Managing Automation - October 2007 - (Page 31)

[ COVER STORY] The Mobile Enterprise Manufacturers believe wireless networks can help them reduce production costs and improve plant flexibility. Before widely deploying the technology, however, they want to know: Is wireless reliable enough for the plant floor? BY JEFF MOAD t’s not hard to understand why many manufacturers are champing at the bit to deploy wireless networks in their plants. Freed from the need to run expensive and inflexible physical wires, manufacturers deploying wireless networks, many believe, will be able to deploy more sensors, dramatically increasing their visibility into plant operations. Moreover, wireless offers the ability to easily reconfigure and move production operations without the need to rewire. But such potential benefits, compelling as they are, don’t mean manufacturers are willing to cut wireless technology any slack in the reliability department. Before they start deploying wireless networks in their plants — and particularly before they begin using the technology for critical control applications — manufacturers want assurances that wireless networks can deliver data as reliably and accurately as wired networks or even point-to-point connections. “They need to know they can trust the data coming over these networks,” says Bob Karschnia, vice president of technology at Emerson Process Management. “They need wireless to be 99.9% reliable.” But many manufacturers have their doubts about the reliability of wireless networks and their ability to guarantee delivery of accurate, high-quality data. A recent survey of 500 manufacturers conducted by the ISA standards organization and CMC Associates, a consulting firm, found that data reliability is the top concern of manufacturers considering wireless networks, ahead of security and sensor battery life (see chart, p. 32). “Any bad data, such as false readings, would mean the end of any wireless initiatives at our facility for a long time,” says Davis Shull, an engineering manager at the Savannah River National Laboratory, a nuclear research facility that is evaluating the use of wireless networks and sensors to monitor equipment corrosion and containment leaks. Anxious to jumpstart the market for wireless automation technologies and services, many technology providers, including Emerson, Invensys PLC, Banner Engineering 31 October 2007 ma Photo: Cliff Parnell

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - October 2007

Contents Take 1 Mailbox New Selling and Fulfillment Product Leads Plan to Transform Sterling Commerce Comtrol Closes Bizarre Chapter Involving Founder New Omron COO Outlines Four-Part Growth Agenda New Mfg. ‘Czar’ Will Have a Full Plate of Issues Lawson Embraces The Trend of Fewer Upgrades Notes Wanted: A Unified Infrastructure Needed: Greater Reliability Special Report: Innovation: Why Are So Many Coming Up Short? Transforamation: Beating the Odds in Global Supply Industries: Metals: Tracking Carbon Footprints Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - October 2007

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