industrial automation

Digital Transformation in the Manufacturing industry and what is the future

Posted by Kaushal Naik on October 10, 2019 at 1:57 in Platforms

The term Digital Transformation means different things for different people. Some people might think of it as switching from manual processes to autonomous processes, while for others it might be about the insights that the data brings, which can help in making business decisions. What can Digital Transformation or moving towards Industry 4.0 do for the manufacturing sector? It can lead to enhanced production cycles, increased customization, a focus on reinforced products and better access to information for employees.

About a couple of centuries ago, the Industrial Revolution changed the face of the manufacturing sector in the US and Europe. The last time we saw a massive revolution in manufacturing was when Henry Ford introduced the concept of mass production to the automobile sector. Years later, we are about to witness how digital transformation brings significant changes to the manufacturing sector. With the advent of digital transformation, manufacturers are adopting smart technologies to move from mass production to customized production.

According to PwC, out of 2000 manufacturing companies, 86% expect to secure simultaneous gains from both lower costs and added revenue from their digitalization efforts in the next five years.

The typical image that comes to our mind of factories and smokestacks when we think about ‘industry’ needs to change. With manufacturers embracing digital transformation, the face of a factory or manufacturing unit is transforming. As transformational technologies like IoT, Cloud, ML and AI mature, it is time for manufacturers to move towards Industry 4.0.

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Digital Transformation for Smart Manufacturing

Smart Manufacturing, also referred to as Industry 4.0, is a balanced combination of traditional manufacturing techniques and recent technologies such as the Internet of Things, cloud computing, data analytics, and machine learning.

The digitalization of the manufacturing sector, or as we call it – the fourth industrial revolution – has several related terms. Some call it the Industrial Internet of Things, while others prefer the terms digital factory or smart factory.

Regardless of the term that is used to refer to Industry 4.0, its aim is to create an end-to-end digital ecosystem by digitalizing a large number of physical assets throughout the value chain.

Until now, components of a smart factory such as sensors, cloud infrastructure, and data analytics were only available to large-scale manufacturers due to the resources and cash they were capable of allocating. Now, all of these technologies are a lot more affordable, allowing mid-size and small manufacturers to benefit equally from transformational technology.

Data is at the center of the Industry 4.0. Collection of data, data analysis, and communicating that data using a wide range of state-of-the-art technologies underpins the improvements that the Industrial Internet of Things is expected to bring. Let’s explore what manufacturers can expect to achieve as they embrace digital transformation.

1) Enhanced production cycles

Consumer demands and expectations are continually evolving, so the ability to alter products according to customer feedback can give an edge to a manufacturer. With the advent of new technologies, it has become much easier to make last-minute changes to the production cycles.

Predictive analytics can help resolve a range of operational issues, allowing manufacturers to improve quality control, boost operational efficiency, and create a safer production environment. Manufacturers will be able to predict when a manufacturing machine is about to fail or needs maintenance. In addition, they will gain access to asset performance data, be able to identify the elements that are delaying the speed of production cycle, and get insights that might be helpful in taking important production decisions.

2) Increasing demand for customization

Before a few years customizing products would cost more and require more time to create. Mass production was not an option to manufacture customized products, as the time and cost involved in creating customized products in different batches would skyrocket. With the adoption of technology, manufacturers have developed the ability to create personalized products based on demand at a competitive rate.

The reason behind this is the ability to feed the data regarding the features of a personalized product into the production machines, which would then consider all the customization parameters while working on the production line. This seems to be applicable even for lower-priced products, thus discarding the one-size-fits-all approach for low range products.

The demand for customization might be a source of worry for many manufacturers out there. However, it presents an opportunity to establish a loyal customer base by delivering the products with exact functionalities and features that the customers are looking for. This is great news for many budding manufacturing companies to get some market attention swapped from the big players. Moreover, already established players should also give enough consideration to product customization and adopt the latest technologies to stay in the game.

3) Reinforced products

Converting a traditional factory to a smart factory will result in assets and products that can monitor their own performance, predict failures, as well as notify operators about the maintenance needs. Getting to know the exact areas where the production process needs improvement can help the manufacturers to enhance the product and make it more relevant to the target customers.

Machine learning is going to have a major contribution in predicting asset behavior by analyzing historic behavior patterns. Other technologies that are set to transform the global manufacturing industry are virtual reality and augmented reality. Virtual reality and augmented reality can revolutionize the way products are designed and can provide live demos to deliver a realistic experience of the product. This can allow manufacturers to test the product even before it hits the assembly line, which can help save a lot of time and money.

4) Information access to employees

Digitalization of an enterprise brings in collaboration tools and platforms that provide employees with easy access to information that they need with the flexibility to access it from anywhere and from any device.

Manufacturers can also expect to gain some real benefits by giving a bird’s-eye view of the entire supply chain to the employees through improved CRM, ERP, and Customer Experience Mapping. Access to a common master data that is updated in real-time will give all the employees – working across different parts of the supply chain – one common truth, which will be up-to-date and reliable. This will allow employees to make informed decisions regarding products, assembly line, and the marketing strategy.

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Getting to Industry 4.0 status

Digital transformation is undoubtedly crucial for the success of manufacturing as well as other industries. At this point, the CTOs and CIOs who have already begun the process for digital transformation in their organization know that it is not just another market trend, rather it is the only way to stay competitive and relevant in the current market. The points that were covered here will crop up as manufacturers embark on their journey towards Industry 4.0 or a digital factory.

eInfochips has helped several clients in their industrial automation projects. Starting from the strategy phase to planning, implementation, and managed services, eInfochips has accompanied companies in their digital transformation journey. If your business wants to adopt digital transformation technologies as a part of Industry 4.0 initiatives, get in touch with us.

How to Develop a Plan for Automation Modernization

Posted by Michael Riehn on September 24, 2019 at 21:00 in Platforms

Industrial automation and controls modernization can be a daunting task. Is it time to upgrade? What will this cost me? Are we ready? How will we even do this? There is a lot to consider with all those questions, and probably more, running through your head. A good starting point for developing a plan is to start by organizing the information that needs to be gathered to scope the project(s). From there, you can start talking to integrators and vendors to get pricing, budgets, timelines, and equipment lists. To develop a thorough spec, follow these steps.

What is OPC? And how does OPC leverage in Industry 4.0?

Posted by Kaushal Naik on September 17, 2019 at 10:23 in Platforms

What is OPC?

The acronym “OPC” stands for “OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) for Process Control”. OLE is based on the Windows COM (Component Object Model) standard.

OPC standard is implemented in server/client pairs. The OPC server is a program that translates the hardware communication protocol used by a PLC into the OPC protocol. The OPC client software is a program that connects to the hardware, such as an HMI. The OPC client communicates with the OPC server to receive data or send commands to the hardware.

How does OPC work?

OPC specification describes the interface between clients and servers, servers and servers, including access to real-time data, monitoring of alarms and events, access to historical data and other applications.

The classic OPC connection scenario is a single server-client connection on a single computer, but there are more options which include:

Connecting an OPC client to several OPC servers. This is called OPC aggregation.
Connecting an OPC client to an OPC server over a network. This can be done with OPC tunneling
Connecting an OPC server to another OPC server to share data. This is known as OPC bridging

Technical Benefits of OPC

In addition to improving OPC server and client connections, the OPC DataHub can connect any OPC server or client to other applications as well, including Excel, a web browser, or any other database. And, it can be used to import OPC data into Linux or QNX.
Usage

Following OPC specifications are used in industries:

OPC-DA (Data Access): Provides access to real-time data. We can query most recent

values of temperature, pressure, density, acceleration, and other types of process control data from OPC-DA server.

OPC-HDA (Historical Data Access): This is used to retrieve historical process data for analysis. This data is typically stored in files, databases or remote telemetry systems.
OPC-AE (Alarms & Events): OPC AE servers are used to accept and exchange

process alarms and events.

OPC-DX (Data eXchange): It defines the way OPC server data is exchanged with other OPC servers.
OPC-XML (XML Data Access): It defines schema and data representation formats based upon XML standard. This makes it possible to share & manipulate process control data across all operating systems – Windows, UNIX, Solaris, etc.

Benefits of using OPC standard are:

Reduced load on the hardware device.
Increased scalability of the system.
Because of OPC server, client applications need not know anything about hardware protocol details.
Though device need not serve multiple clients, So Increased life for the device.
Interoperability (Unix/Linux and Windows – both platforms are supported by OPC)
Standardization

eInfochips – OPC implementation

At eInfochips, we have provided embedded solutions for OPC’s industrial automation product line for our clients in embedded solutions. This includes detailed work on:

BIS systems: Building Integration System , or BIS, is a software package that brings building automation, access control, video surveillance, intrusion, fire alarms and voice evacuation onto one convenient management suite. The classic OPC Server had implemented specific protocol over TCP/IP protocol to monitor and control different types of building integration system panels, which is able to interface with OPC client of the BIS system software.
System alerts: In OPC Server, we had implemented OPC-DA (Data Access), OPC-HDA (Historical Data Access) and OPC-AE (Alarms & Events) specifications. For controlling and monitoring panels, OPC client fires different commands to the panels by using OPC server e.g. unlock door, lock door, arm area etc.

OPC server developed by eInfochips contains the following modules, functionalities and activities, listed below.

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Design, Development and Testing of OPC Classic server for different panels used in a building integration system with specific Automation protocol
Implementation of following group commands on OPC Server,
- System
- Panel
- Door
- Area
- Output
- Point
OPC server communication stacks integration (TCP)
OPC server security – Command Authentication AES 256
Client and status command implementation

We have also developed OPC Clients for our customers, running on Linux OS to communicate with OPC server over Ethernet. This further communicates with OPC server for Reading and Writing data/parameters. In OPC Client, we had implemented OPC-DA (Data Access), OPC-HDA (Historical Data Access) and OPC-AE (Alarms & Events) specifications. OPC Client will communicate with OPC Server for fetching data from the PLC. At the other end, it will send/receive historical and live data of temperature, pressure, density, acceleration etc. from the OPC server to the cloud for storage and analysis.

To know more about how we can help you with OPC implementation for your building automation needs, Learn more about our Industrial Automation Solutions or digital engineering services

5 Low Cost Ways to Start Using Industrial Automation 4.0 for Line Improvements

Posted by Michael Riehn on May 1, 2019 at 20:53 in Platforms

When you have the responsibility of ensuring a manufacturing plant is operating at its full potential at all times, talk of “Industry 4.0” and “industrial automation like never before” might be exciting but far-fetched. Industry 4.0 is just an empty phrase used by marketers who want to take your money, right?

Maybe in some cases, but the ideas behind the buzzy terms can actually give you an edge over competitors. Industry 4.0 is not a phase, but it’s also not an obligation that you need to “opt in to” 100% right away. Industrial automation is a combined result of our greater digital capacities, smarter machines, and improved cross-channel communication that have accompanied the digital age.

In 2019, the technology is here: from decentralized cloud systemsto self-correcting and self-directing machines. However, it’s not everywhere yet, and most plants are simply taking baby steps towards preparing their lines to be as compatible as possible to these new technologies so that they can gradually work their way in. Industry is slowly moving towards a more optimized, efficient, automated structure, but this transition will be happening in the industrial world over the next few decades.

What do those “baby steps” look like? Where should begin to optimize lines in the most cost-effective, long-term ROI benefits? We have compiled a list of 5 relatively simple ways you can take this year to set your plant up for new “Industry 4.0” industrial automation technologies:

1. Integrate a Single Virtual Server

Managing the IT aspect of your plant is difficult when you need to find cost-effective storage and data processing solutions for your company that also comply with all of the regulations and contingencies of your industry. However, upgrading a server to a virtual option is probably the most important upgrade you can do to get started on the road to future industrial automation applications that use a truly decentralized communication with virtual operating system.

If your plant currently runs exclusively on physical servers, you don’t need to go virtually all at once. The wonderful thing about industry 4.0 is that much of the software integrations available will integrate with your existing hardware. You can invest in one virtual server, and then layer software integrations on to it over time.

By starting with a single server, you can cut costs, maintain a realistic learning/adaptation curve, and try out a virtual server option without committing 100% to a change. There are numerous virtual server options available, so talk to a process automation expert about what server will work best for your plant, and which server to upgrade first.

2. Get Basic Industrial Automation Security – Two-Factor Authentication

With increased adaptability and communication on virtual servers comes increased cyber threats, and unfortunately, there is no way around this. One of the easiest and fastest upgrades you can do for your company is to implement two-factor authentication (2FA) for all employees. A simple password is no longer anywhere near secure enough to protect your employees and your data.

Luckily, everything from Twitter to Cloud servers now offer 2FA options, it’s usually just a question of getting the settings implemented correctly and creating a protocol that requires every employee to use 2FA at all times. It may seem tedious or frustrating at first, but this is a small habit that can make a huge difference in your cyber security and overall functioning of your plant.

3. Make Your Next Machine Purchase a Smart Machine

You probably aren’t yet at the point of having a completely automated assembly line of smart machines that create highly customized orders while communicating with and correcting each other (like the assembly line in this German plant.) However, smart machines do exist, and if you are getting ready to purchase a new machine, finding one that has automation, optimization, and decentralized communication abilities will be a great investment in your plant’s future.

Customizable “smart machines” are virtually independent of a human operator. The ability of these machines to adapt to the demands of individualized production requirements allows for scalable, lean production processes. In other words, with these new machines, you can produce a larger variety of products faster than ever before.

If your current machines are working fine, there is no need to replace them with smart machines right away. But from this point forward, it is a good idea to consider buying a smart machine for your next upgrade. Don’t be afraid to use an automation integrator to advise you on the appropriate machine, technology, and compatibility with existing plant automation systems.

4. Implement Technology Upgrades that Overlay or Automatically Integrate Existing Plant Industrial Automation

Be choosy about the automation products you decide to implement into your current systems moving forward. You want applications that both set your systems up for future technology integrations and help move you away from expiring legacy applications.

This shouldn’t mean replacing all your old applications, programming, and platforms all at once other. Most Industry 4.0 automation tools are created in an “overlay” style, meaning they are created to be able to function on top of your existing processes and are not supposed to disrupt everything you have already built.

Embracing a new software or system should never mean that you have to throw away your existing processes and start from scratch. If this is how you feel when you are getting ready to purchase a new software, machine, or server then it probably isn’t the right product for your company.

Talking to an expert about what products will work best with your current setup is a good idea before making any changes to your industrial automation. At my company, EPIC systems, we've seen the difference that selecting the right product solutions has made for hundreds of process automation projects — it's a key step for any manufacturing plant. No matter who you work with, you don't want to bypass this step.

5. Optimize One of Your Plant’s Processes

Divide and conquer, as they say. Just as it is best to upgrade one server at a time, it is helpful to focus specifically on one plant process at a time when you are looking to optimize and automate your plant.

This could mean focusing on optimizing your shipping procedure or optimizing one assembly process. The important thing to remember is that as you do this “experimental optimization” you are not just looking for an impressive return on investment, you are also looking to get your entire team comfortable with the automation and ready to embrace even more. This is why the “how” is just as important (if not more important) than the “what” when it comes to choosing a process to optimize. Go slow, be transparent, and include everyone in the process so that it is a success all around.

Industry 4.0 is creating a world where employees can delegate mundane tasks to smart machines and rely on highly communicative, agile systems in order to work faster and more effectively than ever before. There is no reason for any manufacturing plant to be left behind in this industrial evolution, with numerous products and services available to help walk you through the industrial automation process gradually and intelligently.

Will SCADA Systmes Survive? Or The Future of Distributed Management Systems

Posted by Victor Polyakov on May 25, 2017 at 6:53 in Platforms

What are common features of IIoT and SCADA/HMI and differences between them? And what advantages do Internet of Things Platforms have over SCADA systems? Find out answers in our new presentation.

Will SCADA Systems Survive? The Future of Distributed Management Systems from Tibbo

AggreGate 5.4 Brings 10x Faster Storage, Graphical Programming Languages, Widget Component SDK

Posted by Victor Polyakov on April 6, 2017 at 4:09 in Platforms

Tibbo announced the release 5.4 of AggreGate IoT Integration Platform.

We've achieved great results in optimizing AggreGate server performance, especially event and value update storage performance. From now on, a single server can process and persistently store up to a hundred thousand events/updates per second, which is almost equal to 10 billion events per day. Such performance figures don't even require any high-end server hardware.

A new chapter has been opened by this release, presenting AggreGate's graphical and textual programming languages inspired by IEC 61131-3 standard, also known as "SoftPLC". Millions of engineers are now able to use AggreGate as a process control logic development environment.

One innovative feature of AggreGate's automation languages is tight integration of runtime with the Tibbo Project System hardware. Your programmed logic can access and control all Tibbit modules of a Linux-based TPS board/box. Currently available languages are: Function Block Diagram (graphical), Structured Text (graphical), Sequential Function Chart (textual).

Widget capabilities are no longer limited by the standard set of components. Now it can be easily extended. New Widget Component SDK allows to implement custom visual components in Java and use them in AggreGate widgets. Extend AggreGate's wide component palette with UI controls best suited to your needs!

We continue making our UI interface clearer and more user-friendly. The next step is lightweight icons. We redesigned them to be up-to-date with modern flat paradigm. New color coding assists users to navigate over various available toolbar actions.

Other major improvements include:

Built-in timestamps and quality for data tables.
Component connectors that allow to visually link UI components with each other.
Secure and reliable Agent communications. Agent-Server communications now can be SSL-protected. When transferred data amount is critical, data compression can be enabled in parallel to encryption.
Granulation, a brand-new highly customizable data aggregation and consolidation tool. The granulation engine allows to combine datasets into compact representation that contains all important aspects of original information in virtually any form suitable for later processing. This allows to reduce memory and storage consumption along with boosting data processing performance.
Server remote upgrading. To reduce company's expenses, a remote AggreGate server upgrade operation is now supported. You can use our Unified Console application to connect to a remote server, upload a server upgrade bundle file and wait while the upgrade process is finished. That's it! All operations, including database backup, stopping server, upgrading and restarting will be performed at the server side automatically.

We are bringing our IT & Network Management solution (AggreGate Network Manager) to a new level by turning it into a full-fledged IT Service Management System. In this release, we introduce several essential instruments for that: Configuration Management Database (CMDB), metrics engine and topology-based root-cause analysis tools. Another ITSM functionality - IP address management module - is now available and you can use it out-of-the-box.

AggreGate 5.4 includes new device drivers: CoAP, MQTT, IEC 104, DLMS/COSEM, SMI-S.

You can get detailed information on the new 5.4 release, download and try the updated AggreGate IoT Platform on our website: http://aggregate.tibbo.com/news/release-54.html.