation Fair, demonstrated a wide variety of complementary solutions. Online Development Inc. introduced its latest generation of automation appliances, known as enterprise appliance transaction modules (eATMs), and a num-ber of JMS-based adapters for its eATMs. These adapters exchange data between factory/plant floor devices and controllers with IBM WAS JMS, RedHat JBoss JMS, and JBoss Community JMS. In addition, there are also adapters available for common IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft databases to enable business system flexibility for end users.
In addition, Online Development Inc. introduced a new controller-to-controller module, the cATM Universal Gateway data automation appliance, which enables connecting various brands of PACs and PLCs without the need to program message instructions. This new appliance transaction module is used for connecting dissimilar factory floor control-lers and devices to Rockwell Automation controllers. The cATM Universal Gateway data appliance is available as a module that installs in a Rockwell Automation ControlLogix PAC, or as a standalone module for DIN rail mounting. Online Development Inc. also introduced a new cATM-BLY90 appliance transaction module. This automation appliance is used to migrate either legacy ABB Bailey Infi 90 or Network 90 distributed control systems (DCS) to ControlLogix PACs.
ProSoft Technology announces its new 802.11n Industrial Hotspot radios for high-capacity industrial control networks wireless solution applications with reflective, moving, and obstructed environments. The 802.11n Industrial Hotspot radios are targeted at mining, oil and other industries that require operation in hazardous environments and extreme temperatures. In addition, ProSoft Technology also released its RadioLinx Intelligent Cellular solutions, which combine industrial cellular technology, industrial protocol templates, and ALEOS persistent connection management for serial and Ethernet devices utilizing CDMA and GSM. Applications include remote process, OEM equipment monitoring, M2M, and non-time-critical control.
In addition, ProSoft Technology released its new Wireless POINT I/O adapter, a high-speed, standards-based 802.11g wireless I/O communication adapter offering a wireless alternative for linking Rockwell Automation controllers to distributed process I/O modules. The module’s add-on profile (AOP) utilizes the RSLogix 5000 programming environment and connection-based EtherNet/IP for configuration and communication. Also released were enhanced Modbus and Modbus TCP/IP communication modules for ControlLogix PACs, and a message manager multi-system data transfer engine that resides in a single slot of a ControlLogix platform, which acts as an aggregator of data transfers between multiple PLCs and PACs.
In Summary, Automation Fair Delivers Value to Attendees and Exhibitors
In spite of the continued economic uncertainties and travel restrictions imposed by many end users and OEMs to control costs, Automation Fair was well attended. Customers felt that the worst economic problems have passed by, and that a slow recovery is taking hold. Manufacturers, processors, and OEMs, especially in the process, hybrid, and packaging industries, were still cautiously bullish that convergence, safety, and sustainable manufacturing will provide the returns on both investment and assets that will continue to justify their automation investments, even in times of low capacity utilization. ARC strongly emphasizes to manufacturers, processors, and OEMs how important it is that they continue to invest in additional automation solutions to remain viable and globally competitive.
A primary challenge for Rockwell Automation is to convert the messages that were clearly established and conveyed at Automation Fair into scalable solutions matched with payback visualization tools that can meet the capital budget-constrained challenges experienced by manufacturers, processors, and OEMs. These solutions in multi-disciplined control, process, information, and safety must visualize the metrics and key per-formance indicators (KPIs), such as dynamic overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and energy savings that demonstrate payback times in as little as three to six months. The ability for Rockwell Automation to effectively provide these scalable solutions, matched with the payback visualization tools, such as FactoryTalk VantagePoint and FactoryTalk ViewPoint, will have the opportunity to directly affect Rockwell Automation’s revenue and profit performance in 2010.
Rockwell Automation also has tremendous potential to further leverage its Integrated Architecture message as a key part of its sustainability initiatives. Integrated Architecture incorporates variable frequency drives and motor control centers along with the traditional control disciplines of logic, process, safety, and motion control. This provides Rockwell Automation a tremendous opportunity to further highlight its energy management focus and the advantages of performing these functions on a single PAC or DCS platform. Rockwell Automation needs to highlight its many applications in building automation, HVAC control, and energy management currently in place, but lesser known to the marketplace.
Finally, Rockwell Automation needs to further highlight its “increased safety equals increased productivity” messaging. This involves providing end users and OEMs with the visualization proof points, such as how dynamic OEE is improved by the utilization of additional safety solutions such as light curtains, sensors, and safety mats that greatly improve productivity.
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