TradeMeet
4 Foreword
Manufac turing goes Smar
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olution’. The emergence the ‘Third Industrial Rev The ‘Economist’ calls it gadgets and platforms gence of various smart and subsequent conver ution is expected mobility into a single sol and ta Da Big , ud clo such as ess domains that were nufacturing and busin to bring together ma
Cover Focus Combined synergies of traditional production processes on one hand and smart, automated systems on the other are resulting in a new wave of innovation which is transforming the way in which we perceive manufacturing practices. The industrial revolution and the internet revolution are converging to give to the world the era of smart manufacturing.
x o b l i Ma
silos. earlier kept in separate ich touched their n wave are robot sales, wh Riding on the automatio International Federation 2012, according to the second highest level in Internet of Things, by now have heard of the y ma you d An . tics bo of Ro from several devices raction of intelligence that will enable the ext nufacturing process. olutionise the digital ma whose synergies will rev more in our cover story. Read all about this and sation with Vikas ngs to you a conver Our Insight section bri takes us through the nTech Systems, who sig De , MD ar, elk anv Kh development lifecycle. s at work in product advanced technologie y people travel, and we s are changing the wa Navigation technologie President of Eastern with Peter Bolesza, Vice ion sat ver con a you ng bri recently introduced Markets, NNG, which has Europe and Emerging duct. their new navigation pro lly with the new 3D be cut down dramatica can ts cos ing tur fac nu Ma , Country Manager – le today. Manoj Mehta software systems availab s, takes us through the ult Systemes SolidWork India and SAARC, Dassa nuances.
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Contents
Volume 8 Issue 3 jul-sep 2013
Printed and Published by Joji Varghese on behalf of owners World Wide Media Pvt. Ltd, The Times of India Building, Dr DN Road, Mumbai 400 001 and printed at Rajhans Enterprises No 134, 4th Main Road, Industrial Town, Rajajinagar, Bengaluru 560 044 and published at Worldwide Media Pvt. Ltd, The Times of India Building, Dr DN Road, Mumbai 400 001
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Editor Jitesh Pillai Worldwide Media Pvt. Ltd, The Times of India Building, Dr DN Road, Mumbai 400 001
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Keeping it Smart 14 Gone are the days when manufacturing activities and computing systems were on different pages in the book of production. Slowly but steadily, the two practices are coming together to revolutionise the way in which factories operate, writes Siddhi Bajaj
Technology Designing Low-Power, High-Performance Industrial Applications 20 David Otten, Applications Engineering Manager – Advanced Microcontroller Architecture Division; and Joel Mach, Senior Applications Engineer – Medical Products Group of Microchip Technology Inc, review the latest microcontroller features
Automation in Brick Manufacturing – Revolutionising the construction industry 23
UK & EUROPE Mr Bharat Vasvani No 54, Sydney Road, West Ealing, London W13 9EY, United Kingdom Tel: +44-208-8403838 Fax: +44-208-8403493 E-mail: timesofindia@btconnect.com USA C Umesh The Times of India 1311 College Avenue Palo Alto CA 94306 Tel: 650 796 6867 E-mail: timesofindia@compuserve.com
All rights reserved. Reproduction without prior permission of the publisher is expressly prohibited. The publisher makes every effort to ensure that the magazine’s contents are correct. However, we accept no responsibility for any errors or omissions and accept no responsibility for any loss or damage caused as an effect thereof. The opinions expressed by experts are their own and in no way reflect those of the publisher.
Monnanda Appaiah, Managing Director, Wienerberger India, talks about the adoption of automated construction techniques to tackle various challenges faced by the industry All images, except those on pages 12, 20-22, 24-38, 51-52, are for representational purposes
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Role of 3D Designing in Reducing Manufacturing Costs 26 Design automation and 3D designing can dramatically cut costs for a well-defined, well-proven range of engineering activities, writes Manoj Mehta, Country Manager – India and SAARC, Dassault Systemes SolidWorks
Insight Smart Device Testing Begins with Smarter Testing 29 Sai Chintala, SVP – Global Pre-Sales and Enterprise Solutions Group, Cigniti Technologies, explores the area of smart device testing services
Sourcing Engineering Services through Dedicated Centres of Excellence 33
India, talks about TE’s presence and the growth of connectivity solutions segment in India
Case Study Maximising Building Efficiency 49 Schneider Electric’s new SmartStruxure solution helped Sheraton on the Park, Sydney, to reduce their energy usage and minimise ongoing maintenance costs
White Paper Industrial Smart Solutions: Connecting the Factory to the Enterprise 50
James Gallo, VP – Sales, QuEST Global; and Kurt Noe, General Manager – Sales, QuEST Global talk about the challenges faced by the OEMs in selecting the right partner
Advance Technologies for Product Design Innovation 37 Vikas Khanvelkar, MD, DesignTech Systems, takes us through the advanced technologies at work in product development lifecycle
Automation for Smart Manufacturing 40
Internet-based technology is ushering in a new era in manufacturing where the factory floor is united with enterprise-based systems and decision makers. Excerpts from a Cisco whitepaper
Anup Wadhwa, Director, Automation Industry Association, explores the field of automation and the rise of smart machines
Events
Tete-a-Tete
Automation 2013 54
Navigate your Future 43
India’s leading automation exhibition that showcases new innovations and solutions for wide array of industries
In a conversation with Karthik Muthuveeran, Peter Bolesza, Vice President of Eastern Europe and Emerging Markets, NNG, talks about their breakthrough navigation technology, NavFusion
Smart Automation Austria 54 An ideal trade fair for industrial automation solutions
Product Launch 55 Regulars
Keeping Everything Connected 46 In a conversation with Karthik Muthuveeran, S Vishwanath, Director – Automotive, TE Connectivity
Making Headlines – National 07 Making Headlines – International 11
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National
MakingHeadlines
Roselabs Bioscience sets up firstof-its-kind Composite Pre-Filled Syringes Making Facility in the World Roselabs Bioscience and Roselabs Polymers, part of the Roselabs Group, have set up the first-of-itskind, complete end-to-end prefilled syringes (PFS) making facility in the world. The company has already invested more than Rs 400 crore in this unique new state-ofthe-art facility near Ahmedabad. It is one of the few companies in the world which offers complete PFS solution under one roof—from manufacturing of glass and polymer PFS, all required components, to making formulations that need to be put into the injectables. Roselabs has recently got approval from the WHO-GMP and it has also initiated the process of getting other countries’ regulatory approvals. It is expecting to get regulatory approvals from 35-40 countries spread across South East Asia, Africa and Latin America in the coming months for its new project. Explaining the uniqueness of their composite PFS set-up, Zameer Agarwal, Director of Roselabs Bioscience Ltd, said, “Pre-filled syringe (PFS) is one of the most sophisticated medical devices in today's world. There are only a handful of players in the world who make either glass or polymer PFS, and they are dependent on a few other players for supply of other components. In turn, these companies then supply these complete empty syringes to the pharmaceutical companies to get the filling done. The unique selling proposition of Roselabs is that it offers a composite PFS solution under one roof. The existing and potential market for pre-filled syringes in India and globally is huge. Nearly 95 percent of PFS are imported into India which is one of
the fastest growing markets for this sector.” He further added that Roselabs is the one-of-its-kind facility in India which has commercialised eight lanes of PFS filling with dedicated individual lanes as per therapeutic segments like peptide, recombinant, hormones, biotech, ophthalmic and others, along with manufacturing of complete empty devices. Roselabs new ventures have already invested for more than Rs 400 crore for a state-of-the-art PFS facility at Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat, which has a capacity to manufacture eight lakh syringes a day. It has capabilities to make both glass and polymer (Cyclic Olefin Copolymer) syringes and formulation filling facilities too. The company will focus on making empty glass and polymer syringes, contract manufacturing, development of any formulation in PFS, development of customised drug delivery system and marketing formulations under its own brand name. The usage of pre-filled syringes provides multiple advantages which are crucial for any patient anywhere
in the world. A PFS remains sterilised for much longer than standard syringes and there are no chances of discrepancy in the drug strength. PFS is useful in emergency situations and busy hospitals as the process of transferring a drug from vials and ampoules is eliminated. Most healthcare professionals now prefer PFS to conventional syringes as they are pre-measured and ready to use with assured sterility guarantees, and offer convenience and safety to healthcare professionals as well as patients. PFS are also easy for self-administration without any medical training for patient safety, added Mr Agarwal. In case of vials and ampoules, there is over-filling of 15-25 percent, while in case of PFS it is only 2-3 percent, which in itself is a major saving. PFS usage also ensures that medical waste (of which syringes, vials and ampoules are a major part) is brought down by nearly 50 percent. It is estimated that every year there are around three million accidents taking place due to needle stick injuries, and PFS cuts down this risk.
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MakingHeadlines Kirloskar Brothers Inaugurates Second ARC in Gujarat Kirloskar Brothers Limited (KBL), a global fluid management company, inaugurated its fourth Authorised Refurbishment Centre (ARC) at Surat, India. Chief Guest HS Kohli,
Executive Director, Reliance Industries Limited, inaugurated the Authorised Refurbishment Centre in the presence of Sanjay Kirloskar, Chairman and Managing Director, Jayant Sapre, Executive Director Kirloskar Brothers Limited and other guests from the industry. The Authorised Refurbishment Centre in Surat is well equipped with state-of-the-art facility to service, repair and improve efficiency for all small, medium and large pumps manufactured by KBL. The facility will offer services like overhauling of pumps, hydro testing, corrocoating, performance enhancement, shot blasting and painting. KBL has eight manufacturing plants in India and seven outside India, and has now embarked on the ARC, the fourth of which is being set up in Surat. The main objective behind commencing this new facility is to provide its customers with better conveniences of saving transportation cost, reduction in downtime and saving
National
energy by upgrading the pumps. After Vadodara, this is the second facility being set up at Gujarat. KBL has already introduced this facility in the cities of Delhi and Jamshedpur in the month of January and February 2013.
Speaking on the occasion, Sanjay Kirloskar, Chairman and Managing Director, Kirloskar Brothers, said, “This initiative is actually adding value to our customers both in terms of sustainability and productivity.”
Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy Wins Bentley’s ‘Be Inspired Special Recognition Award’ Bentley Systems Incorporated, a leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure, announced that Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy Ltd’s Integrated Plant Construction System project has won the ‘2012 Be Inspired Special Recognition Award’. The project won in the “Bentley Developer Network” category. The ‘Be Inspired Special Recognition Awards’ are placed into nomination by an independent panel of jurors for their uniquely innovative and visionary achievements embracing multiple Awards categories. The nominees are then reviewed by a panel of Bentley
executives, who evaluate them on the criteria established for each award and select those projects that most exemplify outstanding achievement in infrastructure. Commenting on the ‘Be Inspired Special Recognition Award’ presented to Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy, a joint venture established by Hitachi Ltd and General Electric Company, Carey Mann, Bentley, Vice President – Solutions, said, “The ‘Bentley Developer Network’ award is given to an organisation that leverages the power of Bentley’s platform technology to develop unique and innovative custom applications. Because any error occurring in the upstream phase considerably affects construction in the downstream phase, Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy developed a highquality and reliable power plant construction system that provides consistent and coordinated project control throughout the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) lifecycle and improves quality and efficiency by closely managing and monitoring field work. On this large-scale project, Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy used MicroStation to leverage the EPC integrated construction system, which has now been deployed in the field. It supports a design team distributed over multiple locations and accelerates information sharing and communications across project teams. Bentley Developer Network members develop complementary applications exclusively for in-house customisation, integration, and use on Bentley products. Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy is now using its new system on its first project. By providing all personnel involved in the construction process with clear, reliable, unambiguous information, Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy expects to reduce site construction costs by up to 20 percent.
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National Jun Miura, nuclear plant department manager, Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy, Ltd., said, “We promoted the utilisation of advanced information technology, including the full application of 3D CAD and the systematisation of on-site works, to realise our construction-oriented EPC project. Our innovative approach introduces technologies that are based on a Huma n-Ce nte re d Design methodology to unlock the true needs of users in the field. Moreover, it provides intuitive, comprehensive, and efficient construction simulation by means of 4D visualisation. We have confirmed that this system will effectively serve construction-oriented EPC project requirements on a global basis and will continue to expand its deployment and use.”
MakingHeadlines
Valvoline Cummins Opens New Manufacturing Facility for Automotive Lubricants Valvoline Cummins Limited, a joint venture formed in 1998 between Ashland Inc. and Cummins India Limited, announced the opening of a new manufacturing and packaging plant in the Ambernath Industrial Area, near Mumbai. The new facility will produce ValvolineTM automotive lubricants for the consumer, industrial and heavy-duty markets. Built on 10 acres, the new $30 million plant expands the Valvoline brand’s in-house production capabilities. It also enhances the brand’s ability to deliver fast, localized technical services to customers in India, South Asia and other nearby countries. Initial production capacity of the plant is 120 million liters per
year with future capacity of 150 million liters. Current blend lines include simultaneous measuring and blending as well as automated batch blending and oil products produced include engine, gear, hydraulic, industrial and transmission. “Western India is a manufacturing hub that has the largest consumption of industrial lubricants among all regions,” said Sam Mitchell, President of Ashland Consumer Markets, a commercial unit of Ashland Inc. and the producer of Valvoline branded products. “We are excited about the growth opportunities provided by this new manufacturing and packaging facility. We believe that investing in technology and innovation helps deliver what our customers need – a competitive advantage in a growing market.”
Page 07 Half Page 17 cm (W) X 12.5 cm (H) RAJMANE INDUSTRIES LTD
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MakingHeadlines
“Our customers know that the Valvoline brand stands for superb performance and reliability, and they trust us to provide the most consistent, high-quality lubricants and technological innovations available," said Naveen Gupta, managing director of Valvoline Cummins Limited. "Our new manufacturing facility will play a major role in these efforts and will expand our in-house, local production capabilities to meet the growing needs of regional customers.� Valvoline Cummins Limited recently opened the Valvoline Lube Station, a new Valvoline lubricant training centre at the Cummins Sales and Service Tech Center in Pune. Cummins engineers and technicians receive on-site training including all aspects of engine lubrication and maintenance.
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As per the amendment, the land use split has been fixed at 60 percent for industrial purposes, 30 percent for residential use, and 10 percent for commercial consumption. The land had originally been acquired by public and private bodies.
this, the builders will also be required to provide amenities such as schools, hospitals and play grounds. The New Industrial Policy is likely to lead to the creation of 2 million jobs in the coming five years. The projected overall investment will be around Rs 5 lakh
The amendment follows the state government’s New Industrial Policy, which had suggested the ratio of 60:30:10 for industrial development of the land. Other than
crore. The policy comes with attractive benefits such as up to 100 percent rebate on VAT for large projects and special focus on small and medium scale industries.
Integrated Industrial Area to come up in Maharashtra The Maharashtra Industrial Development Act, 1961 has been amended by the state assembly, that will allow SEZ areas to be converted to Integrated Industrial Areas. This will open up around 9,567 hectare of land for industrial use.
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International National Technip Awarded Contract for New Petrochemical Plant in China Technip has been awarded a services contract by BP Zhuhai Chemical Company Limited, a joint venture between BP and Zhuhai
Port Co. Ltd, for the execution of a new world-scale Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) plant at their Zhuhai site in the Guangdong Province, China. Technip’s scope includes the management of the engineering, procurement and construction services, executed by a team integrated with the client. The new plant, with a capacity of 1,250,000 tonne per year, will use BP’s latest proprietary technology and is expected to come on stream at the end of 2014. Technip’s operating centre in Rome, Italy, will execute the contract. This award falls within the framework of the on-going alliance between BP and Technip for PTA
MakingHeadlines
and follows Technip’s completion of the Zhuhai 1 and 2 plants, the Zhuhai 2 expansion project as well as the basic and front-end engineering design for the Zhuhai 3 plant.
four critical business functions: Logistics Center, Customer Solutions Center, National Returns Center and the US Manufacturing Production. Lenovo's new US-based PC manufacturing line actually began
Lenovo Opens its First Manufacturing Line in the US
operations in January 2013. It is capable of producing the ThinkCentre M92p Tiny desktop, ThinkPad Tablet 2, ThinkPad Helix convertible ultrabook and more. The new PC manufacturing plant arms it to deliver products with even greater efficiency and reliability. We're just glad to see the company bring jobs to the States rather than send manufacturing overseas. Currently, Lenovo’s operations are estimated to positively increase state output by more than $1 billion, as reported by the recent economic contribution analysis from the North Carolina Department of Commerce. Lenovo plans to continue its focus on driving
Lenovo has launched its first US-based personal computer production facility in Whitsett, North Carolina. The new factory has added 115 new jobs for local workers, and is fully expected to ramp up its PC production by the end of June. Lenovo’s bold move to develop the long-term strength of the American PC market defies the decades-old trend of US electronics firms relying on overseas facilities for manufacturing and other outsourced functions. The 240,000-square-foot Whitsett facility, located approximately 10 miles east of Greensboro, serves
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MakingHeadlines
product innovation, investing in the US market and supporting business growth in North Carolina now and in the future.
GM Invests $300 Million in Automotive Testing and Development Centers General Motors will invest approximately $300 million in new testing facilities at the European
National International
Development Center at Opel headquarters in Rüsselsheim, Germany and Opel proving ground in Dudenhofen, Germany, during the next four years. The US automaker’s investment is a strong commitment to GM’s European Development Center and the centre in Rüsselsheim, Germany. New engines will replace older equipment to allow for
development of the following generation of power trains for 2020 and beyond. More than that, flexible test cells will be implemented to enable improved operational efficiencies. As part of the investment the proving grounds at Dudenhofen will also gain new capabilities, with a soak area, new workshop and vehicle dynamometers for important ultra-low emission testing. “This significant investment will last for decades and it will secure the future of the European Product Development Center,” said Dr KarlThomas Neumann, Opel CEO and President GM Europe. “The development done at Rüsselsheim will be on engines and transmissions for Europe and the rest of the world. This move will give us global responsibility in engine development,” he added. GM plans a comprehensive investment programme of about $5 billion to support its operations in Germany and Europe during the next three to four years. “As a global automotive company GM needs a strong presence in Europe – in terms of design and development as well as manufacturing and sales,” said GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson. “Opel is a key to our success and enjoys its parent company’s full support.”
US Manufacturing Sector Booting Up Industrial production in the US rose 0.3 percent in June, after going through a downturn in April and a blank figure in May. According to the Federal Reserve, the gains are due to a good performance in the automotive, home gadgets and industrial machining. The growth comes in the wake of rising demand from customers. The space and defense sector
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CoverStory
Keeping it Smart Gone are the days when manufacturing activities and computing systems were on different pages in the book of production. Slowly but steadily, the two practices are coming together to revolutionise the way in which factories operate, writes Siddhi Bajaj
C
ombined synergies of traditional production processes on one hand and smart, automated systems on the other are resulting in a new wave of
innovation which is transforming the way in which we perceive manufacturing practices. The industrial revolution and the internet revolution are converging
to give to the world the era of smart manufacturing. Greasy machines in factories and time-consuming processes are making way for efficient, safe and
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CoverStory clean practices which enable cost and time savings.
The magical factory One stark example of the next-gen ‘smart’ factory is the facility of Siemens Amberg, Germany. Here, traditional manufacturing meets digital manufacturing to enable the production of over 950 types of products at the plant. This plant facilitates the complex process where 1.6 billion components are used in over 50,000 product variants and 10,000 materials are sourced by the company, a feat which is extremely ambitious for a conventional factory. Managing the flow of materials, aligning processes and coordinating the work-flow of the employees are only some of the activities carried out at this facility, which are part of a much larger, complex framework.
As the processes use a complex mesh of technologies, the instances of human intervention are lowered, thus reducing the scope for error. According to an industry research study conducted by Gartner on the factory in 2010, there are a mere 15 defects per million recorded at the plant with reliability rate of 99 percent and traceability of 100 percent on its lines.
The Internet of Things Citing the Siemens’ Amberg factory, global IT research and advisory firm Gartner describes: “Within the facility are touchscreen human-machine interfaces (HMIs) that allow users to drill down from time-based performance trends to individual product lines, or even individual part levels. This allows tracking not only of performance but also in-depth root cause analysis of the over 400 points of automated data collection.”
The technology employed in the factory is an example of a phenomenon that has caught the interest of many lately: The Internet of Things. This phenomenon has enabled the connection of several things though the Internet using embedded intelligence. A whitepaper by Cisco says that at present, non-computing devices are responsible for over 20 percent of Internet traffic and that by 2020 this number will more than double to 50 billion machines which will be plugged into the Internet. The Internet of Things will enable the extraction of intelligence from several devices whose synergies will revolutionise the digital manufacturing process. It will gain an access to all the untapped information which has been buried under layers and layers of data.
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CoverStory Rise of the Connected Machine World Population
6.3 Billion
6.8 Billion
7.2 Billion
7.6 Billion
Connected Devices
500 Million
12.5 Billion
25 Billion
50 Billion
1.84
3.47
6.58
2010
2015
2020
Connected Devices Per P erson
0.08
Mor e connected de vices than people
2003
According to the Cisco whitepaper, this revolution in the manufacturing process propelled by internet based technology will bridge the gap between the factories and IT technology and intelligent systems. This new era of manufacturing assumes even more importance in the backdrop of increasing globalisation where companies across sectors such as automobiles and electronics are witnessing cutthroat competition. It is crucial for companies to have this added edge if they wish to stay a cut above the rest. It is for this reason that giants such as Samsung, Siemens and L&T which have complex supply chains and farreaching network across the globe are constantly looking to upgrade their processes. Termed as the “Third Industrial Revolution,” by the ‘Economist’ magazine, various combined practices from both the verticals would result in close-knit connections between companies, dealers and decision makers. The magazine says that according to IDC, a “Third Productivity Platform” will be created that will encompass cloud applications, Big Data analytics, social business solutions,
and mobility into a single solution — in effect converging formerly distinct manufacturing and business domains. As part of this phenomenon, several practices are employed which enable quicker turnaround time and make the overall process more profitable. Machines are equipped with sensors that connect the cloud thus facilitating communication with several other machines and their operators. Another practice is employing technologies in the manufacturing process which can identify discrepancies often ignored by the human eye. As errors are identified much earlier in the process, corrective measures can be immediately taken thus avoiding inconsistencies in the end product in the final stages. These practices coupled with several other disruptive processes would result in many innovations from traceable supply chains to reminders that alert car-owners and service centres about pending maintenances. The benefits of this new, converged world are numerous. The deep connections resulting from the new process will enable strong
co l l a b o ra t i o n s b e t we e n manufacturers, engineers, dealers and executives. This in-turn would drive improved communication and thereby, higher business excellence. The Cisco whitepaper says that according to the Aberdeen Group, 70 percent of manufacturing executives are focusing on plantfloor data initiatives to drive operational and business excellence, faster time to market, and immediate access to data from machines on the factory floor. The form of network convergence will further enable problem-solving for issues such as supply chain disruptions, skilled worker shortfalls, cyber threats, and asset utilisation.
The Age-old Debate The talk of any breakthrough in technology always brings with it some form of anguish along with the ecstasy. This is because the concept automation has always stirred debate over machines replacing men leading to lesser jobs, lower wages and an overall sense of slavery of the mind to technology. In the scope of industrialisation, automation is a step beyond mechanisation, says Anup Wadhwa,
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CoverStory Director, Automation Industry Association. “The subject of ‘more automation’ induces the fear of humans losing low and middleskilled jobs to smart machines,” says Wadhwa. However, it is important to acknowledge that automation in various processes, manufacturing and otherwise, has enabled greater efficiency and time and cost improvements. An apt example of this could be the use of robots in hospitals for performing minimally invasive, or keyhole surgeries. The time saved by humans while performing tedious mechanical processes can now be invested in other operations that require application of the human mind. This would facilitate the development of new ideas which would then take the shape of new solutions and innovations. As a result, we would see the formation of circle of continuous innovations and advancements,
constantly outdoing ourselves each time. While studies indicate fears that technological advancements would only further escalate problems of social inequality, it is imperative to understand that we have created these processes, and we alone can destroy them.
The Indian Context In the Indian context, the manufacturing scenario is far more reserved, explains Wadhwa. He says, “The investment strategy for smart managers is not all about robots or CNCs. It is about keeping the capital investment lean and mean during times of uncertain and fluctuating demand, in a way that meets the specific challenge of maintaining requisite levels of operational excellence and competitiveness.” This is evident in the sales figures displayed by India which have shown stagnation in demand for robots in 2012, according to The International Federation of Robotics
(IFR). Meanwhile, there are a set of people who believe that smart production systems will enable a new wave of interest in the manufacturing economy. Anup Wadhwa opines that as a sizeable part of India’s systems are under automated, ‘Sustaining Good Performance with Grassroots Innovation’ is the answer to the country’s manufacturing drawbacks. “Innovation will disrupt many areas of skilled work that have so far had it easy. But if we manage them well, the advent of smart machines will free us, not enslave us.”
Robots to the Rescue While India has displayed stagnation in the demand for robots, on the other hand, the organisation says that robot sales have touched their second highest level ever in 2012, standing at 159,000, according to the IFR. Countries such as Japan, US, North Korea, Germany, China and more recently, Thailand, have displayed robust demand for robots. As the concept of factory automation has not entirely sunk in across various manufacturing sectors and has witnessed several blips in various businesses, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia has attempted to improve the process based on a three-point agenda. The CSIRO is striving to enable “lightweight assistive manufacturing solutions” (LAMS) which will be possible through developments in robotics, information and communications technology, and machine vision technology. 1. Worker augmentation systems: LAMS would include the use of tools such as wearable machine vision or virtual or augmented reality systems to enhance the workers’ productivity during various
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CoverStory stages of manufacturing such as production, assembly or quality check. 2. Robotic co-workers: CSIRO aims to facilitate safe and smart automation through collaboration of robots such as mobile assistants, semiautonomous manipulators and robot helpers with humans. 3. Tele-supervised robotics: This solution would particularly be helpful in manufacturing situations which could be particularly dangerous. CSIRO believes that it could provide scalability across a number of work cells and across a number of sites, and a new option to increase labour productivity and operational efficienc y. Additionally, the organisation opines that this solution would expand the workforce’s field of action and facilitate microfabrication by extending human capacity to work in small-scale environments.
precision production, larger volumes and at the same time maintaining a safe and healthier work environment,” explains Monnanda Appaiah, Managing Director, Wienerberger India.
A Case in Point To cite an example of robotics in use is the facility of the world’s largest brick manufacturer, Wienerberger in Karnataka, India which employs FANUC Robotics’ Intelligent M-410iB Robot. The palletising industrial robot is a 4-axis and a ‘Pick & Place’ type robot, which can handle 450 kg of weight including gripper. The facility currently uses six robots for various functions. As they are programmed to handle the facility’s varied products, they automatically adjust the ‘Pick & Place’ position according to the product size and specification. “These automated machines not only carry out a complex sequence of operations, but are also extremely flexible in terms of controls. They are self-regulating, correcting themselves as they go, achieving
Lights-out Manufacturing While on the one hand we have the revolutionary automated plants such as those of Siemens and Wienerberger, on the other we see the onset of a futuristic practice in factories. Lights-out manufacturing, a manufacturing process which is entirely automated, is slowly generating interest in the minds of many. The practice involves little or no human intervention in the production process and can consistently operate through the day, and night. While this independent process is still to the light of day in most industries, IBM is already ahead of the game. The technology company has employed this revolutionary automated practice at its keyboard assembly
factory in Texas. Except a few engineers who are on-site, the factory only sees people reach the entry gate to either drop off the raw material or pick up the finished product. The factory is operational round the clock and round the week, shutting down only for maintenance.
Conclusion Varied systems connected through the Internet are blurring physical and psychological borders. Smartphones and tablet computers owned by almost all of the global urban population is a stark example of the same. As increasingly more technological advances take place, it is natural that some might not be able to keep up with the pace of change. However, to enable allround progression, we need to ensure that the distances between sectors, economies and demandsupply metrics do not widen. It is necessary to involve every domain of the industry to ensure a smooth transition into this new phase of technological evolution.
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Designing Low-Power, High-Performance Industrial Applications David Otten, Applications Engineering Manager – Advanced Microcontroller Architecture Division; and Joel Mach, Senior Applications Engineer – Medical Products Group of Microchip Technology Inc, review the latest microcontroller features and share design recommendations
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ortable applications in the industrial market segment require low power, reliability and high performance. Some examples of industrial applications include barcode readers, shipment data loggers, highway tracking, noise-cancelling headphones, small motor control and battery chargers. Anything that requires batteries, zero pollution or mobility has similar design requirements.
Figure 1: MCU Current Consumption vs. Time
So, what can designers do to meet these challenges? New generations of microcontrollers that are robust, feature rich and cost effective are available. Keeping the microcontroller in the lowestpower state for the longest-possible amount of time is the primary goal for maximising battery life. High operating speeds and short wakeup times translate into lower average power consumption, as
shown in Figure 1. The quicker the microcontroller can finish its work in the high-power state, the longer it can stay in a low-power state.
Low Voltage Operations However, reducing power consumption is only half of the answer to achieving long battery life. Getting the most out of your battery is the other half. To do this, it is valuable to have a microcontroller
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*Figure 2: Data logger battery-performance example * Source: Energizer @Eveready Battery Company, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
that supports low-voltage operation. Figure 2 shows the usable life span for an alkaline and a lithium coincell battery operating in a typical data logger, courtesy of Energizer. This application spends most of its time in a low-power state, occasionally waking up to process information. The recommended shelf life of alkaline AAAA batteries is five years. You can see that alkaline and lithium batteries benefit from a lower operating voltage. In this example, this translates into an extra six months of battery life, over an equivalent 2V microcontroller. An additional consideration for designing high-performance and robust industrial applications is the microcontroller’s oscillator features, the importance of which is often
underestimated. Oscillator features impact many areas, including performance, system cost, manufacturability and reliability. Newer microcontrollers operate at higher speeds and are capable of running at full speed without an external clock source. A wide variety of internally generated clock frequencies are also available. This permits the software to switch to a lower frequency as the voltage drops to stay within operating specifications or increase speed when a power source is attached. Another common challenge in manufacturing is reliable crystal start-up. Some common causes of this are variable component quality, flux residue and layout oversights. Many of these problems
can be avoided by choosing a high-quality crystal, and implementing layout and testing techniques, such as negative resistance testing, which are available from crystal and microcontroller manufacturers. Configurable crystal biasing, especially for low-frequency circuits, can also help. This permits the bias to be increased, to ensure reliable startups across a variety of conditions, or decreased to reduce power consumption. A little extra effort will help your manufacturing team avoid these types of headaches. An excellent feature to improve reliability is the Fail-Safe Clock Monitor. It continuously monitors for system clock transitions. As soon as a few transitions are missed, it
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Figure 3: Flow-Meter Example
automatically switches the clock source to the internal oscillator and interrupts the CPU. This permits the microcontroller to maintain critical functions and perform an orderly shutdown. While low-voltage microcontrollers can be carefully designed into highly reliable applications, sometimes 5V operation is required. It can simplify board layouts, increase noise immunity and improve support for legacy designs. However, as geometries have shrunk, the availability of new 5V microcontrollers has dwindled. Chip manufacturers realise there is still significant demand for these devices, and have developed new, high-voltage operation techniques and found new ways to operate at higher voltages using smaller, less-expensive geometries. This is good news for designers who seek the benefits of 5V operation.
Noise Immunity
Internal Data
To further improve noise immunity, various input buffers are being used by the port and peripheral pins. Different functions may have different input-buffer types, even though they are multiplexed on the same pin. Schmitt trigger inputs offer wider input thresholds than their TTL counterparts and increase the system’s noise tolerance. High port drive strength is another important design consideration. This goes beyond directly driving LEDs. High port drive strength prevents unwanted coupling near notoriously noisy circuits, such as switching regulators and high-speed PWM signals. There is a potential tradeoff for increased radiated noise. A small RC filter on the port pin will help offset these effects while maintaining high drive strength benefits.
Internal data EEPROM appears to have gone the way of floppy disk drives and 8-track players. This is the natural result of manufacturers going to smaller process geometries, which makes this integration costly. There are software solutions to emulate data EEPROM using Flash memor y—however, some applications require independent data storage. Recent microcontroller offerings provide high-endurance data EEPROM and yet remain cost effective. They are rated as high as 100K erase/write cycles. Be mindful of the minimum voltage range for write operations—it is sometimes higher than the minimum operating voltage of the microcontroller, which can limit the effective operating range.
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Automation in Brick Manufacturing – Revolutionising the construction industry Monnanda Appaiah, Managing Director, Wienerberger India, talks about the adoption of automated construction techniques to tackle various challenges faced by the industry
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n the last decade or so, the Indian construction industry has been facing a number of challenges in meeting the growing demand. Apart from the socio-political issues, some of the other challenges facing this industry are: • Chronic resource shortages • Steady rise in logistics and other raw material costs • Shortage of skilled labour • Long approval cycles • Environmental impact • Power shortages • Infrastructure issues
Above all, sustainability from an environmental perspective is a great challenge in developing countries like India. India’s environment is known to be fragile, faced with high levels of land degradation (for eg., erosion, aridity, desertification, drought, flooding, and alkalinity and salinity of ground). Rapid urbanisation problems like air pollution and pressure on existing infrastructure with regards to waste management also contribute to the challenges for the economy and the construction industry alike.
Adopting Automation One of the principal methods used to overcome the contemporary issue in construction industry globally has been to adopt automation and move towards better designed and environmentally-sustainable products. In the western world,
automation of manufacturing and processes in the construction
industry started in the early 1990s with the aiming of creating safer and efficient work environment. In the Indian context, the present construction industry is heavily dependent on labour, and at times faces severe challenges both in terms of availability, safety and healthy work practices. The need of the hour is to encourage all the stakeholders—be it construction material manufacturers or the construction industry—to adopt automation and modern techniques to meet the increasing demand of the industry that can lead to:
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•
• • • •
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State-of-the-art facilities (such as Wienerberger’s robotic facility in Kunigal) Increased productivity High quality Better and safe work environments Faster turnaround time resulting in improved returns on investments Round the year operations independent of weather conditions
Robotic Production A classic example of an industrial robot is FANUC Robotics’ Intelligent M-410iB Robot, which is currently in our production unit in Kunigal. Our factory in Kunigal, Karnataka, is a
fully automated, state-of-the-art facility manufacturing Porotherm Horizontally Perforated Clay bricks, which are light weight, and help developers and builders reduce structural costs. At the same time, the bricks offer excellent thermal insulation and great value retention through unlimited life spans. With a capacity of over 100 million brick units per annum, it is one of the biggest units in Asia. The production in this facility is totally environmentally friendly, and the facility runs 365 days a year irrespective of weather conditions. All this has been achieved because of advancement in automation and adapting to local conditions. The M-410iB series is FANUC
Robotics’ latest-generation palletising industrial robot. The industrial palletising refers to loading and unloading parts, boxes or other items to or from pallets. Automated palletising refers to an industrial robot palletiser performing the application automatically. This robot is a 4-axis and a ‘Pick & Place’ type robot, which can handle 450 kg of weight including gripper. Currently we are using six robots of the same kind and provide total brick handling services. In our current operations, we use one robot for green bricks and use four robots for dry brick handling. Additionally, one robot is used for fired brick handling. These robots communicate with Siemens S7-300 PLC via ‘Profibus’ and are programmed for all variants of our products and will hence automatically adjust the ‘Pick & Place’ position according to the product size and specification. These automated machines not only carry out a complex sequence of operations, but are also extremely flexible in terms of controls. They are self-regulating, correcting themselves as they go, achieving precision production, larger volumes and at the same time maintaining a safe and healthier work environment. Set against this backdrop, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Although our facility is the only one-of-itskind in India today, this sets the stage for more advanced technology to be adopted in India and Asia in the years to come. With India in the forefront of the economic revolution, there is a growing need for quality and precise products in the construction industry to enable the developers and builders deliver high quality and value for money homes on time to the customer.
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Role of 3D Designing in Reducing Manufacturing Costs Design automation and 3D designing can dramatically cut costs for a well-defined, well-proven range of engineering activities, writes Manoj Mehta, Country Manager – India and SAARC, Dassault Systemes SolidWorks
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anufacturers competing in the global economy are struggling with multiple challenges today. The strategically differentiated products are more complex, and at the same time, customers are demanding greater customisation and faster speed-to– market, and that too at ever lower costs. One area in which manufacturers are finding ways to meet this challenge is the oftenoverlooked area of product design. As many manufacturers are learning, innovation in complexproduct design techniques can deliver significant benefits in cost, speed, product quality and customer satisfaction. In manufacturing, virtual design tools and digital prototyping workflows tear down previous barriers, viz., time, money, distance and language, to creating a team-like ecosystem in which designers, engineers, marketers and end customers collaborate continuously from concept to production. The result is a better-designed product that costs less to make, gets to market faster, increases margins, frees internal resources for innovation, and pleases the customer.
Design optimisation A product’s design is affected by several factors. Some of these
include what the product has been designed to do, the time it takes to manufacture the product and get it to market, the way it is engineered, where the product is being built including the required workforce, tools and facilities, marketing considerations, and obviously, the cost of manufacturing the product. Reducing the manufacturing cost of a product is the best way to improve your profits, and this can be done using design optimisation. Although there are a number of ways businesses can cut costs, there is perhaps none better than design optimisation in that, if done correctly, you will end up not only reducing costs of production, but might also end up creating a superior product as a result. The more time you spend on design
optimisation, the better able you will be to manufacture high quality products with speed and efficiency. This is achieved by incorporating price and manufacturing considerations into the design optimisation process. One of the most effective ways to reduce manufacturing costs is to return to basics when designing your products. Overly complicated designs will slow down production rates, raise costs, and in general eat into bottom line profits. This doesn’t mean that one should cut corners during the manufacturing process, but that every component should be carefully considered, with the design experts asking the question, ‘Is this design as simple as it can be?’ One other way to cut down costs using design optimisation
the machinist jul-sep 2013
Technology would be to outsource the manufacture of as many of the components as possible. The more the design can make use of parts that have already been designed and are already being produced, the cheaper and easier it will be to obtain the parts when required, and there will be lesser need of keeping overstock. Both of these factors will minimise the production costs. One more thing the design team could do to cut unnecessary costs is to analyse the needs of potential customers. What do they like about the product? What attributes could they live without? This study can show how much money was being wasted by adding unnecessary design features. The final lesson that design optimisation teaches us is to test the design thoroughly and make sure that it is both optimal and that the product will still do what it is designed to do. 3D designing software can often be employed to identify flaws in the design of a product, potentially saving your company a great deal of money and time. Although it is true that every manufacturer wants to save money, overlooking a design flaw could cost you much more money in the end even when compared to using more expensive components.
Simulated testing There is a growing expectation for component manufacturers to create product designs in three dimensions. 3D designing software is utilised by nearly every equipment manufacturer in nearly every industry. The 3D modeling software has cut testing and production times significantly, allowing simulated testing and prototyping to occur virtually before physical development takes place. Beyond the time it saves in prototyping multiple iterations of
the same design, it saves on materials costs—no more wasted materials on two or three prototypes that weren’t quite right. Especially in today’s reduced manpower economic scenario, companies have had to do more with less. Time and cost savings are essential to keeping manufacturing companies profitable and progressive.
Three Dimensional Benefits Of the many advantages of 3D, the first is the ability to more clearly visualise and communicate design ideas with customers, colleagues and manufacturing. 3D provides a realistic and interactive design experience that cannot be achieved with a 2D drawing. Using 3D software, a designer can also automatically check and fix interferences and collisions between components in the design
before it goes to manufacturing. The ability to virtually prototype a product in action, subjecting the design to the forces and motions it would experience in real life, reduces or even eliminates the need to create physical prototypes. With 3D design software, designers can create production quality drawings in which all of the drawing views are correct and in-synch with the 3D design model. Another advantage is the ability to automate your design processes and improve standardisation and reuse of existing components. 3D designing software does more than just simulate a design; it allows designers and engineers to create multiple design configurations quickly. The designer can go into a design and vary any dimensional parameter or feature. They can make a number of iterations of one
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model without having to remodel the complete design. The variations can range from the way the design is manufactured, what components are included, the materials used, or even the colour. A designer can quickly make a change for different equipment model sizes, such as adjusting track length, the size of the wheels, cylinder length or bucket size. The software also has automated programming capabilities that allow a user to programme the software to adjust the number of bolts dependent on the flange diameter. At the end of the design phase, designers have the option of
sending 3D models directly to numerical control (NC) programming for manufacturing. If a design change happens, the drawings, bill of materials and NC programming data can be updated automatically. Across most industries today, profit margins are narrow and will continue to become even thinner. Even in segments where margins are relatively healthy, competition and global outsourcing make cost reduction mandatory. Historically, the high cost of engineering has contributed so significantly to the attack on profit margins that numerous attempts
have been made to cut the process time or the cost of engineering activities. Most of these approaches have been point solutions, which can be highly important in their own right, but are not applicable across the board. Design automation and 3D Designing, on the other hand, stands out as an effective means of dramatically cutting costs for a well-defined, well-proven range of engineering activities. This is especially so where business needs demand rapid, accurate quoting; consistent engineering; and, most important, minimum time to finished product delivery.
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Smart Device Testing Begins with Smarter Testing Sai Chintala, SVP – Global Pre-Sales and Enterprise Solutions Group, Cigniti Technologies, talks about smart device testing services, which will play a crucial role in shaping the future of smart devices in the global economy
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he current mobile handset ecosystem is under an invasion of smart phones. While the versions and models of the smart phone usage is scattered, the adoption of smart phones is definitely on the rise. The sheer variety and complexity of the accompanying test requirements have added a new dimension to the smart devices that are being rolled out. In fact, smart device testing services seems to define the future of the smart phones, which are estimated to grow to 1.5 billion devices in sales by 2016. While users happen to be a focal point in this ecosystem, the carrier networks weave the diverse set of devices, varying platforms, operating systems into intricate maze of dots connected by varieties of applications. A layman’s view of the system is bound to present a chaotic picture of varying viewports and apps working in conjunction with leading operating systems like iOS, Android and Windows. But an expert can identify the underlying patterns among the devices of different configurations, versions and user bases. The ability to identify, treat and leverage this pattern will help enterprises succeed in ensuring success with smart devices. The benchmarks of the parameters of these traits are being
pushed to new levels of endurance and quality, owing to the consumer/ market demands. In a perfect sense, the device has to be strong and flexible to succeed in the everchanging scenarios.
Build for Comprehensive User Base If we look at IT in the last few years and take a cue from the current trends, we can observe a sharp contrast between the demand of consumer-facing apps and enterprise-facing apps. Testing a consumer-facing app requires the incorporation of human intellect into the application. It demands and mandates innovation because the consumer’s mobile device is now regarded as a body area
network, which means the smoother the app, the better the acceptability and adoptability. Enterprise apps bring their own challenges with the adoption of BYOD and BYOA. While the apps are supposed to be accessible from the devices, the onus of making the device seamlessly integrate with emerging applications lies with the OEM vendor. True success depends on the ability to reduce the gap between the app developers and the devices without compromising on the ‘innovation factor’. The reduction of this gap is crucial to empower smart devices and OEMs with the freedom to enter new frontiers and markets. This reduction can be effectively addressed by an independent software testing enterprise, which provides unbiased assessment and validation to arrive at the right combination of components and features for a successful shelf life.
The Golden Triangle of CloudSDK-Embedded Systems Cloud has become a ‘de facto’ ally of enterprise mobility as more and more service providers are enabling access to data over the Cloud. To validate data in real-time, it is essential to integrate testing into the Cloud architecture that is being leveraged by smart phone
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manufacturers. This integration will not only ensure quality assurance across data flow, but also facilitate seamless integration across networks. This requires a comprehensive understanding of the differences in SDK modules, the accompanying APIs and their position in terms of free source or proprietary usage. Testing has to be vigorous for HTML 5 framework, which is still in the nascent stages of implementation and the usage. The knowledge of embedded systems will play a decisive role in the success of smart devices that are being rolled out. Embedded systems are the crucial and most innovative link between the code that is programmed and the output
or behaviour of the hardware. A mastery over this aspect of the IT system will directly uplift the efforts that go into the making of smart devices.
Embedded Systems – The New Smart Devices of Verticals While R&D into the development of futuristic systems is underway, it is the market-driven robotic systems that drive economic activity with measurable results. This form of innovation requires a replacement of human efforts to operate in undesirable/hazardous scenarios like mining, military operations, space/under-sea exploration and large-scale recurrent processes. Testing will drive this phase of growth by
empowering the scope of innovation. In a sense, testing helps developers know what can be done and detect the patterns to improve that which is ‘doable’. The adoption of these systems from industrial strongholds into households seems to be inevitable in the coming years. Moreover, enterprises are waking up to the scope of embedded systems in industrial markets as well as the new-age appliances projected in the SME segments. Customised embedded systems help clients reduce redundancies in cost, time and efforts. To ensure a well-crafted embedded system, enterprises need to test the level and function of autonomy programmed into the system.
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Insight It is also crucial to integrate the system with the leading technologies that have become a part of the consumer ecosystem.
Why Smart Devices Hang? The smart devices of some of the leading OEMs have been found to present flaws long after adoption. There can be multiple reasons for the gradual exposure of these underlying flaws. To begin with, the device may not have been designed for the scale and variety of operations. In some cases, the inherent flaws in the device have snowballed into major anomalies with the unintended or unexpected usage. While malware has been attributed as one of the causes of device malfunction, a slowdown in functionality has been observed due to the addition of a plethora of apps. Minor technical incompatibilities have caused annoyance to the user and affected the ’trust factor’ in some contexts. To avoid such incidents, the scalability of the device has to accommodate traffic and environment estimated for the peak usage. In simple words, the device has to sustain the functionality under a staggering array of permutations of expected and unexpected situations. A touch screen with little usage might function properly under a given temperature. But does the functionality remain unaffected in case the screen was used consistently for extended period? Then there is the case of flaws in input options that spring up during the disruption of an ongoing function by a call or a message. Does the device withstand malware incursions along the multiple Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth enabled file transfers? These scenarios are just a tip of the ice berg when compared to the
innumerable permutations in a real-time user environment. OEMs need to assure predictable behaviour to retain and expand their customer base along with the trust factor.
Business Logic in the World of Smart Phones When it comes to business, smart devices are technologically compact, multi-purpose facilitators for the users. The leading devices enjoy a usage of two to three years, while some enjoy a shelf life of five years. The ability to reach as many networks and access from leading browsers turn these devices into web-enabled nerve centres in the hands of the tech-savvy users across the globe. Enterprises look at these devices as the first point of contact to the customer. Customers tend to
communicate with the external environment with these devices. Early testing in the life cycle of smart device roll out is very important to reduce post production defect density. Testing has to be equally smarter to detect and report flaws across these channels, hardware and UI. Combinations of the above factors make smart devices the scattered dots of business activity. These dots are individual users connected with the networks and identified by their usage patterns. The increase in disruptions and constantly evolving market scenarios open up a world of opportunities in the software testing industry. A compelling array of test services will play a decisive role in shaping the future of smart devices in the global economy.
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Sourcing Engineering Services through Dedicated Centres of Excellence James Gallo, VP – Sales, QuEST Global; and Kurt Noe, General Manager – Sales, QuEST Global talk about the challenges faced by the OEMs in selecting the right partner
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ngineering services is a huge market with current global spending estimated at $1440 billion per year in the year 2012 (10 percent CAGR). By 2020, the worldwide spend on engineering services is expected to increase to more than $1.6 trillion.
ESO Sector in the Last Decade Product development cost can be significantly reduced by a welldefined engineering outsourcing initiative. A cost benefit of about 30-35 percent, compared with that obtained using an on-site contractor or maintaining an in-house team, can be obtained. The most preferred outsourcing destinations such as India and China provide 24/7 services to their clients, which leads to reduction in development time by almost 25-30 percent, thus helping firms make a significant reduction in product development cost and time. For some years now, India has been the No. 1 choice for a majority of global engineering service companies. China is also fast emerging as a favourable outsourcing destination. Outsourcing helps global firms get access to low-cost services and local talent. They offer precise domain knowledge and expertise. Companies from India and China are already responding to the
Mr James Gallo, VP -Sales
Mr Kurt Noe, General Manager, Sales
increasing demand of the ESO market by development of domestic infrastructure and liberalising government policies. Key factors that have resulted in strengthening of the ESO industry include: - Increasing attrition rates - Emerging economies driving ESO growth - Consolidation of the outsourcing market
exponential investment in offshoring, and this is a primary factor contributing to the growth of this market. The manufacturing sector in the West is facing difficult times and is looking for an economical cost structure as a survival strategy. With the existing crisis in the manufacturing sector globally, manufacturers are gravitating towards India in search of inexpensive development and design solutions. India is also an emerging innovation location with a flexible talent pool, offering measurable cost advantages. Earlier, global firms were reluctant to hand this process over to an outsourcing partner. However, attitudes are changing because India has managed to understand
Demand and growth of ESO services in India According to industry analysts, the ESO market in India is likely to grow at a CAGR of 14 percent during FY2012 and reach $37-45 billion by the year 2020, largely driven by an increase in global engineering research and development spend. The Indian ESO market is witnessing
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the process severity; has established result-oriented governance models; and has a large proportion of English-speak ing work ing population. Most companies in India have invested heavily in technology to develop advanced capabilities and skill sets and the subcontinent is likely to play a major role in various segments of the ESO market, which is on a course of rapid growth. The major sectors that spend heavily on outsourcing engineering services are automotive, telecom and construction.
The Challenges OEMs Face in Selecting the Right Partner A. Pr i m a r i l y, a g g r e s s i ve competition and rising material
and energy costs have challenged OEMs to manage manufacturing and delivery of equipment and parts within a quicker time frame and at reduced costs. B. There is an appreciable focus on the global delivery model to contain costs and cater to a diverse clientele with ever increasing demands for improved designs and enhanced services. Globalisation of engineering and manufacturing services and a large demand for innovative designs and cutting-edge technology has created a need for outsourcing these services to experts in the field. The
increased cost of integrated avionics systems—vital for every aircraft—has paved the way for smart outsourcing to expert aerospace manufacturing and engineering vendors, helping organisations cut down the cost of product and project development, shorten lead times, and increase production capabilities.
Shortage of Skills As per data published in Times of India in May 2012, India has close to 3,393 engineering schools with an intake capacity of over 14.8 lakh, yet only a few are recognised for imparting world-class education. Interviews with corporates indicate
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Insight that they consider graduates only from a fraction of these good engineering schools. Engineering graduates in the field of engineering design and analysis with aptitude to understand complex engineering problems and ability to come up with effective solutions are hard to locate. Such employees need to be trained for industry-specific domain knowledge, so that they can correlate their thought process to the knowledge acquired during training. Furthermore, not all engineering graduates from these institutions are suitable for engineering services, given the current level of skills requirement and domain knowledge. Effectively, this means graduates suitable for engineering services today are a small percentage of the total graduate engineers passing out regularly.
Industries in Need of Engineering Services Industries with emphasis on efficient operations and increased productivity require engineering services at a global level. Aerospace and manufacturing industries are identified to be the sectors that could benefit from the capabilities offered by Indian ESO partners. • Offshore manufacturing services in India offer a number of capabilities ranging from end-toend solutions and world-class infrastructure to proficient teams and integrated engineering and manufacturing facilities. • The Indian think tank is also capable of providing end-toend cost-effective services across the value chain such as mechanical design, engineering analysis and project engineering that will be located flexibly (onshore/offshore) based on the project requirement and the client’s comfort levels. • Beyond the capacities of
individual firms, India’s growing economic unit is also expected to act as an increasingly attractive lure for many global companies. The Economist Intelligence unit forecasts that by 2015 the rise in India’s GDP will act as an additional incentive for potential ESO clients to use engineering services as a way to increase their presence in and knowledge of the Indian market.
Ensuring Excellence Indian companies are working towards formulating the right value proposition and offering it to global OEMs at an unmatched price by deputing highly skilled and dedicated staff who would partner with client teams to achieve desired results. A leading engineering services provider like QuEST with expertise in building dedicated Centers of Excellence around the globe can provide OEMs with strategic solutions in line with current market expectations and the overall economic climate. With state-ofthe-art infrastructure, skilled resources, and extensive capabilities to ramp up to scale, engineering
CoEs can deliver consistent, sustained, and cost-effective solutions to clients.
Key pillars of an efficient ESO value proposition include: Progression in value chain: Major ER&D organisations such as QuEST focus on providing end-to-end engineering services that include R&D concept design, detail design and manufacturing engineering, testing and qualification, and certification and in-service support engineering. Ensuring work force capacity and capability: Engineering services providers recruit and train capable individuals to undertake challenging engineering projects. Success of an ESO initiative largely depends on an efficient workforce with the necessary domain capability and capacity to scale up based on critical project requirements. Upgrading technologies: Indian engineering companies usually partner with leading academic institutions to constantly push the technology envelope that would benefit engineering services at large.
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Advance Technologies for Product Design Innovation Vikas Khanvelkar, MD, DesignTech Systems, takes us through the advanced technologies at work in product development lifecycle
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echnologies that propel, aid and facilitate innovation and development of smart products, devices and machines have undergone equally big evolution and their transition and advancement can be traced along the same lines and extent as that of the innovation of smart devices. Companies involved and engaged in developing technologies to build better products have invested tremendous amount of resources in terms of man, money, efforts and years in conducting research that would help develop the technology which can in-turn facilitate companies involved in product development to build robust products with utmost precision, accuracy and efficiency, in minimum time and costs. These technologies bring under their purview and manage the entire product design and development process right from concept level designing, detailed and engineering drawing, 3D Modelling, product design analysis through virtual simulation tests, product design validation through actual functional prototypes, to establishing efficient work flows and manufacturing processes. These technologies inspire aesthetic design, engineering detailing, robust product functionality while augmenting the overall efficiency of R&D
departments and manufacturing processes. in this article we will cover and explore in brief, the technologies that relate to the every step of product development which enable faster development in minimum time and costs, and achieve highest product quality.
Designs in 3D 3D CAD software help companies design products in 3D. This helps the designer envision his imagination. He can give shape to his ideas using this software. By applying the latest visualization and simulation tools, he can exactly get a feel of how his product will look and this helps him in identifying and rectifying certain design errors in the earlier stage of development. Once the product has been designed in 3D, the design can be analysed using virtual CAE simulation
software. By applying various forces, the product design can be tested to understand how robust the product is and check if it will be able to withstand the operating conditions it is designed for. For e.g., various simulation tests such as drop test, crash test, fatigue test, durability test, kinematics, multi-body dynamics, computational fluid dynamics, finite element analysis, etc., can be conducted to understand the robustness and sustainability of the product in various conditions and situations. This also helps the designer identify whether or not there is a need to amend product design to be able to successfully survive in all the difficult situations. You do not want your smart gadget to break immediately if by accident it falls off the table. And if it sadly does break, the first thought that will cross your mind is, this product is not worth the money you paid. to ensure you get your money's worth and that your gadget/device never disappoints you and gives you a delightful user experience every time you use it, the companies involved in product development make the product design go through innumerable virtual simulation tests to understand and enhance the reliability of the device. Today's technologies give almost 95% accurate results and hence be trusted to give you a precise reading and insight into what
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Insight you might have to do to develop superior products. This helps companies to optimise their product designs. With advanced technologies companies can optimise product designs by which the products become stronger and yet lighter as it removes the material from areas in design which need not have higher material usage. This helps reduce product weight, saves unnecessary excess use of raw material and yet augment product strength and makes the product competitive.
Prototyping Once you have put your product through virtual tests, you might want to even create a prototype to validate product design by testing the actual product's functionality and ergonomics. The product/ device/gadget that you use must be comfortable to use, the functioning should be smooth and handling should be easy and not cause pain/ difficulty in operating the device. To ensure this, creating a prototype is advisable and encouraged to avoid disappointment after the first test batch has been produced. The advanced rapid prototyping technologies help companies create functional prototypes due to which they van validate product design. Technologies these days are so advanced and user friendly that you don’t need any specially trained personnel to be able to operate it properly.
Source: Siemens
After virtually and physically satisfactory testing of the product and after carrying out necessary design rectifications based on the testing, the product is ready to be manufactured. Manufacturing process planning and the process of plant layout and workflow design have also undergone radical innovations.
Digital Manufacturing Digital manufacturing solutions these days through their many configuration and planning tools help the companies configure the optimum work flows during the plant layout stage which enables the companies in enhancing the
productivity and overall output of the company with minimum actual trials and errors in the plant. Digital manufacturing solutions could be used to design and plan the green plant (right from scratch – new plant) or brown plant (to bring out necessary planning and layout changes in the existing plant). Either ways it configures optimum and customized workflows for the companies which would help them generate highest possible level of production output thereby enhancing the production capacity of the plant. Issues concerning to constraints in manufacturing or feasibility of manufacturing, popularly referred
Source - Stratasys
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Insight it has been approved by DFM (Design for Manufacturing) department. It is a system that links the entire development cycle in a single thread by joining the loose ends to create a single, straight, streamlined process of product development.
Benefits of PLM • • • • • • • •
Source - Altair
to as “manufacturability concerns” or “ergonomic constraints” are very difficult and highly expensive to rectify once the plant, work flows and processes are established. Because digital manufacturing solutions create and present the plant planning in the virtual 3D environment, it becomes easy for the companies to validate and evaluate their designs to identify such concerns before hand and address them at the planning stage. Apart from virtual validation of plant and processes, these technologies also help the companies to plan and allocate their resources and also make optimum use of their available plant space. The human ergonomic simulation helps companies to identify the ways and means of carrying out a task manually which would cause minimum possible physical stress to the people working on shop floor. This reduces chances of accidents and occupational hazards. It thus helps companies to build plants that are more efficient yet secured, safe, and worker friendly. Lastly but definitely not the least, one of the most revolutionary technologies that greatly benefit
the companies is PLM. It is by far one of the most significant and strongest tool that is crucial and effects the product design and process efficiency. PLM typically works within and addresses the five primary functional areas: • Systems Engineering • Product and Portfolio Management • Product Design • Manufacturing Process management • Product data management PLM basically helps companies integrate, configure and manage their design data, processes, and work flows right from the initial stages of Product Development cycle, i.e. Concept stage to Design, Simulation and Validation, right through to Manufacturing and releasing the product to market. It helps unite the entire eco-system of Product Development under one virtual roof and empowers them to work and act as one. PLM integrates the best and coherent workflows within the development cycle which are self monitored. For e.g., a design will not be available for further work unless
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Optimised Work Flows Reduces Time to Market Data storage and Archival Centralization of data Retention of knowledge Data Security Waste Management Adhering to the codes and standards Data Management
May it be a company involved in designing smart devices or automobile, these technologies support the companies big time in bringing you the products that exceed your expectations, surprise you with out of the box innovation and are appealing aesthetically while also being robust functionally. It is mind boggling to see the pace at which companies keep introducing newer versions and products in the market in shorterthan-before time. Companies such as Siemens, Altair and Stratasys are world leaders in these technologies Siemens for their PLM and CAD solutions, Altair for their Product design analysis and simulation and Optimization solutions, and Stratasys for their Rapid Prototyping technologies. It definitely takes smart technologies to develop smart products/devices/gadgets and machines. Companies who adopt these technologies and are agile enough to embrace changes as per changing market conditions, stay competitive, lead the race and be successful.
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Insight
Automation for Smart Manufacturing Anup Wadhwa, Director, Automation Industry Association, explores the field of automation and the rise of smart machines
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utomation is the use of machines, control systems and information technologies to optimise productivity in the production of goods and delivery of services. The correct incentive for applying automation is to increase productivity, and/or quality beyond that possible with current human labour levels so as to realise economies of scale, and/or realise predictable quality levels. In the scope of industrialisation, automation is a step beyond m e c h a n i s at i o n . Wh e re a s mechanisation provides human operators with machinery to assist them with the muscular requirements of work, automation greatly decreases the need for human sensory and mental requirements while increasing load capacity, speed, and repeatability. Automation plays an increasingly important role in the world economy and in daily experience. In 2007, there were 6.5 million robots across the globe, and by 2011, there were 18.2 million. Experts say the $5 billion robotics industry will spike to $20 billion by 2020. This is a pointer to the future of smart manufacturing. Contrast this with today’s cautious mood in India’s manufacturing Industry. The investment strategy for smart
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managers is not all about Robots or CNCs. It is about keeping the capital investment lean and mean during times of uncertain and fluctuating demand, in a way that meets the specific challenge of maintaining requisite levels of operational excellence and competitiveness. Obviously, manufac turing engineers, production engineers, shop floor staff and automation engineers have to re-think, as they go about creating a competitive edge.
Four Key Qualities Efficient and competitive manufacturing systems exhibit four key qualities: • Innovation for Flexible Manufacturing, that can cater to changing demands from the market and also should be
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easily adaptable to manufacture new products and variants. Innovation for Sustainable Process Improvements based on real-time tracking and tracing to achieve manufacturing transparency and reduce waste in manufacturing.Manufacturing today addresses the needs of a growing population, which is very demanding in terms of price, performance and aesthetics. This obviously calls for processes which are high-speed, high-accuracy and fail-safe. Innovation for sustainable Energy Efficiency and recycling in manufacturing processes. Innovation for improving the Safety & Environment standards that motivates a new generation workforce to enter the production arena.
The subject of ‘more automation’ induces the fear of humans losing low- and middle-skilled jobs to smart machines. Optimists believe that intelligent production systems will spark the resurgence of interest in unlocking the potential of our manufac turing economy! ‘Sustaining Good Performance with Grassroot Innovation’ is particularly significant in the Indian context, because a significant part of our systems are under automated.
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Insight Innovation will disrupt many areas of skilled work that have so far had it easy. But if we manage them well, the advent of smart machines will free us, not enslave us. Smart machines are systems that not only perform repetitive tasks at soaring speeds and highaccuracy rates, but also adapt to changing conditions and operate more autonomously than ever before. Like generations of technologies before, smart machines will impact almost every domain of the industry that is globally influenced. They will alter how we produce goods and how logistics companies organise storage and distribution. Superversatile machines make it possible for the manufacturing industry to satisfy society’s hunger for product variety and deal with the ever-decreasing lifecycles of consumer goods.
Role of industrial automation technologies Essentially the Industrial Automation Industry addresses the design, development, production, and application of devices and systems that sense, measure, and control industrial processes and manufacturing operations. This includes domains of Basic Continuous Control, Discrete, Sequencing and Manufacturing Control, Advanced Control, Reliability, Safety and Electrical Controls, related Software development and integration, Deployment and Maintenance. As we see, the definition is quite broad and covers multiple engineering disciplines like Chemical, Mechanical, Instrumentation, Electrical, Electronics and Software engineering. Machine and device builders are collaborating to create multipurpose machines that
address today’s manufacturing needs: smaller lot sizes and customer-specific variations of products; but this practice towards combining a lot of different functionality in one machine brings with it a complexity in maintenance. Minimising downtime and reducing spare parts inventory is a challenge for maintenance managers. Many end customers are pushing forward the standardised development of machine visualisation and self-reporting, to generate superior value over the
investment lifecycle. New kinds of sensors, such as industrial vision sensors, inclination sensors and RFID systems, are enabling the right kind of data capture and adding to better control and generation of reports for quality control and interfaces for process data communications with other departments. Embedded on all smart machines are ruggedised HMI panels that provide a clear representation of the process in text and graphics. Innovative Object-Based Graphic Terminal
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Insight
Languages display precise error messages and instructions on the screen, accept user input and communicate with other real-time devices.
Predictive Maintenance Machine designers are responding as well with inbuilt predictive maintenance, based on constant condition monitoring and remote supervision. Capable of operating more autonomously than ever before, modern machines can prevent and correct processing errors that are caused by disturbances like changing conditions in the raw material, the drift of the thermal working point, or the wear and tear of mechanical components. An extensive network of sensors provides smart machines with information about the process, the machine condition, and their environment, so the machines can seek out timely human intervention to maintain uptime and increased level of quality. With more intelligence being available in supervisory control systems, operators and engineers have the capability to improve performance over time and learn new skills through mining data, leveraging simulation models,
or applying application-specific learning algorithms.
Integrated Mechatronics Traditionally, mechanical, electrical and software elements of manufacturing machines have been strictly separated and developed in a rigid sequence. Today, these disciplines are merging into a more integrated mechatronics approach. This not only paves the way for more efficient parallel development, but also simplifies co-ordination between mechanical, electrical and software engineers. The challenge for mechatronics engineers is to select components that enhance ruggedness, precise motion and productivity. With control hardware developed to withstand extended temperature range and high vibration tolerance, the mobile production machines typically found in construction and excavation sites will not stop due to adverse environmental conditions. This is important, particularly in a tropical country like India.
predicted today, and therefore the design has to be of a nature to support modifications and improvements. At the same time, servicing of earlier versions is also important. Therefore, the tools and the development process must support this with revision control systems, with simulation, with on-line testing, perform parallel development and subsequent integration. Today’s automation systems ensure that quality is not sacrificed for throughput; ultratight motion and endpoint accuracy are essential. Apart from routine operations, it is essential that the management has an overview of the entire factory. The methods of shift reports and daily reports are no longer sufficient in the days of smart phones and satellite connectivity. Machines exchange information with other automation systems and provide status updates to a higher level control system. This collaboration between machines creates a smarter, intelligent factory, making it possible for an entire automation line to adjust for changing conditions, balance the workload between machines, and inform service personnel of errors before a machine fails. Standardisation of bus systems and communication protocols over Ethernet, coupled with the look and feel of HMI screens and tags leads to higher levels of integrated development and Investment protection. Indian customers are today privileged to benefit from multiple vendors who are signatories to open protocols like PackML and OpenSafety.
Future Ready It is known that costs of development are continuously increasing. It is also a fact that future demands cannot be all
The author is alumnus of IIT Delhi (Bachelor’s degree in Technology in Electrical and Electronics) and Director, Automation Industry Association.
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Tete-a-Tete
Navigate your Future In a conversation with Karthik Muthuveeran, Peter Bolesza, Vice President of Eastern Europe and Emerging Markets, NNG, talks about their breakthrough navigation technology, NavFusion
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number of developments in the telecommunications industry are coming together to advance the use of navigation devices. NNG’s breakthrough navigation technology, NavFusion, is one such technology for car manufacturers and hardware makers. Peter Bolesza, Vice President of Eastern Europe and Emerging Markets, NNG, talks about this breakthrough technology.
What is NavFusion all about? NavFusion is a simple way of integrating the driver’s smartphone with the built-in navigation system in his car. When a car leaves the factory, the NavFusion-ready multimedia unit is either pre-installed or can be installed later by the dealer itself. The unit also offers a free companion app, which can be downloaded by the user onto his smartphone. NavFusion is the technology that connects the smartphone’s app to the car’s navigation app. It automatically synchronises all the navigationrelated content between the devices, making map and content updates in the car easier than ever before.
What are the key features of the iGO Navigation software? How is it different from other navigation software? The iGO Navigation software is a globally relevant solution for car manufacturers and hardware makers. It runs on the iGO
Navigation engine, which combines software, content and services. As an independent company, we offer maps and content from all the relevant providers around the world. This means that we can deeply localise our software for different regions and countries based on the most suitable content package, rounding up the software with local menu structures, languages and features. To ensure that our partners can serve their customers with up-to-
date navigation products, we offer map and content updates through our web portal, www.naviextras.com.
What were the key challenges faced while designing NavFusion? The biggest challenge was to deliver something that the user really wants. We realised that smartphone integration was in the centre of industry discussions, so we wanted to do something completely out-of-the-box. However, the key was
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Tete-a-Tete
Keeping Everything Connected In a conversation with Karthik Muthuveeran, S Vishwanath, Director – Automotive, TE Connectivity India, talks about TE’s presence in India and the growth of connectivity solutions segment in India Please explain the growth of connectivity solutions segment in India. The potential for the growth of connectors and interconnection solutions are very high in India. We are the market leaders in virtually all the industries that we are present in. The automotive segment of TE connectivity in India contributes close to 35 percent of the total
turnover. We aim to deliver innovative and quality products and connect every electronic function in a car. If we talk about the segmentwise division, then 70 percent of our revenue is generated by passenger cars, 25 percent by commercial vehicles and the rest 5 percent is by two-and-three-wheelers. With India positioned to be the world’s third largest automobile
manufacturer by 2018, TE’s growth ambition will get an impetus. Our goal is to provide solutions for specific Indian needs. We see that the design philosophies in Asia, the US and the Europe differ to a great extent as far as interconnections are concerned. We believe that India needs a different design philosophy, which is evolving and is highly value sensitive. We entered India almost 20 years back, and have set up engineering and manufacturing bases in order to be ready for partnering with our customers in this pursuit. As the regulations become more demanding, be it emissions or safety, and consumers becoming more demanding with infotainment features, the electronic content in a vehicle increases significantly. The electronics and the microcomputers that govern a variety of functions in the vehicle are required to be connected reliably. This is where TE comes into picture. It is our tenet to provide solutions to each and every need of interconnections on these applications. In an emerging economy like India, there is a huge focus on infrastructure development and therefore a growth in off-road vehicles. These vehicles have very demanding specifications as they operate in very harsh environments. We are working on products for harsh and rugged terrain vehicles, especially the off-road equipment used on construction sites. Here the
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Tete-a-Tete connectivity solutions have to be totally different. There are three primary elements of our business and product strategy: Innovate, Develop and Sell. The product strategy enables safety, reduces CO2 emission (Green) and is connected.
What are the various challenges associated with these technologies? With favourable government policies on electronic manufacturing and the vision to transform India into a global hub for electronic system design and manufacturing, TE will contribute even more by producing local products in India for local consumption. In India, we indigenously design and manufacture close to 30 percent of our products. We already have a large manufacturing footprint providing world-class service to our customers. As the demand for electronics grows in this country, which is projected to increase from $45 billion in 2009 to $400 billion by 2020, (According to Elcoma report by ELCINA) the content of TE products in any electronic device will increase significantly. With large scale of operations come many challenges. TE indigenously manufactures for the local market and this poses a challenge on the material cost. The
high exchange rate, commodity price fluctuations (especially copper), and inflation has also been significantly affecting the sourcing and manufacturing process. We are looking at increasing our localisation from 26 to 60 percent in the next five years. We want to design products and solutions that would be more local in nature. We also have to think local to derive economies of scale.
TE Connectivity has been in the business for more than 50 years. What sets it apart from its competitors? TE offers reliable, high performance, cost effective and the broadest range
of connectivity solutions across multiple industry segments with over 5,00,000 live products in our portfolio. The company’s biggest differentiator is the synergy and complementary products through acquisition of great brands like Deutsch (harsh environment connectivity), ADC, and XOL Technologies. TE also has a rich legacy (AMP, Raychem) which adds to our credentials. Innovation is in our DNA (we have been ranked in Top 100 Innovative Companies in the world by Thomson Reuters for two consecutive years), and we are the market leaders in major industry sectors. Another important aspect which sets TE connectivity apart from the rest is its engineering
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Tete-a-Tete
focus. We have about 7,000 engineers and 20 design centres. The company is very engineering driven and has filed more than 20,000 patents which are issued or pending to be issued.
What will be the size of the Indian market for your products? The share of electronics in automobiles is estimated to rise from the $9 billion to $26 billion by 2020. The Indian automobile and auto components industry can be expected to surpass China's growth path by 2020. The opportunity is huge, especially as the need for electronification in the cars goes up in India. At TE, we are driving and leading some of the trends what we are seeing in India.
How big is the competition in India when compared to overseas? The automotive electronic connectivity market in India is evolving. It may not be as mature as the US, Chinese and the European markets, but it is getting there in terms of its need for the above three elements that I mentioned. Meanwhile, the Indian market is also in the process of maturing further. There will soon come a time when the quality parameters of connectivity solutions used in
developed countries will match those in India, and our company has been using R&D to gear up for those needs. There are several platforms for our R&D functions, especially in the auto sector. For example, mechatronics is a huge area because the future will see a high dependability on electronics.
Any new solutions in the pipeline? The new developments are a constant feature at TE, since we are an innovative company. Our current new products are focused on miniaturisation such as Nano-MQS or reducing dependence of copper, thereby enabling solutions to crimp aluminum wires on terminations. With safety aspect of automobiles increasing, the awareness about using high-end connectivity solutions is much more, and OEMs will not compromise by using sub-standard connectors or terminals, because if anything goes wrong, the cost of recalling the vehicles is too high. There is also a lot of research going on in terms of new materials, nano-technology, biodegradable materials, etc.
How do you envisage the company’s future in the next five years? We have already invested Rs 600 crore in India and recently
announced an additional investment of Rs 300 crore in India to set up an integrated manufacturing plant in Bengaluru. At the new plant in Bengaluru, TE will design and manufacture next-generation connectivity solutions for multiple industry verticals, including automotive, aerospace, defense, marine, enterprise networks, telecom, data communications, industrial, energy, consumer devices, appliances, circuit protection and relays. The new plant, which will measure 2,80,000 square feet, will create new jobs in the areas of assembly, packaging, molding, stamping, tooling machine components, copper wire, optical fiber and cable processes. Our India focus is intense and we have evolved into a country specific focus and organisation structure that encourages cross industry and platform leveraging of resources and technologies thereby giving more choice to the customers. As far as automotive segment is concerned, we contribute 35 percent to the market share in India and we are aiming to achieve 45 percent market share by 2015. TE India aims to become a 5,000 crore company in the next five years.
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CaseStudy
Maximising Building Efficiency Schneider Electric’s new SmartStruxure solution helped Sheraton on the Park, Sydney, to reduce their energy usage and minimise their ongoing maintenance costs
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ne of the most luxurious hotels in Sydney, Sheraton on the Park is well known as a leader in the Australian hotel landscape. Owned by Starwood Hotels and Resorts, the hotel has 557 rooms and suites, several dining areas, a heated swimming pool and spa area, and 18 multifunction meeting rooms. The hotel prides itself on maintaining facilities to a high standard, with top quality furnishings and products used throughout. This same philosophy has been adhered to during an upgrade of the hotel’s backend systems. The upgrade has resulted in an increase in energy efficiency at the hotel, allowing management to take advantage of AusIndustry’s Green Building Fund, which required a reduction in the hotel’s environmental footprint, energy consumption and improvement in overall energy efficiency.
The Challenge To begin the process, management at Sheraton on the Park contracted Enman, a company specialising in efficiency improvements, to conduct an audit of their building management systems. Enman put forward a number of recommendations to reduce energy usage at the hotel, including refurbishment of the hotel’s chiller system, HVAC and lighting control system. One of the key recommendations was an upgrade of the existing Building Management System (BMS). The
incumbent BMS was of an age that the system was no longer supported by the manufacturer. Schneider Electric’s SmartStruxure BMS was specified by Enman to replace this, with Enman citing the Schneider Electric solution as the most suitable for the project. Schneider Electric was chosen to supply this on the merits of project cost, delivery of energy savings and ongoing maintenance costs. A large number of variable speed drives (VSDs) were also recommended in the audit. Schneider Electric was specified to supply these also.
The Solution Schneider Electric’s new SmartStruxure solution is made up of hardware and software, combined with engineering, installation and services, to ensure facilities are energy-efficient and effectively managed. It breaks down traditional information silos and delivers integrated building information and real-time data via web access, powerful graphics and trend visualisations, rich reports, and mobile applications, to ensure buildings are running at maximum efficiency. The system provides backwards compatibility as it works with existing field devices and BMS systems to ensure no customer is left behind. With built-in forward thinking and scalability, it provides a path for future growth. At Sheraton on the Park, the SmartStruxure solution extends
control and provides energy monitoring, reporting and savings for the building. It also provides CO2 monitoring for the car park and a high level interface to the new chillers. Authorised operators can access the system via the internet – from anywhere, at any time. The solution also provides for customised work spaces on the hotel’s operating systems so that building managers can make informed decisions on energy usage and control. Additional control points were installed into the system and 37 new Schneider Electric VSDs, all featuring LON interface cards, were installed. VSDs have been installed in the building to bring about energy savings for all major drives, especially for use with pumps, fans and chillers. The drives change the speed of the pumps by controlling the power that is fed into the machine, therefore making them run more efficiently. The VSDs are being applied to condenser water pumps, chilled water pumps, cooling tower fans, air handling unit fans, kitchen exhaust fans and car park and loading dock fans.
Bottom Line The Sheraton on the Park Hotel is a living, breathing example of how businesses, even those with a heavy focus on hospitality, can achieve greater energy efficiencies. Although it is early days, the hotel is already achieving double digit percentage energy savings.
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WhitePaper
Industrial Smart Solutions: Connecting the Factory to the Enterprise Internet-based technology is ushering in a new era in manufacturing where the factory floor is united with enterprise-based systems and decision makers. Excerpts from a Cisco whitepaper Gearing Up for the Manufacturing Revolution The world’s manufacturing sectors continue to advance and morph at a dizzying rate. It goes without saying that manufacturing is more global than ever before. Virtually every major industrial enterprise from General Motors to Caterpillar to Samsung operates on a worldwide stage, with supply chains that crisscross time zones and continents. Manufacturing operations are broadly dispersed, as are relationships with suppliers and customers. But constant technology innovation is adding a new dimension to the global battleground: More manufacturers are tapping a new breed of network architecture to gain a remarkable competitive advantage. The result is what the Economist magazine calls the “Third Industrial Revolution,” in which Internet based manufacturing networks are uniting the factory floor with enterprisebased systems and decision makers. Taking a page from the Economist, IDC forecasts the creation of a “Third Productivity Platform” that wraps together cloud applications, Big Data analytics, social business solutions, and mobility into a single solution — in effect converging formerly distinct manufacturing and business domains. In this “revolutionary” landscape, more machines are being outfitted
with sensors that connect to the cloud, enabling communication with other machines and their human operators in real time (Figure 1). This will have a number of effects, from making supply chains more “traceable” to animating automobiles with connections that alert drivers and service centers when maintenance is needed. The coming revolution will see deepening connections between the plant floor and the business and to the ecosystem surrounding the manufacturer, leading to tighter collaboration between contract manufacturers and headquarters-based engineers,
managers, and executives. The basis of this change is the increasing adoption of secure networking technologies, typically incorporating new communications and collaboration capabilities, that link the plant floor to the wider world of business decision makers, contractors, and other factories and supply chains feeding the manufacturing process. According to the Aberdeen Group, 70 percent of manufacturing executives are focusing on plant-floor data initiatives to drive operational and business excellence, faster time to market, and immediate access to data from machines on the factory floor.
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WhitePaper Figure 1 . Rise of the Connected Machine
World Population
6.3 Billion
6.8 Billion
7.2 Billion
7.6 Billion
Connected Devices
500 Million
12.5 Billion
25 Billion
50 Billion
1.84
3.47
6.58
2010
2015
2020
Connected Devices Per Person
0.08 2003
Greater network convergence and connectivity will help manufacturers address challenges they have been striving to overcome for decades. These include eliminating recurring supply chain disruptions, filling skilled worker shortages, neutralizing cyber threats, and boosting asset utilization.
The Rise of Converged Networks How is the “convergence revolution” playing out in the manufacturing world today? We can already see the automotive industry, for example, embracing a host of converged-network initiatives and innovations. Chief among these are “smart manufacturing” systems that connect plant systems with the automaker’s broader networks of suppliers, engineers, and marketers. Adopters of these models are reporting reduced downtime, lower new product deployments, and better overall equipment efficiency (OEE). In the consumer packaged goods industry, top firms are implementing converged and Internet connected manufacturing systems, which some observers see as the next step beyond lean manufacturing. Here, CPG firms are using converged manufacturing networks to gain plantwide visibility
Mor e connected de vices than people
to cut downtime and quickly shift production to match demand. And they are embedding sensors on the line that issue updates and alerts to engineers located miles away, speeding issue resolution. Manufacturers refer to this convergence in terms of integrating the “little m” world of the plant floor with the “big M” world outside the factory. Validated, secure network architectures underpin the best of these models, supplying the interoperability and cyber defenses that are essential in highly competitive industrial environments. In many cases, the mix of data streams are pulled together in dashboards that present converged plant and business data in a single, secure view that can be tailored to the information needs of individual users.
Coming Next: The Internet of Things For the last few years, technology market watchers have been tracking the rise of the “Internet of Things”, a phenomenon in which embedded intelligence enables billions of things to become connected through the Internet. Today, more than 20 percent of Internet traffic originates from non-computing devices. Experts say that by 2020, some 50 billion machines will
be plugged into the Internet. The Cisco® Industrial Smart Solution is engineered to help firms capitalize on the rise of intelligent machine networks.
Making Convergence Work: Cisco’s Industrial Smart Solution In their bid to gain a competitive edge, global manufacturers are racing to design and deploy a range of innovative converged networks. Not surprisingly, many are turning to Cisco, which supplies the secure, intelligent network technologies that lie at the heart of the most advanced of these converged manufacturing systems. A pioneer in this sector, Cisco has assembled a portfolio of validated IPnetworking technologies called the Cisco Industrial Smart Solution that connects factory automation and control systems to enterprise business systems, and advances the efficiency and flexibility of production operations. Manufacturers are gravitating to the Cisco Industrial Smart Solution in part because it’s built according to strict guidelines and proven network designs that tie together factory automation systems, enterprise applications, and the wider ecosystem of supplier and partner solutions (Figure 3). Derived from the joint Cisco and
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WhitePaper Figure 2. Cisco Industrial Smart Solution Architecture
Enterprise Netw ork
DMZ
Patch Management T erminal Services Application Mirror
AV Serv er
ASA Firewall (Activ e)
ASA Firewal l Manufacturing Z one
Fa ctoryT alk Application Serv ers
Operator Wo rkstation Distribution Switch Netw ork Services Cell/Area Z one Industrial Ethernet Access Switches
VFD
Controller
Rockwell Automation architecture known as the Converged Plantwide Ethernet (CPwE), components of the Cisco Industrial Smart Solution include: n Common architecture for ruggedized Industrial Ethernet and enterprise networks n Standards-based Industrial IP Ethernet switching and security services n Cisco enterprise-level technology delivered on an industrial platform with scalable, secure, real-time performance predictability and remote access n Validated and documented architecture guidelines based on open standards, supporting rapid deployments, reliable performance, and network security while accommodating
DIO
design nuances required by individual industrial networks n Integrated Cisco and partner solutions and roadmaps — an ecosystem supporting a converged plant floor and enterprise networks n Comprehensive support and service network, including lifecycle services, five-year product warranty, and financing options to preserve cash flow
Benefits of the Cisco Industrial Smart Solution How does convergence translate into a business edge for manufacturers? In the case of the Cisco Industrial Smart Solution, industrial firms are reporting benefits ranging from a boost in labor productivity and collaboration, to greater overall equipment
HMI
efficiency, better market agility, and positive customer experiences. Key capabilities of the Cisco offering are described next.
Faster Time to Market Manufac turers deploying converged industrial and business networks say they are reaping benefits from opening up information flows between plant systems and business applications. As these information silos disappear, disconnects between the floor and the business are diminishing. For example, R&D departments are now working in tandem with manufac tur ing planners, streamlining the introduction of new products. Using dashboards and mobile devices, managers and engineers react immediately to shifting production needs,
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WhitePaper operational issues, and market scenarios. The result, managers say, is like having an “enterprise-wide decision engine” that enables them to speed new products to market and execute supply chain adjustments faster than before.
Operational Excellence, Improved Productivity The Cisco Industrial Smart Solution promotes a new class of operating assets, often embedded with sensors and actuators, that are “selfaware” and capable of communicating with other machines without human intervention. These networks of intelligent machines adjust automatically to changing operating conditions and alert operators to maintenance needs in advance of breakdowns (from “break-fix” to a “fix-before-break ” model). Consequently, equipment efficiency increases and the risk of downtime declines. Meanwhile, costs are controlled automatically through
proactive maintenance programs that rely on devices, based on sensor data, communicating across industrial networks.
Strengthened Security, Reduced Risk Security-conscious manufacturers are attracted to the Cisco Industrial Smart Solution because its validated, rigorously tested architecture offers ultimate protection against cyber criminals and accidental breaches of information. Cisco currently secures network operations at organizations ranging from NASDAQ and other financial firms responsible for safeguarding consumer data to government agencies handling classified intelligence. Manufacturers argue that similar security protections, including tight access management for remote and mobile users, are essential in industrial environments. “Gaining visibility into this world of previously undetected cyber-threats helped reassure our team that we were doing the right thing by adding intrusion prevention technology across our industrial network,” says Charles Harper, the director of national supply and pipeline operations at Air Liquide, the world’s leading producer of gases for industry, health and the environment.
Extending Value Through a Global Partner Ecosystem The Cisco converged industrial platform encompasses a broad ecosystem of manufacturing applications from leading vendors such as Rockwell Automation, Honeywell, and Emerson. The Industrial Smart Solution architecture is built to integrate with these partner solutions, enabling manufacturers to design a complete solution that combines industry-specific applications with
Cisco’s converged network technologies and lifecycle services.
Promoting a Culture of Innovation Innovation may be hard to define, but manufacturers have found that breaking down walls between operational domains — and the data silos they hold — promotes collaboration and spurs creativity. Manufacturers say this is one of the most valuable byproducts of the tightly integrated Industrial Smart Solution, which builds and sustains connections between different groups of workers, from plant floor engineers to remote experts to partnering firms. Already, companies are using the Cisco platform to launch new service models that incorporate sensor-enabled, network-aware devices. Among other capabilities, these solutions send out alerts when pre-defined conditions are met and automatically launch collaboration and troubleshooting sessions involving the appropriate mix of experts.
Tapping the Internet of Things Looking ahead, observers predict that the latest generation of converged networks will give manufacturers more opportunities for capitalizing on the emerging Internet of Things. In the years ahead, sensor-embedded, internet-ready machines will become increasingly commonplace as manufacturers seek to boost productivity, cut waste, and design more personalized user experiences. But tapping their potential will require a new generation of networking and analytical platforms capable of processing and securing vast new streams of industrial data. This is precisely what the Cisco Industrial Smart Solution is designed to do. Courtesy: Cisco Systems, Inc
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Events
Smart Automation Austria An ideal trade fair for industrial automation solutions
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mart Automation Austria is a perfect meeting place for industrial automation solutions. Organised by the Reed Exhibitions Messe Wien, the exhibition will be held from October 1-3, 2013 at Design Center Linz, Linz, Austria. Some of the products displayed at the event include products and solutions in factory automation, process automation, process control technology, control and motive power engineering, industrial PC, field busses and networking, software for automation, sensor technology, identification and image processing. Visitors from all the leading industry will visit this three-day event. Prominent visitors at the event include metal working, plastics, automobile, automotive, electrical, electronic, mechanical engineering, sports good manufacturers, foodstuffs, textile,
Smart Automation Austria Date: October 1-3, 2013 Venue: Design Center Linz, Linz, Austria Exhibitors: ABB AG, ACE Controls International, Albert Gmbh, Aucotec, AVS Phoenix, AVS Schmersal, Balluff, Baumer Ltd, Buxbaum Automation, Baumuller Austria, Weber Marking, BGtech Metal and Beta Automation. Products on display: Automation, process automation, process control technology, control and motive power engineering, industrial PC, field busses and networking, software for automation, sensor technology, identification and image processing. Visitors: Metal working, plastics, automobile, automotive, electrical, electronic, mechanical engineering, sports good manufacturers, foodstuffs, textile, chemical, and wood and paper processing.
chemical, and wood and paper processing. The exhibition will also see some of the leading players showcasing their products during this event. Some of the leading exhibitors include ABB AG, ACE
Controls International, Albert, Aucotec, AVS Phoenix, AVS Schmersal, Balluff, Baumer Ltd, Buxbaum Automation, Baumuller Austria, Weber Marking, BGtech Metal and Beta Automation, to name a few.
the machinist jul-sep 2013
Launches AspenTech introduces industry’s first web-based engineering and manufacturing software
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spen Technology Inc., provider of software that op t i m i se pro ce s s manufacturing, has introduced the industry’s first web-based software for process modeling and manufacturing, called aspenONE. The new software offers anytime and anywhere access through a single interface for faster and better decision making. With this software, process manufacturers can implement best practices for optimising their engineering, manufacturing and supply chain operations. The new aspenONE features a web and mobile interface that allows process industry professionals to work with aspenONE software through webenabled devices. Users can now harness this powerful optimisation software through corporate network connections via tablets, laptops, or desktop computers and the simplicity of multi-touch gestures.
Key features of aspenONE: n One user interface n Access to critical information anytime from anywhere n No specialised application training n Flexible workflow n Intelligent search
aspenONE features: n One user interface: A single
user interface that is common across multiple AspenTech products such as Aspen Plus, Aspen HYSYS, and InfoPlus.21. Now plant engineers and operators have a common reference point for easier exchange of information and data. n Access to critical information anytime, anywhere: The webbased user interface makes working with plant models and data in Aspen Plus, Aspen HYSYS, and Aspen InfoPlus.21 as easy as accessing a web
page. Built on HTML5, the aspenONE web and mobile interface allows process engineers to interact with models and real-time plant information using touchenabled devices. n No specialised application training: With a simple user experience and easy access to information, enterprises can now empower the broadest range of users to tap the power of AspenTech software – all without specialised product training or desktop software installation. n Flexible workflow: The seamless user experience allows engineers and plant operators to change work locations without losing project work. This flexibility allows users to start a project in one location and continue it in a different location – via mobile device or desktop – without any loss of work. n Intelligent search: Powered by Aspen Search, AspenTech’s search engine designed for the process industries, the new aspenONE enables users to find specific process information from across their enterprise in seconds.
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the machinist jul-sep 2013
Launches Knowledge Matrix launches ERP software for glass manufacturing industry
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nowledge Matrix Inc., a global IT solutions and service provider to small and medium sized businesses (SMB), has launched ERP software that has been developed keeping in mind the special requirements of the glass manufacturing industry. This ERP software will act as the next generation solution for SMBs. The solution does not only bring down the operational cost, but also helps in increasing the production efficiency, reducing expenses and increasing ROI. It also offers a strategic way to integrate all the different departments in the organisation like finance, sales, inventory, manufacturing, HR, etc. The ERP software will offer all the features available in a proprietary/commercial ERPs, but at a competitive price.
Application features • • • • •
Supply chain management Inventory tracking Advanced reporting Automated accounting Automated data management
Benefits of using ERP •
• • • •
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Access to source code. So customisation as per business needs is possible Low cost compared to other commercial ERPs Increase in overall productivity Reduced dependency Optimised decision making capability with ready information Increased business knowledge
According to Anand Desai, Chief Technology Officer at Knowledge Matrix, “Leveraging
our decade of experience and subject matter expertise, we decided to develop customized vertical specific ERP software that will suffice the requirements of such customers who are willing to embrace the latest technologies to address their industry pain areas and that too in their budget constraint. Our ERP integrates all the internal and external information from various departments like finance, sales, inventory, purchase, etc., and presents it to you in a single dashboard format. Hence, you don’t need to use multiple accounting and inventory management software. With our ERP application, you can have an entire organisation’s information at your finger tips.” Knowledge Matrix is soon planning to launch such
customised ERP software for other industries as well. “We are already working on ERP for manufacturing and power plant industry and will be launched within a month’s time. Apart from these two industries, we’ll also target fertilizer, automotive, food, sugar, paint and chemical industry,” Desai said. Knowledge Matrix is a global IT solutions and service provider with expertise in developing and implementing custom ERP softwares for small and medium enterprises, portals, application re-engineering and QA services. Its clients represent a multitude of industries, spanning such diverse verticals as: Technology, Manufacturing & Distribution, Construction, Energy & Utility, Media & Entertainment, Healthcare, and Pharmaceuticals.