What to consider when starting your Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) journey – part two

Last week ProSoft Technology defined what the IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) is and we looked at some of the ways old-school automation engineers are making use of IIoT concepts. This week will give you the opportunity to learn more about the things to consider before your systems are IIoT ready to fit into this new world of connected machines.

Network Migration 

• While many of your field devices are likely already on a network, it is probably not an Internet Protocol-based network. 
• Not to worry! Gateway devices and in-rack protocol interfaces in your controller allow you to easily connect those older networks to the IP-based applications that need that device data. 

Cybersecurity 

• While the interoperability of the IIoT brings great benefits, it also opens up new risks that we need to address. 
• It is important to understand what equipment can be accessed by whom, what connections are necessary and not necessary, and how data that’s transmitted outside the boundaries of your organisation’s network is protected.

Effective Energy Management 

• A great place to start your IIoT journey is effective energy management. Energy costs such as electricity, compressed air, natural gas, water, and steam are no longer considered overhead.
• Typical savings when energy costs are optimised can be 5 percent to 15 percent.
• Think of the savings to your production line if you could move the data collected by these networks into your PLC, where it could be analysed and optimised.

Design Connectivity In 

• Network connectivity through cellular, WLAN, or wired Ethernet should be designed into your system when you can. 
• IIoT applications will continue to evolve and grow in the value they can deliver, so it makes sense to build Internet Protocol into your systems even if you’re not using IP-based networks for control. 
• Consider how wireless technologies can layer on top of your current network, or perhaps replace an older networking technology.

Start Small 

• Look for applications in your industry that make sense, and give them a try. 
• One of the best parts of the IIoT concept is its scalability – Internet-based applications can just as easily serve one deployment as one million. 

Get Help 

• Most importantly, work with vendors you can trust. When it comes to industrial networking, ProSoft Technology has been helping engineers get different equipment all talking the same language for more than 25 years. 
• They can help you navigate your IIoT course, from connecting older Modbus® and PROFIBUS® networks to enabling remote equipment connectivity via cellular networks

If you would like to arrange for one of our team of Automation Engineers to visit you to discuss your IIoT needs and what Routeco can do to assist you on this journey  contact us at info@routeco.com or speak to a member of staff at your local Routeco branch on 0370 607 1000.

The full whitepaper from ProSoft Technology can be found here.

Intrinsically safe isolators designed by MTL

The MTL5500 range modules from EATON are versatile yet simple to apply; use the latest technology and yet are well proven.

These contrasting attributes stem from the progression in the design and manufacture of isolators for intrinsic safety and the application of innovative technology to achieve the required separation and segregation of the circuits.

The MTL5500 (DIN-rail mounting) and MTL4500 (backplane mounting) isolators share a common design, differing only in the mechanical mounting and connection methods.

• Compact modular design with DIN rail mounting
• High packing density
• Single and multi-channel I/O modules
• 3-port isolation with low power dissipation
• Compatible with MTL5000 

A wide range of MTL products are available to buy from Routeco by clicking here. If you would like more information, you can email info@routeco.com or call us on 0370 607 1000. 

Rethink what you should expect from your distributed control system

Today, process industry professionals face difficult challenges. How can we adhere to increasingly tighter compliance requirements while competing for market share in today’s globalised economy? How can we meet the continuous demand for new sources of productivity and margin growth while using the same automation approach and control system strategy we have been using for decades?

A modern Distributed Control System (DCS) is designed to help you address these challenges.

Integration of the DCS with the automation systems used in the balance of plant is often costly and engineering intensive. 

Maintaining multiple disparate automation systems is straining operations and support resources, restricting flexibility and responsiveness.

What is needed is a modern approach--one that delivers all of the core capabilities of a DCS to address the requirements of process control, but is built on contemporary technology that easily integrates with other automation systems, operators’ activities, and critical business systems. A modern DCS is built using plant-wide control technologies. Today, process control, discrete control, power control and safety control no longer have to be a choice of separate technologies. Today, manufacturers can choose to implement a plant-wide control system.  

Read a new whitepaper from Rockwell Automation on this subject by clicking here.

To discuss your control system requirements with one of our team of automation specialists please email info@routeco.com or call us on 0370 607 100 to book an appointment.

What to Consider When Starting Your Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Journey – part one

The term ‘Industrial Internet of Things’ or IIoT seems to be everywhere at the moment! But what does it actually mean?

ProSoft Technology define it as: “The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is about intelligent devices like overloads, photo eyes, variable frequency drives, or PLCs providing data that we use to make our processes more efficient.” 

ProSoft have also looked at some of the ways old-school automation engineers are making use of IIoT concepts to improve their operations, and what considerations all of us should keep in mind.

Remote Monitoring and Equipment Access

• In the old days, remote access meant installing a serial modem connected to a dedicated phone line, so the machines made remote access-capable were limited to the most critical operations.
• What’s changed in the IIoT world is the proliferation of wireless connectivity, especially cellular networks and wireless LAN. Now, all that data deemed not important enough to transmit can be made available from remote sites. 
• Remote access to industrial equipment has become more accessible for more people throughout the organisation
• Finally, machine builders and control engineers responsible for widely dispersed global operations can build reliable connectivity into their systems without the need for custom infrastructure and integration at the end site.
• For mobile equipment, access is available just about anywhere the equipment goes. This simplifies the design and maintenance of the system, and enables the machine OEM to build high-value applications that make use of an “always connected” machine.

Machine and Process Control

• IIoT technology is not just about cellular connections to remote machines. 
• Major automation vendors like Rockwell Automation have been offering industrial Ethernet connectivity for PLCs and related devices for more than a decade. Industrial Ethernet protocols like ODVA’s EtherNet/IPTM provide the kind of performance required for automation systems, while also enabling interoperability with the massive Internet Protocol-based network infrastructure found in virtually every organisation. 
• Today’s automation engineers are taking advantage of the Internet Protocol-based industrial technologies to design more reliable networks for moving equipment. 
• Wireless LAN products designed for the harsh industrial environment and optimised to handle protocols like EtherNet/IP allow engineers to eliminate the cost and downtime of frayed cables, yet still take advantage of high data rates and application-specific requirements like machine safety and time synchronisation.

Asset Mobility

• One area of automation where IIoT technology is creating new opportunities involves taking the network connection anywhere in the plant. 
• Old systems offered only so many places to “plug in.” 
• Automation systems are now benefiting from the same “network everywhere” mindset as our home and office environment. 
• Using industrial hotspots, control engineers can connect to the automation system easily from anywhere in the plant. The same wireless network allows maintenance applications running on smart phones or tablets to access and update equipment records, capture and store photos, and even help maintenance technicians troubleshoot machines. Operators and supervisors can view the status of a machine from anywhere, and even control the machine.

Next week in Part Two: Things to consider about how your system can fit into this new world of connected machines. Make sure you’re subscribed to our blog and the part two will go straight into your email inbox. In the meantime, please email info@routeco.com if you require more information. The full whitepaper from ProSoft Technology can be found here.

Milton Keynes Motion Control Technical Workshops

On Tuesday 17th and Wednesday 18th November, Milton Keynes’ Area Sales Manager Phil Huntley organised for customers to spend the morning at Routeco Head Office for a Rockwell Automation Motion Control Technical Workshops.

The two days gave engineers the opportunity to develop an understanding of Rockwell Automation’s Logix control and motion platform through hands-on exercises using PLCs, Variable Speed Drives, Remote I/O, Motion Controllers, HMI, Safety and Ethernet/IP products. 

Both workshops were fully subscribed and we received some excellent feedback from attendees. Thank you to everyone who attended and Routeco’s Product Sales Specialists’: Colin Wayman, Kevin Johnson and Chris Coe who delivered fantastic workshops. 

Check out the video here to get an overview of what happened across the two days and to get an insight into how the whole process works and what to expect from one of our technical workshops.

Make sure you’re subscribed to our blog and following us on LinkedIn and Twitter to be able to register and attend future events.

Prevent Downtime, Ensure Business Continuity and Maintain Data Integrity

Continuous availability – now a global requirement – touches every part of our lives. And the need for continuously available applications has become more pervasive across all market sectors – from building automation, to industrial automation and public safety across communities worldwide.

As organisations struggle to increase revenue, reduce costs, comply with regulations, and plan for business continuity, the demand for reliable, continuous availability of business critical applications, becomes even more important.

Stratus’ everRun is continuous availability virtualisation software that prevents downtime, ensures business continuity and maintains data integrity by keeping applications up and running– easily and affordably.

This all-in-one availability solution:

• Prevents downtime and protects your data in all your locations

• Enables you to achieve your business continuity plans and meet your SLAs at a lower cost and with better performance than other availability solutions

• Provides a virtualisation platform enabling you to run more applications with less hardware and protect them from downtime to further optimise efficiencies, simplify deployment and maximise investments

• Monitors applications and every component of your system, alerting you if a problem should arise, so you can take immediate action to head it off

• Provides two levels of availability –fault-tolerant and high availability

• The solution is ideal for business-critical applications in any industry, in any size organisation, at the network’s edge or in the data centre.

Unlike other solutions, Stratus’ everRun prevents downtime, rather than recovering from it. And that difference has a big impact on your revenue, costs, customer satisfaction and efficiency rates.

everRun is quick and easy to use with click and go installation and centralised management tools requiring no special skills, saving you in IT overhead.

This availability solution can run both your single and multi-threaded Windows and Linux applications with fault-tolerant availability or high availability, with no changes to your applications.

Stratus Technology software and server solutions are available to buy from Routeco. To get in touch with your local branch or if you require further information, please email info@routeco.com or call us on 0370 607 1000.

Accelerate every step of the copper certification process

The DSX-5000 CableAnalyzer from Fluke Networks improves the efficiency of copper certification with unmatched speed for testing Cat 6A and Class FA while meeting draft IEC Level V – the most stringent accuracy requirement.

The ProjX Management System helps ensure jobs are done correctly the first time and helps tracks progress from set-up to systems acceptance. Versiv platform supports modules for fibre testing (Both OLTS and OTDR) and Wi-Fi Analysis and Ethernet troubleshooting.

The platform is easily upgradeable to support future standards. Troubleshoot faults faster with the Taptive user interface which graphically displays the source of failures including crosstalk, return loss and shield faults. Analyse test results and create professional test reports using LinkWare™ Management Software. Fluke Networks' DSX-5000 CableAnalyzer is Intertek (ETL) Verified in accordance with the IEC-61935-1 specifications for accuracy Level IV, and draft accuracy Level V, and in accordance with the ANSI/TIA-1152 specifications for Level IIIe.

Fluke Networks' products are available to buy from Routeco. To get in touch with your local branch or if you require further information, please email info@routeco.com or call us on 0370 607 1000

Being our customers' first choice

Routeco Customer Survey 2015 - We want your feedback!

Here at Routeco we aim to be our Customers' First Choice and therefore we understand it is vital to provide our customers not only with brand leading products but also with Excellent Customer Service.

By gaining regular feedback we can understand the areas where we are performing well, but also where we can improve our service in line with your needs.

We have been conducting our annual survey now for a number of years have seen some positive results including:

• An increase in the number of customers giving us tops marks across all areas
• A massive increase in our Net Promoter Score (from 38% to 61% over 4 years)
• An increase in the number of customer who refer to us as their Partner of Choice.

We obviously are really pleased with these results, however our focus for improvement over the past 12 months has been specifically related to Proactive Communication and improving our ability to deliver to requested delivery dates.

Our survey is now open until the end of November and we would really love to hear your thoughts on how we have done.  Please click here to participate.

By taking part in the survey you will be entered into a prize draw to win £250 of high street vouchers, just in time for Christmas!

For more information please contact us at info@routeco.com or visit our website at www.routeco.com

Functional safety workshops

Rockwell Automation would like to invite you to attend their one day workshops which are designed to focus on understanding the practicalities of ISO 13849 and how to produce documentation for the technical file and compliance.

The day will be very much hands on to enable attendees the opportunity to understand the scope and design requirements of the current functional safety standard ISO 13849-1 and to give an appreciation of how to apply their principles. 

This course includes case study examples and practical exercises on the use of software packages for the verification of hardware performance (Safety Automation Builder (SAB) and Sistema), culminating with a practical task to demonstrate knowledge of functional safety and generating the required documentation for a technical file.

The course is delivered by Rockwell Automation TUV Approved Functional Safety Engineers.

Who should attend?

The workshop is aimed at anyone who needs to have an understanding of the practicalities of ISO 13849 and who may produce documentation for the technical file.  This includes managers, technicians and design engineers who have responsibility for safety relation controls and anyone who needs to ensure that functional safety is maintained for machinery in use.

We are holding four events on different dates so please choose the event which best suits you.

                                                               

 >  24th November 2015 -  Milton Keynes                                     

 > 1st December 2015 -  Sandbach, Cheshire

 > 19th January 2016 -  Milton Keynes                                          

 > 26th January 2016 -  Sandbach, Cheshire

Places for each workshop are limited, so please follow the below link to register and to find out more information: http://www.rockwellautomation.com/en_UK/events/seminars/safety-seminar.page

New Industrial Hotspot from Prosoft features Location Tracking, VLAN, Radius Servers and more

The ProSoft Technology 802.11abgn Fast Industrial Hotspot (RLX2-IHNF) provides secure and reliable wireless solutions for plant-floor, SCADA automation, process control systems and mobile worker Wi-Fi infrastructure. 

It operates in the 2.4 or 5 GHz bands, including DFS channels. The Hotspot supports Access Point, Repeater, Bridging and Client modes. 

802.11n technology delivers fast data rates up to 300 Mbps. This provides excellent packet-per-second performance and robust communications in rugged industrial environments. 

ProSoft Technology's unique Fast Roam bridging feature seamlessly supports wireless communications to moving machines and platforms by providing access point switchover times less than 50 ms.

The RLX2-IHNF family adds RADIUS security for centralised management of security policies, VLAN support for network traffic segmentation and data prioritisation, QoS support for data, video, and voice prioritisation, and AeroScout location tracking support.

ProSoft Technology’s RadioLinx products are available to buy from Routeco here. To get in touch with your local branch or if you require further information, please email info@routeco.com or call us on 0370 607 100.

Routeco’s Franchise Partners

Since 1978 Routeco have specialised in providing our customers with the very best industrial control and automation products.

A broad spectrum of industries depend upon us for our unique commitment in providing a comprehensive quality service: from pharmaceutical and food processing to material handling and petro chemicals; from mining and metals, to utilities and textiles; from automotive and construction, to machine tool and printing.

Routeco’s product portfolio includes some of the leading brands in manufacturing which have influenced the control and automation industries for many years.

To see our latest Franchise sheet which showcases some of the brands that we partner with, please click here.

We have 13 UK local branch locations, as well as branches in the Netherlands and Austria, to find out where your nearest branch is please give us a call on 0370 607 1000,email us at info@routeco.com or visit our website at www.routeco.com

The ultimate guide to going mobile with your HMI

Rockwell Automation have produced the ultimate guide to going mobile with your HMI displays.

Learn how the top 10 design tips for mobile HMI can make your operators more productive by providing an interface for status indicators, machine control, data trends and alarm information.

The contents for designing a mobile HMI with FactoryTalk® ViewPoint include:

• Think small
• Always design for touch
• Make content easy to find
• Make important information obvious
• Keep graphics simple
• Different users have different experiences
• Optimise for performance
• Know what’s published (and what’s not!)
• Expand the system
• Work from the beach… maybe!

Click here to download the document and if you have any further questions on Rockwell Automation’s FactoryTalk ViewPoint you can email info@routeco.com or call us on 0370 607 1000. 

New IntraVUE Ethernet network monitoring software from Panduit

If you’re not a network expert, Panduit's IntraVUE Software will help give you the ability to respond to network issues as if you were!

IntraVUE simplifies the support of Industrial Ethernet. With IntraVUE you can easily identify issues that arise when Ethernet devices are deployed in distributed and hostile environments including:

•  Duplicate IP and MAC addresses
•  Device or cable moves
• Connection or application faults
• Unauthorised connections
•  Real-time Diagnostic Reports

If the problem cannot be solved locally, now you can push a button and send all the necessary files to experts who can help. IntraVUE's continuously recording of network information will mean many intermittent problems will be captured for analysis. 

Whether this is an internal corporate group or external support organisation, the data capture will provide enough information to reduce or eliminate the need for a costly on-site support call. 

Vendor Neutral & Industrial Ethernet Focused

The key advantage of IntraVUE software and Panduit support is that they are vendor neutral and focused on Industrial Ethernet. They understand the subtle differences as well as how to train local resources to be self-sufficient.

What may be a first time occurrence at your location, may be an infrequent but common problem found in other applications.

IntraVUE is being used in over 2,500 networks worldwide from small bakeries to large automotive facilities. This solution is cost effective for networks with as few as 30 devices.

IntraVUE by Panduit software is available to purchase on the Routeco website by clicking here. Please email us at info@routeco.com if you would like more information or call us on 0370 607 1000.