Extend the Life of Your Remote I/O While Upgrading Your Head-End PLCs
This blog post explores the ways Phoenix Digital communication modules unlocked remote I/O for a large, North American infrastructure company that uses Rockwell PLCs.
This blog post explores the ways Phoenix Digital communication modules unlocked remote I/O for a large, North American infrastructure company that uses Rockwell PLCs.
Field devices in modern plants in the process industry can give operators detailed information about the condition of the plant. The collected data helps in planning preventive maintenance work and in optimizing production processes. Together with the US company Emerson, Softing has developed connectivity solutions to help customers use this data to improve plant productivity and increase lifecycles
The worlds of operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) are coming together in factories around the world, each with the same goal: use digitalization to improve productivity and other business objectives. But sometimes the two worlds require some translation and teamwork so that transactions between them flow as smoothly as possible.
While plants in discrete and process manufacturing often comprise both legacy and new equipment, they still need to be controlled and managed effectively. This requires a modern communication architecture that is able to aggregate their heterogeneous data. smartLink from Softing facilitates interface-neutral data integration in complex production systems.
When it comes to expanding and operating innovative IoT solutions, IT architectures have a key role to play. What architectural issues arise at the interface between IT and OT, and how does this interface relate to 'edge' and 'cloud'? If you take these questions into account during planning you can fully exploit the potential of software, IT and innovative algorithms and make your production more efficient.
Secure data exchange between production and management levels is still something of a minefield, with many aspects and security issues needing to be negotiated. Middleware has since established itself as a key component in the pursuit of seamless integration of the OT and IT domains. The following post addresses the aspects of secure cross-company communication by looking at an OPC UA-based solution from Softing.
Data integration and IoT or Industrie 4.0 have been fueling the market for many years and are finally on the verge of a breakthrough and success, because it is now possible to integrate and successfully use the incredible range of technologies and the vast amount of sensors, data formats and conceivable usage scenarios. The same can be said for the volume of data currently produced. In the "Internet of Things" or Industrie 4.0, a seamless data exchange between Operational Technology (OT) and Information Technology (IT) is crucial for competitiveness and success. However, this is not the only decisive factor. Production processes, both in manufacturing and in the process industry, require continuous improvement in efficiency and performance - this can only be achieved in the future through innovative, reliable data integration.
An essential feature of modern Industry 4.0 solutions is the networking of machines and plants. If a continuous digital data flow is guaranteed across all production levels, data from intelligent field devices can provide well-founded information on the plant status. In this way unplanned outages can be avoided, downtimes reduces and maintenance costs lowered. How does this work in the ideal case?
In the spotlight: Softing joins Emerson’s DeltaV Alliance Product Program and extends intelligent device management across the field to islands of devices and out to the enterprise to remote subject matter experts.
The 4..20 mA current loop with HART interface remains the industry standard for transducers. A fieldbus interface with device integration capability and scriptable configurability offers an inexpensive retrofit for these devices for operation with Foundation Fieldbus and PROFIBUS PA.