by Gary Mintchell | Jul 15, 2022 | News, Organizations
I haven’t had the opportunity to talk with John Dyck of CESMII or with Phoenix Contact executives for more than a couple of years. But I’m happy to see Phoenix Contact joining the organization. Work must be done in the US to add vigor to the manufacturing and industrial sector.
Phoenix Contact Development and Manufacturing Inc., has joined CESMII –The Smart Manufacturing Institute. As a platinum member, Phoenix Contact will work with CESMII and other member companies to radically accelerate the development and adoption of advanced sensors, controls, platforms, and models – all to enable Smart Manufacturing (SM) to become the driving sustainable engine that delivers real-time business improvements in U.S. manufacturing.
Louis Grice, Phoenix Contact vice president of digitalization and government affairs, was named to the CESMII board.
Grice stated, “We’ve embraced Smart Manufacturing on our own production floor. By working with CESMII, we’ll contribute to a mission-driven association dedicated to driving performance, increasing quality, improving reliability, and saving energy for sustainable and competitive U.S. manufacturing.”
“The democratization of Smart Manufacturing is a national imperative as we work together to create a more competitive manufacturing environment. This journey requires a productive and sustainable ecosystem, and it’s an honor to have Phoenix Contact partnering with us on this important endeavor,” said John Dyck, CESMII Chief Executive Officer.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 14, 2022 | News, Organizations, Standards
FDT Group Managing Director Steve Biegacki joined Utthunga on a LinkedIn Live session this morning (7 am CDT) to discuss migrating FDT DTMs to the latest version FDT 3.0 UE.
He discussed the benefits of the new FDT Hub which contains a central repository of DTMs such that users need not search other files to find the latest versions. FDT is also no longer tied to Microsoft Windows. Developers and users can have Linux or MacOS platforms. Better still, the latest versions are not tied to a single PC allowing use in the cloud or another server supporting multiple users.
FDT Group enables more efficient migrating to the latest standard through a set of tool kits developed by the organization and also by vendors. FDT Group also provides a Style Guide to help developers through the migration process.
Even so, FDT 3.0 is backward compatible with DTMs already in the field.
Embedded OPC UA server enables communication with other devices allowing the sensor-to-cloud strategy.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 12, 2022 | News, Organizations
Governmental agencies or think tanks that seek to influence governmental agencies may bear some fruit in the end. People like me who are predisposed toward getting things done hold skeptical views. But enough voices could cause something good to happen. This news concerns a policy center on industrial strategy for the US economy.
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the leading think tank for science and technology policy, launched a new policy center called the Hamilton Center on Industrial Strategy to advance a new approach to U.S. economic policy that focuses squarely on bolstering America’s competitive position in advanced technologies and industries that constitute the most strategically important sectors of the economy.
As its opening salvo in the economic policy debate, ITIF’s Hamilton Center on Wednesday will publish a comprehensive global index of national performance in the competition for market leadership in advanced industries.
“The United States is at risk of losing its technological, economic, and national security edge to China. Policymakers need to decisively change course to avoid that outcome,” said ITIF President Robert D. Atkinson, who is directing the Hamilton Center. “There is a deeply entrenched belief in Washington policy circles that nations can specialize in any industry where they have a comparative advantage, and whether it’s computer chips or potato chips makes little difference, because global trade is generally a win-win proposition that will lift all boats. But it turns out semiconductors and other advanced, traded-sector industries are far more important to economic and national security than potato chips—and the research that ITIF’s Hamilton Center is publishing this week shows in no uncertain terms that global trade in those industries is like tug-of-war: China’s gains are coming at the expense of the United States and its allies. Policymakers need to focus like a laser on bolstering the country’s competitive position in the select group of advanced, traded-sector industries that serve the dual purpose of enabling economic and national security.”
The Hamiltonian perspective represents a new intellectual framework for practical competitiveness policy that enables U.S. technology leadership in global markets. The Hamilton Center’s mission is to advance strategic-industry policy that accomplishes more than simply increasing innovation inputs such as science funding, or improving economic factor conditions such as intellectual property protection, though those steps are certainly important. The goal instead must be to craft and effectively implement policies and programs that directly enable firms in America to lead in these key industries and technologies.
Under Atkinson’s leadership, with ITIF’s vice president for global innovation policy, Stephen Ezell, the Hamilton Center will conduct economic research, publish actionable policy analysis, organize high-level discussions, and engage with policymakers to rethink economic policy as a key instrument to achieve U.S. technological leadership. The Hamilton Center’s advisory board includes leading scholars, practitioners, and former officials with deep knowledge and experience on a wide range of issues involving industrial strategy matters:
- Erica Fuchs, professor of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University
- Carroll Thomas, former acting associate director for innovation and industry services at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and former director of the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership
- Sridhar Kota, Herrick Professor Emeritus of Engineering of the University of Michigan and executive director of MForesight
- Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, USAF (Ret.), former director of the U.S.Defense Department’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC)
- Ben Armstrong, a research scientist and interim executive director of MIT’s Industrial Performance Center
- Willy Shih, Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Management Practice in Business Administration, Harvard Business School
- Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor, Harvard Business School
- Bill Bonvillian, MIT lecturer and senior director of special projects at MIT’s Office of Digital Learning
- David Adler, advisor on industrial strategy, Common Good Foundation
“With America now facing an aggressive, often malign challenge from China in particular, there needs to be stronger policy advocacy and thought leadership articulating the case for a robust national strategic-industry policy,” said Atkinson. “The place to start is firmly rebutting the deeply held view of most economists and many policymakers that all industries are created equal.”
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 12, 2022 | News, Organizations
I’ve written recently about what process automation suppliers have released in the area of carbon capture, methane leak detection, and other sustainability efforts.
Today, I address a project that a few hundred people have worked on for a year. It’s called The Carbon Almanac.
The book launches today. I’ve purchased a few. Do yourself a favor and get one. This post is from the launch letter.
The official launch of the Carbon Almanac is here, and we are thrilled to share the news with you. And we’d like you to share the news with people you care about.
A book that brings you just the accurate facts–without the rhetoric, slant, or agendas–to help you be well-informed and make better decisions about climate change. Because nobody needs more guilt, anxiety, or labeling.
Are you tired of hearing media pundits debate climate change’s dire consequences without providing facts to help you make your own decisions?
Are you having a hard time finding credible and authoritative info that is easy to access and share, and that regular people (non-climate-change-experts and non-scientists) can understand?
Do you want to talk about climate change with confidence?
Do you want to take action to help climate change but don’t know where to start?
Do you want to join a worldwide community of people who care?
If so, your search is over: The Carbon Almanac is the only book built to share with information you’re looking for – all footnoted.
It’s been designed to be a clear, approachable, and non-partisan collection of facts that can lead you to understand climate change and make a positive and meaningful impact.
Organized by Seth Godin, entrepreneur and author of over 20 best-selling books, and created by a team of more than 300 volunteers–people like you in more than forty countries, The Carbon Almanac is:
- An organized collection of facts, tables, history, quotes, explanations, illustrations, and cartoons with the concise data you need to form a knowledgeable opinion
- A non-controversial, reliable, quick reference source that you can share with others without the noise, overwhelm, and hidden agendas (not to mention the confusion and boredom!) that most materials bring
- A shared, fixed document that permits our communities to connect and to discuss
The Almanac sparked a storm of creativity which had as a result a series of podcasts, a kids book, an educators guide, the Daily Difference Action e-mail series, a LinkedIn course, a board game and many more. Find everything at thecarbonalmanac.org.
Buy the book, share the book and let’s start the conversation. It’s not too late.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 7, 2022 | Networking, News, Organizations, Standards
Standards may not help you that much if you purchase products to the standard only to discover that they do not play well together. Therefore the importance of organizations creating conformance tests. This news from Hannover concerns organizations coming together to devise a single common conformance test for Time Sensitive Networking.
The Avnu Alliance, CC-Link Partner Association, ODVA, OPC Foundation, and PROFIBUS & PROFINET International jointly announce that they are collaborating to develop a single conformance test plan for the IEEE/IEC 60802 Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) profile for Industrial Automation. The test plan will be used as a base test by all the participating organizations and made available to the broader Industrial Automation ecosystem. This collaboration contributes towards end user confidence that 60802 conformant devices from different manufacturers which support different automation protocols will coexist reliably at the TSN level on shared networks, including with devices using TSN for applications other than automation.
The focus of the collaboration is to work together towards a jointly agreed and owned test plan for the industrial automation market. This formal collaboration provides value by creating a structure in which all these organizations can work together and exchange ideas towards the end goal of interoperability and coexistence on open, standard networks for all protocols, without needing to establish a separate, formal organization. For convenience, the collaboration activities will be referred to as “TIACC” (TSN Industrial Automation Conformance Collaboration).
The TIACC marks a commitment by these organizations to develop an interoperable ecosystem of devices from different manufacturers to comply with the IEC/IEEE Standards Association 60802 profile and enable end-users to confidently deploy these devices on open, standard networks. The goal is to have the final version of the single, shared test plan available soon after the IEC/IEEE 60802 profile is published.
“Avnu’s purpose and mission is to transform standard networks to enable support for many time sensitive applications and protocols in an open, interoperable manner. This collaboration among organizations will be critically important to facilitating coexistence of multiple workloads and protocols according to IEEE 60802 on a network, while leveraging foundational network interoperability that is used across industries,” said Greg Schlechter, Avnu Alliance President. “We are committed to working with the industries to enable an interoperable ecosystem of devices that allow end users to confidently deploy on open, standard, and converged networks.”
“The creation of the Connected Industries of the future requires different systems and devices to communicate in order to deliver the necessary process transparency required. This is a core principle for the CLPA and is at the root of why the organization was founded. This is why we are delighted to be part of the TIACC and look forward to supporting the creation of a unified, common test plan for TSN-compatible products. By doing so, we can help further boost the adoption of futureproof technologies for smart manufacturing,” said Manabu Hamaguchi, Global Director at CLPA.
“EtherNet/IP users will be able to take advantage of the benefits afforded by 60802 TSN of enhanced network performance, higher utilization, and guaranteed network access for multiple time-critical applications with different priorities. ODVA’s participation in TIACC will ensure that the full potential of 60802 TSN coexistence is realized by end users to help make Industry 4.0 and IIoT a reality,” said Dr. Al Beydoun, President and Executive Director at ODVA.
“OPC UA is a secure, vendor-independent communication solution that fully scales from the field to the cloud and offers semantic interoperability. Other underlying IT infrastructure such as Ethernet TSN and the IEC/IEEE 60802 TSN Profile for Industrial Automation open up further applications for the market. We believe this conformance collaboration is an important contribution to preparing and delivering streamlined and effective conformance testing and certification to the industry in collaboration with other SDOs,” said Stefan Hoppe, President and Executive Director of the OPC Foundation.
“At PI we are taking conformance testing very seriously. It’s our belief, that thought-out testing ensures cross-vendor interoperability. That’s why we invested huge efforts in our test system in recent years. With this joint initiative we are taking the next step towards converged networks utilizing TSN, giving our users the confidence in the future-readiness of PROFINET. This collaboration is a huge milestone on the way of the digital transformation,” said Karsten Schneider, Chairperson of PROFIBUS and PROFINET International (PI).
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 7, 2022 | News, Organizations, Standards
A new interface standard for the acquisition of energy consumption data in industrial manufacturing is being developed by ODVA, OPC Foundation, PI, and VDMA based on OPC UA as announced at Hannover 2022.
A key objective of the future mechanical and plant engineering sectors is to achieve climate-neutral production. This is backed up by the European Union’s “European Green Deal”, which aims to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050. To achieve this goal, and to implement many other use cases, energy consumption data in production is an important prerequisite.
ODVA, OPC Foundation, PI, and VDMA founded the “Power Consumption Management” group in May 2022. In this group, the OPC UA interface standard for energy consumption data is being developed. Karsten Schneider, Chairman of PI, is looking forward to cooperation with the ODVA, the OPC Foundation, and VDMA: “The acquisition and analysis of energy consumption in machines and plants is an immensely important topic for the future.”
“The four organizations are working at full speed to harmonize and standardize energy consumption information on the shop floor,” says Andreas Faath, head of VDMA Machine Information Interoperability Department. “With this, a crucial building block, supporting the goal of global climate-neutral production in all sectors of the machinery and plant engineering industry, is under development.”
“Rapid transition to environmentally-sustainable energy use is the greatest challenge of our time and, as such, I am glad that we are proceeding together: PI and ODVA contributing their in-depth know-how on energy interfaces at the field level, with the internationally recognized OPC UA data modelling standard defining semantics and secure data transport, serving as the foundation of the Global Production Language developed by the VDMA”, says Stefan Hoppe, President OPC Foundation.
“ODVA is pleased to be an active contributor to this key initiative to optimize energy usage and thereby reduce the detrimental impact on the environment from waste,” said Dr. Al Beydoun, President and Executive Director of ODVA. “This Power Consumption Management collaboration will help ensure end users have a highly standardized and interoperable means to reach their environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) goals.”
The results of the working group will be published as a new OPC UA specification. Future releases of the OPC UA for Machinery specification will leverage these results, ensuring that energy information from all machines and components on the shop floor can be provided in a standardized way as part of the Global Production Language.
“The activity is based, in particular, on the existing standards of the participating organizations; but also on other standards from the OPC Foundation, the VDMA, and external research,” says Heiko Herden, VDMA and elected chairperson of the new joint working group. “In combination with other OPC UA for Machinery use cases, such as status monitoring or job management, the calculation of the product and production-specific carbon footprint will be possible.”
Within the VDMA, over 600 member companies develop the Global Production Language. OPC UA Companion Specifications, for numerous sectors of the mechanical and plant engineering industry, are being created by an additional 40 working groups. The basic specification, “OPC UA for Machinery,” is a special case. Here, important building blocks are defined across all domains. Other specifications can be based on these building blocks.
