by Gary Mintchell | Nov 5, 2014 | Automation, Industrial Computers, Operator Interface
No doubt current trends in industrial controllers, programmable logic controllers (PLC) and human-machine interfaces (HMI) include driving down the cost of control. Here is one that is an integrated HMI/PLC for less than $400. Interestingly, this is the first product pitched to me in years that touts RS485 serial connectivity. I’d darn near forgotten all about those serial protocols.
Anyway, here are some specifics from SPLat Controls.
The HMI430 board-level programmable logic controller (PLC) with an integrated 4.3-inch color touchscreen is available at nearly half the cost of previous products with similar functionality. With onboard, ruggedized digital I/O, analog I/O, and the SPLat MultiTrack built-in multitasking operating system, the HMI430 delivers “professional-quality control that is affordable and easy to program, minimizing development time.”
According to the press release, “With multiple serial ports HMI430 offers OEMs an ideal way to flexibly integrate a touchscreen into their solution for small- and medium-sized industrial control applications. The touchscreen—a 4.3-inch 470×272 pixel screen with resistive touch and 64K colors—comes with a repertoire of standard buttons, fonts, and other screen elements. With support for alpha blending, image files, and Z-ordering, HMI430 offers sophisticated visual effects at a price point that OEMs can afford.”
“With the advent of smartphones, all controller applications—medical, industrial, building control—are affected by the end-customers’ expectation of a GUI-driven interface,” noted David Stonier-Gibson, CEO of SPLat Controls. “The HMI430 with an integrated color touchscreen enables OEMs to respond to this ‘iEffect’ and provides the innovative edge that helps small- and medium-sized equipment manufacturers make their products smarter and more competitive.”
by Gary Mintchell | Sep 11, 2014 | Automation, Industrial Computers, News, Operations Management, Organizations
Peter Terwiesch, ABB
I have been traveling again. This time at the MIMOSA members meeting in Houston. More to come on that later. Suffice to say right now that the standards for interoperability of data have come a long way in the past 10 years or so.
If my posts have slowed over the past few weeks, blame it on soccer. Every year that I’ve been a referee assignor, the work of keeping up with game changes and finding referees seems to get harder. I’m probably working six hours a day on that. Only four more weeks to go.
Here’s the latest manufacturing supplier news.
ABB launches Next Level strategy
ABB presented its Next Level strategy and financial targets on Sept. 9 for the 2015-2020 period aimed at accelerating sustainable value creation. The strategy is building on ABB’s three focus areas of profitable growth, relentless execution and business-led collaboration.
This is interesting in light of my recent speculations about ABB following yet another divestiture. This is an aggressive plan, but I note the continued weakness in the power systems market.
Here are the highlights:
- Accelerated sustainable value creation of leading power and automation portfolio
- Shift in center of gravity driving profitable organic growth, strengthening competitiveness and lowering risk
- Improving performance through leading operating model
- Driving change through 1,000 day programs
- Future company and Executive Committee structure aligned with new strategy
- Undiluted global business lines as core of ABB
- Peter Terwiesch (photo) appointed to Executive Committee as head of Process Automation
- Market focused, streamlined regional structure
- From 8 to 3 regions, led by experienced EC members: Frank Duggan for Asia, Middle East and Africa; Greg Scheu for Americas; Veli-Matti Reinikkala for Europe
- David Constable, CEO of Sasol, nominated to Board of Directors
- New targets focused on attractive shareholder returns
- Shareholders participate in strong cash generation through $4 billion share buyback
In the next period, the company will drive profitable growth by shifting its center of gravity toward high-growth end markets, enhancing competitiveness and lowering risk in business models.
“Our Next Level strategy will focus on actions centered on accelerating ABB’s organic growth momentum, margin accretion as well as enhanced capital efficiency to deliver greater shareholder value,” ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer said. “We are shifting our center of gravity towards higher growth segments while enhancing competitiveness and lowering risk particularly in our Power Systems division. We are increasing the customer focus of our organization by streamlining it for greater agility and speed. We will drive change with focused 1,000 day programs to ensure a successful implementation.”
In line with its Next Level strategy, the company is aligning its Executive Committee (EC) structure. Peter Terwiesch, currently head of ABB in Central Europe and Germany, has been appointed EC member responsible for the Process Automation division. The three newly created regions will be led by experienced EC members – Frank Duggan (Asia, Middle East and Africa), Greg Scheu (Americas) and Veli-Matti Reinikkala (Europe).
| ABB Next Level – 2020 targets |
| Revenue growth |
4-7% |
| Operational EBITA % |
11-16% |
| Operational EPS growth CAGR |
10-15% |
| Free cash flow (FCF) conversion to net income |
>90% |
| CROI % |
Mid-teens |
| Operational EBITA % 2015-2020 divisional targets |
| Discrete Automation and Motion |
14-19% |
| Low Voltage Products |
15-19% |
| Process Automation |
11-15% |
| Power Products |
12-16% |
| Power Systems |
7-11% |
End of an era
Nematron Corp. was a pioneer of industrial PCs and PC-based control. When that whole technology area came crashing down, I totally lost track of it. Well, the final closure was announced this week.
Comark LLC, a portfolio company of JMC Capital Partners has acquired the assets of Ann Arbor-based Nematron. Headquartered in Medfield MA, Comark is a manufacturer of ruggedized industrial displays, integrated computers, workstations and kiosks that are used in a broad range of industrial and commercial applications.
“Nematron has been an innovator in panel mounted industrial computer and operator interface devices for over 30 years and has thousands of systems installed worldwide. Nematron continues to develop innovative new solutions that set the industry standard,” said G. Lawrence Bero, a Partner at JMC.
“We continue to expand our presence in the industrial and building automation sector. The addition of Nematron will broaden our product line and distribution channels,” said Steve Schott, Chief Executive Officer of Comark. “Nematron’s state of the art HMC, industrial and panel PC product line is a great addition to our growing product portfolio. We look forward to working with the Nematron team to successfully integrate the Nematron business into Comark.”
Another end of an era
The Square D Co. has been headquartered in Palatine, IL for a long time, recently at a beautiful campus. It was acquired by Schneider Electric, but managed to survive as the leading brand in the US of the Schneider portfolio with the Schneider HQ there. That office is not closing, but it will no longer house the executive team.
Well, no more. In an interesting move, Schneider, which bought and then submerged Modicon, has built a new US headquarters near the home of that PLC innovator, Andover, MA.
The moved is couched in the usual phrases of getting closer to customers and making the company more innovative. I have seen worse reasons for a corporate location move.
Here’s the announcement lightly edited. (I wonder if the company’s PR people have set the record for the most company mentions in one sentence. I left them in so that you remember who the company is. That is a common strategy—to mention the company’s name as much as possible. Most editors pare it down in interests of space.)
Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management, announced Sept. 10 the grand opening of its new North American research and development (R&D) center in Andover, MA. The Boston One Campus will also serve as the company’s new North America headquarters and is built to house approximately 750 employees across all disciplines of Schneider Electric’s business segments. Laurent Vernerey, President and CEO of Schneider Electric’s North America Operations, will relocate to the new headquarters as part of the company’s mission to drive innovation and efficiency in North America.
Designed to create an environment that encourages collaboration with customers, R&D engineers and employees, the new campus was also built with the company’s vision of sustainable design and energy efficiency. The Boston One Campus incorporates approximately $8 million of Schneider Electric’s own products and solutions and is expected to achieve about a 30 percent operating cost reduction in its first year. The facility is U.S. Green Building Council LEED Silver certified and leverages Schneider Electric’s SmartStruxure solution – a fully integrated building management system; APC by Schneider Electric EcoAisle and EcoBreeze data center cooling systems, data denter and server uninterruptible power supplies (UPS); Schneider Electric Altivar variable speed for HVAC control; a variety of ultra-efficient luminaires from Juno Lighting Group by Schneider Electric; intelligent IP security management systems from Pelco by Schneider Electric; and much more.
The Boston One Campus is made up of more than 240,000 square feet across two buildings. Boston One is also equipped with 53,000 square feet of engineering laboratory space that includes customer accessible, cross-discipline technology integration laboratories known as StruxureLabs, where Schneider Electric engineers test and validate products that go into real-world customer deployments.
by Gary Mintchell | Nov 28, 2013 | Automation, Industrial Computers, News, Organizations
Advantech has signed an agreement to acquire British Intelligent Display Company GPEG. After the merger, GPEG’s original management team will remain unchanged and will join Advantech Embedded Core Computing Group under the name of Advantech-GPEG. Advantech’s management sees this move as strengthening its position in the European market.
Advantech Chairman KC Liu stated that, “In view of the global trend toward Smart Cities and IoT, the intelligent display will be the most important user interface in the near future. Therefore, Advantech is very optimistic about development potential in the intelligent display market, and with the GPEG merger, we hope that we can accelerate product development, enhance sales strength, and lead market growth in intelligent displays.”
KC Liu further noted that, “Although Advantech already has sales teams and product development capabilities in Europe, it is difficult to specifically target customer needs until we are very familiar with the gaming industry in Europe. After the merger, we expect to draw on GPEG market development experience in the European gaming market and professional industry know-how, and combine these with Advantech’s existing global marketing and sales teams to expand the European intelligent display market.” Meanwhile, Advantech will also integrate GPEG’s product sales and design professionals with the resources of Innocore-Gaming, which Advantech acquired in 2010, to provide the European gaming market with complete solutions, significantly promoting Advantech embedded boards and overall revenue.
After the merger, GPEG’s former CEO Nick How and Sales Director Dave Webbing will continue leading Advantech-GPEG, cultivating gaming and application-specific display markets for customers in each vertical industry, and providing customized complete solutions to become one of Europe’s most influential intelligent display brands. GPEG was established in London in 2005 to supply specialized application displays, especially designing and producing intelligent displays for the gaming industry. GPEG annual sales have exceeded $18 million and their growth rate has been over 20%. Nick How commented, “We are tremendously excited about the opportunities for our customers, suppliers and employees that this merger will bring, the access to complimentary products, worldwide sales channels as well as the resources of a company like Advantech, paves the way for a very bright future for the company.”
by Gary Mintchell | Nov 11, 2013 | Automation, Industrial Computers, Technology
I found this press release from GE Intelligent Platforms somewhat confusing, but if I got it right (they will comment if I didn’t) this GE division is acting in support of the corporate emphasis on the Industrial Internet. The gist of the corporate speak in the press release seems to be that managers and engineers have finally taken a comprehensive of the various industrial control platforms and moved to bring them together.
This, of course, would be a great thing for the company’s customers—and prospective customers. Meanwhile, the marketing folks hit just about every industry buzzword to explain what’s happening.
The press release stated, “GE Intelligent Platforms announced progress against plans for consolidation of the company’s control platforms to enable the Industrial Internet. The company’s convergence strategy starts with standardization on open systems across the platforms to provide customers with interoperability, secure communications and an optimal user experience (UX).”
The new architecture features modular components, an Ethernet backbone and software applications all based on industry standards. As convergence continues, “Connected Controls devices will enable more power at the point of control, while software applications provide local intelligence to deliver on the principles of the Industrial Internet and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications.”
“Seamless communications, more efficient configuration and a great human experience are the foundation of the Industrial Internet,” said Bernie Anger, General Manager for GE Intelligent Platforms’ Controls & Communications Systems business. “Open standard protocols, high-performance controllers, shared system-level configuration tools and file formats that enable self-assembling nodes, and UX standards for tool and application development are going to allow customers to get connected faster and easier.”
OPC UA
OPC-UA is the first open systems standard to be deployed across GE’s control platforms. It is the next generation Open Productivity & Connectivity standard that provides a cohesive, secure and reliable cross platform framework for access to real time and historical data and events. GE’s Connected Controls platforms, featuring the PACSystems and Mark*VIe controllers, as well as Proficy CIMPLICITY HMI/SCADA software are rolling out with the OPC-UA standard. Additionally, PROFINET and Foundation Fieldbus (Mark*VIe only), have been fully integrated in the controllers.
“A focus on standards keeps us positioned for continuous evolution,” said Anger. “OPC-UA provides flexibility of configuration and device interoperability, and smart and secure communications across solutions. This enables the analytics that fuel the brilliant machines in today’s connected world.”
by Gary Mintchell | Nov 6, 2013 | Automation, Industrial Computers, Safety, Safety
Rockwell Automation has had an emphasis on industrial safety for quite a few years, now. Five or six years ago, I moderated two Safety Automation Forums. It has done a few since during Automation Fair. This year they held an “America’s Safest Companies Conference” I think in place of it. The commitment to safety solutions just keeps growing.
I should mention that I conducted an interview regarding the Rockwell Safety Automation Builder that has been downloaded more than 200 times.
First, here is a news note about a Safety Maturity Index Tool to help manufacturers achieve best-in-class safety performance. This is a self-guided assessment that gives manufacturers visibility into the effectiveness of their safety programs and the ability to optimize plant performance. Applicable to any industry, any plant size and any location in the world, the SMI tool helps manufacturers see where they measure in safety culture, compliance and capital. Most importantly, it provides recommendations to help achieve best-in-class safety performance.
The three principal components of a successful safe workplace – culture (behavioral), compliance (procedural) and capital (technical) – are equally critical and interdependent in developing a strong, sustainable safety program. For example, creating and maintaining a robust safety culture but not investing in safety technologies and/or complying with standards lowers a company’s ability to provide a safe workplace. Likewise, the possibility of risk remains when manufacturers invest in safety technologies but fail to emphasize the importance of safety culture throughout the organization.
“The benefits of optimizing safety through the SMI assessment can result in fewer injuries and fines, as well as improved plant productivity, greater efficiencies and enhanced employee morale,” said Mark Eitzman, safety market development manager, Rockwell Automation, who is presenting the SMI tool at the America’s Safest Companies Conference in Atlanta on Oct. 28-30, 2013. “Achieving best-in-class safety performance begins with assessing current practices companywide, and now customers can do this on their own.”
Rockwell Safety Award Winners
Many manufacturers across several industries worldwide still view plant-floor safety as a burdensome and costly obligation that adds little value to overall operations. To raise awareness and recognize top-performing manufacturers that have realized the widespread benefits of a strong industrial safety program, Rockwell Automation announced its first Manufacturing Safety Excellence Awards commemorating the world’s safest manufacturing companies.
The winners – General Motors Co., PepsiCo Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co. (P&G) – were selected because for them, safety is more than a priority, it’s a core value.
“These best-in-class companies have a robust safety culture that’s defined by continuous improvement,” said Mark Eitzman, safety market development manager, Rockwell Automation. “They take a comprehensive approach to safety by successfully integrating safety practices between the engineering and environmental health and safety (EHS) departments. This enables the kind of collaboration that reaches far beyond simple compliance to deliver improved plant productivity and greater efficiencies, and dramatically lower injury rates.”
Below are the details about the award winners:
- General Motors’ collaboration with industrial automation companies has played a central role in developing some of today’s most innovative safety-automation technologies that help improve worker safety while also increasing production throughput in assembly applications. That same technology is now helping manufacturers across a wide range of other industries realize similar benefits. General Motors makes safety a visible commitment at every level across the company. It also shows a strong commitment to improving worker safety outside of its own walls by continuously dedicating resources and expertise to help develop U.S. and international safety standards.
- PepsiCo successfully maintains a rigorous corporate-safety program across its global manufacturing sites. The safety program includes accountability that is driven from the top down, as well as adherence to a set of global standards that are embraced across the company.
- P&G combines its engineering and EHS functions under the same leadership, which improves worker safety. This is especially helpful because the two departments have a greater understanding of the other’s job and can work toward common goals when upgrading or sourcing new machinery. This collaboration also results in a unified approach to safety-standards compliance and helps ensure consistency across all machinery in all plants. P&G also holds its vendors and material suppliers to the same high standards to help mitigate risk throughout the supply chain.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 19, 2013 | Automation, Industrial Computers
Red Lion Graphite HMI Family
Red Lion Controls, the global suppliers of products in communication, monitoring and control for industrial automation and networking, has released its newest generation of Human Machine Interfaces (HMI) – the Graphite series of advanced operator interface panels. “With all cast-aluminum construction, the Graphite series provides the industry’s first rugged HMI solution to combine a wide range of versatile plug-in modules with protocol conversion, data logging and web-based monitoring and control.”
Red Lion’s Graphite series allows customers to easily connect, monitor and control their process in industries that include manufacturing, oil and gas, and water/wastewater. The series’ range of plug-in modules enables customers to easily create a solution for today, with an option to expand to meet changing business requirements. Further, organizations will realize a reduction in development and commissioning times over traditional systems that use an HMI paired with separate I/O, PLCs and other controllers.
“We have used just about everyone’s HMIs, and Graphite is by far the best in terms of appearance and functionality,” said Pierre de Giorgio, president at BlueBay Automation. “It is the most feature-rich HMI that we have ever used, the graphics and resolution are amazing, and with Red Lion’s Crimson 3.0 software, the move to Graphite is seamless.”
Graphite HMIs are available in eight different models, in sizes ranging from 7” to 15”, with sleek bezels that provide a relatively large display given their overall dimension. Both the 7” and 10” HMIs are available as sunlight visible models. Combined with Graphite’s rugged packaging, these models are ideal for harsh outdoor environments.
Offering a built-in web server, Graphite HMIs enable users to monitor and control their application via PCs, tablets or smartphones. SMS text-messaging and email alerts provide early warning of process issues, which helps to avoid costly downtime. In addition, its built-in protocol converter allows programmers to select 13 or more simultaneous protocols from a list of over 250 to seamlessly integrate disparate devices such as PLCs, drives, barcode readers and panel meters.
“The HMI has become the nexus of the machine, and Red Lion’s new Graphite series offers the highest level of protocol support to simplify even the most complex multi-vendor environments,” said Jeff Thornton, director of product management at Red Lion Controls. “By logging performance data and critical events, customers can implement process improvements or perform fault-finding activities.”
The new HMIs are supported by Red Lion’s Crimson 3.0 software, which is included at no extra cost. Crimson 3.0 makes it fast and easy to configure protocols, define data tags, set up sophisticated applications and create an attractive user interface. Designed for ease of use, Crimson allows customers to cost-effectively standardize on one HMI for all of their machines, regardless of the PLC or drive manufacturer used.
No doubt current trends in industrial controllers, programmable logic controllers (PLC) and human-machine interfaces (HMI) include driving down the cost of control. Here is one that is an integrated HMI/PLC for less than $400. Interestingly, this is the first product pitched to me in years that touts RS485 serial connectivity. I’d darn near forgotten all about those serial protocols.
