Automation Minutes Podcast

Leadership in automation. How the leaders who developed ISA88, ISA95, MIMOSA have left a legacy that is readily apparent in products and applications. Now the ISA100 committee leadership needs to take the steps necessary to bring reconciliation and convergence and finish the standard.

Automation Minutes 110

Manufacturing and Automation Topics

A podcast and video I made for Automation World is now live. I do a preview of the ARC Forum and Packaging Automation Forum plus thoughts about recent acquisitions by ABB and GE, MESA's certification training and automation company stock prices.

I'm in Orlando now. Arrived in time for the Super Bowl party sponsored by Opto 22 (I mention this because it's a little out of the ordinary for that company which usually takes a quieter approach). I've come down here for many years. It's great to see so many people I know, hear gossip that it's best not to repeat and get a sense of the mood of manufacturing and automation. Not to mention, it's usually my first chance to run outside in about three months.

The press conferences begin at 12:30 EST. I saw people from several of the presenters, and it looks like there should be some interesting news. I'll try to post something from each on the blog, and you can follow my twitter stream (the hashtag, I believe, is #ARCforum if you want to search).

The Wall Street Journal has an article on GM this morning reporting that the company plans to greatly expand its "eAssist" technology and "will spread across our entire lineup." The eAssist is not exactly the same as Toyota's "hybrid" but similar. GM says it has beefed up the engine, which has fared poorly thus far in the market.

On the media side of my life, I awoke this morning to news that AOL has purchased the Huffington Post. Some observers I respect voiced disappointment with the move, thinking that the additional page views will hardly give AOL the boost it needs to sell more display advertising (the old/new nirvana for online media). I've heard that HP holds "liberal" as opposed to others' "conservative" views. I tried it for a brief time. It clogged up my feed reader and I could never figure out how to tune it to information useful for me.

Oh, and at least three ISA people made a point of searching me out to say that it was all a misunderstanding last year at Automation Week. The press were, indeed, welcome to visit the conference portion of the event, meet people and conduct interviews. October is always a very busy time, but I'll have to evaluate the value of a trip to Mobile.

ISA Automation Week Conference

The International Society of Automation (ISA) dropped its annual Expo trade fair last year due to declining floor space rentals, conference attendance and overall attendance. The replacement was a conference with table-top exhibit area. The overall experience was not good, and many exhibitors complained about the logistics and chance to meet attendees--the reason for exhibiting, of course.

This year, the conference was moved from Houston to Mobile, AL. The conference program leadership added Greg McMillan, a professional whom I respect greatly. I figured he could move the program from one that was overly academic to something that members might find useful.

Greg just posted to his Modeling and Control blog an essay We are ISA. I found his "agree with us or get out" message to dissident ISA members somewhat off-putting, but he did detail changes in the program. I know some of the people, and I suspect that attendees will be able to find some good sessions. I certainly hope that ISA publishes more details about the courses than it did last year. I also hope they treat potential speakers with more respect than some of the stories I heard from last year.

In conjunction with thoughts on the conference, here is a side comment. Conference organizers have found a benefit that they can offer to their sponsors--editors. They promise to line up a big group of editors and offer a long session of press conferences so that the sponsors can get time in front of us. So I, and my colleagues, are used as bait for sponsorship. However, our cost to attend these events is upwards of $1,000. We're all small businesses. So, the cost is a concern. If we do come, we'd really like to have some substantial news to report to make it worth our while. And it would be great to have time after the meeting for an individual interview so that we can get our own spin and not just parrot what every other editor is saying. (If Walt and I write the same thing, you'd all begin to wonder--right?)

Back to the ISA conference. I did not attend last year because we would not be allowed to sit in conference sessions to get new ideas, meet the speakers for future articles, talk to attendees. We were supposed to spend the money to come down for the better part of one day to sit through press conferences. For that privilege, we would be allowed to eat the conference lunch.

Here's how Greg describes the upcoming agenda. "The AW 2011 program will build on last year's improvement in technical content and make a step increase in scope and expertise offered. An Advanced Control track chaired by Russ Rhinehart, an Installation, Operations, and Maintenance track chaired by Greg Lehmann, and a poster session Recent Developments in Process Control chaired by Jerry Cockrell have been added to the program. The Analysis track chaired by Jim Tatera and the Automation and Control System Design track chaired by John Munro have been restored to their previous prominence. We have added a general session where 6 prominent members of the Process Automation Hall of Fame will discuss how process control is more important than ever for manufacturing competitiveness and how users can get the most out of their control systems. Terry Tolliver and I will offer tutorials on key technologies. Charlie Cutler and Bela Liptak will present keynote addresses. Tribute sessions will show the impact of these and other leaders in our profession. Lastly, an Ask the Experts session is being planned to offer guidance on important challenging problems."

If I were working in the field, I'd take a close look at the new conference agenda and consider making the $2,000 investment (travel, lodging, conference fees, etc.). Unless there are changes in the way journalists are considered, though, I will not be there. It's too hard to get to Mobile for an afternoon of press conferences. The companies can send a release and call me.

Voice Your ISA Opinions At Jim Pinto's Weblog

I know, I'm on record as not being an avid reader of Jim Pinto's Weblogs on various companies. However, Jim is a longtime member and Fellow of the International Society of Automation (ISA). He's also been a frequent critic of the Society's direction over the past few years. He's been working inside the organization, occasionally bouncing ideas off me, and sometimes writing a column on ISA for Automation World.

Well, he's opened a new "Weblog" on his Web site where you can voice thoughts on ISA's direction, future or leadership. It will be interesting, first of all, to see how many care. Secondly, what you have to say.

Automation Products, video essay avoiding manufacturing decline

I can't believe we've reached the end of August. Kids are in school, soccer is in full swing, and I'm preparing for a very busy fall.

I must have tried a dozen times this weekend to upload this video to YouTube. AW crew got it up there faster than usual, though. Four ways to avoid manufacturing decline.

You can listen to the podcast version here or by clicking the link at the bottom of the post.

Emerson Global Users Exchange 2010 is rapidly approaching. Jim Cahill is beginning to highlight some interesting papers that will be presented. Three tough level control challenges  and Analysis of Automation System Modernization Alternatives.

Alright, all you inventive engineers. Here's a project for you. Airborne electricity is ripe for the picking.

Here's a Brief Guide to Life from Leo at Zen Habits. Very true. I practice most. Learning to do the others.

Speaking of life hacks, here's one for soccer referees, parents, coaches--and all the rest of you. How to Keep Your Cool.

Thanks to Carl Henning at the Profiblog, found a new industry blog, GridConnect.

The Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA) International today released Harnessing the Power of Metrics to Diagnose and Solve Business Problems, a white paper that illustrates a systematic approach for achieving the measurable business results demanded by enterprise managers.  MESA has leveraged the extensive experience of its membership to develop both a conceptual framework and real-world best practices that enable manufacturers to achieve—and demonstrate--performance improvement.

"Management often demands that operating groups or plant managers demonstrate performance improvements in terms of business improvements," says Steve Kaplan, Global MES Administrator for Murata Power Solutions and MESA Metrics Working Group Co-Leader.  "There are so many nuances to the process of diagnosing and solving problems.  For example, a supplier might think its shipping process is running smoothly when it is really triggering customer problems.  Mutual supplier/customer metrics' analysis can enable corrective action.  The team that assembled this paper provides a range of real-world examples like this and identifies common best practices for addressing such issues."

The paper is available now for MESA Members to download.

I heard about this technology and product on my recent trip to Minneapolis. Usually automation suppliers talk about making solar panels. Here's a different take, a solar position algorithm library.
Beckhoff Automation has released the TwinCat Solar Position Algorithm library. This function block permits the exact calculation of sun angles anywhere in the world at any time, without the use of sensors.
This block is designed for parabolic mirror and photovoltaic systems as well as for other solar power plant designs that automatically track the sun's position for optimum utilization of the sun's rays. The control algorithm, which calculates the zenith and azimuth angles of the sun with an impressive precision of ±0.001°, can also be used for other applications such as in building automation or with wind turbines for shadow flicker calculations.

The ISA100 Wireless Compliance Institute (WCI) has announced certifications of six ISA100.11a wireless devices as conducted for WCI by National Technical Systems, Inc. (NTS). I presume these tests are relative to the ISA-adopted (but not ANSI) 100.11a standard that is currently being re-worked by the committee.

ISA100.11a wireless devices that have completed certification include:
Honeywell
XYR 6000 Pressure Transmitters (Gauge, Absolute and Differential Pressure); Models STWA94L, STDW924/930/974, STGW944/94L/974/97L/98L
XYR 6000 Universal IO Transmitter; Model STUW700/701
XYR 6000 Temperature Transmitter with Digital Input Transmitter; Model STTW401
XYR 6000 Temperature Transmitter; Model STTW400
XYR 6000 Multiple Digital Input Transmitter; Model STXW500

Yokogawa
EJX B Series Differential Pressure and Pressure Transmitters

ABB has introduced an integrated PLC and robot controller for robot cell applications, offering powerful performance in a single unit. Combining ABB’s flexible AC500 PLC with its IRC5 robot controller, the newly integrated unit eliminates the cost and space of a separate PLC cabinet and greatly reduces the time associated with the set-up and operation of robotic production cells.

Rockwell Automation announced that it has announced an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Integration Gateway application that allows plants to exchange transactions and execute business processes across plant-floor and business systems, in real-time. Typical types of information include quality, order planning and scheduling, as well as accounting of production costs and material usage.

The ERP Integration Gateway is delivered on the Rockwell Software manufacturing services bus, a key component of the Rockwell Software manufacturing operations platform. The manufacturing services bus provides a service-oriented architecture (SOA) framework for messaging between applications that is said to be secure, robust, scalable and highly available.

Automation Minutes 95