鉴于竞争性环境我们都发现自己在今天，没有比现在计划在生产率和效率方面保持战略举措的时间，以便将贵公司保持在食物链的顶部。对于制造公司，公用事业和几乎所有受监管的企业，这将包括自动化元素。而且，走向工业automation systems becoming more integrated with enterprise systems such as ERP (enterprise resource planning)to help secure a more stable production environment has arrived. Ensuring your plant is up to speed on the latest in automation will be vital to the future performance of your organization. And while you may not be able to make the leap from PLC (programmable logic controller) to ERP integration all at once, beginning the journey is more imperative than ever.
But where do you stand now? Realistically, everyone finds themselves positioned somewhere along a sliding scale when it comes to automation integration. Whether you are working from the most rudimentary PLC-based control system or the most highly complex ERP system, determining your next steps can be difficult, especially while trying to keep up with daily productivity goals at the same time.
任何自动化的基础结构是一个显微镜ocomputer called a PLC that allows the various components of a system to regulate action by talking to one another. It’s often a fun little game to take a PLC to a career fair and talk with prospective employees, simply asking them, “do you know what a PLC is?” Often, in their wide-eyed confusion they will mumble something like, “I think I’ve heard of them before but I’m not entirely sure…,” as their voice trails off thinking for sure they don’t have a shot at getting hired by an engineering firm. I am fond of saying, “That’s okay, I didn’t know what one was 25 years ago when I was hired.” It’s true. We all start somewhere and through experience and time we learn what we don’t know and what can make us more efficient and productive. That’s the key to automation; it starts with the basics.
If you find your company just starting to climb this mountain, don’t be discouraged. A valued system integrator can walk beside you and help when the going gets tough. Just don’t stay stagnant—it’s time to move.Maybe it’s time to utilize smart sensors and devices that provide more than just an on or off signal. Smart sensors and devices provide additional diagnostic data that can help with preventive maintenance and keep your plant running smoothly.Upgrading to PLCs that can be networked on Ethernet is a logical first step to getting the data residing in the PLCs.
Human Machine Interface (HMI)
Key to your operators keeping things running smoothly is gathering data in an easy-to-use visual format that allows them to quickly identify problem areas and extract insights that allow them to showcase their performance. HMIs are just that—a screen to give operators the information they need to improve efficiency and monitor production. Well-designed HMIs can potentially save time and money when there is a problem by allowing operators to quickly identify its source. HMIs are local to a machine, so they offer efficient two-way communication for your operators. A well-designed HMI that features high-performance graphics can eliminate downtime that could otherwise result in millions of dollars of lost revenue. Even if you have an existing HMI with an older interface, it is worth looking into upgrading to a newer interface with additional functionality. These proficiencies in design translate to real-world dollars in both labor and production.
Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition (SCADA)
花点时间并考虑运营商在一栋建筑物中从一组生产线路走到几个不同的一套建筑物中，当他/她的同事无法成为现场的一天，在三个其他建筑物中从一座建筑物中走到几个不同的一套。现在让我们在一年内比较该运营商的成本，其成本通过实施或升级SCADA系统，以额外的功能来监控和控制生产线和机器。
对于负责多种系统的主管，拥有位于标准控制室的现代SCADA系统的益处不能低估。主管将通过在一个地方汇总从这些系统中拉出的数据来节省数小时，并释放他们的时间，专注于更具战略举措。
SCADA系统中的移动性不仅可以减轻操作员需要监控系统所需的手动时间和劳动力，而且还授予您在制造的产品的历史记录，以通过合规性要求进行交叉引用。
HMI和SCADA一直在很长一段时间。工厂地板（PLC / HMI）与企业级（MES / ERP）之间的集成速度缓慢，但在行业4.0和IIOR扩展时，蒸汽越来越多。即使对于那些在一段时间内获得自动化的好处的人，这是自动化中的枢轴时间。如果最终用户依赖于在MES和ERP这样更高级系统的系统集成商中，过渡将会顺利的唯一方式将是平滑的。
Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)
Transitioning from common automation systems like SCADA, HMI and PLC to the incorporation of an MES that provides data analytic metrics such as overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) is a powerful step.将来自植物地板的数据带到MES允许业务决策变得更加可行。
While there are many ways to showcase this, one of the easiest is by thinking about traceability. The ability to trace all products from raw materials through production, including machining, assembly, and distribution is vitally important when it comes to food, beverage, and pharmaceutical goods.
高质量的MES系统不仅可以用于可追溯性，而且还提供最终用户能够聚合OEE数据并为管理人员提供透明的结果，即使它们是现场的。这允许以最低成本，高质量和高效的方式进行生产调度和规划。
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Aggregating data from an MES, witnessing trends, modifying strategic objectives, and real-time editing options are just a few of the data-based capabilities at your fingertips with a complete ERP that will truly keep you on the cusp of innovative engineering no matter your industry. The agility required to process incoming online orders and make business decisions on which production lines should be active daily, if not hourly, can be provided by an effective ERP system. This big data efficiency translates to bottom line dollars in making sure the right products are being produced, the right machines ae running, and the most energy-efficient usage of all equipment is being fully realized. This data analysis only comes to fruition when the right technologies are in place to bridge the gap between IT and OT.
This is what forward-thinking business leaders are tracking now. High-level overviews of every operational system of a company allows these leaders to run predictive analytics on how their business model is performing both for internal teams and customers alike. Electronic batch records (EBR) provide regulatory compliance vital to upper management. Executive leaders such as Chief Information Officers (CIOs) will soon be taking more control, implementing more cross-functional teams that can prove the technology’s return on investment (ROI) for enterprises, customers, and employeesalike.
As we move further and further up the automation stack to the mountaintops of IIoT and Industry 4.0, finding a certified system integrator with knowledge and skills from ladder logic and function blocks to working with APIs, JSON and REST will be imperative to a smooth transition towardpulling data analytics from the plant floor to the C-Suite.The business decisions made with that data will propel forward thinking companies well beyond their peers.
So, how do you stack up in automation? And are you ready to make the climb? Wherever you are on the journey to climb the automation mountain, there are ways to reach higher. We have an office in Colorado and have some experienced mountain climbers on our team. They have taken pictures for us as they ascend into the mountains, and those images from up top are breathtaking. It’s such an incredible accomplishment. They also know that climbing a 14er doesn’t happen without the right equipment, methodical preparation, detail-oriented planning, and someone to push you a little along the way and come alongside you when you’re not sure you can go on.
The same is true in automation. Everyone is at a different level of readiness for the next best thing in automation, but the thing our climbers will always tell us is that you never want to stand still. You always need to keep moving. Finding that critical partner who has been to the mountaintop before and is willing to climb alongside you is crucial. A qualified system integrator will do just that.
找到一个合格的合作经验levels of the automation stack will set you up for a solid climb. That system integrator should possess both the ability and drive to climb along beside you, encouraging you every step of the way and bringing their considerable experience to bear so that when you get to the top you can enjoy the moment before climbing once again.
Applying experienced knowledge in automation keeps us all growing and makes us faster, stronger, and better. We know you don’t get to the top alone, but we’re ready to climb alongside you.
Keith Mulancachit., PE是一个工程经理atHuffman Engineering Inc., certified members of the控制系统集成商协会(相)。关于Autoware的更多信息,请访问its profile on theIndustrial Automation Exchange.
