Managing Automation - May 2008 - (Page 40)

[ INTEGRATION ] costly for us to make sure the wiring is done properly,” Reizner says. In addition to reducing the costs of physically wiring equipment, Reizner says, wireless technology would eliminate the need for engineering and drawings associated with wired systems. “We could save time on project schedules. That is of great interest to us,” he says. Avoiding both complex wiring and expensive repairs is among the benefits one major U.S. automaker envisions with wireless networks. The company has been testing wireless networking devices, but has not committed to the airwaves yet, according to a technical specialist, who requested anonymity. Wireless technology can be used to control robots or any track-mounted or rotary equipment — anywhere it’s awkward to “drag a wire.” These applications don’t require the intelligence that process manufacturing sensors provide; instead they need on/off information, but at much shorter intervals, he says. Industrial equipment manufacturers, particularly in Europe, where regulations drive companies to measure energy consumption in detail, are very interested in wireless sensing, Millennial Net’s O’Hearne says. “It’s cost-prohibitive to install and monitor these dispersed points of consumption with wired sensors,” he says. Wireless technology can also save companies money on maintenance. “Wires are a point of failure if you have moving equipment,” he says. Like P&G, many discrete manufacturers are experimenting with pilot wireless programs, but they’re holding back on production deployments until there is a managingautomation.com standard. “They’re looking at wireless, but as a matter of policy, they RELATED ARTICLES: don’t want to open the floodgates The Mobile Enterprise — Wanted: with disparate solutions that can’t A Unified Infrastructure www.managingautomation.com/mobile work together,” O’Hearne says. But, he cautions, manufacturers The Mobile Enterprise — Needed: Greater Reliability should not expect that an initial www.managingautomation.com/mobile2 standard for discrete environments Can HART, ISA Get Together on a will be comprehensive. “I can’t say Wireless Spec? we’ll end up with one standard to www.managingautomation.com/wireless5 cover it all. The standards process Applications: The New Battleground in will whittle it down to what probthe Wireless Sensor Networks Market lem we solve next,” he says. www.managingautomation.com/wsn Clif f Whitehead, manager of strategic applications at Rockwell COMPANIES MENTIONED: Automation, who, along with ReiznDust Networks www.managingautomation.com/dust er, has been named co-chair of the study group, suggests that a new Millennial Net www.managingautomation.com/millennial standard may not even be what results from the study group’s work. Rockwell Automation www.managingautomation.com/rockwell3 “We may only have to put extensions on .11a, for example. We may not need to create new technology or write a totally new standard,” he says. In fact, Rockwell has seen early-adopter discrete manufacturers using pre-standard, off-the-shelf wireless products for pilot projects. “Security is the number one issue,” Whitehead says. And latency will be key “especially as we go to highspeed data collection or closed loop control.” READY FOR TAKEOFF Vendors in the wireless arena are watching these standards developments closely. Dust Networks, which makes the silicon components that automation companies build into their sensors and other wireless products, intends to bring use cases to the study group. Dust has seen process manufacturers moving ahead with wireless deployments. “What’s nice to see is it’s not the automation vendors pushing the technology into the market; it’s the manufacturers pulling it because of the need. Once the studies show how reliable and useful it is, the technology will migrate to hybrid factories. And then it will take off across the factory,” says Robert Shear, director of market development at Dust. Alison Smith, an analyst at AMR Research, expects wireless sensors to provide a low-cost way to automate operations where the work is still managed manually. In her travels throughout North America, she has seen operators walking from station to station, gathering information on paper. “The main conveyance mechanism is people pushing bins on carts,” she says. “The cost of cabling the place and tethering terminals to hard wiring is too high. These are environments that could benefit from mobility.” Though Smith stresses that she doesn’t disrespect the standards committees, she sees an urgent need to move fast. “There are folks concerned about security and standards, but if we sit around and wait for standards and are overly concerned about security, we’ll waste three or four years,” she says. “If you can get a payback for your business, you need to go ahead. Who cares if you have to reinvest in three years?” She adds: “Here in North America, I would be looking for every advantage I could get my paws on. We’re in survival mode right now.” In the meantime, experts say, even discrete manufacturers that decide to wait for a standard should begin putting together a comprehensive plan for wireless implementations that includes input from plant floor and IT experts and takes both wired and wireless networks into account. “If I’m a discrete customer and I think wireless can benefit us, I want to make sure I do it right the first time,” Rockwell’s Whitehead says. I maonline ma May 40 2008 http://managingautomation.com http://www.managingautomation.com/mobile http://www.managingautomation.com/mobile2 http://www.managingautomation.com/wireless5 http://www.managingautomation.com/wsn http://www.managingautomation.com/dust http://www.managingautomation.com/millennial http://www.managingautomation.com/rockwell3

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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