IAA May 2011

May 2011 IndustrialAutomationAsia

www.iaasiaonline.com

May 2011

MICA(P) 039/07/2010 | ISSN 0219/5615 | PPS 1561/06/2011 (028597)

Solar PV:

Machines Vision | Solar Photovoltaic | Machine-to-Machine

Reliability, Certification M2M:

Innovation, Customer Value Oil And Gas:

Solutions, Outcomes

| Oil And Gas

‘Seeing’

Machines

Take A

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Broader View

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contents may 2011

ISSUES & INSIGHTS

24

Streaming IT Solutions Into Factories

Incorporating a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) in factories can ease movement of data and production. By Natalia Tee

CONTROL POINT

28

Maintenance Of A Variable Speed Drive System

32

Heavy Duty Technology With Integrated FunctionChecking

The maintenance of any control system is important for continued, safe, reliable operation. A first step in solving any problem is to isolate it before systematically arriving at its cause.

By Jeremy Ang, Fluke (Southeast Asia)

Only durable and sturdy encoders master tasks in drive regulation under tough industrial conditions. Heavy-duty encoders must fulfil a lot of specific requirements – both in sensing technology and mechanical design. By Dietmar Gründig, Baumer Hübner

SOFTWARE & NETWORKS

34

Next Generation Platform Innovation In M2M

Machine-to-machine (M2M) solution platforms need to address the true potential for information-driven service innovation and application development. By Glen Allmendinger, Harbor Research

Instrumentation & Measurement

38

Machine Vision: Taking A Broad View

Technology that aids in reducing waste and increasing efficiency can be used to capture information for effective supply chain management across various industries. By Didier Lacroix, Cognex

40

Seeing The Difference

44

3D Colour Camera Technology

With the advent of technology in machine vision systems, there is an increasing trend for many engineers to rely on software algorithms to touch up their images. By Lief Bu, Island Optical Systems

Improving quality is a constant focus area for all kinds of production lines. Machine vision is a useful tool in achieving this aim.

By Fredrik Nilsson, Sick

2 industrial automation asia | May 2011

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contents may 2011

Energy

OIL & GAS

46

54

Solar PV Reliability And Certification Testing

Testing is necessary to insure products are capable of withstanding the environment that they are likely to encounter. We are seeing a boom in clean technology research and manufacture, including solar photovoltaic modules and panels with increased efficiency, reliability, and cost effectiveness. By Kevin Ewing, Thermotron Industries

SECTOR SPOTLIGHT

50

Lab Automation: Challenging Labour Shortages In Singapore

In 2010, a policy in Singapore aimed at encouraging local based companies to create a mechanised and automated work environment for keeping a highly educated and skilled workforce and/or workplaces in Singapore.

By Lars Skovsgaard, Zacobria

fEATURES

52

Solid Edge Product Launch

IAA was at the launch of Solid Edge ST3 to find out more on the CAD software product that uses synchronous technology to improve design, validation and collaboration.

How Automating And Going Wireless Can Improve Efficiency

It is becoming apparent across the industry that many oil and gas organisations are limited by their knowledge of what is happening across their business operations.

By Allan Neo, Intermec

58

Case Study: Increasing Safety Within A Gas Plant

Danish energy giant DONG Energy uses ABB’s System 800xA High Integrity to protect a critical gas treatment plant. By Mogens Aagaard, ABB Process Automation

61

Upstream Oil & Gas Industry Opportunities In Malaysia

As crude oil price stabilises to a healthy US$80-90 per barrel, the periodically cyclical oil price market is expected to inch upwards during 2011. By Razeen Khalid, Frost & Sullivan

EVENTS

63

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EDITOR’s PAGE

A Well - iled

Published by:

EASTERN TRADE MEDIA PTE LTD (A fully owned subsidiary of Eastern Holdings Ltd) Managing Director

Machine A country with no oil, natural gas or any natural resources to speak of, Singapore has the oil and gas sector as one of the lynchpins of her economy. One of the reasons to this peculiarity could be service proximity.

In order to achieve service proximity, those in the oil and gas industry may decide to duplicate what they have in Houston, USA, to Singapore in order to respond quickly to their customers in this region. As a result, there is a push to have similar technologies or further advancements that are available in the USA, in Singapore.

Investments come hand-in-hand with technology, ie: when there are more investments, the level of technology improves. It is therefore hardly surprising when SIMTech, the research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research commissioned an oil and gas initiative to equip the precision engineering companies with the critical processes needed to produce high value oilfield equipment products, tools and components.

The importance of high-valued assets is also highlighted in the automation industry with the growing popularity of bar-coding technology and RFID in this sector. Using barcode technology allows the efficient management of key assets and ensures that their equipment is functioning at its fullest capacity.

On the other side of the spectrum, RFID is also gaining ground in the oil and gas arena. With safety of tantamount importance, assettracking solutions that utilise RFID technology help create a safer workplace. The technology is particularly useful in risk assessments, maintenance, as well as adhoc and reactive maintenance tasks.

In this issue of IAA, we have included an oil and gas segment that highlights pertinent issues in the industry like safety and efficiency.

We also explore the opportunities available in this region so you, our readers can better appreciate the characteristics and potential of the oil and gas sector.

Kenneth Tan editor

Joson Ng josonng@epl.com.sg Assistant editor

Mark Johnston markjohnston@epl.com.sg Editorial Assistant

Nicole Yee nicoleyee@epl.com.sg Graphic Designer

Janet Koh janetkoh@epl.com.sg Assistant Sales Manager

Cindy Chan cindychan@epl.com.sg CIRCULATION EXECUTIVE

Irene Tow irene@epl.com.sg Contributors

Natalia Tee, Jeremy Ang, Dietmar Gründig, Glen Allmendinger, Lief Bu, Didier Lacroix Fredrik Nilsson, Mogens Aagaard, Razeen Khalid Kevin Ewing, Lars Skovsgaard, Allan Neo

Editorial Consultants

Jim Pinto Industry Analyst

Alastair Ross Director, Codexx Associates Ltd

supported by:

EASTERN HOLDINGS LTD executive Board Chairman

Stephen Tay GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Kenneth Tan Financial Controller

Robbin Lim

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Mark Johnston Assistant Editor

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Industry News Singapore: Check Point Software Technologies, released the findings of a global survey, Understanding Security Complexity in 21st Century IT Environment s, revealing that security complexity is the number one obstacle that organisations face today.

Research shows organisations s trug gle with a g rowing s et of securit y priorities and limited employee awareness about corporate policies in place. Key findings from the report validate the importance of Check Point 3D Security, an approach to security that goes beyond technology and combines policy, people and enforcement to help organisations align their IT policies with their business needs.

According to the survey of over 2,40 0 IT securit y administrators around the world, managing complex security environments is the most significant challenge facing organisations today, with over 55 percent of companies using more than seven dif ferent vendors to secure their network.

Research shows that, when dealing with IT consolidation, organisations struggle with minimising the Total C o s t o f O w n e r s h i p ( TCO ) a n d maximising performance. To enforce bet ter protec tion, organisations need to approach security with a holistic view of their environment in order to understand where risks can reside.

"To improve security in this day and age, organisations need to accomplish a better understanding of their current environments and 8  industrial automation asia | May 2011

Hans Thoursie, Taberg, Sweden

Check Point & Ponemon Survey Validates Need For 3D Security

prioritise their short and long term initiatives," said Juliette Sultan, head of global marketing at Check Point Software Technologies.

According to the survey, over 700 respondents believe the primary concern with emerging technology adoption is compliance. With the proliferation of cloud computing, mobility, Web 2.0 and file sharing applications, organisations often struggle to apply the appropriate levels of security across all layers of the network, while also adhering to stringent compliance requirements.

Security and compliance in modern day environments begins with a well-defined policy that aligns with an organisation's business needs and industry regulations.

While emerging technologies have created new methods of

communication and collaboration for enterprises, organisations struggle w i t h m a n a g i n g m u l t i f a ce te d I T environments; this often contributes to greater security complexity and the risk of data loss by employees or other insiders.

In fact, 48.8 percent of respondents believe their organisations' employees have little or no awareness about their data protection or corporate policies. As a result, more education and awareness is needed to help people realise their important role in maintaining the organisation's security profile.

In addition, survey respondents believe the ability to manage policies by user is a key functionality to enforce better security overall, with 58 percent citing identity awareness as a priority today and in the future.

Industry News

Augustine Quek, Singapore

Neste Oil Opens Renewable Diesel Plant In Singapore

Singapore: Neste Oil celebrated the grand opening of its renewable diesel plant in Singapore on March 8, 2011.

Guests included Singapore’s deputy prime minis ter and minis ter for defence Teo Chee Hean and Finnish minister for ownership steering Jyri Häkämies.

The start-up of the Singapore plant, which the company claims is the world’s largest renewable diesel plant, took place in November 2010. The plant cost about €550 million (US$782 million) to build and produces NExBTL renewable diesel. The plant received ISCC (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification) certification on January 20, 2011. The ISCC system, specific to the German market, is the first standard for sustainability based on the EU's renewable energy directive.

The plant has a capacity of 800,000 metric tonnes per annum, and uses a variety of renewable feedstocks to produce NExBTL, including palm oil and side stream products of palm oil production from Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as waste animal fat from Australia and New Zealand. The plant employs about 120 people, 90 percent of which are from Singapore

and neighbouring countries.

The construction project used nearly 14 million man-hours of work, with manpower from 13 countries.

Over 300 km of piles were put into the ground to prepare the site for heavy structures, with more than 90 km of pipe work installed. Furthermore, the total recordable injury frequency per million hours worked was less than one, below the global safety averages of the industry.

The company already operates two renewable diesel plants that came on stream at Porvoo in Finland in 2007 and 2009 with a combined capacity of 380,000 metric tonnes per annum.

Currently, the production capacity of Neste Oil’s renewable diesel plants totals approximately two million metric tonnes annually. The main markets for NExBTL diesel are Europe and North America.

Singapore: Researchers from IBM and the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology discovered a nanomedicine breakthrough in which new types of polymers were shown to physically detec t and destroy antibiotic-resistant bac teria and infectious diseases like Methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus, known as MRSA. Discovered by applying principles used in semiconductor manufacturing, these nanostructures are physically attrac ted to infec ted cells like a magnet, allowing them to selectively eradicate difficult to treat bacteria without destroying healthy cells around them.

These agents also prevent the bacteria from developing drug resistance by actually breaking through the bacterial cell wall and membrane, a fundamentally different mode of attack compared to traditional antibiotics.

MRSA is just one type of dangerous bacteria that is commonly found on the skin and easily contracted in places like gyms, schools and hospitals where people are in close contact. In 2005, MRSA was responsible for nearly 95,000 serious infections, and associated with almost 19,000 hospital stay-related deaths in the US. The challenge with infections like MRSA is two fold. First, drug resistance occurs because microorganisms are able to evolve to effectively resist antibiotics because current treatments leave their cell wall and membrane largely undamaged. Additionally, the high doses of antibiotics needed to kill such an infection indiscriminately destroy healthy red blood cells in addition to contaminated ones.

"The number of bacteria in the palm of a hand outnumbers the entire human population,” said Dr James Hedrick, advanced organic materials scientist,

Eugene Z, Montreal, Canada

IBM And The Institute Of Bioengineering And Nanotechnology Find Breakthrough For MRSA Treatment

IBM Research – Almaden.

He continued: “With this discovery we have been able to leverage decades of materials development traditionally used for semiconductor technologies to create an entirely new drug delivery mechanism that could make them more specific and effective.”

If commercially manufactured, these biodegradable nanostructures could be injected directly into the body or applied topically to the skin, treating skin infections through consumer products like deodorant, soap, hand sanitiser, table wipes and preservatives, as well as to help heal wounds, tuberculosis and lung infections.

May 2011 | industrial automation asia 9

Industry News

Honeywell Wins Awards For Innovative Industrial Offerings

Tomasz Szkopiñski, Poland

Beijing, China: Honeywell received two awards for its technology solutions from the Chinese automation and control website, Gongkong. Honey well’s Experionâ L S solution received the Innovative Products/Solution Award, while its Lifecycle Management services received the Innovative Service Award.

More than 500 automation suppliers are evaluated first by a panel of registered users of the Gongkong website – and then by a committee of independent experts. Gongkong’s awards are highly regarded in the Chinese automation industry in part because of their transparent and thorough judging process.

“We are proud that our innovative approach to process technology has been recognised by both Gongkong site users and industry experts,” said Sam Wu, regional GM Greater China, Honeywell Process Solutions. “Our Experion LS appeals to those who need a smaller size and scale Distributed Control System (DCS). Our Lifecycle Management services provide asset support for Honeywell hardware and software products in customer plants or mills until those products are migrated to a current model or retired. The basis for these activities is our customer’s strategy – not our own product introduction and withdrawal timetable.”

Experion LS helps small manufacturers achieve system reliability and flexibility while lowering total cost of ownership.

This product is aimed at industries such as food and beverage, specialty chemical, pharmaceutical and life sciences. Meanwhile, Honeywell’s Lifecycle Management service helps extend equipment life while providing a cost-effective roadmap toward the future. With easier access to all system device and process data, operators are better equipped to make the right business decisions quickly.

Emerson Opens Engineering And Development Centre Nanjing, China: Emerson announces the opening of an engineering and development centre within the Asia Flow Technology Centre operated

by Emerson Process Management in Nanjing, China.

The engineering and development centre brings the company’s total investment in the centre, in Nanjing, to more than US$35 million and strengthens its overall presence in China and Asia Pacific.

The centre expands the scope of the company’s Nanjing campus which already operates as the Asian regional production, distribution h u b, a n d I SO170 2 5 a c c r e d i t e d 10 industrial automation asia | May 2011

calibration centre for the company’s flow metering and measurement technologies.

Engineering and development capabilities being added to the f acilit y will includ e s en s or and e l e c t r o n i c s d e s i g n, m u l t i -f l u i d application testing, environmental testing and analysis, and modelling capabilities for Micro Motion Coriolis flow and density meters, Rosemount vortex and magnetic flowmeters, and Daniel ultrasonic and differential pressure flowmeters.

Products designed and developed at this facility will be used to serve customers in the oil and gas,

refining, petrochemicals, marine, life sciences, food and beverage, metals and mining, and pulp and paper industries.

“The new engineering and development centre complements our now fully established manufacturing and dis tribution centre and co locates design engineers with m a r ke t i n g, m a n u f a c t u r i n g, a n d supply chain resources,” said Larry Flat t, VP, Flow Group, Emer son Process Management.

The site expansion includes adding design engineering office space and the addition of engineering test and design equipment.

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Industry News

China: Invensys Operations Management implemented its SimSciEsscor ROMeo optimisation software solution for China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), Jilin Petrochemical Company, northeast China’s largest integrated refining and petrochemical production facility.

Invensys provided its ROMeo process optimisation software and consulting services, enabling CNPC to respond in real-time to changes in feedstock variation, process conditions and utilities prices to achieve sustainable energy savings.

The company’s advanced application technology, including off-line operational analysis and on-line plant modeling for ethylene production, also allowed CNPC

China’s PLC & PAC Market To Grow China: China continues to make investments in automation as a result of strong domestic demand driven by government stimulus, the recovering global economy, and buoyant foreign direc t investment. ARC expec t s conditions are ripe to propel the growth of China’s manufacturing industry resulting in the strong growth of the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) and PLC-based Programmable Automation Controller (PAC) market through 2014.

In a study, ‘PLC and PLC-based PAC Outlook for China’, provides an in-depth analysis of the PLC and PLC-based PAC business and associated segments in China. In addition to market analysis and forecasts, the study also covers trends and factors influencing the market and analyses strategic issues for suppliers to successfully navigate the current and future market landscape.

According to Jason Dong, GM of 12 industrial automation asia | May 2011

Cheryl Empey, US

Invensys Installs Optimisation Software At China National Petroleum

to study and validate the feasibility of various energy-saving strategies and the key parameters impacting energy saving before implementation.

The solution was applied to the entire ethylene complex, including 10 cracking furnaces, quenching, compression, cracking and separation equipment across CNPC’s 700,000 tonnes-per-year ethylene production unit. The solution helped drive sustained reductions in the refinery’s energy consumption by five percent.

ARC Advisory Group China: “China’s economy was the first in the world to recover and will continue its robust growth at sustainable levels for years to come.” He continues: “Given the favourable business environment for the automation market, it is clear that the prospects for PLC and PLC-based PACs are beginning to brighten. We expect the shipments to recover much of its decline in 2008 by the end of 2010.”

Because PLCs are the automation system of choice in many industrial verticals, China’s economic expansion is spurring above average PLC growth in the process, hybrid, and discrete manufacturing segments.

According to the study's principal author, Lorry Zhong: “The PLC market will grow at a rate slightly above the GDP growth year-over-year during the forecast period of the study.

This growth is driven by the huge government stimulus, domestic demand, increasing global needs, and buoyant FDI. Suppliers should closely watch the results of China’s stimulus programs, however, and respond appropriately if

they overheat the economy.”

The country’s favourable business environment continues to attract new facility investments from around the globe to take advantage of low cost production. Infrastructure and fiscal incentives provided by the local authorities make it feasible to economically establish large-scale plants catering to not just domestic, but also global demand.

The country’s sustainable growth prospects and expansion across nearly all manufacturing verticals makes China an attractive market for PLC suppliers.

While the existing PLC and PLC-based PAC suppliers are upbeat about the market, the country’s sustainable growth prospects and the potential that it offers is attracting indigenous and other leading suppliers into the market.

With the growth of new entrants, support offices and production facilities will be built, changing the market dynamics and increasing competitive pressure. Suppliers will need to deploy new strategies to combat this competitive threat.

Industry News

JJ-Lapp Cable Involve In Thailand’s Solar Power Thailand: As many countries in the ASEAN region are looking towards the rapid deployment of solar power as a renewable energy, Thailand’s Board of Investment awarded Natural Energy Development (NED) to construct the Lopburi Solar Power Plant worth over THB 9 billion (US$298 million). The construction has started in August last year and will be carried out in two phases.

In Thailand, NED is constructing one of the largest solar power plants in the world, and JJ-Lapp Cable is playing a part. Cable specifications have been approved by NED and a consortium in December 2010 and JJ-Lapp Cable will supply a total of 1,200 km of Ölflex Solar XLR Cable for the construction of the world’s largest thin-film solar PV facilities. To date, this is JJ-Lapp Cable’s largest deal in the area of renewable energy.

Ken Morris, Halifax, Canada

GE CombinedCycle System Shipped For New Power Plant

Athens, Greece: GE has shipped advanced gas turbine combined-cycle equipment for the Megalopolis power plant in central Peloponnesus, Greece.

The combined-cycle package will replace four lignite-fired units at the site to help the country meet both its energy and environmental goals.

In 2010, Terna, an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) firm in Greece, awarded GE a US$130 million contract to provide equipment and services for the project. The existing lignite units at the site are scheduled to be shut down due to their environmental impact. The project, featuring a GE 209FB combined-cycle package, will provide additional power to the grid and help provide grid stability by insuring

an adequate supply of new energy, while significantly reducing emissions compared to the lignite units.

Over the past 10 years, the company has supplied natural gas-fired technology for new power plants across Greece totalling approximately 3.5 GW of additional power. “We are proud of the strong relationships we have developed in Greece, and the role that our technology continues to play in helping the country address its energy security and environmental challenges,” said Ricardo Cordoba, president of GE Energy Western Europe & North Africa.

The company’s contract for the Megalopolis project includes the supply of two Frame 9FB gas turbines, one GE D11 steam turbine, three 330H generators and some additional services.

Commercial operation is expected in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Net plant output will be more than 800 MW, with a plant thermal efficiency of approximately 57 percent, making it one of the region’s most efficient power generation stations. To date, 52 of the Frame 9FB gas turbines have been installed or committed for power plant projects around the globe. The 9FB is the largest member of the company’s fleet of F-class gas turbines, which has compiled more than 30 million hours of commercial service worldwide.

Jeff Hire, US

ABB To Enable Integration & Transmission Of Renewable Energy

Zurich, Switzerland: ABB has won an order worth about US$120 million to engineer and supply key equipment for the Jinping-Sunan 800 kilovolt (kV) Ultra High Voltage Direct Current (UHVDC) power transmission project of the State Grid Corp of China (SGCC). The order was booked in the first quarter.

The system and key equipment will be designed in close cooperation with SGCC and local Chinese partners, and ABB will also supply key components for both converter stations, including converter valves, the control and protection system and DC yard equipment. As separately announced, ABB has also been selected to supply the 800 kilovolt (kV) UHVDC transformers for both converter stations.

The 2,090 km power link will transport clean hydropower from Sichuan province in central-western China to the highly industrialised coastal area in the eastern province of Jiangsu. The UHVDC link will have a rated capacity of 7,200 megawatts (MW), and is expected to be energised in 2013.

“The Jinping-Sunan project reflects the continued confidence of SGCC in ABB’s technologies and globally proven domain expertise in HVDC,” said Peter Leupp, head of ABB’s Power Systems division. “We have a long track record in China and are pleased to continue supporting the country in its efforts to strengthen the national power infrastructure and minimise environmental impact.”

May 2011 | industrial automation asia 13

Industry News

Avantha Power Selects Rockwell Automation For Optimisation Milwaukee, USA: Avantha Power, part of the Avantha Group, one of India’s global business conglomerates, has selected Rockwell Automation as its automation provider for the utility’s Balance Of Plant (BOP) applications for the next three years. The US$2.5 million estimated investment allows Avantha Power to adopt a common control platform for its entire BOP system, improving plantwide optimisation as well as reducing lifecycle costs.

“Avantha Power is aiming to achieve an installed capacity close to 4,000 MW of power in the next five years, so uptime and reliability are key goals,” explained Randy Selesky, director, Power and Energy, Rockwell Automation.

“By standardising its BOP systems on a single, open control platform that is field-proven, Avantha Power staff can enjoy the reduced maintenance time that comes with improved system flexibility.”

The integrated architecture system will monitor and control up to nine BOP applications, including coal handling, ash handling, mill reject, water treatment and fire protection systems, at the company’s two coalbased thermal power projects, each consisting of two 600 MW units being set up at Raigarh, Chattisgarh and Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India.

“The system can be easily replicated in both facilities, reducing our engineering

Pavel Matoušek, Czech Republic

TI To Acquire National Semiconductor

California, US: Texas Instruments (TI) and National Semiconductor (NS) have announced that they signed a definitive agreement under which TI will acquire NS for US$25 per share in an all-cash transaction of about US$6.5 billion. The acquisition combines two industry leaders in analogue semiconductors, each with unique strengths in delivering 14 industrial automation asia | May 2011

products to improve performance and efficiency and convert real-world signals in electronic systems. The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction.

“This acquisition is about strength and growth,” said Rich Templeton, chairman, president and CEO, Texas Instruments

time significantly,” said Janmejaya Mahapatra, head of Instrumentation and Control, Avantha Power.

“We only need to train our operators on one control system for all of our BOP applications. In addition, the system can be managed from a single, central location using one standard EtherNet/IP network to ease dataflow throughout the facility for improved troubleshooting and reduced downtime.”

“Leveraging an integrated BOP solution rather than traditional nonintegrated islands of automation is an innovative trend in the Indian power generation industry,” said Partha Bhaumik, power industry manager, Rockwell Automation India. “Avantha Power’s use of an integrated BOP control strategy helps them achieve faster plant start-up and operational flexibility.”

“Our two companies complement each other very well,” said Don Macleod, CEO, National Semiconductor. He continued: “TI has much greater scale in the marketplace, with its larger portfolio of products and its large global sales force. This provides a platform to enhance National's strong and highly profitable analogue capability, power management in particular, leading to meaningful growth.”

Under terms of the agreement, National stockholders will receive US$25 in cash for each share of NS common stock they hold at the time of closing.

TI expects to fund the transaction with a combination of existing cash balances and debt. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including review by US and international regulators and approval by NS’s shareholders. The transaction is expected to close in six to nine months.

The market for analogue semiconductors was US$42 billion in 2010. TI had analogue revenue of US$6.0 billion in 2010, or 14 percent of the market. NS's revenue in calendar year 2010 was about US$1.6 billion, or three percent of the market.

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Industry News

Flowserve Corp Joins ISA100 Wireless Compliance Institute North Carolina, US: The ISA100 Wireless Compliance Institute (WCI) has announced that Flowserve Corporation, a provider of flow control products and services for the global infrastructure markets, has joined the ISA100 WCI as a supplier member.

“With ISA100-based products in the works at Flowserve, joining the ISA100 WCI gives us access to a technical and user ecosystem that enables us

to accelerate our ISA100.11a product offerings,” said Scott Wilkerson, senior product portfolio manager, Flowserve.

He continued: “Our solutions help customers move, control and protect the flow of materials in critical industries worldwide. We look forward to offering our customers products based on the global ISA100.11a wireless standard.”

Recently, ISA100 WCI announced the success of its Wireless Plugfest

– a structured program conducted periodically to confirm interoperability of wireless products certified to the open ISA100.11a standard.

Hosted by National Technical Services, an independent third-party engineering, testing and certification company, test engineers successfully d e m o n s t r a t e d i n t e ro p e r a b i l i t y of ISA100.11a-based field devices, provisioning devices, and gateways – confirming the technical capability, openness, ease of use and interoperability capabilities demanded by ISA100.11a users.

US: National Instruments has announced its 2011 Green Engineering Grant program, a worldwide competitive program that fosters rapid design, prototyping and commercialisation of promising new renewable energy, energy efficiency and smart grid systems.

Through the program, the company will donate up to US$25,000 equivalent in the company’s LabVIEW graphical system design software tools and training to eligible startups to help advance clean energy development in applications such as solar, wind and biofuel technology.

The 2011 program has a special focus on technologies that improve the smart grid and provide the foundation for a clean energy future.

Dr James Truchard, president, CEO and cofounder, National Instruments, said: “The NI Green Engineering Grant program helps remove technological barriers by providing access to the training and tools needed to bring smart grid and renewable energy solutions to market.”

LabVIEW software and the LabVIEW FPGA Module, as well as embedded prototyping and deployment platforms such as NI CompactRIO and PXI instrumentation, are ideal for building innovative control and monitoring solutions for the renewable energy market.

“With only three employees, we work hard to develop clean energy solutions for people in developing nations,” said Matt Bennett, VP, research and development, Windlift, a startup company that develops mobile airborne wind energy systems, including onboard energy storage for mobile microgrids in post-conflict reconstruction and disaster relief.

He continued: “The NI Green Engineering Grant gave us the tools to facilitate rapid development of our technology, helping us to progress from concept to prototype in just eight months. Also, the same hardware and software will carry through the entire technology development process, providing a smooth transition when we are ready to enter production.”

To date, the NI Green Engineering Grant program has delivered NI software and training to more than 40 startups and small companies working on a variety of renewable energy applications.

16 industrial automation asia | May 2011

Aaron Cushing, Canada

National Instruments Announces 2011 Green Engineering Grant Program

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ENQUIRY NO. 249

Industry Updates

Success

2011

For

PI Konferenz

thE 2011 PI Conference, which took place in Karlsruhe, Germany, entitled ‘Automation and Energy Efficiency’ attracted over 250 participants from vendor and end user communities.

The keynote address was delivered by Dr Klaus Töpfer, who set the scene with a speech about energy in the modern world. Dr Töpfer explained how fair distribution of energy would be crucial in a world facing the prospect of nine billion inhabitants. He pointed out the responsibilities faced by all in ensuring a peaceful future, and particularly for making sure energy is used efficiently.

The first afternoon of the c o n f e re n c e f o c u s e d o n t h e PROFIenergy profile which allows automation devices to be managed for optimum energy efficiency over a PROFINET network.

During this first session a report by Markus Mueller of AIT (Institut für Automation & Industrial IT) of FH Cologne presented the first results of an energy audit under taken at different automotive manufacturing sites. The audit, which comprised long 18 industrial automation asia | May 2011

term monitoring of real energy consumption in automation lines, showed that surprisingly high amounts of energy are used during a variety of nonplanned production pauses, often as short as a few seconds. AIT showed how potential energy savings of 30 percent are available using technologies such as PROFIenergy, with corresponding cost and CO2 savings.

However best results can come only with careful planning of the energy management procedures, preferably early in the design phases of a plant, and that a full understanding is required by system designers and vendors of how PROFIenergy can be utilised.

This theme was reflected during the first podium discussion when Thomas Schott of Siemens pointed out that PROFIenergy was really an ‘enabler’ and that by itself: “It cannot save a single kilowatt.” It is as much the responsibility of OEMs and vendors as it is end users to ensure that PROFIenergy is used effectively, he said.

Representatives of the automotive manufacturers spoke warmly of PROFIenergy. “It is the

right way forward and now we need devices where PROFIenergy is implemented,” said Jürgen Kübler, Daimler. It was clear from this and other discussions that first applications with PROFIenergy are already in the testing phase in many automotive plants, and that ‘energy efficiency for competitive advantage’ is a primary motivator.

Other participants in this podium discussion were Volker Bibelhausen of Phoenix Contact, Wilhelm Otten of Evonik and Klaus Grimmer of BMW. Day two broadened the scope of the presentations to cover general PROFINET technology and its application. A presentation from Xaver Schmidt, PI PROFINET marketing group leader, described the ‘functional completeness’ of PROFINET now that the 2.3 specification has been published.

Mr Schmidt’s assertions were underlined by other presentations, notably one by Bernd Wansner of ABB who explained how the special requirements of process automation – eg: redundancy, time stamping, configuration in run and fieldbus integration – are now supported by PROFINET 2.3.

Day Two

Day two also included an overview of the VW plant at Puebla in Mexico, where PROFINET is being extensively used. A joint presentation by Frithjof Klasen of AIT and Jürgen Jaskalla of VW explained that the plant, which lies in the shadow of the Popocatapetl volcano, employs approximately 14,000 employees and produces over 500,000 vehicles/year, 80 percent of which go for export.

About 150 PROFINET stations have been installed, incorporating

2,500 PROFINET devices with up to 180 participants in each PROFINET segment. PROFIsafe and wireless are also incorporated, together with PROFINET to PROFINET network transitions and PROFINET to fieldbus integration.

One conclusion of the project is that PROFINET engineering and design must start in the planning phases to ensure the best deployment.

The ‘Ethernet in process automation’ theme was covered extensively during the second day’s podium discussion, when Dr Reinhard Hüppe of ZVEI moderated a panel comprising Raimund Sommer of Endress and Hauser, Hans-Georg Kumpfmüller of Siemens, Michael Pelz of NAMUR and Auchim Laubenstein of ABB. This panel agreed that Ethernet will only be used by the process industries if tangible benefits can be realised, but that without the possibility of hazardous area operations, Ethernet is unlikely to be widely used in the field in near future except as a backbone network.

Nevertheless, some users are already demanding it for their plants and products are being supplied for non-hazardous area use indicating that the rise of Ethernet in process automation is underway.

The process theme cropped up again during one of the three plenum sessions devoted to end users experiences, this time with the focus on PROFIBUS PA. Gerd Niedermayer of BASF spoke of his company’s experiences in using fieldbus and of the benefits they had seen – in particular the ‘marked shortening of loop check times.’ This, he said, had cut loop testing by an average of 60 percent, reducing commissioning by three months in one case.

Separate to the main conference were parallel sessions throughout the event, covering topics such as device integration, diagnostics, wireless and PROFIsafe. During these sessions it was often ‘standing room only’, underlining how these less dramatic but essential elements of automation have become just as important as the headline-making technologies. An interesting application for 802.11n on wind generators was described during the wireless session.

The third plenum presentation was by Christian Hoppe of J A Becker, a German company specialising in lifting systems.

A recently-won contract for the Wiener Linien (Vienna Tram) depot in Simmering, in Austria uses PROFINET and PROFIsafe to control 16 lift systems for the maintenance of trains comprising up to seven carriages at a time.

A lift system elevates the carriages to a suitable working height where they are held in place by a second set of side lifts allowing the bogies to be lowered for individual work or replacement.

Wiener Linien expects to save 10,000 sq m of workshop space with the system, which is undergoing construction now.

PROFIBUS is used for local lift control, with PROFINET linking the 16 units. A central PC allows remote diagnostics over the internet.

In closing the conference, PI chairman Jörg Freitag thanked everyone for their participation and said he was delighted with the success of the event. “We in PI have learned a lot about the value to users of both PROFINET and PROFIBUS from this conference and we look forward to welcoming you to our next conference in 2013,” he said.

ENQUIRY NO. 3101

Study Confirms Potential Savings Through PROFIenergy A study by the Institute for Automation & Industrial IT, Cologne University of Applied Sciences, confirms potential savings of 50 percent or more during idle phases as a result of PROFIenergy.

Initial analyses and measurements were completed on production lines at the Daimler factory in Sindelfingen and the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles factory in Hanover.

The behaviour of the overall plant and its components were analysed with respect to load curve, load distribution, and pause durations, among other things.

In addition, the influence of operating modes on energy consumption was analysed, and pauses were analysed with respect to frequency and duration.

In addition to planned pauses and idle times, unplanned pauses were also recorded and their relevance determined.

With up to 15 different measuring points, it was possible to record typical load curves in the plant from the main incoming supply to individual consumers and to determine characteristic values.

Specific examples taken from the measured results indicate the energy savings potential realised by using PROFIenergy. In some production areas, the potential savings were in excess of 50 percent. During the analysis it became clear that unplanned pauses, amounting to about 60 percent, can also be utilised, because even short pauses of three to five minutes are relevant for use of PROFIenergy. These pauses represent significant savings potential that can be exploited with clever use of PROFIenergy to signficantly reduce energy consumption.

ENQUIRY NO. 3102

May 2011 | industrial automation asia 19

Newsdesk

CANopen Task Force For Operator Environments CAN in Automation (CiA) has established the CANopen Task Force (TF) for operator environments. It is intended to develop the CiA 401-based recommended practice for operator environments with human-machine interface functionality dedicated but not limited for construction, mining, agriculture and forestry machines, for harbour cranes, boats and vessels, wheelchairs and any other kind of machines on wheels. This includes any kind of operator environment such as driver and operator seats.

The CANopen interface hides the OE-internal networking, which could be based on CANopen or other network technologies.

The CANopen recommended practice should describe a single interface hiding the sub-layered devices such as joysticks, foot-pedals, encoders, display, pushbuttons and pulse wheels. For displays, it is intended to use the network variables as specified in the CiA 302 series. When the deeply embedded communication system of the operator environment is based on CANopen, it is recommended to implement the CiA 302-7 bridge/ router functionality. So the vehicle controller can access each operator devices individually be means of Remote SDO services.

ENQUIRY NO. 3103

20  industrial automation asia | May 2011 2009

CANopen Device Profile For On-board Weighing Systems Members of CAN in Automation (CiA) have established the CANopen SIG (Special Interest Group) on-board weighing systems. They intend to develop the CANopen profile for on-board weighing systems. Experts from Celmi (IT), Dennis Eagle (GB), Moba (DE), Pfreundt (DE), and PM Vishay (GB) accepted the submitted CiA 459 Work Draft Proposal (WDP).

The SIG plans to release the first version of the Draft Standard Proposal (DSP) by end of 2011. The experts elected Ashley Clarke as chairman of the SIG. CANopen is increasingly used as a body network in off-highway and off-road vehicles. In particular in battery-powered forklifts, it is also used as drive-train networks. The proposed CANopen on-board weighing system is also suitable for truck-mounted bodies. A typical application is refuse collection trucks. Another application is truck-mounted cranes, which need information about the actual load of the truck.

The proposed CANopen device profile should simplify the integration in CANopen-based body control networks in any kind of vehicle. This includes trucks as well as off-highway vehicles such as forklifts, agriculture and construction machines. The on-board weighing system may use internally a deeply embedded CANopen network linking the CiA 404 compatible load-cells. Alternatively the sensors are networked by other communication technologies including analogue interfaces. The CANopen interface of the on-board weighing system hides these internal details. In case of deeply embedded CANopen networks, it is possible to implement the CiA 302-7 SDO/ EMCY router, in order to access from the CANopen body network each sensors individually.

ENQUIRY NO. 3104

Fieldbus Foundation

Appoints O’Brien As Global Marketing Manager The Fieldbus Foundation has appointed Larry O’Brien as global marketing manager. Formerly of ARC Advisory Group, he has 18 years of experience in the process automation business as a research director and analyst at ARC, and has been closely tracking and reporting on developments surrounding Foundation fieldbus for much of his career.

As global marketing manager, he will be responsible for developing the strategic marketing direction for Foundation technology worldwide. He will oversee activities such as fieldbus seminar programs, trade show exhibitions, technical demonstrations and marketing communications.

“I am very excited to begin my work at the Fieldbus Foundation,” said Mr O’Brien. He continued: “For many years, I have been writing about the business value proposition of Foundation fieldbus at ARC. Now I get to use the knowledge and experience I have gained to raise the level of awareness of this technology for both end users and suppliers. ARC has always believed that Foundation fieldbus offers a true process automation infrastructure providing significant lifecycle cost benefits and a path to superior asset management.”

Fieldbus Foundation president and CEO Rich Timoney welcomed O’Brien to the key post with his organisation. “We are excited to have Larry as part of our team, and look forward to his leadership of our global marketing program in support of Foundation fieldbus,” said Timoney. “From his time with ARC, Larry has gained an extensive background in the area of digital plant automation. His qualifications will be very helpful in expanding the presence of Foundation technology around the world – particularly in developing industrial markets such as India, China, Latin America and the Middle East.”

While at ARC, Mr O’Brien authored numerous market outlook studies and white papers covering topics ranging from fieldbus to distributed control systems, process safety systems, automation services and field instruments. For the Fieldbus Foundation, he has written white papers on the business value proposition of control in the field, Foundation Fieldbus for Safety Instrumented Functions (FF-SIF), and Foundation fieldbus as an automation infrastructure.

O’Brien holds a BA degree from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.

ENQUIRY NO. 3105

Fieldbus Foundation Announces First Registered Hosts Incorporating Host Profile ‘61b’ The Fieldbus Foundation has registered the first two Foundation fieldbus hosts incorporating new, mandatory host profile ‘61b’. In the Foundation fieldbus automation infrastructure, hosts can include configuration tools, recording devices, alarm display panels, Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs), or a combination of functionality. Host profiles are key to fieldbus system interoperability, defining required features for different classes of tested and registered hosts.

The following host features have gone from ‘optional’ to ‘mandatory’ with the new host profile 61b: Block Instantiation – Allows full utilisation of fieldbus devices supporting instantiable function blocks. Primarily intended for Control In the Field (CIF).

Multiple Capability Levels – For devices where certain blocks/features are optional (licensed), the standard or higher capability level can be set in the tag placeholder during system configuration to prevent unsupported blocks from being used in the control strategy.

Enhanced Function Blocks – Allows full utilisation of enhanced blocks (standard blocks with additional parameters).

Profiled Custom Function Blocks – Allows full utilisation of non-standard blocks.

Configuration of Scheduled Control Function Blocks – Allows developers to build CIF control strategies.

DD V5.1 Device-Level Access (enhanced Electronic Device Description Language with cross-block) – Makes fieldbus devices easier to use by enabling a dashboard with all diagnostics on the same page, and all setup on one page, regardless of which block it is in.

ENQUIRY NO. 3106

May 2011 | industrial automation asia 21

EtherCAT Booths At Automation World And SIAF The EtherCAT booths at Automation World in Seoul, South Korea and SIAF in Guangzhou, China were well attended. Bin Fan, ETG representative in China, said: “The trade show went very well for us – we had a significant increase in contacts. Visitors are aware of the EtherCAT technology and are actively looking for our booth. Several co-exhibitors showed their EtherCAT products, and we demonstrated the capabilities of the network.”

ENQUIRY NO. 3107

The ETG Booth at SIAF 2011 in Guangzhou, China

Safety-Over-EtherCAT Development Package For Vendors Safety-relevant functionality is in big demand, but can be difficult to implement for users. With Safetyover-EtherCAT (SoE), not only does the technology itself help with the implementation, but so do several suppliers. A ’care-free package’ to develop solutions is now available for automation system vendors.

The technology enjoys strong, growing demand and is implemented b y v e n d o r s o f c o n t ro l a n d d r i v e technology, robotics and sensors.

EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) m e m b e r, B e c k h o f f A u t o m a t i o n , provides test cases and test tools as well as certification support for implementing the SoE protocol. The parameterisation software for the decentralised safety controller is part of the Beckhoff EtherCAT configurator, which also works with EtherCAT masters

22 industrial automation asia | May Dec 2010/Jan 2011 2011

from other suppliers because of the system’s open interfaces.

Suppliers complement the SoE with a convenient package: At a press conference held by the ETG, Dieter Hess, MD of 3S-Smart Software Solutions, announced the support of the CoDeSys Safety editors for this decentralised safety controller. As a result, CoDeSys customers can enhance their control systems with functional safety without having to develop and certify their own safety controller.

3S-Smart Software Solutions will also

implement SoE in the company’s own safety control package.

Christian Schlegel, MD, IXXAT, announced the SoE protocol stacks for master and slave devices. IXXAT not only offers the protocol software itself, but also supports its customers with implementing and certifying their SoE devices.

Dr Guido Beckmann, chairman of the ETG Technical Committee and safety expert with Beckhoff Automation underlines the compactness and openness of the safety protocol: “Experience shows that code size and stack delays in SoE are substantially lower than comparable protocols. The safety container of a minimal six bytes allows users to simply use the protocol on legacy fieldbus systems as well.“

The technology (SoE) enjoys strong, growing demand and is implemented by vendors of control and drive technology, robotics and sensors.

ENQUIRY NO. 3108

Successful ETG Seminar Series EtherCAT Technology Group held an industrial ethernet seminar series in India, France, Italy and the UK. The seminars addressed both users and implementers of EtherCAT technology. Some of the events also included an Industrial Ethernet comparison, which can be downloaded from the EtherCAT website.

ENQUIRY NO. 3109

The ETG Industrial Ethernet Seminar Series held in India, Italy, France and the UK was well attended

Sample Code For Drives Simplifies Development In order to provide ideal support to drive vendors within the EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG), the EtherCAT Slave Sample Code (SSC) now includes the CANopen drive profile according to the ETG implementation guideline. With this update, the sample code becomes even simpler for drive vendors to utilise EtherCAT. The common code basis leads to unified interfaces and simplified setup, especially considering that the drive parameters have also been integrated into the EtherCAT conformance test tool.

The EtherCAT specifications cover not only the ‘How’ to communicate, but also the ‘What’: Device profiles define the functionality and their parameters as well as the content and formatting of the process data. IEC 61800-7 specifies the drive profiles that EtherCAT uses: part 201 of the standard is the CANopen drive profile CiA402, while part 204 is the SErial Real-time COmmunication System (SERCOS) drive profile.

The implementation guideline of the ETG for CiA 402 selects the cyclic synchronous communication modes among the various drive operation modes: they are not only the ones with the best performance, but also have the fewest parameters and provide the simplest interface as a result.

The EtherCAT conformance test tool has covered these operation modes for some time. The new development is their implementation in the sample code for slave devices, which is shipping with the EtherCAT slave evaluation kits.

Rainer Hoffmann, who is in charge of the code within the ETG Team says: “Even though we do not consider the SSC to be the official reference slave application code, it has gained this de-facto status due to its wide distribution.

Many EtherCAT drives support the CANopen device profile, but so far some of them only support the classic operation modes, which were developed with CAN performance in mind. Now it is easier to also integrate the new, faster and yet simpler CAN operation modes in EtherCAT devices. Drive vendors who are

Rainer Hoffmann, software expert, EtherCAT Technology Group

just starting with EtherCAT can base their development on this software right away. Enhancing the code with this drive functionality facilitates the unification of the interfaces and will support the further adoption of EtherCAT industry-wide.”

ENQUIRY NO. 3110

Dec 2010/Jan May 2011 | industrial automation asia 23

issues & insights

Streaming ITInto Solutions

Alaa Hamed, Cairo, Egypt

Factories

Incorporating a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) in factories can ease movement of data and production. By Natalia Tee

M

a nu fac tu r ing E xe cut ion System (MES) software is able to manage and monitor manufacturing operations in factories. This software can be used to support collaborative manufacturing strategies that are designed to integrate disparate data streams from a company’s supply chain and factory floor.

This allows movements of intermediate and finished products to be scheduled, controlled and checked, thereby increa sing t ra n sp a re nc y a nd e n a bl i n g management to make decisions based on reliable data.

Optimising Productivity Without Impacting On Profits According to a market report from Frost and Sullivan, companies find

24  industrial automation asia | May 2011

it a challenge to drive operational improvement, optimise energy consumption, and reduce carbon footprint without impacting on profitability. Such issues can be resolved through shop floor to top-floor connectivity, which is an MES feature.

Previously, MES used to operate as self-contained systems; they are increasingly being integrated with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software suites. The goal of the MES is to improve productivity and reduce cycle-time, whereby the latter refers to the total time to produce an order. As such, through the integration of MES and ERP, delivery of quality products in a timely manner is ensured.

Real-time data collected by the MES for any production step

can be called in, and can also be aggregated as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in terms of performance of individual plant parts and downtimes. Therefore, it provides a basis for continuous improvement along the entire production chain.

To f u r t her illu st rate t he point, Saint-Gobain Sekurit, an automotive supplier, faced both pricing pressure and increasing productiv it y dema nds from suppliers. T heir cu stomers requested a price reduction of automotive products by six percent, at the same time, simultaneously delivering 10 percent improvements in productivity.

In order to address these pressures, the company had implemented a platform that

ENQUIRY NO. 253

www.emersonprocess.com

issues & insights

includes MES to provide realtime visibility and control for manufacturing operations. With this platform, the company is able to achieve standardisation on how product costs and KPIs are measured across the various plants.

In addition, the company is also able to identify areas where yields are best or time is lost as well as realising continuous improvement through best practices.

Furthermore, Rockwell Automation states that companies can use MES to manage energy as a form of resource. For instance, a certain plant in a brewing company’s rising energy costs became a problem, evidently shown in the impact on production costs. In spite of implementing production optimisation measures, energy efficiency still suffered due

to constant machine breakdown, lack of spare part tracking and insufficient fault diagnostics.

By implementing an integrated MES solution and control-system solution, the plant can achieve reductions in machine downtime and gains in productivity.

Restrained Growth From 2010 Onwards However, since MES has bundled functionalities, MES providers face competition from participants with extended functionalities and homegrown solutions. It is anticipated that there will be a restrained growth for MES from end 2010 onwards.

This is partly because endu s e r s g r a du a l l y t r a n sit to Commercial-Off-The Shelf (COTS) pre-integrated solutions offered by system integrators and niche

solution providers. In turn, system integrators are capitalising the market potential by developing in-house solutions targeting niche customers. Moreover, MES solution providers and system integrators may work together to enter markets that were previously out of reach for them.

One emerging trend is the convergence of MES with solutions like Product Life Management (PLM), compliant and quality management, and warehouse management on unified platforms to reduce complexity while dr iv ing p er for ma nce based reliability. It is expected that the transition of market to pre-customised solutions with extended interfaces will bolster growth for MES markets.

ENQUIRY NO. 3201

Supports Extended Enterprise Merging Manufacturing Execution Systems and Product Lifecycle Management enhances integration of data and processes.

According to CIMData, a consulting firm that provides information on PLM technologies and services, PLM is defined as:

new sets of challenges and opportunities including more complex regulations and customer expectations for eco-friendly products. As such, in meeting these issues, the broad range of PLM technologies will continue to expand to encompass areas like social media, cloud computing and open source platforms.

•

Tools • Applications used to create, analyse and stimulate products and plants, and associated documentation

• Examples: Mechanical Design Automation (MDA), Simulation and

Analysis (S&A), Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE)

• •

•

A strategic business approach that applies a consistent set of business solutions in support of collaborative creation, management, dissemination, and use of product information Supports extended enterprise such as customers, design and supply partners Spans all phases of product-development, from front-end concepts through manufacturing and on to maintenance, support, logistics, and eventual disposal Integrates people, processes, business systems, and information

Companies choose to leverage on this strategic approach so as to stay competitive in an unpredictable economy. In the coming years, companies will continue to face

26 industrial automation asia | May 2011

CIMdata partitions the PLM market into the following primary segments:

Collaborative • Manages product or plant definition lifecycle Product Definition • Examples: Compressive Technology Suppliers, Focused Management Application Suppliers Digital Manufacturing • Supports simulation and analysis of the processes and manufacturing environments used to produce a product Despite 2008 being a record year for the PLM market, there had been a decline in PLM investments growth due to the global recession in 2009. Although the market has not yet recovered, the uprising trend is earlier than expected. Coming out of the recession, many companies are investing in PLM possibly due to a delayed funding of projects that were previously approved.

CIMData believes that it is possible to achieve 2008 levels of results by the end of 2011, with an estimate of eight to 11 percent growth in the global market.

Localising To The Customer’s Needs piece of equipment in real time. When the company’s Mattec system is connected to all the machines in the plant, manufacturers are able to automate the collection of scrap counts and downtime reasons.

Likewise, Siemens Metals Technologies Simatic IT Production Suite enables production of the entire plant to be planned and monitored in real time. Stage-by-stage implementation is made easier with the modular structure of the MES.

FlexNet Production from Apriso has combined MES capabilities and FlexNet applications. By adopting a platform-based approach, the software can reach across various manufacturing processes at various locations to offer unified integration of the product supply network. This is often called as Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM).

MES covers the complete gamut of production activities from order launch to finished goods. Using current data from the shop floor activities, this helps in rapid response, thereby reducing waste and errors. As such, the deep focus on the plant floor has made manufacturer look upon MES as a competitive edge rather than a technology investment.

The scope of MES tools may drive process improvements and optimisation efforts pertaining to resources and equipment. However, data analysis tools as such may also drive regulatory compliance in industries that require detailed record keeping for traceability.

Proper Schedule Of Tasks MES software can also be used to schedule tasks by facility, work entre, machine, and/or employee skill set. Products that include planning features allow schedulers to load jobs against an organisation’s total production capacity.

Advanced Production Scheduling (ASP) offers finite scheduling options and a visual representation of projected workloads.

Production Requirements Planning (PRP) and Material Requirement Planning (MRP) allow schedulers to define processes with multiple tasks. This way, MES software that integrates PRP and MRP with inventory management and procurement can generate a schedule that specifies when required materials should be ordered.

According to Solarsoft, in order to run the plants effectively, it is crucial for manufacturers to collect data from every

040711-ISA.indd 1

ENQUIRY NO. 246

Due to its complexity and variety, it is recommended that MES software to be custom-configured for specific manufacturing situations. For example, a MES software package for an electronics maker would not be the same for a canned food processing plant. The applications should be customised for the specific manufacturing steps needed inside a plant through add-ons, custom code and layered applications, depending on the requirements and vendors involved.

Therefore, selecting MES software requires a detailed analysis of capabilities and features. While some products provide operator instructions for each stage of production, other products provide finite scheduling, workflow management and quality analysis features.

Machine monitoring sensors and shop floor data collection terminals transmit production data from the factory floor to MES. This is made possible when supervisory control and data acquisition features are part of the MES software.

In turn, software-based algorithms send real-time instructions to devices like a programmable logic controller (PLC).

May 2011 | industrial automation asia PM 27 4/7/2011 1:33:15

control point

Common Faults In A Variable Speed Drive System:

Maintenance Of A Variable

Speed

Drive System

The maintenance of any control system is important for continued, safe, reliable operation. A first step in solving any problem is to isolate it before systematically arriving at its cause. By Jeremy Ang, product manager, Fluke (Southeast Asia)

I

n troubleshooting situations involving a motor, more than half the battle is simply isolating the problem. Whenever there is a working motor, there is a load and there is some sort of motor controller, which is increasingly going to be a Variable Speed Drive (VSD). So when problems arise, how can you tell if it is the drive, the motor, or the load? Under28  industrial automation asia | May 2011

standing how motors operate, how to apply them in speciďŹ c applications, and how best to control them, assures that they can perform the required work.

Unde rsta ndi n g what te st instruments to use when installing, maintaining, and troubleshooting them assures that they can safely operate for extended time periods with minimal downtime.

Imbalance Measurements A good place to start is with a measurement of the current drawn by the motor. When we talk about motors here, we are referring to three-phase induction motors, the workhorse of industry.

Motors are balanced loads: the current that they draw on each phase should be about the same. If they are not balanced, the cause could be internal to the motor (eg: deteriorating stator insulation), or it could be the result of voltage or current imbalance.

A VSD is extremely sensitive to voltage imbalance, even more so than motors. A VSD uses the peak voltages of each phase to charge internal capacitor banks. If one of these phases is even a bit low, it will make it hard for the motor to draw current from that phase.

So voltage imbalance will cause current imbalance.

The VSD may still function, but the charge cycle of the capacitors, and their ride-through time in the event of voltage sags, will be diminished.

VSD Over-Voltage And UnderVoltage Trips A VSD has diagnostic codes, which identify the cause of a trip. Generally speaking, they are classified as overvoltage, under voltage, or overload (over-current).

Voltage sags on the drive input can cause under-voltage externally. Problems could also exist internally with the dc link capacitors and/or reactor. In many VSD’s, there are test points to measure the dc link voltage. To check the capacitors voltage, use the min/max function of a digital multimeter, or, preferably, the trend function of a power quality analyser or ScopeMeter test tool to monitor the performance.

Innovative Sensor Solutions

and records voltage, current, and power in addition to special power problems such as sags, swells, transients, and harmonics. Power quality meters are available in both single-phase and three-phase Sensor Solutions models. Single-phase models can be Photoelectric sensors used to test three-phase circuits by Inductive sensors connecting the meter test leads to Capacitive sensors different phases within the circuit.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Leakage Current Of The Motors High frequencies cause increased leakage between stator windings and the frame. This ground or leakage current can interfere with control and communication signals.

Common solutions are the use of EMI suppression cables or a common mode choke. Essential and effective tools required for VSD Maintenance: In order to maintain VSD system effectively, there are some essential tools that the technicians need to have within their tool belt.

Advanced (DMMs) Digital Multimeter Advanced DMM models typically have five digit displays and/or have a higher count capacity for more accurate measurements, can capture and store measurements for later viewing, can be connected to a PC for downloading measurements, and/or include a trending feature that allows measurements taken over time to be displayed as a single line on a graph.

It should also have features on filtering out stray voltage (commonly known as Ghost Voltage) that induce from adjacent energised wiring. For measuring of a VSD system where high frequency exist, a built-in Low Pass Filter (LPF) feature will be useful to filter out unwanted high frequency noise and ensure accurate measurements.

Power Quality Meters A power quality meter is a test instrument that measures, display,

■

Portable Oscilloscopes A portable oscilloscope is the most effective test instrument that measures and displays the waveforms of high-voltage power, low-voltage control, and digital signals. It has the advantage over bench-top oscilloscopes because they are portable, handheld, battery-operated, and correct CAT

Ultrasonic sensors Magnetic sensors Vision sensors Precision switches My-Com

Cranes and heavy vehicle construction Motion Control reliable sensors need rugged, ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Encoders Resolvers Speed switches Tachogenerators Counters Tachometers Process displays Spindle positioning systems Actuators and positioning drives Angle measuring systems Accelerations sensors Inclination sensors

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Baumer (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Blk 21 Kallang Avenue · #04-173, Kallang Basin Industrial Estate, Singapore 339412 Phone +65 6396 4131 · Fax +65 6396 5091 sales.sg@baumer.com · www.baumer.com

ENQUIRY NO. 242

VSD Over-Voltage Reflections The leading edges of the PWM pulses can have peak values much higher (up to 200 percent in theory) than normal. These over voltage reflections can cause damage to motor windings.

S olut io n s fa l l i nto t h re e categories: shorten the drive-motor cable length; use a motor with higher-grade insulation, so-called inverter duty motors; use filters.

May 2011 | industrial automation asia 29

control point

rating for taking measurements in commercial and industrial environments.

Portable oscilloscopes also have a con side rably h ig he r measurement bandwidth and sampling rate than power quality meters, which is ideal for locating electrical, electronic, and digital problems in complex circuits. It is

also important to have each of the channels to be isolated to ensure safety of the technicians when working in such high voltage and high current environments.

Thermal Imager With a thermal imager, it detects heat patterns in the infrared wavelength spectrum without

Washed out

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Low contrast

Poor focus

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Safety Aspects Of Maintenance The high voltage and currents pre sent in electr ica l power systems can cause serious injury or death by electrocution and burns. Consequently, only trained, experienced electricians who have knowledge of electrical systems in general and the equipment under test should perform testing and modification of electrical systems.

It a challenge to anticipate all possible precautions that you must take when performing the measurements described here.

Faded Faded

Extreme perspective

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Patented IDMax® technology allows Cognex readers to successfully read codes that other readers cannot. Regardless of code quality, size, marking method or material, we can read it!

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1DMaxTM is our best-in-class reading tool optimized for Patented IDMax®barcode technology allows Cognex readers to successfully omnidirectional reading and can handle extreme read codestothat otherunsurpassed readers cannot. of code quality, TM variations achieve readRegardless rates. Cognex 2DMax ® size, marking method or material, we can read it!

P atented IDMax technology allows Cognex readers successfully technology helped trigger the adoption of 2D Datato Matrix and readcoding codes in that other readers cannot. Regardless of code quality, QR many industries.

TM IDMax® technology allows Cognex readers to successfully P1DMax atented is our best-in-class reading optimized for size, marking method or material, we tool can read it! read codes that other readers cannot.

Regardless code quality, omnidirectional barcode reading and can handle of extreme TM size, marking method or material, we can read it! variations to achieve unsurpassed read rates.

Cognex 1DMax is our best-in-class reading tool optimized for2DMaxTM technology helped triggerreading the adoption 2D Data Matrix and omnidirectional barcode and canofhandle extreme TM 1DMax best-in-class reading tool optimized for2DMaxTM QR codingistoinour many industries. variations achieve unsurpassed read rates.

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Combined the best fixed readerwith formats, anyperforming code can be read hardware available, both handheld and Which using in Cognex an easy choice. quickly makes and reliably. fixed reader formats, any code can be read quickly and more, reliably.

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ENQUIRY NO. 145

With Cognex, every read is an easy read.

With Cognex, every read is an easy read.

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30 industrial automation asia | May 2011

making direct contact with the work piece. All materials emit infrared energy in proportion to their temperature.

Thermal Imagers are used to locate both electrical and mechanical problems that cause heat, such as poor electrical connections, undersized conductors, overloaded devices, misalignment, poor ventilation, and excessive moisture. Electrical and electronic devices must not be exposed to temperatures higher than their temperature rating.

High temperatures can destroy electrical insulation, devices, and components, but may not always be noticed. After the heat has caused damage, the equipment may no longer be operable so the source of the heat is no longer present.

Summary With an effective basket of tools for maintenance services, it will allow the user to perform the service efficiently and also prolong machineries lifespan and prevent system failure. These tools should also have a correct safety rating that caters for its measurement environment regardless whether it is indoor or outdoor to ensure workplace safety.

ENQUIRY NO. 3301

ENQUIRY NO. 223

control point

Heavy Duty

Technology With

Integrated

Function-Checking

Only durable and sturdy encoders master tasks in drive regulation under tough industrial conditions. Heavy-duty encoders must fulfil a lot of specific requirements – both in sensing technology and mechanical design. By Dietmar Gründig, product manager, Baumer Hübner

H

eavy-duty encoders must be able to withstand shocks and vibrations, be tight against humidity, and capable of a wide temperature range, are only a few prerequisites that encoders employed at papermaking machines, cranes, rolling mills or wind power stations have to comply with. Systems with integrated diagnostics for monitoring the encoders working function provide a lot of interesting possibilities.

A typical application example demanding durable components are offshore wind power stations: After having passed the initial qualification, the station’s operating permit is valid for 20 years. Depending on the manufacturer, first maintenance work falls due within five to 10 years after commissioning.

Any failure occurring at an earlier time does not only mean dead times, and loss in efficiency, but implicates considerable costs for repair or exchange – especially when the defective component is placed in or at the nacelle and must be repaired or exchanged

32 industrial automation asia | May 2011

50 to 150 m above the ground. Absolute reliability of the installed encoders therefore is mandatory.

For reliable outdoor operation, encoders must be up to climate changes, and extreme temperatures, humidity, and even have to endure thunderstorms.

Durable With Versatile Combination Options The speed sensors, designed for demanding applications, are characterised by a solid aluminium alloy housing with special surface coating and bearings at both ends of the hollow shaft for optimum protection against axial and radial loads.

Electrically insulated ball bearings protect balls and bearing surfaces from shaft currents. More heavyduty features: Incremental sensing by opto-ASIC technology, shock and vibration-proof electronics with high Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC), shortcircuit-proof, temperature-controlled power drivers, specific filter circuits for power supply and, last but not least, the large terminal box in compliance with EMC

regulations that can be turned by 180 deg. Labyrinth seals against dust and dirt respectively specialised seals for protection against salty air make sure the encoder is tight and will not be penetrated by dirt or humidity. Admissible ambient temperatures may vary within the range from –40 deg C to +100 deg C so that the encoder’s working function is not affected neither by biting cold nor the high temperatures occurring at the generator shaft.

Wind power stations must not be exposed to high idle speed in case of missing load or defective pitch control. For this reason it is advisable to utilise a rugged incremental encoder in conjunction with a centrifugal switch placed at the other shaft end.

The purely mechanical centrifugal switch operating according to the centrifugal principle is triggered as soon as a predefined threshold (speed limit) is reached and will activate, for example, a brake system.

Another option is a redundant system formed by two twin encoders mounted at a common shaft or a combination of an incremental encoder together with an analogue – tacho.

Trust Is Good, But Control Is Better Though Heavy-duty encoders are made for reliable operation in tough environments and have proved themselves for many decades in everyday life of

demanding industries there are some applications where trust in technology is simply not enough. The prevailing operating status is visualised by an LED provided at the encoder housing. This way, the user is informed any time about the encoder’s operating status what is of considerable benefit already during installation and commissioning. Any improper operation, maybe due 50 to faulty encoder connection is easily detected for immediate correction.

Power Drivers – To Be Taken Literally Long lines and high output frequencies (high speeds) often cause difficulties to conventional encoders in transmitting a proper HTL signal. Worst case, they even switch off. The new incremental encoders therefore provide improved, optimised power drives for reliable line driving of incremental HTL signals over a 300 m distance and at a 100 kHz frequency at a temperature of 100 deg C. As much, when talking about wind power stations, the signal level converter connected to the encoder may not be placed at the tower only but also on the ground what is close to practice and highly appreciated also in other applications.

ENQUIRY NO. 3302 2011_01_07_Thermocouple cable_Layout 1 21.01.11 11:03 Seite 1

Thermocouple cable “Robots made available for everyone” 6 axis Industrial robot Package. With control, I/Os, single phase and teach-in software.

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ENQUIRY NO. 239

ENQUIRY NO. 256

Ready to use.

May 2011 | industrial automation asia 33

Next

Generation Platform Innovation In M2M Machine-to-machine (M2M) solution platforms need to address the true potential for information-driven service innovation and application development. By Glen Allmendinger, president, Harbor Research

M

any, if not most, ‘productdriven’ businesses are now embracing the concept of growth-creating services around a connected product business model.

Wireless ca rriers have partnered with service delivery platform providers to make their networks more accessible to M2M applications, but the enterprise customer continues to deal with many complexities along the way to building complete end-to-end vertical solutions.

The next chapter in the M2M arena will be driven by cloud platforms, intelligent devices and back office systems that seamlessly integrate with one

34 industrial automation asia | May 2011

another and thereby unlock the full potential of smart connected dev ice s. Uninformed human activity in customer support will be replaced by embedded intelligence in devices and smart systems.

The complexities of disparate networks, devices and hardware will be removed, reducing time to market and overall costs and risks for custom application development. All of this will be done with enterprise solutions engineered for deployment on the world’s leading wireless networks.

The Advent Of Systems Awareness What happens these days if your car has a problem - a ‘check engine’

indicator lights up; a navigation system sends you a service alert and plots the route to the repair shop. Once at the shop you speak to what used to be called a mechanic, who in reality has now become a ‘systems diagnostician’ who immediately consults a monitor that is wirelessly communicating to the over one hundred microprocessors in your vehicle that knew hours ago to initiate the alert.

After fixing the car, you head home and as you pull into the garage and the lights come on automatically, you immediately remember a few years ago when you would come home and wonder why your children had left all the lights on.

Timo Balk, Melbourne, Australia

software & Networks

efficiency and productivity gains for enterprise customers.

While there is still much value that has been ‘left on the table’ and the full measure of connecting assets has not yet been fully realised, remote M2M services have already proven to be an attractive investment for many businesses.

For cellular wireless carriers,

positioning their M2M solutions as a service line extension to their large portfolios of enterprise customers creates new revenue streams to offset saturation in their handset businesses. Cellular has become the network of choice for smart connected devices in a wide array of applications including automotive telematics, commercial

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To day, no t o n l y i s yo u r electricity bill managed automatically to give you the best possible rate, but in fact, lights and appliances turn ‘off’ and ‘on’ based on rules you have provided to the system managing them. You are now receiving alerts over your cell phone – remember when you found out you had a leak in your vacation home water heater?

All these ‘visions’ share one common attribute: embedded intelligence and systems awareness.

We have entered the age when everyday objects will communicate with, and control, other objects over networks without human attention or intervention.

Manufacturing and farming equipment, elevators and escalators, appliances, and vehicles that know exactly when, and why, they will fail, and then alert you or your service organisation before the fa ilure occurs – or even, in some cases, fix themselves.

Futurists have been describing such capabilities for decades, but in the last several years some businesses have started to actually realise the tremendous business benefits of what the pundits have been describing.

The return on investment due to truck rolls avoided, and down time prevented, is indisputable. Whole new business models have sprung up with wireless connectivity at their core.

Today, the world’s leading cellular network operators such a s Ver izon Wirele ss, AT&T, Voda fone, China Mobile are all actively advancing the use of cellular wireless for M2M communications.

The attractions are clear – incremental network traffic for the carrier, new applications for developers, systems integration opportunities for IT players and, most importantly, significant asset

May 2011 | industrial automation asia 35

ENQUIRY NO. 254

software & Networks

36 industrial automation asia | May 2011

transportation, mobile health, and consumer electronics – all due to its pervasiveness and ever lower cost.

Our society is at the cusp of a ‘perfect storm’ of network connectivity. This phenomenon is not just about the dichotomy between people communicating with people or machines communicating with machines: it also includes people communicating with machines (eg: a networked ATM), and machines communicating with people (eg: automated stock ticker alerts on your PDA).

The concept of network effects states that the value of a network grows exponentially with the number of nodes connected to it.

Along with the value, however, so too grows the complexity of managing the equipment and devices on the network, the difficulty of servicing them, and the reliance of people and organisations that are interacting with devices and equipment on new applications designed explicitly for smart systems.

The complexities significantly increase when global reach is required, a common business requirement of OEMs and other global players deploying M2M applications in every major vertical industry.

when seen through the eyes of M2M enterprise customers and developers.

Globally, GSM has become the technology of choice and yet CDMA-based Verizon Wireless is North America’s largest wireless carrier with a strong record for network performance. LTE is on the horizon, but this would not solve today’s mainstream M2M needs.

What most adopters of wireless M2M technolog y desire is a seamless interface to both network standards that supports a truly global reach and/or duplicity in domestic network coverage.

Device OEMs have innovated in many ways, some to the point of extending their own cloud platforms for managing connected devices. Still, enterprise customers have demonstrated time and again a preference toward maintaining a neutral position with respect to hardware and devices so they can remain agile and flexible and solve the dynamic needs of their businesses.

Cloud platform application providers have developed advanced device management and vertical applications in certain cases, and yet still remain relatively small niche businesses when viewed in the context of the whole global M2M opportunity.

The Next Big Thing – M2M Platform Innovation While it has been well established that smarter pro duc t s, a nd sma r ter network s, can offer extraordinary business advantage to the companies that manufacture devices, and the partners that develop applications and deliver systems support, complex itie s have thwa r ted wide scale adoption in many if not most instances.

I n t h e w i r e l e s s n e t wo r k arena, CDMA and GSM based technologies have been incompatible with one another

Managing ‘Connected’ Complexity The complex itie s of dev ice communications, and networks are often understated – deployments typically involve diverse device types, configurations, and operating systems, which must be supported by different wireless networks.

Today’s wireless network services represents significant feature enhancements from where the industry was just a few years ago; M2M networking capabilities are finally becoming integral elements that are being delivered by the leading cellular network

operators and their associated M2M platform partners.

Driving Towards ‘Smart’ Automated Platforms Device management today is either purely reactive or blindly proactive. Why is this? For all its sophistication, today’s M2M systems are a direct descendent of the traditional cellular telephony model where the carrier only cares about the ability to deliver and bill the customer for calls. The model, as it relates to smart [nontelephony] devices, is one that is blind to what is really going on at the device level.

Information about use is colle c te d, store d, quer ie d, analysed, and billed. But little to nothing about the status, health or performance of the device on the network is visible to the systems

the device location, which can cost US$500 or more per visit, or ship a replacement unit, and cover it under a support contract.

D e v i c e a n d n e t wo r k i n telligence that drives ‘real-time awareness’ is the new holy grail of M2M. Companies are increasingly learning more automation is required to increase the visibility into how their systems a re performing.

With real-time connectivity, embedded software, advanced analytics and cloud services, substantial improvements in equipment uptime, support resource scheduling and deployment and supply chain efficiencies are within reach. The potential impacts on businesses as well the economy overall are significant.

and people supporting them.

That is a very different thing from feeding the real-time inputs from the device communications technology into systems that continually compare device states to sets of rules and then do something on that basis.

In M2M applications, unlike handsets, there typically is no support person or technician at the device location.

Therefore, a person is not often available to perform or support troubleshooting processes.

So, if a dev ice lose s its connection to the network, and no one is available at the device location, how does a remote customer service representative know how to diagnose and solve the problem? They do not. Depending on the asset value they may either dispatch a service technician to

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ENQUIRY NO. 245

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May 2011 | industrial automation asia 37

instrumentation & Measurement

Taking A Broad View Machine Vision:

Technology that aids in reducing waste and increasing efficiency can be used to capture information for effective supply chain management across various industries. By Didier Lacroix, senior VP, international sales & services, Cognex

M

achine vision technology has made significant progress over the years, a llow ing orga n isat ion s to simplify processes and save money while meeting business objectives.

It is a critical element in factory automation and allows manufacturers to make quality products at lower cost. For example, it can help to eliminate waste by detecting defects in the assembly or the process of making a part before further value is added.

In general, machine vision is used to address three categories of applications: guidance, inspection, and identification.

Showing The Way Guidance is the use of vision to locate a part or a feature on a part or a pattern. This is to automate the mecha nica l ha ndling of

38  industrial automation asia | May 2011

that part during an assembly process, or during the general manufacturing flow.

An example might be the use of a vision system to aid a robot to pick a part up from a conveyor belt and place it into a container. This makes guidance a critical element in factory automation and a key application area for machine vision.

Self-contained vision systems like In-Sight, combine the camera, processor, memory and software into one housing. This makes vision affordable and accessible for many applications on the factory floor. Smaller variants that are as small as 30mm x 30mm x 60mm long can also be found on the market. These are suited for installation into small spaces – or on the end of a robot.

To e n ha nce t he e a se o f operation, software can provide

the consolidated control of multiple v ision systems. A n operator interface display console can allow the operator to view all the vision systems that are on their line, make product changeovers, and adjust a setting or parameter if it is needed.

In the 3D space, vision is used to guide the picking and placing of objects using robotics. Many of these applications involve looking at two-dimensional images and providing X, Y and theta positional information – so that the robot can decide where to pick and then where to place the actual object.

As manufacturers are looking to automate more of their lines and to solve more applications, many of the parts are becoming increasingly complex. They not only need X, Y and theta position but also what is referred to as the Z.

Keeping Watch Inspection is a broad category and can refer to the process of determining whether something is present or absent. It ca n also be applied in dimensional checking, to ensure that a part is manufactured to some critical dimension, or to look for defects or flaws on the surface of a part.

This is an area where manufacturers are trying to improve overall product quality and reduce the number of defects in their manufacturing process.

This trend is driving the need for inspection capabilities with higher resolution cameras which require quicker image processing, and the faster ability to make a decision – so that they can keep up with the production line during the manufacturing flow.

As more large substrates and items like solar cells and flat panels emerge on the market, the requirement to look at larger areas and to inspect extremely small defects, is fuelling greater demand for defect inspection.

What is needed is the ability to integ rate high - re solution cameras with even illumination, high-speed processing power and vision software tools that can perform the defect detection and classification.

Track & Trace In the area of industrial identification, manufacturers engrave or emboss a serial number on a part and track it through the process.

Industries are moving towards the identification of parts at that part

level and have that part tracked not only in the manufacturing side, but even once it gets into the supply chain.

The ability to do this has been enabled to an extent by machine vision that can read twodimensional (2D) barcodes. These look different from the barcodes that are commonly seen on products at a grocery store, which are more similar to a picket fence style.

The 2D barcodes have a closer resemblance to a checkerboard and manufacturers require a vision system and an imaging device to read them. This technology enables manufacturers to improve their manufacturing processes while providing them with traceability – in the event that a recall is required in the future, after the product has been released into the market.

Since image-based readers view the entire barcode instead of just a single line, they can utilise algorithms to overcome quiet zone violations and other code damage issues – that can potentially cause problems for laser scanners on the production line.

In addition, image-based readers are able to use light sources to read codes that lasers cannot see, including barcodes printed with ink that is nearly invisible in nonultraviolet light. In this way, imagebased readers are able to attain higher read rates.

Ima ge - ba sed re aders a re able to read barcodes in any orientation within a single view. In contrast, it often requires multiple laser scanners to be configured together to read barcodes in applications where orientation is not repeatable.

With continued developments in machine vision, various industries can look towards increasing the efficiency of their manufacturing and supply chain operations, all while improving profitability and sustainability.

ENQUIRY NO. 3501

ARE YOU READY FOR THE NEXT OUTBURST OF ALARMS?

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ENQUIRY NO. 247

In addition, it is also necessary to know the full pose of the object in three-dimensional space as this enables a robot to pick it up and place it in the orientation that is desired. This is a complex area that requires well-calibrated imaging and subsequent image processing analysis.

May 2011 | industrial automation asia 39

instrumentation & Measurement

Difference With the advent of technology in machine vision systems, there is an increasing trend for many engineers to rely on software algorithms to touch up their images. By Lief Bu, sales manager, Island Optical Systems

T

he benefits of filters are many but perhaps the most obvious one is when they are used in a colour and contrast application. Although using a colour camera in a colour sorting application seems to make the most sense, contrary to popular belief, in such colour separation applications, a monochromatic camera may actually make it easier to sort and separate than a colour camera.

A monochromatic camera essentially has a single sensor that determines grey scale values. Based on the amount of light available, each pixel on the sensor tabulates to a numeric value.

Colour cameras on the other hand typically use a Bayer filter array over what essentially is a standard monochrome sensor, in order to determine the colour in the image. In a sense, what colour cameras do is somewhat like guess work.

When presented with an object, the colour camera analyses individual pixel information and pieces back the whole scene to obtain the full-colour image. This gives rise to more margins for error and/ or resolution loss, and slower processing time. Yet 40 industrial automation asia | May 2011

very often, integrators move instinctively towards colour cameras when choosing the hardware for a colour sorting application. They fail to consider that a human eye’s sensitivity is different from that of a camera.

A rule of thumb when it comes to colour applications is that like colours lighten, and dissimilar colours darken (forms the most dynamic contrasts). This applies also when using monochromatic cameras, except the image is portrayed in varying shades of grey, black and white.

A filter essentially maximises the amount of light transmitted in a certain wavelength range, and minimises or cancel out the amount of light transmitted in another wavelength. As an example, to lighten a subject that is red, transmission in the red portion of the spectrum must be maximised, and much of the blue, green, yellow and other portions of the spectrum blocked.

‘Colour’ filters attenuate light within some portion of the visible spectrum and have an obvious colour.

Such filters can be categorised as short-pass, longpass and band-pass filters.

Ilker, Izmir, Turkey

Seeing The

It blocks off both longer and shorter wavelengths, effectively blocking out much more of the ambient light and enhances contrast. Most LEDs have a specified tolerance of ±10 nm assigned to the specified wavelength and overall range of the spectral output curve extends about 20 to 30 nm on each side of the peak.

Often, the spectral output of the LEDs will vary by batch and it is not uncommon for a light to consist of LEDs with shifted curves to either direction. A narrow band-pass filter may transmit light that is shifted only on one side, hence lowering the overall efficiency of the system.

A broad band-pass filter allows light from the entire range to transmit while blocking out extraneous light. Broad band-pass filters are also angle insensitive and can perform well when wide-angle or shallow-incident angle lighting is used. Therefore, for machine vision applications, it is recommended to use broad band-pass filters due to the spectral characteristics of the LEDs. This is very useful in the initial stages of project development where one can easily test which colour or wavelength creates the most obvious contrast

ENQUIRY NO. 258

Short-pass filters pass shorter wavelengths of light, while blocking longer wavelengths. Long-pass filters pass longer wavelengths and blocks shorter wavelengths. These types of filters are usually identified by their 50 percent points – where 50 percent of the light is being transmitted and 50 percent is being blocked.

While to a human eye, a long-pass filter that is red in colour may appear a good filter choice; most CCD/CMOS cameras have excellent near-infrared (NIR) sensitivity, and near-UV sensitivity as well.

Many of these cameras have sensitivity that peaks in the NIR. When a graphic representation of a typical CCD/ CMOS spectral response curve is superimposed on the filter’s transmission curve, it becomes obvious that a long-pass filter will not block as much of the light to the camera as one might imagine. Around half of the extraneous light that the camera is sensitive to is being blocked. For this reason, a broad band-pass filter would be recommended as it works better, or rather, twice as hard.

A band-pass filter is usually named according to the central or peak wavelength that it transmits.

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May 2011 | industrial automation asia 41

instrumentation & Measurement

by simply slipping the appropriate band-pass filter in front of the lens. This helps in lowering cost as one can see the basic effect of imaging in a certain spectral range before committing to a costly LED light source.

Light Balancing Filters A lt hou g h white lig ht is ter me d a s such, it has been noted that different types of light sources produce different ‘shades’ of white light.

Compared to what is considered the optimum type of white lighting, standard daylight, though these differences may seem small, the resulting image can differ widely.

An easy and cost-efficient method would be to simply use a colour correction or light-balancing filter in front of the camera lens. ‘Cool’ lighting such as white LEDs can be corrected by a ‘colour warming’ filter while ‘warm’ lighting that has a reddish tinge such as halogen light can be corrected by a ‘colour cooling’ filter.

Essentia lly, such ty pes of filters work to balance out the colour temperature, effectively producing light that tends towa rds natura l su n l ig ht. T h is a l lows t he cont i nue d u sa ge of generally lower cost lighting with greater lifespan and intensity.

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42 industrial automation asia | May 2011

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Polarising Filters Specular reflection on highly reflective surfaces such as plastic packaging, or liquids obscures the subject, increases noise levels and decrease the contrast in the image. Very often, this light comes from the illumination light source itself. To solve this problem, polariser filters can be utilised. Both linear polarisers and circular polarisers will achieve the same effect in most cases.

The only difference is circular polarisers have a ¼ wave retarder which rotates the linearly polarised light by 90 degs and are required for cameras with an inbuilt light metering system. However, most machine vision applications do not use such cameras and linear polarisers are largely recommended. Bear in mind that each polariser used will reduce overall transmission by about half, and light starved applications need to factor that into the equation.

Neutral Density Filters Neutral Density Filters reduce the light reaching the sensor without affecting the colour balance. They are commonly used in applications where there is too much light.

They also decrease depth of field by allowing wider lens apertures to be used. This causes the background to be out of focus while the subject remains in focus – effectively separating subjects from their background.

IR & UV Filters Depending on what is being imaged, working in the NIR or UV spectrum could yield significantly better results than when using visible light. Typically images in the NIR differ from the ones taken in visible light by around 50 percent. However, unless the spectral characteristic of the object is known, some trial and error is required.

The easiest and most cost efficient way to achieve this is by slipping a visible block/IR pass filter over the camera lens to see if there is any change in image when taken in NIR light. If there is, often optimal contrast can be achieved. UV applications generally involve excitation of certain materials using UV light.

The fluorescence emitted is generally produced in the visible spectrum.

For such applications, generally a visible band-pass filter optimised for the emission wavelength coupled with UV blocking characteristics is recommended.

This will prevent interference of the UV light with the fluorescenced light in the image taken.

Optimising the light source by using a UV bandpass filter at the material’s excitation wavelength is also recommended.

ENQUIRY NO. 3502

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Proven Lead Generation Programmes IAA is committed to increasing industry awareness of clients’ products. It takes an active role in major exhibitions and conferences in the region to attract both new and existing readers.

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Taking the Leading Role in Automation Established in 2001, IAA is Asia’s informative and up-to-date magazine in the area of Industrial Automation. Its top-quality content caters to professionals in the industry and is designed to equip those in charge of change with expert and unbiased information.

Global Reach with a Strong Online Presence IAA’s website, www.iaasiaonline.com, is an interactive web portal that features up-to-date developments on the international scene.

Readers Represent the Region’s Important Automation Professionals IAA is the trusted resource of C-level management, plant managers, engineering experts and purchasers who want to keep abreast of the latest market and technological developments.

Its wide circulation is accredited by BPA-Audit Worldwide to ensure that each and every printed copy is validated and reaches the right people in the industry.

Through print advertisements, direct email blasts, and a strong online presence, we guarantee you more exposure and more leads.

Wide Industrial Coverage IAA covers a number of important industries including Electrical & Electronics Manufacturing, Chemical & Petrochemical, Pharmaceuticals, Water & Wastewater, Aerospace, Automotive, Food & Beverage Processing, Oil & Gas Production, and Systems Design.

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3D Technology Colour Camera

Improving quality is a constant focus area for all kinds of production lines. Machine vision is a useful tool in achieving this aim. By Fredrik Nilsson, vision product manager, Sick

M

achine vision has proven itself to be a key factor in the work to improve and ensure both product and production quality. In many cases, a camera that generates one specific type of image, for instance gray scale or 3D image is used together with clever processing to reveal any faulty parts or to control the production process.

However, with the demand for even higher quality, catching only one aspect of the parts will in many cases be a severe limitation. To further improve the quality, it is becoming necessary to consider several image aspects of the parts.

Getting several different kinds of measurements can be done by adding cameras of different types.

This, however, adds both complexity and cost to the solution.

In particular, it adds some challenges when the data needs to be fused for a combined analysis 44  industrial automation asia | May 2011

since the images are generated through different optical systems.

Vision For Innovation An interesting innovation will be a camera that provides several different feature images from one single camera and through the same optical system. The 3D colour camera device combines the benefits of a 3D camera and a colour line scan camera.

In addition, it also provides laser scatter and monochrome measurements in high resolution.

In total, up to eight different types of measurements can be provided simultaneously: 3D shape, red, greed, blue, laser scatter, monochrome, monochrome without IR, and near IR. With MultiScan technology, the camera can be software con f ig u re d to prov ide a ny combination of these measurements according to the exact need of each specific application.

Each measurement can be

tuned in terms of, for example, exposure time, gain, and binning, in order to individually optimise the quality of the different images.

By combining the proprietary i m a g e r a n d t he M u lt i S c a n technology, one such imaging device can replace the need for several other cameras. This allows for a reduced system size as well as reduced costs for hardware, integration, and maintenance.

Technology Improvements A CMOS imager with one processing element for each sensor column, would mean certain image operations can be made already at imager level, which reduces the amount of data for post processing significantly. This is particularly important for the 3D measurements which are done by laser triangulation.

In this case, the sensor itself is capable of finding the position of the laser line on the imager

which is the key to individual optimisation of the dynamic range and image quality of each of the measurements.

To get the same total row length as of the 2D area, these pixels are of half the width (4.75Îźm) but are taller to get an improved pixel light sensitivity. Most of these rows are covered with a specific filter or a combination of filters. The filters are added at wafer level, directly onto the sensor surface, to ensure minimal cross talk for high degree of separation.

Knowing The Benefits Considering both 3D, colour, and other aspects in part inspection allows for more reliable decisions and hence improved product quality. The unique capability of the 3D colour camera replaces the need for several different cameras.

In Conclusion 3D colour camera technology is applicable in any industrial application where both the colour and the 3D shape, position, or volume of the produced parts needs to be considered in order to make a correct grading or quality decision.

Having all the different images coming from the same camera has several advantages and makes it easier for vision system integrators and vision OEMs to improve their solutions by the incorporation of different object aspects.

It may also expand the usage of 3D vision as it makes this more accessible and attractive for integrators and OEMs already used to colour imaging using colour linescan cameras.

ENQUIRY NO. 3503

ENQUIRY NO. 244

and will condense the full 2D image into one array of laser position coordinates. This onchip data reduction is the key to the high 3D-profile-speed of the camera system.

With the imager being programmable, different regions can be assigned to perform different tasks or measurements.

For instance, one collection of rows can be used for 3D imaging, another for pure A/D conversion for gray scale imaging, and yet another to measure the light propagation in a laser line (laser scatter).

The sensor rows ca n be addressed in any sequence, which means that the pixel values in a row can be reset and read out at any time. This enables parallel measurements with individual exposure times (equals the time difference from rest to read out)

May 2011 | industrial automation asia  45

Solar PV Reliability And Certification Testing Testing is necessary to insure products are capable of withstanding the environment that they are likely to encounter. We are seeing a boom in clean technology research and manufacture, including solar photovoltaic modules and panels with increased efficiency, reliability, and cost effectiveness. By Kevin Ewing, marketing manager, Thermotron Industries

T

he time is now for clean, renewable energy technologies. Favourable government tax credits, a decreased dependency upon fossil fuels, and the need to stimulate the economy are just three factors favouring the expansion of technologies that harness the sun’s energy.

Manufacturers of solar Photovoltaic ( PV ) modules and panels strive to improve product efficiency, reliability and cost effectiveness. To this end, it is necessary to perform testing to insure products are capable of withstanding the environments they are likely to encounter during their intended lifetime.

The Purpose Of Solar Panel Testing The overriding objective for testing PV products is to enhance durability, longevity, and performance of photovoltaic modules and solar panels. When placed in service, these products are exposed to searing heat, sub zero freezing cold, and drenching high humidity. These outdoor environmental 46  industrial automation asia | May 2011

conditions can be tortuous over the lifetime of a product, and are the culprits for triggering many of the most common failure mechanisms.

Tests are performed at various stages, and for a variety of purposes: at the R&D phase to prove out design robustness, accelerated testing to predict lifetime, or meantime between failures; to win safety and certification marks required to sell and install PV products, and in production for sample lot reliability verification.

Currently, the life expectancy for solar products has increased to 25 years. Solar modules and panels have been tested out to twice the life of the warranty to insure the durability of their products. Solar products are commonly tested all the way to failure to establish baseline criteria for expected product life.

Equipment Required To Perform Tests The total solar test system is comprised of three major components; a test chamber capable of accurately reproducing temperature and humidity conditions,

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1.The Test Chamber The chamber must have sufficient internal capacity to contain the specified number of solar panels. Common upright environmental chamber workspace sizes range from 1.2 m wide x 1.2 m high x 1.2 to 1.8 m high.

In chambers of this style, it is common to load 10 to 20 panels depending upon their thickness. If panels approach 2.1 m to 2.4 m deep, the chamber will likely take the shape of a small walk-in, with the capacity of testing 60 panels or more.

Airflow in the chamber is crucial to performance and repeatability. There must be sufficient airflow around all surfaces of the solar panels to insure proper uniformity.

It is important that the airflow distribution within the chamber is consistent and dead spots are eliminated.

IEC and UL solar test specifications call for test conditions as low as –40 deg C. It is essential the chamber be capable of providing substantial capacity at these low temperatures. To accomplish this, it

is advantageous to specify a chamber that uses a cascade refrigeration system.

Cascade refrigeration has an ultimate low temperature of –73 deg C, providing high capacity cooling through the working range. On the upper end of the temperature range, specifications require +85 deg C. This temperature is easily accommodated in the solid or welded chamber construction, but is not recommended for chambers of the prefabricated walkin panel variety, especially when high humidity levels with elevated vapour pressure are required.

The IEC 61215 Humidity Freeze Test includes a challenging condition where humidity must be controlled during temperature transition. This requires special design consideration. The refrigeration and humidity systems need to be sized and controlled via a sophisticated software algorithm.

Damp heat tests lasting 1,000 hours and sometimes as long as 2,000 hours or more require a chamber capable of running maintenance free 24/7 for a month or more at a time. Reliability is critical to the success of these chambers to run maintenance and failure free for extended test periods. Reliable sensors, water supply, and adherence to proper preventive

ENQUIRY NO. 251

a fixture capable of supporting the solar panels inside the chamber, and functional product test instrumentation to supply current, voltage and thermocouple monitoring.

May 2011 | industrial automation asia  47

energy

maintenance all factor in to a chamber that will perform for the long haul.

2.The Mounting Fixture Whether tests are carried out on thicker Crystalline Silicon PV modules and panels or thin film panels of the Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) and Copper Indium Gallium diSelenide (CIGS) variety, the test set-up must incorporate a means to support the products under test to provide proper air distribution.

The fixture must withstand the extremes of the environment. Materials of construction must be robust yet lightweight to minimise thermal load and conductivity. It is also desirable to thermally isolate the mounting fixture from the panels being tested.

Finally, the products must be easily loaded into and removed from the support fixture. In certain situations, it is very helpful to have a fixture with flexibility and adjustability to accommodate panels with various sizes. Wear points within the fixturing solution must be durable yet easy to replace without compromising the integrity of the entire framework.

In ma ny applications, it is de sirable to permanently affix the panel support fixture to the interior walls of the environmental test chamber.

When done in this fashion, each solar panel to be

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tested is individually loaded into the fixture chassis.

Another configuration involves a rolling cart, which is loaded with panels outside the chamber and slid into position. This concept works well in production settings where throughput is critical. One cart can be pre-loaded with panels while the other cart is inside the chamber. A quick swap-out can save time and improve productivity.

3.Test Instruments & Data Acquisition New IEC 61215 standards require application of peak power current during thermal cycling when the module temperature is above 25 deg C. One way to accomplish this is with a power supply programmed to provide current and voltage levels to the PV products under test. These levels are similar to those the operating PV products are capable of producing when they operate in field installations. Rather than the products developing power from the sun, this power is being sent to them via the power supply.

In most cases, it is desirable to monitor and log temperature data on each solar panel or device.

This multi channel data acquisition function can be accomplished directly through the chamber control system interface.

Summary Solar PV modules and panels are growing in popularity among consumers due to emerging renewable energy trends. The near future holds the ability to power vehicles, cell phones, laptops, lamps and aircrafts with solar panels. In order to effectively power these devices, the solar panel must be able to withstand their likely environmental surroundings.

To test the panels against their environment, many considerations need to be made before test equipment is selected. First and foremost, the types of tests need to be designed based on test standards such as IEC 61215, IEC 61646, IEC 61731 and UL 1703. Solar panel dimensions also need to be considered. The chamber needs to accommodate the quantity of panels being tested, as well as the loading technique to optimise efficiency. One must decide whether or not the panels will be powered on during testing, determine the level and sophistication of functional testing, and the data measurement and acquisition needs such as temperature, voltage, and current.

The versatility of these panels to power a wide range of devices means that determining testing methods and proper test equipment is a critical phase in manufacturing reliable PV products. Carefully crafting proper test procedures will help ensure a long product lifecycle.

ENQUIRY NO. 3601

ENQUIRY NO. 243

sector spotlight

Lab Automation:

Challenging

Labour Shortages

In Singapore In 2010, a policy in Singapore aimed at encouraging local based companies to create a mechanised and automated work environment for keeping a highly educated and skilled workforce and/or workplaces in Singapore.

By Lars Skovsgaard, MD, Zacobria

S

uch efforts have been made through tax policies that benefit local companies who introduce mechanisation and automation. The government allows accelerated capital allowance for most assets used for business purposes.

The Productivity and Innovation Credit (‘PIC’) was introduced in the 2010 Singapore Budget to encourage productivity and innovation. Implemented by providing enhanced tax incentives for investments in a range of activities, eg: automation equipment, training of employees.

Encouraging Productivity And Innovation The 2010 agenda saw productivity and innovation feature highly, and would continue to be the case going forward. Local enterprises are starting to benefit from the schemes introduced in Budget 2010, which encourage productivity and innovation.

For example, the Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) scheme offers a cash conversion option. Businesses in this scheme, which are cash-strapped, can opt to convert an amount each year equivalent to S$300,000 (US$238,000), of its qualifying PIC deductions, into cash.

This is subject to a cap of S$21,000.

This option is currently available for the years of assessment, 2011 to 2013. An extension of this incentive period would benefit enterprises at an early stage of their growth. Facilitating their planning for longer-term investment and capability development.

Lab Automation Laboratory processes are suited for robotic automation as they are composed of repetitive movements (eg:

50  industrial automation asia | May 2011

pick/place, shaking, and testing).

Automation and robotics are increasingly freeing scientists from the need to constantly monitor their experiments. Automation establishes increased productivity and lowers costs for laboratories, enabling more creative time for individual researchers.

Automation of routine laboratory procedures, and fully functional robotic systems can replace jobs, once done manually, during an eight-hour shift, into procedures that require very little human intervention, and operate (at least in theory) 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Simple, repetitive task can be automated.

Free Up Time For The Scientist Laboratory automation, and the growing emergence of robotics have transformed the typical workday, for many individual scientists. Thanks to the creativity, imagination, and hard work of researchers, and companies in this field, scientists can set up, run, and analyse the results of experiments in a fraction of the time they needed in the past. They can also accomplish the tasks with less hands-on intervention than ever before.

As such, associate scientists, and technicians who used to spend their days performing tasks of tedious repetition now have the time to think creatively about the implications of their experimentation, and to design effective follow-up projects, or develop alternative approaches to their work.

Evaluation Of Automated Systems The average researcher in the lab needs consistent quality. Any laboratory manager who wants to automate

Varieties Of Automation Manufacturers of laboratory automation, and robotic equipment emphasise that their products do not come in a one-size-fits-all format. Rather, they design specific devices, for the specific needs of specific laboratories, or researchers, which can be viewed from several aspects – such as higher throughput to move more samples, or handle more plates.

To deal with the changing demand, vendors of lab automation equipment offer a range of products and services, and the one-trick only approach in research labs are limited. The challenge is configuring components to allow maximum flexibility. Modular systems will allow scientists to tackle several different lab processes in one automation platform.

Workstation Vs Robot Fully, and semi automated work stations can prepare, or manipulate hundreds of plates in a single day for high throughput work. Workstations are usually dedicated to perform a fixed set of tasks, such as washing, rinsing, or evacuating solutions from a sample well. These stations often require the operator to refill them with empty plates when needed to remain in active operation.

Robotic systems are even more sophisticated, as they can perform many of the tasks that would normally be left for a human being. These tasks might involve gripping a tube, or other object, and emptying its contents, or moving the object from one environment to another.

The trend has quickened recently. What has gained some steam in the past three to four years is automation of the part of the work that involves moving samples around the lab from one instrument to another. Transporting might need a lot of people – so if you can get the robots to do it, you release the people to do more important things.

tasks because they can be carried around in the laboratory and reprogrammed without necessity of a full engineering team and software engineers due to the graphical programming environment, and userorientated functions.

Laboratory Automation: Advantages And Disadvantages Advantages of an automated system include: faster processing (note automation is not always faster than a human operator); increased repeatability; increased productivity; improved efficiency; high reproducibility; establish safer working environments; reduction in materials wastage due to optimised process variables; ability to perform work continuously unaffected by human constraints; able to perform work in, and around harsh environments; withdraws staff from boring, repetitive tasks.

Disadvantages of an automated system include: single/one-off sample assessments are expensive; many laboratory techniques have not yet been developed for robotic automation; difficult to automate in instances where visual analysis/ recognition/comparisons are required; analysis is limited by available sensory inputs.

ENQUIRY NO. 3701

Hitachi Variable Frequency Drives Pursuing the Ideal Compact Inverter

WJ200 Series

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L300P Series (V/f) 11~75kW (3-phase 200V class) 1.5~132kW (3-phase 400V class)

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Tel: +81 3 4345 6063

ENQUIRY NO. 079

operations must decide on which semi-automated, or fully automated, system to purchase. The manager should base that decision on several basic factors: why the lab requires automation; what assay format the laboratory will use; what level of technical support it will need; and what potential disadvantages might surface after installing such a system.

Having decided to automate, the manager must then examine what is available on the market.

Factors such as ease of implementation, ease of alterations, and ease of support are paramount, and decision factors.

May 2011 | industrial automation asia 51

features

Solid Edge Product Launch Event Review:

W

IAA was at the launch of Solid Edge ST3 to find out more on the CAD software product that uses synchronous technology to improve design, validation and collaboration.

ith its global launch in the US in October last year, the ST3 made its way to Singapore, bringing with it the benefits of synchronous technology. In his opening speech, Go Say Tiam, VP of the Velocity series, Siemens (Asia Pacific) presented the pertinent points of the product to the participants.

According to him, the product accelerates design creation by eliminating design pre-planning and reduces the need for physical prototypes through wider range of simulations.

Live demonstrations by Siemens engineers showed new features of the product and how synchronous technology helps cut down time in making Engineering Design Changes (ECO).

March 15, 2011 Marina Mandarin Singapore ENQUIRY NO. 3801

A User Community: Intuitively Yours Go Say Tiam (L) and Rajiv Ghatikar (R) at the launch

At the recent product launch, Solid Edge ST3, from Siemens PLM, is touted as a CAD software program that ‘delivers ideas from 1,000 customers’. With this philosophy of engaging users and drawing inspiration from them, the notion of a user community is very much on the forefront of the company’s strategies in R&D. The importance of having a user community is highlighted

by Go Say Tia m, V P of the Velocity series, Siemens (Asia Pacific). He said: “The community is the cornerstone of our R&D 52 industrial automation asia | May 2011

e nde avou rs i n my opi n ion.

Recently, while on a roadshow in the US, our R&D team interacted and learnt from our customers what improvements they would like to see in the future.”

In addition, Mr Go also touched on the popularity of new media and the pertinent question to ask, according to him, is how to use the Internet as leverage to build up communities. The next step would be creating an avenue to extract information from the user base.

To him, there are two ways to go about doing it.

“We have a Global Technical Assistance portal called G Tech in short. This is one way we capture requests online. G Tech is accessible by all Solid Edge users who possess a web key upon purchase of the product. With it, he/she can log on to our bulletin boards where people share openly their opinions,” said Mr Go. In cases where language is p ote nt ia l ly a proble m , t he company’s massive network of partners plays a crucial role in obtaining customer feedback. He said: “In South Korea, sometimes it is difficult for users to engage other international users in G Tech because of the language barrier but their voice is heard through our partners who can log on as well. In the end, the number of feedback we get is fairly balanced across the regions we operate in.”

ENQUIRY NO. 3802

The Only Way Is Forward

What Do You Like About ST3?

The uncompromising route on innovation and improvement points only to one direction.

ST: What I like about the ST3 is we have taken the disruptive approach i n C A D t e c h n o l o g y. I h a v e s e e n all three releases and the current ve r s io n is the o ne with the m o s t impact. Right now, we are marrying the traditional platform (things that the users are familiar with, for instance, the way of design) with synchronous technology. As such, greater adaptability is achieved.

Changes and updates are unavoidable in today’s world of technology. This is the point that Rajiv Ghatikar, VP and GM of Siemens PLM (ASEAN/Australasia) would like to drive home. “In this world of technology, if you don’t keep up, you are going to be left out,” he said.

New product introductions into market sometimes face a certain amount of inertia from users. In order to address that issue, the key is to make a product that is easier to use.

Said Mr Ghatikar: “People may see two things when a new release approaches the market; that is the prospect of re-training and upgrading of hardware systems. But if the product is much easier to work with, it is easier to convince people.”

In addition, with Asia taking a more prominent role in the manufacturing world, more designing demands will be on the designers in Asia. With China and India as the leading markets for the company in Asia, Mr Ghatikar used the Chinese automakers as an example. He said: “The challenge for the future is to design cars that are more compact and fuel efficient. If they are unwilling to upgrade, they will be left out.”

RG: I like the simulations aspect of the software as it allows the user to do some basic validations. That is powerful because they can then track any potential issues at the point of design.

In The Pipeline…

The makers are currently lining up ST 4 for a summer release in the US this year.

ENQUIRY NO. 3803

Mark Your Calendar – 4 to 8 July 2011

Sustainable Water Solutions for a Changing Urban Environment Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre

4 – 8 July 2011

Themed “Sustainable Water Solutions for a Changing Urban Environment”, the 2011 event reinforces Singapore International Water Week as the global platform to address the latest and most pertinent water issues amidst a rapidly changing world.

As cities grow and urbanise, the search for sustainable water solutions will become more crucial.

Through its flagship programmes, Singapore International Water Week continues to deliver value to delegates, trade visitors and exhibitors alike, with opportunities to promote practical

and sustainable water solutions to the water industry as well as water users in other sectors.

The robust programme line-up underscores Singapore’s global hydrohub aspirations and business opportunities for the world water market. With an exciting series of technical tours and co-located events, Singapore International Water Week 2011 is a must attend.

Registration is now open.

Visit www.siww.com.sg to find out how you can be a part of Singapore International Water Week 2011.

Programme At A Glance TIME

Monday 4 July

MORNING LATE MORNING Golf Classic Technical Tours World Cities Summit Mayors’ Forum

AFTERNOON

LATE AFTERNOON

Southeast Asia Water Ministers Forum

Water Convention Co-located Events

Tuesday 5 July

A wellspring of exciting technologies and business opportunities awaits at Singapore International Water Week 2011.

Water Ministers Singapore Plenary Water Lecture

Water Convention

Water Expo

Wednesday 6 July

Water Leaders Summit Roundtable & Workshops

China Business Forum Japan Business Forum Southeast Asia Business Forum

Water Convention Water Expo

Thursday 7 July

Australia Business Forum Europe Business Forum India Business Forum

Americas Business Forum Middle East & North Africa Business Forum

Water Convention Water Expo

Friday 8 July

Technical Tours

Closing Dinner Guest of Honour Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Singapore

Co-located Events Co-located Events

Information accurate as of 1 March 2011

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ENQUIRY NO. 257

The global platform for water solutions, Singapore International Water Week brings policymakers, industry leaders, experts and practitioners together to address challenges, showcase technologies, discover opportunities and celebrate achievements in the water world.

Water Conversation with Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister, Singapore

EVENING Opening Ceremony & Welcome Reception Guest of Honour Mr Goh Chok Tong, Senior Minister, Singapore Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize Award Ceremony & Banquet Guest of Honour Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Minister Mentor, Singapore

4/12/11 9:49:15 AM May 2011 | industrial automation asia 53

oil& gas

T

here are a variety of technologies, which can be used to effectively track assets across the Oil & Gas (O&G) industries, ensuring their effectiveness and maintenance. The two most widely used are bar-coding technology and RFID. Using barcode technology, O&G organisations in Asia can minimise time looking for key assets and ensure that their equipment is functioning at its fullest capacity. In the event o f e qu ip m e nt fa i lu re , O & G organisations need to be able to recognise where the fault lies, and track the origin and condition of the equipment.

Barcodes enable tracking of individual parts of machinery within large -scale assets (ie: trucks and drilling machinery) as well as ensuring that safety e q u i p m e n t ’s m a i n t e n a n c e schedules are adhered to.

Reaping The Benefits One major oil organisation to have realised the benefits offered by a ba rcode a sset track ing solut ion i n re ce nt t i me s is Canada’s Syncrude, which turns sand in Athabasca Oil Deposit, into more than 230,000 barrels of crude oil a day.

Syncrude had an ongoing issue within their business whereby they realised that their tool cribs were significantly under performing – processing more than 1,000 transactions every day but with a considerable margin of human error. As a result they implemented barcode tracking using metal tags with serialised number bar code and attached them to all tools and equipment across the processing business with epoxy tools.

By the application of asset tracking technology, the value of the barcode in this lies in its accuracy and efficiency. It is an incredibly robust, reliable

54 industrial automation asia | May 2011

It is becoming apparent across the industry that many oil and gas organisations are limited by their knowledge of what is happening across their business operations.

By Allan Neo, director, Systems Engineering, Intermec

Oil & Gas Technology Trends:

How

Automating And Going Wireless

Can Improve Efficiency

ENQUIRY NO. 194

oil& gas

J K, UK

Coupling barcode technology with a leading asset tracking and management system enables oil and gas organisations to accurately identify fixed and portable assets within processing environments

technology that costs virtually cents to produce and y ields high returns on investment.

Coupling barcode technology with a leading asset tracking and management system enables oil a nd gas orga nisations to accurately identify fixed and portable assets within processing environments including vehicles, tools and machinery.

Asset information is generally recorded v ia a ha nd - held barcode reader, which has a pre-programmed interrogation system enabling the system user to collate data efficiently, accurately and in an organised and efficient format.

RFID In O&G In addition to bar coding, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has always been considered a forward-looking technology, but one which is gaining credence in its applications in the O&G sector – in particular around the areas of 56 industrial automation asia | May 2011

Asset tracking solutions that utilise RFID technology help build and maintain safer workplaces health and safety best practice.

Despite the obvious benefits of tracking health and safety equipment, anecdotal evidence tends to indicate that ma ny employers – including those in the O&G mining sector – have incomplete, inconsistent, or inaccurate records related to workplace safety and asset or equipment history.

Asset tracking solutions that utilise RFID technology help build and maintain safer workplaces by cor re ct ly ma na g ing a nd m a i n t a i n i n g o r g a n i s a t i o n s’ assets, including the systematic coordination and tracking of individual risk assessments, sc he du le d i n sp e c t ion s a nd maintenance, as well as ad-hoc and reactive maintenance tasks.

As an example of this, a major O&G mining organisation recently identified an employee safety risk with the issuing, returns and maintenance of their respirators.

The company was unable to identify the actual cost of the maintenance to the equipment and as a result, struggled to even charge repairs to the appropriate sections.

Fol low i n g a succe ssf u l implementation of significant RFID asset tracking solutions, the company was able to have full and accurate visibility of the returns and maintenance process for all respirators, leading to increased equipment reliability and enhancing worker safety at the site.

ENQUIRY NO. 3901

ENQUIRY NO. 212

oil& gas

Increasing Safety Within A Gas Plant Danish energy giant DONG Energy uses ABB’s System 800xA High Integrity to protect a critical gas treatment plant.

By Mogens Aagaard, ABB Process Automation

S

ixteen to 25 million cubic metres of natural gas is handled every day at the plant, which is situated only a few hundred metres from an important road leading to the summer house areas along the North Sea coast.

When the natural gas arrives from the fields in the North Sea through the several hundred kilometres of pipelines, it proceeds directly to Denmark’s only natural gas refinery. This is DONG Energy’s gas treatment plant in Nybro, which was started up in 1984. The facility has since been continuously expanded in order to keep pace with the increasing amounts of gas that are being extracted from deep below the seabed.

58 industrial automation asia | May 2011

Gas From The Sea The current capacity at Nybro Gas Treatment Plant is up to 25 million cubic metres per 24 hours. The plant is part of DONG Energy’s upstream transportation system for natural gas, and all Danish produced natural gas passes from the North Sea through the Nybro Gas Treatment Plant. It is re sp on sible for re ducing the pressure, controlling the quality and measuring the gas. If necessary, it can also process the gas in order to remove liquids, sulphur and other contaminants.

The Plant also houses the Gas Control Centre (GCC). GCC is manned 24 hours a day and is responsible for monitoring

both DONG Energy’s distribution network a nd the a ssociated metering, and regulation station, Nybro Gas Treatment Plant itself, Stenlille Gas Storage as well as the crude oil infrastructure from the North Sea to the oil terminal in Fredericia.

Plant Safety Is Critical It goes without saying that a plant, which handles the Danish and most of the Swedish consumption of natura l ga s requires a very high level of security. That is also the reason why the Plant right from the outset was equipped with an Emergency Shut Down ( ESD) system, to make it possible to

J K, UK

Case Study:

ENQUIRY NO. 232

oil& gas

shut off the supply of gas and vacate the gas from the plant in case of an emergency situation.

The old system was based on relays, which the operators we r e s u p p o s e d to o p e r a te v ia pushbuttons, should a n emergency situation occur.

P r i o r to t h e d e c i si o n to install a new and automated ESD system, a safety analysis of the whole facility was performed.

T h is de mon st rate d t hat a number of actions were needed to b r i n g t he e x i s t i n g re l ay ba se d a nd f u lly me cha nica l safety system up to date. The op e rator s h a d to m a ke t he difficult decision about what to do in an emergency situation and whether the plant was shut down or not depended on this decision. “ I n addit ion to t he hu ge amounts of gas we handle here, another risk factor is that the plant is very close to a busy road, which serves as a main traffic artery to and from the popula r be ach a nd summer house a rea s a long the West coast of Jutland,” says Erik Delf, technical coordinator of the Plant.

He continued: “And it is easy to imagine what that could mean, if we were to have a large gas explosion or an uncontrollable fire.”

Reliability Is Paramount Logically, an ESD system is something the user would, hopefully, never want to use. Nevertheless, the surrounding community and employees at the plant must be able to trust that it will in fact work as expected, if one day the need should become reality.

There are four different safety classes, the so - called Safety Integrity Level (SIL) classes, where SIL1 is the lowest level and SIL4 the highest. The Plant is classified as SIL2 and SIL3. ABB has supplied a System 800x A 60 industrial automation asia | May 2011

based on AC 800M HI controllers, which fulfil the requirements of these classifications.

Smooth Transition The project team was able to establish the specifications for the ESD system and set up a detailed day-to-day work plan, which could be kept for reference when work commenced.

It was important for DONG Energy that their clients, private and industrial gas consumers all over Denmark, would not experience any inconveniences or interruption of the gas supply during the implementation of the ESD system. It was initially decided that the exchange of the old system and installation of the new one should be carried out without the need to shut down the plant.

During the implementation phase it became clear, however, that the plant could be shut down during one hour – sufficient time to perform the shift-over itself – without causing any problems for the facility or its customers.

The shut down was preceded by an increase of the pressure in the distribution lines so that sufficient amounts of gas were available in the lines and the decentralised gas storage facilities that form part of the natural gas network.

“The implementation of the system went completely smooth and according to schedule and the real shut down was minimised to 45 minutes. The original schedule was respected in spite of the difficult working conditions, caused by the concurrent upgrading of our overall control system,” says Mr Delf.

From Full Speed Ahead To A Complete Stop In 45 Minutes The natura l ga s that come s in from the North Sea arrives at a pressure of up to 135 bar which is reduced to 80 bars – the pressure used in the Danish

onshore transmission system.

It is easy to understand that a gas leakage or a fire could quickly escalate with devastating consequences. It is therefore very important that the ESD system is capable of ensuring both that faulty sub-sections of the facility can be quickly isolated from the rest of the plant and that the faulty section or the complete plant can be depressurised as quickly as possible.

Specifically, sub-sections of the plant can be depressurised in just 15 minutes while it takes approximately three quarters of an hour to depressurise the complete plant. This is achieved by burning off the gas on the flare and serves as an important safety valve.

Redundant Technique Protects The Process The ESD system consists of eight controllers placed in various locations in the facility. A ll communications are conducted via a double, redundant fiber optic ring. This means that a breach in one place of the ring will have no consequences for communication – the signal will simply find another way around the ring.

If just one of the eight stations breaks down, the emergency system is activated, and the whole plant is closed down. The actual brains of the system are the likewise redundant servers, which for security reasons are placed on different locations.

A d d i t i o n a l l y, t h e r e a r e two separate control rooms, in the unlikely event that the main control room should be rendered unusable. Finally, the ESD system is hooked up to a UPS system, so that should the power fail, its functionality will not be interrupted in case of a power failure.

ENQUIRY NO. 3902

Upstream Oil & Gas Industry

Opportunities In Malaysia

Sanja Gjenero, Zagreb, Croatia

Oil & Gas Market Outlook:

As crude oil price stabilises to a healthy US$80-90 per barrel, the periodically cyclical oil price market is expected to inch upwards during 2011. By Razeen Khalid, program manager, Energy & Power Systems Practice, Asia Pacific, Frost & Sullivan

L

ast year was an eventful year for the Oil and Gas (O&G) industry globally, and significant for Malaysia in other ways. The major international event in 2010 that made most airtime in the Malaysian O&G market were the updates and after effects of the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill incident in the Gulf of Mexico.

While the gloom from the Deepwater Horizon incident could potentially lead to a cascading effect on how the industry operates and regulates its exploration and development practices – perhaps profoundly affecting the global O&G sectors in the future – the u nveiling of Pet rona s’ new Board Of Directors (BOD) and the Malaysian Government’s announcement of its Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) in its 10th Malaysia Plan is certainly comforting and inviting for our domestic market.

This new zest within the Boardroom of Petronas and the improvements in the Malaysian Government’s budget plans, policies and targets for the national O&G industry are the biggest and most exciting domestic O&G stories of 2010.

Catalysts Of Growth Petronas restructured its BOD and management committee in April 2010 to enhance its corporate governance and strategic investments. The new corporate governors consist of more leaders familiar with the industry. The new breed of mostly experienced O&G leaders promises to bring more focus to exploration, development and production activities.

Strategic collaboration in joint venture developments with fellow ASEAN countries, acquisition of proven or marginal fields, rapid investments in new technology to attempt on new O&G boundaries

and Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) to improve on the nation’s reserves recovery ratio and reservoir management practices will be the taglines for the year 2011.

Development Of Malaysia As The Regional Oilfield Services Hub The Malaysian government has chalked out ambitious plans to develop Malaysia as the regional oilfield services hub.

This is expected to increase domestic and foreign investment into this sector. Many private sector participants have evinced interest in this sector. Malaysia’s offshore producing fields and technical experience is more mature than those of its Southeast Asian neighbours (ie: Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam).

T h i s t ra n slate s to more opportunities for Joint Development Agreements (JDA) or Production May 2011 | industrial automation asia 61

oil& gas

Sharing Agreements (PSA) in exploration and developments, asset commissioning and asset management and for various offshore support services, all of which will continue to drive the growth of this sector and make Malaysia stand out as the Regional Oilfield Services Hub. The recent Production Sharing A g r e e m e n t ( P S A) b e t w e e n Petronas and Brunei National Petroleum Company is a good start to the year.

The Ma laysia n oilfield services and equipment market i s e s t i m a te d to b e a ro u n d R M2 billion ( US$625 million) annually. Brownfield services and Marine Support Services will continue to be high growth subsectors with an estimated RM2 billion worth of contracts in offshore maintenance and marine provisions up for grabs.

Another subsector attracting a lot of interest is decommissioning services. Of the approximately 900 offshore structures in the Asia Pacific region, around 600 of these are over 20 years old.

Decommissioning is new to the region a nd ma ny countries, including Malaysia, are developing their own regulation for decommissioning.

The opportunities for service providers are enormous going by the costs involved for decommissioning projects. The average cost to plug and abandon a well is estimated to be as high as US$750,000. The average cost to decommission a typical platform is estimated around US$2.5 million.

Enhancing Oil Recovery And Development Of Marginal Fields Ma lay sia’s cu r re nt ave ra ge recovery ratio of approximately 23 percent is far from the industry leaders’ 42 – 45 percent range. A recovery ratio of 23 percent means that for every 100 barrels of oil in 62 industrial automation asia | May 2011

the ground, only 23 barrels are brought to the ground while the remaining 77 barrels remain yet to be recovered. A big push in reservoir management initiatives is certainly underway.

Pe t rona s i s i nc re a si n g ly encouraging its production sharing partners to conduct more EOR activities on their mature fields. While the typical primary and secondary recovery methods such a s facility upg rade s, deb ot t le ne c k i n g, pipeline optimisation, works well, production enhancements, acid stimulations, side-track drilling and more prudent reser voir management still go on.

EOR activities in the form of concer ted effor ts in ga s, water, microbial, and chemical injection methods, together with thermal recovery solutions will increase the recovery ratio (total extraction from the reservoir) of the producing fields.

Malaysia With A Mission Improvements in Government policies and budget plans following the economic transformation program will encourage Petronas to re-adopt a new corporate strategy.

As Malaysia strives to become a higher-income nation in line with the 10th Malaysia Plan, Petronas will play a crucial role in bringing back homegrown industry talents that are scattered across the globe, where a vast majority of them trade in the technical areas of O&G mostly in the Gulf Middle East.

With mixed results in their foreign investments over the decade, it is expected that Petronas will re-focus and strategise for more domestic investments both in greenfield developments and brownfield enhancement activities.

Malaysia’s rising economy brings the nation closer to being a net importer of oil, putting a ne e d for big ger re ser ve s discovery. In view of this, the

Government and Petronas have aligned a capital expenditure a llocat ion of approx imately RM40 billion for 2011.

This huge domestic investment certainly benefits more local O&G service providers and contractors of all sizes.

Pushing The Untapped Boundaries Investments in new technology will also be crucial to tap into the un-worked deepwater, high temperature and high-pressure boundaries of domestic fields. A staggering RM13 billion will be invested in 2011 on exploration and development efforts on four deepwater projects, mainly the Gumusut-Kakap, Kebabangan, Malikai and Jangas fields.

Petronas has awarded a total of 23 deepwater field development rights to its operating partners.

Out of this amount, 16 deepwater development fields are still active for exploration, while seven has been relinquished.

Its Better Back Home For Now If in the last decade Petronas was actively investing and growing its businesses internationally, expect a decade worth of investments to be made on managing and developing domestic reserves and talents beginning 2011. In line with this, the Government has announced revisions in its Petroleum Income Tax Act, with new tax exclusion incentives to be given to domestic investments.

Case studies have shown that tax incentives such as these would attract investments into the O&G sector. The incentives are expected to help bring in foreign investments for the capital-intensive deepwater projects. These tax incentives are also bound to attract private investors for the smaller, marginal field initiatives.

ENQUIRY NO. 3903

EVENT PREVIEW

OGA 2011

T H E 13t h A sia n Oil, G a s & Pe t ro c he m ic a l E n g i ne e r i n g Exhibition (OGA 2011), Asia’s l a r g e s t O i l & G a s show i s scheduled to be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre from June 1 – 3, 2011.

The event is expected to attract over 22,0 0 0 v isitors from 60 countries and regions.

Some 1,40 0 compa nies from 50 countries are expected to take up the exhibition space available, which includes the conference halls, banquet hall and ballroom on Level 3. This

amounts to more than 17,000 sq m of space within the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

These companies will showca se technolog y in the fields of exploration, production, and transportation within the oil, gas and petroleum industry.

The exhibitors will be displaying marine equipment, offshore well equipment, sub-sea technologies and reservoir evaluation, just to name a few.

Eight international group p av i l i o n s a r e e x p e c te d to participate, including Australia,

Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Norway, The Netherlands, UK and US. Running alongside the event will be the Subsea Asia conference held once a ga in on Ju ne 2 , 2011 at the KLCC Convention Centre. The conference will be the sixth edition of successful technical programmes organised in Malaysia by the industry’s leading association, Subsea UK. Previous editions have been held each year since 2006 drawing presenters and delegates from around the region.

The conference will again bring together the major industry players from around Asia and beyond. The focus will be on dissemination of new and existing subsea technolog y and most importantly, the exchange of ideas and practical knowledge.

Since its inception in 1989, the OGA series has grown an average of 204 percent, becoming a mirror of the investments into Malaysia.

From an initial exhibition space of 5,000 sq metres, it increased to 17,000 sq metres. In addition, visitor numbers grew from 8,000 to nearly 22,000.

OG A 20 09 attracted 1,337 exhibitors from 49 countries and saw 21,787 visitors from 57 co u nt r i e s. I nte r n a t io n a l p av i l io n s t hat p a r t ic ip ate d included Aust ra lia , Aust r ia , Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, UK and US. This year’s installation is fully supported by the Government of Malaysia and SIRIM and is endorsed by Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE).

June 1 – 3, 2011 Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

ENQUIRY NO. 3904

May 2011 | industrial automation asia 63

EVENT PREVIEW

Semicon 2011 It is a fact – Singapore’s semiconductor industry is experiencing solid growth. Singapore has been a strong contributor to the global semiconductor market, contributing six percent of global semiconductor fab capacity in 2010.

I n ter ms of 3 0 0 m m fab capacity, Singapore earned sturdy double-digit growth of 19 percent from 2009 to 2010 (year-over-year growth). In terms of fab equipment spending, Singapore experienced 126 percent growth in 2010, and another 47 percent growth is expected in 2011.

A c c o r d i n g to S i n g a p o r e Economic Development Board (EDB), electronics output grew by 60.6 percent in 1H 2010, riding on recovery in global demand and capacity expansions from electronics manufacturers in Singapore. EDB also expects to generate more than 4,500 skilled electronics jobs from the investments attracted in 2011.

Aggressive Investment In Singapore Singapore remains the second largest city of semiconductor output and manufacturing hub in Asia. Global manufacturers are expanding their technology centres and influential positioning.

The government attracts frontend fab and equipment makers 64 industrial automation asia | May 2011

into Singapore with ta x-free incentives.

Leveraging this favourable environment, in 2009, STMicroelectronics and United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) a nnounced pla ns to expa nd their Singapore fab capacities by 30 percent. In 2010, IM Flash Singapore opened its facility for tool installation preparations.

Foundries such as Globalfoundries a nd Systems- on- Silicon Manufacturing Company (SSMC) also announced new investments and accelerated their hiring.

Top Manufacturers Gather To Drive Fab Efficiency H owe v e r, t he s e co mp a n i e s have challenges to overcome.

Manufacturing efficiencies, local suppliers a nd ma npower a ll need to be taken into account.

During its most recent meeting, Rodney Morgan, co - executive officer of IM Flash Technologies, who also serves as chairman of the SEMI Singapore Regional Advisory Board (RAB), stated that Singapore provides a great deal of opportunity, but it needs to focus on raising the visibility of the semiconductor industry through workforce development and awareness management.

“SEMI is happy to work with the semiconductor vendors in

Singapore and the government to accomplish their visions of boosting the image of the Singapore semiconductor industry,” said Terry Tsao, president of SEMI Southeast Asia.

Connecting The Industry Companies in the semiconductor chain residing in Singapore also need to optimise manufacturing efficiencies. From design and manufacturing to packaging and testing, an entire eco-system is absolutely essential to enhance the global competitiveness for Singapore.

More than just an industry tradeshow, this year’s Semicon Singapore, to be held from May 11 – 13, 2011, will focus on bringing together the top manufacturers to drive fab efficiency through IDM and foundries as well as equipment and materials markets.

It will also feature a variety of forums simultaneously taking place right at the show floor.

Topics include market trends briefing, manufacturing efficiency, advanced packaging, MEMS, SOLARCON and product testing.

A university program and a job fair will be held during Semicon Singapore 2011. These programs demonstrate the mission from SEMI Singapore RAB of connecting t h e g l o b a l s e m i c o n d u c to r manufacturers to Singapore-based resources and professions.

With the promising market outlook for the overall and emerging markets, the show will provide insights of the latest trends and technologies, as well as address issues to better achieve higher sustainable returns and seek out new business opportunities in Singapore.

May 11 – 13, 2011 Suntec Convention Centre Singapore ENQUIRY NO. 3905

SIAF Guangzhou 2011 T H E se cond e dit ion of SPS – Industrial Automation Fair Guangzhou held from March 9 – 11, 2011, at the China Import and Export Fair Complex attracted a record number of exhibitors and visitors, confirming its position as the top trade fair in Southern China for industrial automation solutions.

Showing at the fair were 354 suppliers from 15 countries and regions, covering three halls in a total exhibition area of 30,000 sq m.

Over 19,300 professional buyers from 40 countries and regions came to the fair to see and source the latest technological innovations.

Louis Leung, deputy GM, Gua ng zhou Gua ng ya Me sse Frankfurt said: “SPS – Industrial Automation Fair Guangzhou is developing at an extraordinary rate. In just one year, the scale of the fair has grown 50 percent, exhibitor participation has risen 12 percent and visitor attendance has increased 15 percent. These gains reflect the enormous business potential in Southern China.”

Strong Support For Fringe Events The educational fringe program held together with the fair, which included 12 seminars and forums were well attended by visitors and exhibitors. Program highlights included:

Latest European Sensor Technology, Application & Development Seminar Organised by the German-based A MA Association for Sensor Technology (AMA), attendees of this one-day program were able to see how the ceramic sensors, 3D-laser scanners and 1D-triangulation lasers, high-resolution digital sensors, intelligent photoelectric sensors and PRT and IO -link technologies could be used in the automation, automotive, medical and renewable energy sectors.

Modern Fluid Power Transmission & Control Technology Forum Showcasing energy conservation technology for compressed air systems, as well as offering an examination of the progress and prospects of fluid power transmission and control. The organiser of this event was Fluid Power Transmission and Control Institution CMES. CNC Machine Tools & Basic Manufacturing Equipment Forum The Pa nel on CNC Machine Tools and Basic Manufacturing

Equipments of Gua ngdong Province, Guangdong Automation A ssociation a nd Gua ngdong Mechanical Engineering Institute organised this event.

The examination of the ‘12th Five Year Plan’ in relation to the development of a CNC machine tools industry in China drew a large audience.

The next edition of the show will take place at the Guangzhou Import and Export Fair Complex from March 6 – 8, 2012.

The show is sponsored by the China Foreign Trade Centre and Messe Frankfurt Exhibition, organised by the China Foreign Trade Guangzhou Exhibition General Corp, Guangzhou Guangya Messe Frankfurt, Guangzhou Overseas Trade Fairs and Mesago Messe Frankfurt, with Guangdong Association of Automation and the Guangzhou Association of Automation being the Honourable Organisers.

March 9 – 11, 2011 China Import and Export Fair Complex Guangzhou, China ENQUIRY NO. 3906

May 2011 | industrial automation asia 65

EVENT REVIEW

A New Sheriff In Town

The Henry B Gonzalez convention centre was a scene of technological advancements, creative interaction and for some, a place to catch up with old friends. Be it users, resellers, partners and employees of the company, they all bore witness to the power of 3D designing. By Joson Ng

THE SolidWorks World (SWW) 2011 kicked off with new CEO Bertrand Sicot on stage where he shared the product roadmap of the company with more than 4,500 attendees at the general session.

With the commitment to support three platforms – online, desktop and mobile, Mr Sicot assured users that the company would always have locally installed desktop application CAD, data management or simulations.

He also gave participants a brief introduction to SolidWorks n!Fuze, the company’s first online offering. According to Mr Sicot, the tool “levels the playing field for smaller company and individual users by making it easy to upload or share designs.”

The online PLM product is planned for release in Q2 of 2011. The product is geared towards companies that do not currently have a formal PDM or PLM system. It is an entry-level design sharing tool that allows companies to share files anywhere in the world with anyone including suppliers, clients, remote personnel, and contract workers.

ENQUIRY NO. 3907

66 industrial automation asia | May 2011

Taking over from Jeff Ray is Bertrand Sicot, who has grand plans to bring the company to new heights. He shared with IAA his goals, management philosophy and his personal thoughts on SWW. W i t h ove r 15 ye a r s i n t h e 3 D mechanical CAD market, Mr Sicot feels it is time to explore something new. “We believe that we can go into the adjacent markets after spending many years in the 3D mechanical arena. By doing that, it gives us a playing field that is much wider,” he says.

Moving out of a traditional area of expertise can be daunting for some but for Mr Sicot, it is a path where he will not walk alone as he is a real fan of teamwork.

The word ‘team’ is high on Mr Sicot’s mind, he says: “TEAM for me is Together Everyone Achieves More. I am a big believer of team efficiency, anyone who has worked with me knows that.”

A veteran of SWW, Mr Sicot is only one of a few who has attended all 13 installments of the show. For him, the show represents something close to his heart. He says: “There are three days where you have a lot of energy and knowledge exchange. People are unified by one passion, ie: designing things.

This is easy to tell with the number of user breakout sessions. After 13 SWW, it is amazing to see the energy level higher every year, which is something special that we have and I need to make sure we keep it.”

ENQUIRY NO. 3908

products & Services

products & Services Agilent:

Beckhoff:

The PXA signal analyser delivers a level of performance at millimetrewave frequencies, thereby offering accurate and frequency-stable signal analysis. Although it covers frequencies up to 50GHz, it can extend to 325GHz with external mixing. This allows customers to develop technology for advanced radio astronomy research and imaging techniques used in the medical and air travel industries.

To further enhance the hardware capabilities, the analyser uses technologies like low noise path and Noise Floor Extension (NFE) to remove distortion noise and further widening dynamic range. Using the low noise path, it is able to fulfil Display Average Noise Level (DANL) of –138dBm at 50Ghz.

Beckhoff extends its range of power measurement terminals for the EtherCAT Terminal system with the EL3413 EtherCAT. With a maximum of 690V AC, the voltage inputs are designed for the direct monitoring of high-power generators.

Higher currents are measured via current transformers. The electrically isolated current inputs enable use of the terminal in all common earthed current transformer circuits, such as two- or three-transformer configurations with star or delta connections.

With the aid of the integrated harmonic analysis functionality, measurements up to the 21st harmonic can be accomplished.

Millimetre-Wave Signal Analyser

Power Measurement Terminal

Enquiry no. 3909

Enquiry no. 3911

Baldor Electric:

Cognex:

The compact IP65rated operator panel with a C A Nopen interface, KPD2025 0 1, p r o v i d e s machine designers and builders with a cost-effective mean of implementing h um a n - m a c h i n e interfaces. In addition, it is a scalable control solution with an option plug-in digital I/O module facilitates system expansion.

Some features consist of a backlit 4-line x 20-character LCD surrounded by six programmable function keys, 15 keys for input of numeric values, four pairs of keys which can be used jogging individual machine axes, and a user-selectable RS232/485 serial port. It can be programmed directly from the motion controller using the company’s Mint programming language.

Cognex has released an updated version of In-Sight Explorer 4.5.

The product includes an all-in-one edge and surface inspection tool, an all-in-one bead width and position tool, and a robust ID tool that reads multiple codes at one time, allowing In-Sight cameras to read barcodes and provide inspections simultaneously.

The flexible flaw detection edge and surface inspection tool works for both colour and grayscale applications and is used to inspect for boundary defects, such as conformity of shape, and surface defects like stains and scratches.

The product also includes EasyBuilder user interface tools, Bead Finder and Bead Tracker. Bead Finder and Bead Tracker are tools that find positional defects and width-based defects and gaps, and also provide all bead data needed for process control.

Operator Panel With CANopen Interface

Enquiry no. 3910

Machine Vision Software

Enquiry no. 3912 May 2011 | industrial automation asia 67

products & Services

Festo:

Intertec:

The electric bi-parting drive from Festo provides a cost-effective and adaptable mean of securing simultaneous movement of two carriages in opposite directions on the same linear axis.

End-position sensing on the drive is accomplished using the company’s inductive sensors that detect the presence of flag plats on the moving carriages.

The ELGG drives are available in 35, 45 and 55mm wide profiles, with maximum standard stroke lengths per carriage of 400, 500 and 750mm respectively. They are capable of speed up to 3 metres per second, and can provide repeatable positioning accuracies within 100 microns.

Intertec has created an explosion-proof smart programmable controller for precision temperature regulation of process instrumentation and analyser enclosures in hazardous environments.

With a switching capacity of up to 10A, the Smart Controller 2.0 can be used with explosion-proof heaters with power ratings as high as 2,300W. Advanced facilities include fieldbus networking, data logging, and temperature monitoring with user-defined limits.

It incorporates three temperature sensors. One is integrated in the controller housing to measure local cabinet temperature while another is embedded in the heater to ensure its surface temperature will not exceed the specified temperature rating.

The third is the silicon temperature sensor mounted at the end of the cable.

Electric Bi-Parting Drive

Explosion-Proof Smart Controller

Enquiry no. 3913

Enquiry no. 3915

Igus:

ITT:

Igus develops DryLin slide pad, which is a range of polymer plain bearings for the lubrication-free support of shafts and rails during rotation and lifting movements. It allows up to two tonnes to be moved slowly and dynamically. Applications include steel girders and aluminium base plates.

Made of ‘iglidur J’ material, it has low friction values with a long service life. The material has high strength and elasticity values, resistance to creep, as well as sliding properties. In addition, the pad is resistant to corrosion, chemicals and temperatures up to 90 deg C.

The 12-channel thermocouple data logger, ebro EBI 40, is ideal for thermal mapping as it offers precise quality control of processes due to constant temperature monitoring. In addition, it enables qualification of coating lines and heat distribution studies in thermal chambers.

It has a wide temperature range from –200 to 1,200 deg C. Measurement intervals are also operator programmable from 0.1 second to 24 hours. Each channel is able to store up to 240,000 values.

Applications include measuring core temperatures during baking processes, monitoring baking, freezing procedures and validation of dry heat sterilisers.

Lubrication-Free Plastic Slide Pads

Enquiry no. 3914 68 industrial automation asia | May 2011

Multi-channel Thermocouple Data Loggers

Enquiry no. 3916

products & Services

Jetter:

NXP:

Jetter has added JXM-CAM video camera to its range of products for mobile automation. Possessing a compact steel plate housing, it is suitable for outdoor use with an IP68 protection rating. In addition, it is able to withstand temperature range of –30 to 65 deg C. The infrared LEDs are switched on automatically in the dark by light sensors and illuminate a circle with a diameter of 10 m.

It can be operated on all Jetter equipment with a suitable video input such as the JXM-MUX video multiplexer.

Municipal vehicles, supply and disposal vehicles, agricultural and forestry machines, as well as construction machinery are some of its applications.

NXP develops UCODE I2C chip, which features an integrated I2C interface and a 3,328bit user memory. It enables bidirectional communication between a wireless reader and a microprocessor via an I2C bus.

With this chip, manufacturers and retailers can offer seamless customer experience. For instance, when a customer purchases an electronic device, the chip enables the retailer to pre-configure and customise it without opening the box and pre-loading the customer account information. Moreover, the chip enables manufacturers to remotely deliver minor upgrades. In the event of any problems, manufacturers can identify the serial number and error logs internal to the device without opening it.

Video Camera For Mobile Use

Chip Enabling Communication

Enquiry no. 3917

Enquiry no. 3919

Korenix:

Pepperl-Fuchs:

Korenix’s JetNet 6059G series ensures quality data transmission in industrial applications requiring high-bandwidth connectivity. On top of the four Giga RJ-45 ports, it is equipped with five Giga RJ45/SFP combo ports to deliver throughput and flexibility for high-density connection while providing Giga uplink or Giga Ring connection.

The company’s MSR technology enables users to aggregate up to four MultiGigaRings into a single switch and ensure network reliability in applications with increased bandwidth and expended system.

It has dual redundant 10.5 to 60VDC power inputs and 40 to 75 deg C wide operating temperature range to work reliably under vibrating and shock environments in maritime, railway or rolling shock applications.

Companies rely on failsafe components to fulfil the safety requirements specified in EN ISO 13849. The safety sine/ cosine rotary encoder RVK58S from Pepperl-Fuchs is a suitable choice as it allows the position of the motor rotor to be detected with high accuracy levels.

Packaged in a 58mm housing, it has 1024 increments per revolution and incorporates a functional safety concept, along with an absolute position track.

As such, it provides information on the actual position of the rotor in the motor, which is output as a digitised signal with 13-bit resolution using either the Synchronous Serial Interface (SSI) or Bidirectional Synchronous Serial (BiSS) interface protocol.

Industrial Ethernet Switch

Enquiry no. 3918

Safety Rotary Encoder

Enquiry no. 3920 May 2011 | industrial automation asia 69

products & Services

PPT Vision:

SkyTraq Technology:

PPT Vision developed I m p a c t 10 .1, t h e standard machine vision sof t ware designed to create quick and flexible machine vision inspection solutions.

The software provides customers with the fast option of using colour, line scan and grey scale cameras, together with a single vision processor to solve high-speed multi-camera inspection applications.

Since it can be used with any of the company’s smart camera systems, some features are included for the camera systems.

These include an enhanced two-dimensional data matrix inspection tool, Active X programming support for M series processors, and enhanced histogram and graphing capabilities for inspection tool setup and troubleshooting.

Measuring 25 x 25 mm, the Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS)/Global Positioning System (GPS) from SkyTraq Technology features 29s cold start Time To First Fix (TTFF), 145dBm cold starting and –159dBm navigation sensitivity.

In addition, it is capable of operating in 12 tracking channel GPS-only mode, 12 tracking channel GLONASS-only mode, and 25 tracking channel GLONASS and GPS mode. Advanced 24 channel GLONASS/GPS track engine enables continuous navigation using signals down to –159dBm. Combining multipath detection and algorithm, it provides accurate navigation in difficult urban canyon and deep foliage environments.

The receiver is ideal for navigation and tracking applications requiring high-performance GLONASS/GPS dual-satellite navigation technology.

Standard Machine Vision Software

GLONASS/GPS Receiver

Enquiry no. 3921

Sick:

Vision Sensor For Positioning Sick has added a member to its range of vision sensors for finding the correct positions in industrial applications. The Inspector P30 offers position data at a repeat rate of up to 75Hz for taught-in objects or up to 40Hz when searching for irregular-shaped objects.

After configuring the application conditions, the sensor connects to the positioning equipment via four switching outputs or the transmission of position and angular data via Ethernet for object location.

It is applicable in automated picking, alignment of parts in product assembly, food picking, rotational coordination, paper cut coordination and final positioning of stacker crane in high bay warehouse.

Enquiry no. 3922 70 industrial automation asia | May 2011

Enquiry no. 3923

STMicroelectronics:

Geo-Magnetic Modulest STMicroelectronics has its latest generation of geomagnetic modules.

The ultra-low-power device addres ses advanced navigation and location-based services in portable consumer applications by integrating high-resolution three-axis sensing of linear and magnetic motion in a 5 x 5 x 1 mm package.

The LSM303DLM geo-magnetic module has been designed and produced using the same micromachining technology process that the company has already applied to more than one billion motion sensors sold in the market.

The module addresses energy efficiency on both the chip and the system level and its operating power consumption of 360 uA represents a 50 percent reduction over devices currently in production.

Enquiry no. 3924

Calendar Of Events May 04 – 08 Automex PWTC (Putra World Trade Centre) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Premier Exhibitions Services Email: info@tradelink.com.my Web: http://www.tradelink.com.my/ automex/

04 – 08 MTA Malaysia PWTC Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Malaysian Exhibition Services Email: enquiry@mesallworld.com Website: http://www.mesallworld.com/

05 – 07 Chine ePower Shanghai New International Expo Shanghai, China MP International Email: kenneth@zhongmao.com.cn Web: http://www.epower-china.cn/

10 – 13 Gas Turbines Grand Hyatt Singapore IBC Asia Email: register@ibcasia.com.sg Web: http://www.gasturbinesasia.com/ index.php

11 – 13 Semicon Singapore Convention Hall 601-602 Suntec Singapore Singapore Singapore Exhibition & Convention Bureau Email: jsu@semi.org Web: http://www.semiconsingapore.org/

12 – 15 IA Robotics BITEC Bangkok, Thailand UBM Asia (Thailand) Email: intermach@intermachshow.com Web: http://www.thai-exhibition.com/ intermach/

12 – 15 Intermach BITEC Bangkok, Thailand UBM Asia (Thailand) Email: intermach@intermachshow.com Web: http://www.thai-exhibition.com/ intermach/

25 – 28 MTT Indonesia JIExpo Jakarta, Indonesia ECMI Email: mtt@ecmi.cc Web: http://www.mtt-indonesia.com/

30 – 31 Interphex Asia Suntec Singapore Singapore Reed Exhibitions Email: huileng.yeow@reedexpo.com.sg Web: http://www.interphexasia.com/

june 01 – 03 Oil & Gas Asia Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre Malaysia Malaysian Exhibition Services Email: enquiry@mesallworld.com Web: http://www.oilandgas-asia.com

01 – 04 Pumps and Valves Asia BITEC Bangkok, Thailand UBM Asia (Thailand) Email: Suchawadee@cmpthailand.com Web: http://www.pumpsandvalvesasia.com/

07 – 09 Sensor + Test Nürnberg Exhibition Centre Nürnberg, Germany AMA Service Email: info@sensorfairs.de Web: http://www.sensor-test.de/

09 – 12 Electrical Building Technology Guangzhou China Import and Export Fair Pazhou Complex Guangzhou, China Messe Frankfurt Email: Lbguangzhou@hongkong. messe­frank­furt.com Web: http://www.building. messefrankfurt.com.cn/

15 – 18 ProPak Asia BITEC Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok Exhibition Services Email: propak@besallworld.com Web: http://www.propakasia.com/

21 – 22 Energy Harvesting & Storage and Wireless Sensor Networks & RTLS Europe Holiday Inn Munich City Centre, Germany IDTechEx Ltd Email: hi.muenchen@whgeu.com Web: http://www.idtechex.com/energyharvesting-and-storage-europe-11/

21 – 24 CommunicAsia Marina Bay Sands Singapore Singapore Exhibition Services Email: events@sesallworld.com Web: http://www.communicasia.com/

23 – 26 Assembly Technology BITEC Bangkok, Thailand Reed Tradex Company Email: contactcenter@reedtradex.co.th Web: http://www.assemblytechexpo.com

july 4 – 8 Singapore International Water Week SUNTEC Singapore Singapore Singapore International Water Week Pte Ltd Email: info@siww.com.sg Web: http://www.siww.com.sg

20 – 23 Industrial Automation Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre Malaysia Malaysia Exhibition Services Email: enquiry@mesallworld.com Web: http://www.asean-ia.com

august

2011 september

08 – 10 Thailand Oil & Gas IMPACT Bangkok, Thailand Fireworks Media (Thailand) Co Ltd Email: thai@asiafireworks.com Web: www.oilgasthai.com

21 – 24 Oil & Gas Indonesia JIExpo Indonesia PT Pamerindo Indonesia Web: http://pamerindo.com

october 13 – 15 3P Malaysia International Industrial Machinery Expo Danga City Hall Expo Hall Johor, Malaysia Fireworks Event Email: my@asiafireworks.com Web: www.3pexpo.com

31 – 4 Nov Singapore International Energy Week Suntec Singapore Singapore Reed Exhibitions Email: ask@reedexpo.com.sg Web: http://www.reedexpo.com.sg

november 22 – 25 CIA Suntec Singapore Singapore Singapore Exhibition Services Email: cia@sesallworld.com Web: http://www.cia-asia.com

31 – 3 Sep Taipei International Industrial Automation Exhibition TWTC Nangang Exhibition Hall, Taiwan Chan Chao International Email: show@chanchao.com.tw Web: http://www.chanchao.com.tw/ show/Automation/en/

To be considered for inclusion in the Calendar of Events, send details of event (name, date, venue, organiser contact) to: The Editor IAA Eastern Trade Media Pte Ltd. 1100 Lower Delta Road, EPL Building, #02-05, Singapore 169206 Tel: (65) 6379 2888 • Fax: (65) 6379 2805 • Email: iaa@epl.com.sg

Advertising Index

64

|

IndustrialAutomationAsia

ADVERTISING I N D E X

ADVERTISER

PAGE NO

ENQ NO

ABB Pte Ltd

IFC

138

Advantech Co. Singapore Pte Ltd

37

245

Agilent Technologies Singapore (Sales) Pte Ltd

36

254

Bangkok Exhibition Services Ltd

59

232

Baumer (Singapore) Pte Ltd

29

242

Beckhoff Automation Pte Ltd

17

249

Carlo Gavazzi Automation Singapore Pte Ltd

45

244

COGNEX SINGAPORE INC

30

145

EMERSON PROCESS MANAGEMENT ASIA PACIFIC PTE LTD

25

253

EXXON MOBIL

5

126

FIREWORKS MEDIA (THAILAND) CO LTD

47

251

FLIR SYSTEMS CO. LTD

15

248

FLUKE SOUTH EAST ASIA PTE LTD

41

258

FUJI ELECTRIC ASIA PACIFIC PTE LTD

7

070

GURUSOFT PTE LTD

3

252

HITACHI ASIA LTD

51

079

33/42

239/240

INDUSOFT INC

27

246

JJ-LAPP CABLE (S) PTE LTD

48

238

IGUS SINGAPORE PTE LTD

31/55

223/194

NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS (S) PTE LTD

MALAYSIAn EXHIBITION SERVICES SDN BHD

11

250

PAS INC

39

247

PLANT WERX PTE LTD

35

136

REED TRADEX COMPANY LIMITED

57

212

ROCKWELL AUTOMATION SOUTHEAST ASIA PTE LTD

1

260

SEMI SINGAPORE PTE LTD

49

243

SICK OPTIC-ELECTRONIC PTE LTD

IBC

241

SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL WATER WEEK

53

257

OBC

259

33

256

SINGAPORE ORIENTAL MOTOR PTE LTD Zacobria Pte Ltd

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