Managing Automation - May 2008 - (Page 38)

[MAY 2008] Transformation Integration TechWatch Industries RIGHT FIT for WIRELESS Discrete and hybrid manufacturers are anxious to try wireless sensor networks on for size. But first they’re hoping to see a new ISA100-based standard. B Y E M I LY - S U E S L O A N E Finding the f the shoe doesn’t fit, design a different shoe. That’s essentially what a group of manufacturers and vendors is proposing be done for discrete and hybrid manufacturers that want to bring wireless networking technology into their plants. The ill-fitting shoe in this case is the proposed ISA100.11a wireless standard. Although that standard initiative has gained a significant following and helped inspire growing interest in industrial wireless networking applications, ISA100.11a was developed for process manufacturing, not discrete or hybrid manufacturers. Now a group of industry leaders — including representatives from manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble, Ford, General Motors, and Boeing — is pushing for a version of ISA100.11a specifically for discrete and hybrid manufacturers. Their goal: to save money and improve plant floor data collection by using standard wireless networks rather than complex and expensive wired networks. The idea for a wireless networking standard for discrete manufacturing that is complementary to ISA100.11a is advancing within the IS automation standards organization. A core group came together after an IS meeting in October 2007 in Houston to gauge industry interest in a wireless standard aimed at factory automation, discrete parts manufacturing, and high-speed machines. Like the proposed ISA100.11a standard, a standard for wireless networks in discrete and hybrid manufacturing environments would be expected to address issues such as the radio frequency that devices use to communicate, security, data transmission speeds, and reliability. The driving forces behind the effort are Jim Reizner, section head in power control and information systems in P&G’s corporate engineering organization, and Mark O’Hearne, vice president of business development and marketing at wireless sensor system vendor Millennial Net. Without a standard, O’Hearne says, the vendors and the end users have the same problem: higher costs and greater complexity. “If you’re a sensor device maker, you have to offer them in different flavors in order to talk with the world,” he says. For the manufacturers, “when you’re buying products from vendors offering five different flavors, you know it costs you more.” And, he says, users have to “navigate all that complexity themselves.” Having found sufficient industry interest, the group recommended to the IS in March that a study team be formed to develop the scope, purpose, deliverables, and schedule for a proposed working group, which would then define and develop a standard for IS and ANSI approval. The interest group kept its proposal broad, calling for a [ INTEGRATION ] ma May 38 2008 Photo: Corbis

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - May 2008

Managing Automation - May 2008 Contents Take 1 Award-Winning Shoe-Maker Otabo Alters Course, Shifts Production to China IBM Partners with Universities for Cloud Computing Getting Noise in Production Under Control Incuity Embarks on a Vertical Market Strategy Foundation Intensifies OPC Standard Testing Mailbox Notes PM Roundtable Cover Story: The Business of Going Green Special Report: Night and Day Delivering on Promises Finding the Right Fit for Wireless Driving RFID Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - May 2008

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