by Gary Mintchell | Aug 1, 2014 | Automation, News, Operations Management, Organizations, Technology
Even organizations are not immune from the consolidation bug. It had been previously announced that, given a couple of transitions and the similarity of membership and technology, industrial networks organizations the Fieldbus Foundation and the HART Communication Foundation would investigate merger.
Here is the latest news. An unstated reason is significant along with emphasizing a statement within the press release. First, there are leadership changes. Ron Helson, the longtime leader of HART recently retired. I have to believe that Rich Timoney, the longtime Fieldbus leader, is preparing to retire (conjecture on my part, I dont want to rush him). This becomes convenient timing.
Further, look for the sentence “suppliers will also profit.” This is significant. The two organizations have significant overlap, yet basically the same set of suppliers support each. By combining, suppliers can get more return from less investment. Since both technologies are pretty mature and stable, this makes a lot of sense.
The Boards of Directors of the Fieldbus Foundation and the HART Communication Foundation have approved unifying the two Foundations into a new industry organization. The joint statement said the new organization would be “dedicated to the needs of intelligent devices and their integration in the world of Process Automation.”
The combined power of both organizations will serve to protect the investments that end users in Process Automation have made in HART and FOUNDATION fieldbus communication technologies. The mission of the combined organization will be to develop, manage, and promote global standards for integrating devices into automation-system architectures, providing functional solutions for process automation suppliers and end users. Suppliers will also profit from the increased efficiencies in resource utilization, procedure consistency, and member service and support improvements.
The Fieldbus Foundation and HART Communication Foundation have a long history of cooperation. For example, the two worked together to develop common international standards, such as Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL) specifications and Field Device Integration (FDI) technology. Combining the organizations offers significant potential for harmonizing the procedures and efforts supporting the two protocols, as well as simplifying each technology’s implementation while better delivering their full benefits in plant operation and maintenance.
The FOUNDATION fieldbus and HART specifications will continue to exist individually, and to evolve into the future. Each protocol will retain its own brand name, trademarks, patents, and copyrights.
The new organization will continue development, support, and promotion of the two existing protocols, and will direct the development, incorporation, and implementation of new and overlapping technologies. Thus, the new organization will eventually serve as the single source for FDI, the sole integration tool for HART and FOUNDATION fieldbus technologies. The name of the proposed organization is not yet finalized.
The next step will be to complete the membership ballot by the end of summer 2014. Following a successful membership vote, legal filings for the creation of a new not-for-profit entity will take place in September 2014. As a final step, it is expected that the new organization offices will be consolidated and located near Austin, Texas, in early 2015.
The leadership of Helson and Timoney cannot be overstated. Their contributions to industrial automation are significant. Many thanks are due them.
by Gary Mintchell | Dec 23, 2013 | Automation, Data Management, Operations Management, Technology
The TED Talks began as exclusive talks about “Ideas Worth Spreading” that attendees paid 5-figure fees to attend. Talks must be less than 20 minutes, and in many cases around 10 minutes. Growing from one location that met annually, the franchise has spread across the globe and now there are thousands.
Industry, or manufacturing, seldom is a topic. So when I heard this one from the chief economist of GE, I thought it was worth sharing. The official TED blurb is below, but understand that “Industrial Internet” is GE’s pet term for the Internet of Things. This is a growing trend that will be significant in industry. But reading the comments on the TED page reveals how much more education we in the field need to provide to the general population.
Everyone’s talking about the “Internet of Things,” but what exactly does that mean for our future? In this thoughtful talk, economist Marco Annunziata looks at how technology is transforming the industrial sector, creating machines that can see, feel, sense and react — so they can be operated far more efficiently. Think: airplane parts that send an alert when they need to be serviced, or wind turbines that communicate with one another to generate more electricity. It’s a future with exciting implications for us all.
by Gary Mintchell | Nov 1, 2013 | Automation, News, Organizations, Technology
Cisco, Panduit and Rockwell Automation are sponsoring an online community for engineering and IT professionals to discuss deploying an holistic Internet Protocol (IP) infrastructure. I had an early look at the site and registered.
I had a long conversation probing the extent at which this site was promotional or gave distrorted views of networks other than EtherNet/IP—the Rockwell standard. This site appears to be solely promotional for Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Many communities spring up, many wither. IP networks are the future for industrial networking. I hope if you have questions or tips to contribute, that you’ll join and advance the discussion.
Here is the press release:
Cisco, Panduit and Rockwell Automation, in cooperation with ODVA, are sponsoring a new online community that extends the Industrial IP Advantage website. The community helps IT, engineering, maintenance and operations professionals transform industries by taking advantage of the future-proof interoperability delivered by Internet Protocol (IP).
The Industrial IP Advantage discusses emerging-technology trends in industrial plants and IT networking – like the Internet of Things, convergence, big data and EtherNet/IP. The website offers guides, case studies, technical white papers, and online discussions on how these technologies can be applied to automation, industrial compute, remote assets and services, video, energy management, mobility, and security and compliance.
In support of this community, Cisco, Panduit and Rockwell Automation led a round table on the adoption of standard IP-based Ethernet at the Internet of Things (IoT) World Forum, a global event that unites thought leaders, business leaders and practitioners in business, industry, government and academia, Oct. 31 in Barcelona, Spain. On Nov. 13 and 14, at the annual Automation Fair event in Houston, the Industrial IP Advantage booth will showcase key technology trends and a working demo of an IP-centric infrastructure. The booth’s “Ask the Expert” area encourages attendees to seek technology, design and deployment advice on-site and from the online community.
Many manufacturers use multiple networks with proprietary protocols to manage devices, which create breakdowns in communication within an organization, increase threats to network security, and complicate IT management. This approach does not scale and creates inefficiency across manufacturing and business operations. To stay competitive, companies are looking to integrate the entire manufacturing value chain and leverage IP to seamlessly connect devices, processes, systems and people.
“A common IP network seamlessly manages communication between digital devices – such as video cameras, RFID readers, controllers, instruments and digital tablets – with processes, systems and people from the plant floor to the corner office. IP extends innovative networking and management services for optimum levels of security, performance and ease of integration,” said Chet Namboodri, director of global manufacturing solutions, Cisco.
“IP integration is a critical factor for the evolution of industrial networks to assist in maximizing plant uptime and ensuring long-time reliability,” said Steve Timian, director of Industrial Automation Solutions, Panduit Corp. “This new online resource provides valuable education and knowledge-based experiences to assist in the implementation of sophisticated network architectures that provide connectivity from plant to enterprise.”
“The overwhelming majority of digital things will naturally depend on IP because of its overarching interoperability,” said Kevin Zaba, vice president, Rockwell Automation. “Instead of overriding the power of IP, solutions such as EtherNet/IP put the software protocol to work, allowing industrial producers to easily extend collaboration to the plant along with other higher-level services that IP supports.”
by Gary Mintchell | Sep 29, 2013 | Automation, Technology
Mike Bryant, Executive Director PI NA
The 19th annual general annual meeting of PI North America in Phoenix wrapped up on Thursday September 26. Michael Bryant, executive director, remarked that plans for a 20th anniversary celebration next yea are already in the works. In his opening remarks, Bryant pointed to independent analysts who anoint leading market positions in North America to Profibus and Profinet technologies.
The purposes of these meetings include updating members on changes in the standards, marketing plans, and sharing stories about customer successes with Profibus and Profinet.
Four board members representing Siemens, GE Intelligent Platforms, Endress + Hauser and Phoenix Contact shared why their companies support “All Things Profi.” Scalability and flexibility of implementation was most often cited as reasons customers like Profibus and Profinet.
Profibus is the device-level network—the original fieldbus in the standard. Profibus PA is an implementation of the standard specifically for process automation. Profinet is the Ethernet implementation that comes in three flavors that support standard Ethernet for general purpose device networking and two types of real-time, deterministic implementations for applications such as coordinated motion control.
Fieldbus technologies (a specific form of industrial networks) were originally touted a method to reduce wiring costs and reduce installation time. Users quickly discovered that the number one benefit was availability of device and system diagnostics. These quickly earned favor with electricians and other maintenance technicians when they discovered the time savings, as well as savings in the grief of prolonged trouble-shooting, provided. This fact merited a feature presentation on diagnostic information and tools available with Profibus and Profinet.
Presentations on using Profinet on off-shore oil rigs and using Profibus in the production of spirits at Jim Beam brought a final user focus to members.
