E+H reports on 2016 sales

The report that follows was first published on Eoin O’Riain’s Read-Out.net website in Ireland last week. It gives the first report on Nick Denbow’s visit to the E+H European presentation in Basel, which included a tour of the Maulberg manufacturing operation for level measurement products, like the NMR81 radar based systems. Financial results for the 2016 year were discussed with the 70+ journalists and media analysts attending.

This year, Endress+Hauser expanded the presentation of their annual financial results, inviting journalists from not only Germany and Switzerland, but including others from Belgium, the Netherlands and Great Britain. In all 70+ attendees heard Klaus Endress and Matthias Altendorf say that the consolidated Group sales fell slightly between 2015 and 2016, by 0.2%, achieving Euro2.1Bn. This fall was actually only because of currency fluctuations. “Currencies created a headwind for us last year,” said Altendorf. Working from the value of sales in local currencies, sales in total actually increased by 2.1%. Whilst the Group is family owned, their annual report is published and audited to the standards expected of any other international business.

CEO Matthias Altendorf emphasised that “When compared to overall industry growth, we held our own”. E+H performed well in Europe, but sales in America declined. Africa and the Middle East experienced solid growth, but in the Asia-Pacific region business stagnated.

Within Europe, the best performances for E+H came from Ireland, Italy and Finland. The best performing sectors in all countries were food & beverage, life sciences, and water & waste water. Overall business declined in oil & gas, chemicals and primary industries like metals. The power and energy industry sectors showed good performance outside Germany, where E+H also felt the effect of weak German exports and some internal restructuring. The oil & gas decline badly affected sales in USA, UK and Norway, although the UK sales centre gave a good performance by aligning efforts with other active market sectors.

Investment continues.

E+H plans for investment and growth continue for the current year. Earlier in the week a new factory extension was opened in Reinach, where flow products are manufactured. (see Read-out Signpost – “Flowmeter output growth requires new facilities” – 5 May 2017).  The journalists were given a tour of the manufacturing facility in Maulberg (D), where a new extension to the production area is in operation, and a new NMi level measurement system calibration facility for radar based systems has just been completed. This is certified suitable for calibration of the Micropilot NMR81 radar system, working at 80GHz, which achieves a +/-0.5mm accuracy over a 30m range, for use in oil storage tanks and oil terminals. There are plans now to extend this calibration facility to allow such calibration out to 40metres, as well as to extend the factory yet further: 1912 people work at E+H Maulburg, and 5200 people in the Basel region, out of the total E+H staff of 13,000.

Analytical measurements

The biggest growth area in E+H is actually in the analytical instruments that use Raman spectroscopy to analyse liquid and gas streams on-line. The major industries now applying this technique are within the life sciences sector, where immediate analysis of input and both gaseous and liquid effluent streams enables much closer control of biochemical and fermentation processes. Indeed the 2017 issue of the E+H corporate magazine “Changes” features a major focus on new applications in the Life Sciences industries.

Other new analytical techniques are developed for monitoring water treatment processing, for example in the new Swiss plants which by law have to have a fourth stage of purification, to remove hormones, phosphorus and other drug residues. The strength of E+H here derives from their strategic decision a few years ago to invest in the process analytical area, particularly in the field of spectroscopy, acquiring Kaiser Optical, Analytik Jena and SpectraSensors. “Our analytics strategy has been validated by the market,” said Matthias Altendorf.

Bundling IIoT activities

The acquisition of German SensAction AG in early 2017 also ties in with Strategy 2020+ which was rolled out last year. The company, headquartered in Coburg (D), manufactures innovative systems for measuring concentrations in liquids. Endress+Hauser is tackling the challenges of digitalization by bundling a number of activities. A new subsidiary in Freiburg in Breisgau,(D), is working exclusively on products, solutions and services related to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

The significance of digitalization can also be seen in the growing number of patent registrations. There were 273 first filings in 2016. The intellectual property rights portfolio thus boasts more than 7,000 active patents. R&D spending rose to 7.8 percent of sales. Endress+Hauser introduced 64 new products to the market. “We are investing in innovation for our customers,” underlined the CEO.

Trends in automation.

The focus for E+H sales and their customer base is broadly on automation engineers, so it was interesting to hear Matthias Altendorf comment that the statistics for industrial output show that the Britain has now dropped out of the top 10 countries in terms of automation business activity, whereas they had held a prominent position there some years ago.

The other aspect of interest was that there are distinct differences between countries, in terms of the sex of the engineers involved in the major projects served by E+H. In Germany they are mostly male, whereas the majority of engineers in Turkey are female. In South Korea and India there are high percentages of female engineers (and engineering journalists). Also, by industry, it is noticeable that in the biochemical and life science sectors the engineers are predominantly female.

Power Industry Boiler Water Level Measurement Techniques

The March 2017 Inst Measurement and Control Technical Seminar evening will be hosted by Doosan Babcock in Manor Royal, Crawley, on Tuesday 21st March 2017.

This will be a tri-company, collaborative event, presented by Doosan Babcock, and also featuring contributions from Vega and TC-Fluid Control. It is aimed at providing attendees with a useful insight into industrial measurement application challenges in order to further their professional development knowledge.

Drum Level Control

The first presentation by Doosan Babcock will discuss Drum level measurement using DP Measurement and Hydrastep Measurement techniques.

Power station Steam Drum Level measurement is required for drum level control, Burner Management System (BMS) protection and Code compliance. Drum level is both a critical and difficult measurement to make. At steady state conditions, considerable turbulence in the drum can cause the level to fluctuate. A changing rate of water inflow and steam outflow adds to the potential for measurement error. The DP Measurement technique uses the difference in pressure between a head of water in an external reference column and the level in the drum. The density of water and steam vary appreciably with pressure, so the differential pressure obtained at any given level will vary as boiler pressure changes.

The Hydrastep technique detects the conductivity variation between the steam and the water. The electrode principle is an efficient system for measuring drum water levels.

Microwave Technology

Vega will explain how microwave technology can tackle a wide variety of applications associated with steam boilers. Non-contact or guided wave techniques have the ability to measure reliably, even with fluctuating temperatures up to 450C combined with pressures of up to 400 bar. Measurement is virtually unaffected by pressure and temperature changes. Top mounting makes installation and maintenance easy. In many cases microwave transmitters provide an alternative to legacy equipment for both solids and liquids. SIL qualification and boiler approval now enables microwave technology to  be used directly on steam boilers, with special modifications to compensate for saturated steam effects.

Visual/Glass and Boiler Steam Glass level gauges

Visual/Glass and Boiler Steam Glass level gauges are a requirement on steam boilers for visual verification of the level control system, and will be discussed by TC-Fluid Control. Magnetic level gauges have many applications on and around the boiler, providing visual level indication whilst minimising potential leak paths, and can be used as an alternative to one of the glass level gauges on the boiler drum. Simple, robust technology provides a highly visible indication of process level at pressures of up to 400 bar and temperatures up to 450C.

Postscript: Wessex IMC Section meeting

Vega Controls will also give a talk to the IMC Wessex Section meeting on 15th March about the technology behind their 80GHz radar liquid level measurement systems. The talk will include live demonstrations, and takes place at the Forest Lodge Hotel, at Lyndhurst. A video is available that shows their new sensor.

 

Wonderware Ireland Event in March

Industrial software provider Wonderware Ireland is to host a special event at Fota Island Resort, Cork, where it will give manufacturers and system integrators an exclusive look at the latest Wonderware developments.

On 29^th March 2017, the “Next Generation Roadshow” will explore Wonderware’s latest innovations, as well as providing delegates with a greater understanding of the future of the industrial landscape and how they can ensure they are prepared for it.

The day will begin with a look into the advances of digitisation within industrial automation, before discussing the OT (Operational Technology) networking landscape and how to manage operational Big Data.

Wonderware Ireland will also introduce their Next Generation SCADA system – an upcoming release developed to provide greater simplicity, flexibility and scope. The Next Generation SCADA improvements include an enhanced UI visual experience with “out-of-the-box” content and process visualisation standards, web-based access and a heightened ability to access and aggregate IIoT data.

An optional afternoon session will then see Systems Architects take attendees through a practical workshop. This will allow them to get hands-on with the technologies that are bringing connected and future-proof industrial environments into fruition, before finishing with an opportunity to discuss issues one-on-one with the Wonderware technical experts.

Aidan Finnegan, Wonderware Regional Manager for Ireland, said: “Following the success of the new-concept Wonderware event late last year, we decided to bring the roadshow back to the Fota Island Resort in Cork. The event will give manufacturing organisations and system integrators a chance to get a look at new and upcoming concepts, as well as giving them hands-on demonstrations to help future-proof their business.

“We will ensure delegates get the most out of the event, with our specialist team of technical consultants being ready and on hand to ensure attendees are more informed about these new products and services, which will continue to keep their systems more secure than ever.”

The main presentation will run from 0845 until 1300, and then the afternoon hands-on session will run until 5 pm. The whole day is free to attend, but interested delegates must register in advance on the Wonderware website.

Training on Profibus, Profinet and IO-Link in Industrial Automation

A highly informative training day will address the key practical issues arising from the use of these digital communications technologies in automated manufacturing applications. The event is free of charge, and will be held from 0900 to 1530 on 29^th March in Manchester, UK. On 30th March there will be a similar FOC event for users in the Process and Hybrid industries.

With particular emphasis on Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things, the event will cover the use of Profibus, Profinet and IO-Link in key application areas such as utilities, pharmaceutical, packaging, printing, electrical and electronics assembly, robotics, automotive engineering, mechanical handling and logistics, control systems and energy management, from system design and safety considerations through to maintenance and fault-finding.

Supported by demonstrations of actual tools used in configuration and maintenance, the seminar will be of great value to Designers, Production/System Engineers, Instrument Technicians/Engineers and C&I Engineers involved in design, operation and maintenance of modern automated factories and process plant.

The presentations include:

Introduction of Exhibitor stands and Profibus & Profinet Update, by Mark Freeman: Profibus DP – Successful Commissioning and Maintenance, by Dave Tomlin: EMC and Equipotential Bonding in Profibus and Profinet networks, and EN503102016, by Peter Thomas: PROFIsafe as a tool for Safety in Automation and Control Networks,by Peter Brown; Designing a Profinet system, by Andy Verwer: Profibus system engineering and monitoring, by Andy Verwer: Profinet for IoT, IIoT and Industry 4.0, by Derek Lane: The Features and Benefits of IO-Link, by Russell Smith.

Coffee breaks and lunch will be provided, for delegates also to visit the Exhibition of relevant equipment.

This seminar is ably presented by network specialists from member companies of PI UK, the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to support of advanced manufacturing technologies for the benefit of UK industry. Attendance is free of charge to pre-registered delegates from the user community, i.e. companies that own, operate, design, build or maintain automated plant. The event will provide delegates with an excellent networking opportunity and the ability to speak to the varied experts from the PI UK membership.

For more information please contact PI UK, or send an email enquiry. Online registration is now open.

For companies in the Process & Hybrid Industries …

Companies involved in the Process Industries may be interested to attend another of the PI UK events, to be held in Manchester the following day, March 30th. Entitled Practical Aspects of Profibus and Profinet in Process, the event specifically addresses the key issues involved in the use of advanced network communications in Process and Hybrid Industry applications.

More information on this event is available here, or send an email enquiry.

Wonderware demo in Telford UK

Industrial IT software solutions provider, Wonderware UK, a division of SolutionsPT, is to host a two day event at which it will exclusively reveal the next generation of Wonderware industrial automation software, including updates to its HMI and SCADA offerings.

For 30 years, Wonderware has led the way with the world’s most innovative industrial software. On Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th November at the International Centre in Telford, UK, SolutionsPT will unveil ‘what’s next’ from Wonderware, showcasing the new software it believes will set the bar in industrial automation.

As well as allowing delegates an exclusive first look at Wonderware’s groundbreaking new SCADA release, the conference will also reveal the latest ‘Software as a Service’ offerings and will unveil the ways in which manufacturers can take a pragmatic approach to the Industrial Internet of Things with networking, data collection and cyber security solutions. The conference will also celebrate the 25th anniversary of the exclusive software distribution partnership between SolutionsPT and Wonderware in the UK and Ireland.

Conference timetable

The first day of the event will feature presentations from international keynote speakers, including a product representative from Schneider Electric, and Marc Van Herreweghe, Associate Vice President at the International Data Corporation (IDC), who will provide an industry expert perspective on the future of industrial automation. Attendees will also have the opportunity to listen to presentations from experts on topics including line performance, cloud solutions, disaster resilience and cyber security.

The conference’s Expo area will feature demonstrations of the next generation Wonderware software in action, as well as demonstrations by a number of the SolutionsPT partners, including ACP, Citect and Stratus Technologies. Other partners confirmed to appear at the Expo are ecom instruments, MDT Software, Ocean Data and WIN-911.

On the second day, SolutionsPT will host multiple training workshops, giving guests the opportunity to get hands-on with a variety of systems, including Wonderware Line Performance Suite, Next Generation HMI/SCADA, Wonderware Online and ACP ThinManager, which have all been designed to help build smart and connected industrial environments.

Hosted by SolutionsPT

Sue Roche, General Manager at SolutionsPT, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be able to unveil the next stage of Wonderware software, and demonstrate how the ‘factory of the future’ can become a reality.

“Delegates will be able to experience the next generation of industrial automation and get a first look at cutting-edge software solutions that are making connected, future-proof manufacturing environments a reality. We’re also looking forward to raising a glass to the long-standing relationship between SolutionsPT and Wonderware, and preparing for many more successful years to come.”

The event runs from 9:15am until 5:30pm and includes an evening gala dinner. Overnight accommodation is also available. Those interested in attending should register here:

http://wonderware.co.uk/events-webinars/next-generation-conference

The Future for the IIOT

Technews in South Africa has recently published their 2016 Industry Guide to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT). The whole publication is available on line, despite being a massive 60 page publication, with many and varied articles on this all-pervading topic. This Annual Supplement to the SA Instrumentation and Control magazine draws on example applications from Europe and the USA, as well as from suppliers who provide the technology capability. This industry guide can be downloaded from the SAIC Archives, on http://www.instrumentation.co.za/archives.aspx.

The challenge the Editor, Steven Meyer, gave me, was to comment on the future direction of the ‘Internet of Things’, so inevitably I turned to some of the new gurus of the industry, who seem to be given the label “Futurists”, or “Trendwatchers” – and it is a growing discipline!

What these guys say

The latest trend evident in the presentations at conferences and corporate presentations, such as those organized by automation suppliers like Emerson and Yokogawa, is for a look into the future, and speculation as to what is to come in the next 15 years. Apart from the information about their new products, and new applications of their systems enabling better automation, these conference organizers also now offer a presentation from a “Trend-watcher” or “Futurist”. Inevitably basing their arguments on the way technology has grown, in relation to computing power, mobile phones, and the Internet, these presentations try to explain the IOT, Internet Of Things, of today – to then discuss what the IOT will really provide, and what will be accepted as normal, in ten years’ time.

Richard van Hooijdonk, a ‘Trendwatcher’

For the Yokogawa European conference, their Trendwatcher was Richard van Hooijdonk, from the Netherlands. A well-known Radio lecturer, Richard is also a lecturer at the Nyenrode & Erasmus University (maybe they made a new subject area for him?). Entitled ‘Trends 2030’, his presentation linked the IOT with the growth of robots; with wearable and injected (into the body) electronics; with ‘Big Data’; with 4D printing and with cybercrime.

Richard van Hooijdonk, Trendwatcher

Van Hooijdonk backs up what he says with his actions, at least enough to make us stop and think. He has had an RFID code implanted into his arm, which not only establishes his body with an IP address, but provides the access code to the electronic lock on his apartment, so that he is recognized and the door is unlocked when he turns the door knob. The unit also is programmed with the number for his Bitcoin account. While admitting that the injection process was not painless, his whole approach was that such technology will become smaller and cheaper, with future volume application. So the injections will be less painful, at least!

Personal sensors vs robot automation

Probably everyone in the audience understood and could relate to different parts of Richard’s view of the major future developments likely. Certainly I could understand the function of some wearable electronic systems that monitor heart rate, temperature and blood pressure, etc, but lost the plot when this device was also bio-chemically analysing data from an internal pill or pills that circulate around and analyse the blood and other fluids, to look for symptoms or diseases that need treatment, and then automatically call the Doctor!

However I could relate to the emphasis placed on robot automation, which particularly included advanced drones that can now use optical imaging to identify sections of fields or crops which need spraying with insecticide or seeds or fertiliser etc: the drones are self-programmed to fly over the field in a regular search pattern. Automated and self-checking robots for window cleaning, lawnmowers, carpet cleaning and floor polishing, litter picking and hoovering are all about to take over such manual jobs. Robotics will then take over other duties, like planting out seedlings and watering individual pots in garden centres. In the kitchen the fridge will know when it has run out of specific items like eggs, milk and butter, and order them automatically from the grocer, on a schedule.

Relating this to IOT

In terms of automation the IOT offers the interlinking between multiple devices, pieces of home equipment for example: the alarm clock rings, after having consulted your schedule, weather and traffic reports, to decide when you need to be awake: the curtains open, or alternately the lights are switched on, the bath is filled and the coffee pot or kettle switched on to brew a drink. But these actions may not have to be programmed, the devices themselves, and other sensors, will have been fed into a big ‘consequences’ database in the cloud somewhere, that uses pattern recognition to learn repeated sequences, and can then take over and run these sequences automatically. This ‘Big Data’ processing facility, using pattern recognition, creating artificial intelligence that can process all this data, is a necessary adjunct to the simple sensors – we can’t look at all that mass of information ourselves. Such data processing can be seen in a small way already, when the supermarkets collect your purchase pattern information, and use this to predict when you will buy these same goods again: if you don’t buy them when the computer thinks you should, it can send you a reminder, or even a special offer, to tempt you back to the store. Alternatively, look for a price for a flight on-line: suddenly adverts for that flight appear on every web page you access, and alongside your emails that mention keywords like ‘holiday’.

Jack Uldrich, a ‘Futurist’

The Emerson European User Group conference on the other hand, brought Jack Uldrich over from the USA. Jack started life as a naval intelligence officer, and developed an ability to talk American almost as fast as my brain can translate the words being used. He now describes himself as a Futurist, and consults for many major investment groups, plus is a regular guest on CNN and CNBC. In his website (jackuldrich.com) he presents a paper describing the ten ways IOT will “Open up a Future of Opportunity”.

Jack Uldrich, a Futurist, looking over his own shoulder?

Jack sees the alarm clock wake-up routine quoted above as the simplest use of IOT: a more comprehensive view is that sensors in your pyjamas, mattress, home lighting systems and the kitchen monitor everything from your diet to your sleep pattern, and tell you to modify your behaviour to improve your lifestyle – for example tell you to reduce the caffeine intake after 6pm, and tell your bedroom lights to slowly get brighter as soon as you come out of REM sleep – whatever that is!

I leave you to read the rest of the paper: but Uldrich takes IOT with Big Data as just one of the major triggers for change. The other factors he lists are Social media, robotics, biotechnology, nanotechnology, AI and renewable energy, which will all coalesce to focus on the intelligent automation of our lives.

New opportunities  

Jack Uldrich sees some major business entrepreneurs emerging as a result of the technology changes around us already, identifying Spacex in satellite launchers (the re-useable ones that now land on ocean barges); Tesla new designs of electric cars, and their plans to develop a 0.5 million units a year production facility for the required car batteries by 2020; GE producing 3D printed aero-engine parts (such as turbine blades) by 2020; and Deloitte recently moving into an office building in Amsterdam that can use IOT sensors to automatically reduce energy consumption by 85%. Richard van Hooijdonk also pointed to disruptive new ideas overturning established markets, mentioning Uber in taxi services; BnB in renting holiday houses; Spotify in music; and Netflix in taking over the video rental market digitally.

These Trendwatchers/Futurists do have a place in business. In fact, van Hooijdonk teaches companies how to anticipate and deal with major changes that might disrupt their business, by creating their own internal disruption team. In this way they may avoid the fate of Kodak, Blockbuster, and Proctor & Gamble. There are obviously many profitable careers opening up in presenting trendwatching lectures, some forecasting IOT scenarios for the future.

But what about the IOT?

Gartner, a leading information technology research and advisory company, forecasts that 6.4 Billion ‘things’ will be connected to the Internet by end 2016, up 30% from 2015, and that this number will reach 20 Billion by 2020. These devices will generate a market for service spending of USD235 Billion in 2016, so this spend will be approaching USD1000 Billion worldwide by 2020. Admittedly only around a third of these connections will be in business operations, two thirds will be in consumer areas. But the major market demand will be for services, where businesses employ external providers to design, install and operate their IOT systems. In reality this means processing the information available using Big Data techniques, to allow the client to get on with his own business, yet benefit from new technology. “IOT services are the real driver of value in IOT, and increasing attention is being focused on new services by end-user organisations and vendors,” said Jim Tully, vice president and analyst at Gartner.

So the attention Gartner speaks of can already be seen coming from the major automation suppliers, who are offering 24/7 services to analyse the data available from industrial internet based sensors, or from plant sensors connected over a VPN link via the Internet. The GE, Emerson and Yokogawa companies of this world see their customers using their products, but that these products have far more capability than the customer can absorb, so they need to be the supplier who provides the expansion and development services. Otherwise someone else will jump in and pinch the client’s attention, and the work.

We already have GE supporting their aero-engines with wear and condition monitoring systems, then extending this to their compressors and pumps on LNG liquefaction plants, with teams of GE people monitoring and reporting back to their clients. These teams might only be in three or four places around the world, all linked by the internet, but they can control their maintenance staff on site. These guys are directed to the machine or plant area that needs attention: and the whole contract is no longer measured in man hour charges, but in percentages of the plant output capability, when the equipment availability is maintained above X%. Similarly we see automation companies developing similar contracts, where they use the IOT inputs to enable plant performance improvements, so that a South African plant benefits from operational experience learned from a similarly linked up Canadian plant: and the payment is a proportion of the performance improvement.

There are opportunities also for specialists to develop expertise in their own specific areas, eg for machine manufacturers to link all their own machines worldwide, and be the leaders in offering the most efficient, reliable widget production machinery: but eventually these will be linked into a major supplier of widget production and business services.

The IOT benefit will come from collaboration and learning, matching patterns and experience from knowledge gained elsewhere: it needs AI, which could be ‘artificial intelligence’, or may be ‘Automated Intelligence’ – and it will come from Big Data, from multiple small sensors, interconnections, and collaboration!

The Yokogawa User Group conference in Budapest

The “User Group” conferences, which provide a meeting place for automation and control managers and engineers from different companies and industries to meet and share their operational experience, started in the USA, and have blossomed in Europe in the last few years. Usually hosted by a major supplier, they encourage their clients to come together in a way that is more cost effective, for them, than a standard commercial exhibition and conference. But they always gather their normal specialist sub-suppliers as partners, to also show and talk about their products, and explain how they can interface together to create a total plant system, in the mini-exhibition running alongside meal and coffee breaks.

   

The conference dinner was held in the Hungarian National Gallery, by the side of the Danube 

The Yokogawa European User Group meeting took place this May in Budapest. It attracted around 200 engineers and interested editors from all around Europe: from Spain to Norway, from the UK to Turkey, to hear about recent new applications, and the latest product developments.

 

“Transformation 2017” is the current Yokogawa business plan, covering the three years from 2015-17: the year 2015 also happened to be the 100^th year since the foundation of the company. So their anniversary year plan focuses on customer interfacing and “Co-Innovation”, which was the main conference theme for the presentations.

Yokogawa appears to have developed a different approach recently, and have become keen to bring in ideas, products and even make acquisitions to broaden their expertise base. They did this previously, but there is a greater emphasis now, it seems. They are also the ISA100 wireless sensor technology leader, amongst the main automation companies, and are helping more small sensor manufacturers to develop this capability.

Wireless sensors to ISA100

Yokogawa have produced wireless versions of their own temperature and pressure transmitters, as you would expect, plus have the routers and base stations necessary to complete the site system. More interesting, they have developed a wireless module, which can be integrated with other (third party supplier) sensors, to create a new wireless measurement sensor. They also have a battery pack that can be exchanged in a hazardous area, when needed, often only after ten years, but maybe after two years if that battery also powers a third party sensor and needs a fast data response time.

In a presentation about a Richter Gedeon Group pharmaceutical plant in Romania, Yokogawa described a wireless sensor installation that monitored the groundwater levels around the site, in 20 wells over an area 1500m x 600m, with some wells actually outside the factory fence. The historic weekly manual monitoring was not felt to be sufficiently frequent, and current environmental standards required an improvement, to at least 4 times a day. Standard HART submersible pressure sensors were used for the level measurement, powered by the battery pack in the Yokogawa wireless module, which communicated digitally with the sensors and then sent the data over ISA100 links. This provides hourly reporting data from each well, and allows the sensor to be put into sleep mode between readings.

The large area of the site, the topography and pipe bridges, provided a challenge for the wireless links. To achieve the transmission distances involved, Yokogawa planned the site layout with four of their independent wireless Routers, to gather data from the local sensors at the extreme distances, and then use the superior range achievable from the Router to the base station to deliver the data. This was then displayed by the pre-existing site ABB 800XA control system, to present any alarm data to the operators, and archive the records.

The IIOT and “Sushi Sensors”

Yokogawa say they have been working on the development of low-cost, small, battery operated wireless sensors, perhaps aptly named as “Sushi Sensors”, for ten years, as well as learning what associated data analysis is required to come to a meaningful conclusion about what the data – “Big Data” – is saying. So it was good to see their Sushi sensors on display, in different colours (as you might expect: blue, yellow/gold, and silver) – all with a little stub aerial. But turn these little bugs over and there was an empty shell – nothing there yet! Nevertheless, the work is going on, initially to produce temperature sensor systems: watch that space.

On other stands the GasSecure GS01 hydrocarbon gas detector was on show, which is another ISA100 wireless sensor from Dräger, marketed by Yokogawa for LNG and oil and gas facilities.

Spirax Sarco STAPS

Next, Spirax Sarco presented their latest wireless sensor, used for monitoring steam traps on petrochemical plants. Available only recently, from March 2016, this sensor uses the standard ISA100 system, and is called STAPS (which stands for Spirax Total Acoustic Performance Solutions). The acoustic sensing uses a PZT sensor clamped to the outside of the steam line, alongside the trap, and can indicate when the trap is blocked, and when it has failed open, and is leaking live steam. Not only does the STAPS sensor calculate and transmit the rate of steam loss, so the operator can assess the cost and therefore the urgency needed to make a repair, it can analyse the actual type of trap failure. This is done within the sensor electronics, by measuring the emitted acoustic signatures in multiple bands between 5 and 40kHz, to suggest whether the problem is dirt, or a sticky valve, or a damaged valve seat. The STAPS sensor is available intrinsically safe, for petrochemical applications: Spirax previously offered a different wireless sensor for standard industrial plants and boiler rooms, which used a Zigbee communications link.

Customer software and Co-Innovation

There have been two Yokogawa acquisitions in the field of ‘management’ software, which are focused on making the computer based control systems supplied by Yokogawa for plant and process control provide the overview data required by management, improving the connectivity between plant and office, and optimising business operations. First they acquired Industrial Evolution Inc, in January 2016, who provide cloud-based plant data sharing services, or DaaS (Data-as-a-Service). Yokogawa renamed this business Industrial Knowledge: this service has been used in a broad variety of applications such as the sharing of data on oil and gas field operations among authorized users at multiple companies, and the real-time sharing of data with investors on facilities that are operated by third parties. For example when an oilfield is jointly owned by three oil companies, but only one of them acts as the main operator.

Then in April Yokogawa acquired KBC Technologies, a successful provider of software and consultancy focused on achieving operational excellence and improving profitability for both the upstream (oil production) and downstream (oil refineries and petrochemicals production) segments – advanced software for process optimisation and simulation. Originating with three process engineers who started life at the Exxon Fawley refinery, KBC also now incorporates the original Honeywell HPS reactor technology expertise, acquired in 1998, and the chemicals processing technology developed at Infochem, acquired in 2012.

Combining KBC and Industrial Evolution into their Industrial Knowledge business, Yokogawa is expanding its advanced solutions service business by engaging with its customers in a co-innovation process, to add value, using company-wide optimisation of the business operations.

Co-innovation with the specialists

Oil fiscal metering using specialist skids at oil tanker batch shipping terminals is a major application area for Coriolis meters. Yokogawa have just upgraded their Coriolis product line to improve their performance, using modern electronics and sensor technology. The pressure drop for a given flow rate has been greatly reduced, and on-site accuracy enhanced to meet the laboratory tested specifications. Also tube condition monitoring enables on-site checks to confirm that the process conditions have not affected the measurement tubes.

M+F skids in use at a tanker terminal

Unlike other Coriolis suppliers, Yokogawa do not offer an in-house fiscal metering skid production facility, but rely on the knowledge of their specialist customers to achieve the total package offer. So via their chosen skid supplier customer, M+F Technologies of Hamburg, they have supplied meters for terminal management systems, tank truck loading systems, aircraft and ship supply across the world. The M+F MFX4 batch flow computer has been supplied for blending, leak detection and terminal operations in Latin America, Russia, EU, and Cuba. The latest Yokogawa Coriolis meters, the TI product range, has enabled M+F to reduce the size of the gas separators involved, reducing the skid footprint, and also M+F have reduced the maintenance costs associated. Using TCP/IP communications the system has 24/7 remote maintenance available, essential for 24 hour terminal operations.

Conclusion

The two or three conference days crammed in a lot more than was described above: the delegate just chooses the topics of major interest on his plant. Further announcements showed that Yokogawa is to now construct complete Analyser house systems in Spain, in addition to their existing facilities in Singapore and USA, to serve the European market primarily. Here they act as the site systems supplier, perhaps in contrast to their approach to fiscal metering described above. Yokogawa are also collaborating with Cisco Systems over the Shell SecurePlant initiative, which is to be rolled out over 50 Shell plants, and have developed an interesting collaboration with StatOil, to use wireless sensors to monitor the on-site sound noise level on offshore oil platforms, to ensure personnel safety and monitoring.

An Analyser house supplied by Yokogawa

The next Yokogawa User Group meeting will be in South Africa in October, for three days in Johannesburg, which should be well worth attending.

Food & Pharmaceutical Futures

‘Food & Pharmaceutical Futures’ was the title of an ISA Symposium held in Cork, Ireland in March 2016, the first ISA Food and Pharmaceutical Symposium to be held outside North America. Eoin O’Riain reported on the event, which was a major success, in his magazine Read-out.net, and also on-line: his webpage reference is bit.ly/1odd6cZ

Most of his report is re-presented here, as follows:

From the time it was first mooted for Ireland in 2015 the planning for the 3rd ISA Food & Pharmaceutical Symposium was embraced with enthusiasm by the local Ireland Section. This was in Philadelphia early in 2015  and since then the ISA’s Food & Pharma Division under the able directorship of Canadian Andre Michel has ploughed forward, overcoming setbacks and the not inconsiderable distances between North America and the capital of Munster. Chair of the symposium and former Ireland Section President, Dave O’Brien directed a strong committee charged with ensuring that this – the first such international symposium organised by the ISA outside North America – would be a resounding success.

And it was.

Venues were assessed, speakers recruited and the various minutiae associated with organising an international event were discussed, duties assigned and problems solved over many late night transatlantic telephone conferences. Using the experience of the ISA staff in North Carolina and the many years of experience in organising table-top events and conferences in Ireland by the Ireland Section a very creditable event was staged at the Rochestown Park Hotel. With some justification the Symposium Chair could state before the event started “We have assembled a truly outstanding program this year, featuring some of the world’s most accomplished experts in serialization, process optimization, cyber security and alarm management to name a few. These experts will speak on the vital issues affecting food and drug manufacturers and distributors. We are delighted to have the opportunity to bring this event to Ireland for its first time outside of the United States!”

Indeed upwards of 200 registrands agreed with this view and attended the two day event: a turnout that nearly doubled the attendance at last year’s event in Philadelphia USA. Plus it was noticeable that the bulk of the delegates stayed right up to the completion of the final sessions.

Technology and Innovation for 2020 Global Demands

Two fluent keynote speakers, Paul McKenzie, Senior Vice President, Global Biologics Manufacturing & Technical Operations at Biogen (who addressed “Driving Change Thru Innovation & Standards”) and Dr Peter Martin, VP and Edison Master, Schneider Electric Company (Innovation and a Future Perspective on Automation and Control) may be said to have set the tone. The event was also graced with the presence of ISA International President for 2016 Mr Jim Keaveney.

The technical programme featured 40 presentations, delivered by 33 experts in their fields: a few of the session highlights were as follows:

Serialization

The important subject of serialization which affects all level of the pharmaceutical business especially in view of deadlines in the USA and the EU. From an overview of the need and the technology to a deep dive into the user requirements, this session provided the latest information on the world requirements and helping provide the solution needed in each facility. Speakers, as in most sessions, were drawn from standard, vendor and user organisations as well as state enforcement agencies.

Track & Trace

In the parallel Food thread of the symposium the rôle of track and trace technologies were examined. Product safety, output quality, variability and uniqueness of customer requirements manufacturers are facing increasing demands on the traceability of raw materials, real-time status of manufactured goods and tracking genealogy of products throughout the value chain from single line to the multiple sites of global manufacturers. The evolution of data systems and technologies being offered means greater benefits for Industry and presenters Vision ID and Crest will show these solutions and the advantage of modernization.

Both conference threads came together for much of the event mirroring the similarity of many of the technologies and requirements of each sector.

Digitalization

Digitalization in industry shows what bringing the worlds of automation and digitalization together provides true and advanced paperless manufacturing with more complex devices and interconnected data systems. This is an enabler to integrated operations within industry. Using MES as a core concept to create a Digital Plant and optimized solutions with data driven services was explained. And a practical example of a plant was discussed showing the journey to paperless manufacturing and a real pharmaceutical strategy of integrating automated and manual operations.

Cybersecurity

Of course this is one of the key topics in automation in this day and age. Without implementing the proper preventative measures, an industrial cyber-attack can contribute to equipment failure, production loss or regulatory violations, with possible negative impacts on the environment or public welfare. Incidents of attacks on these critical network infrastructure and control systems highlight vulnerabilities in the essential infrastructure of society, such as the smart grid, which may become more of a focus for cybercriminals in the future. As well as threats from external sources steps ought to be taken to protect control and automation systems from internal threats which can cripple a company for days or months. This session highlighted the nature of these threats, how systems and infrastructure can be protected, and methods to minimize attacks on businesses.

Automation Challenges for a Greenfield Biotech Facility

Networking in the coffee break

These were outlined in this session in the pharmaceutical thread. Recent advances in biotechnology are helping prepare for society’s most pressing challenges. As a result, the biotech industry has seen extensive growth and considerable investment over the last number of years. Automation of Biotech plants has become increasingly important and is seen as a key differentiator for modern biotech facilities. Repeatable, data rich and reliable operations are an expectation in bringing products to market faster, monitor and predict performance and ensure right first time delivery. This session provided the most topical trends in automation of biotech facilities and demonstrated how current best practices make the difference and deliver greater value to businesses.

Process Optimization and Rationalization

Meanwhile in the Food & Beverage thread incremental automation improvement keeps competitiveness strong. Corporate control system standardization leads to constant demand for increases in production and quality.

Industry 4.0 (Digital Factory: Automate to Survive)

The fourth industrial revolution is happening! This session asked how Global Industry and Ireland are positioned. What did this mean to Manufacturer’s and Industry as a whole? The use of data-driven technologies, the Internet of things (IoT) and Cyber-Physical Systems all integrate intelligently in a modern manufacturing facility. Enterprise Ireland and the IDA headlined this topic along with the ICMR (Irish Centre for Manufacturing Research) and vendors Rockwell and Siemens.

OEE and Automation Life-cycle

Worldwide today many of the over 60 Billion Euro spend in installed control systems are reaching the end of their useful life. However, some of these controls, operational since the 80’s and 90’s, invested significantly in developing their intellectual property and much of what was good then is still good now. Of course some aspects still need to evolve with the times. This requires funding, time and talent. For quite some time now there has been a skilled automation shortage at many companies leading organizations to outsourcing, partnerships and collaboration with SME’s to help manage the institutional knowledge of their installed control systems.

Further networking

With corporate leadership sensitive to return to shareholders, plant renovation approval hurdle rates are usually high when it comes to refreshing these control systems. In many manufacturing facilities, engineers and production managers have been asked to cut costs and yet still advance productivity. To solve this dilemma, many world class facilities continue to focus on driving improvements through the use of automation and information technology. Some are finding that using existing assets in conjunction with focused enhancement efforts can take advantage of both worlds. Here we were shown great examples of where innovation and such experiences are helping to create real value for automation modernization.

Alarm management

And of course no matter how sophisticated systems are Alarms are always require and necessary. DCSs, SCADA systems, PLCs, or Safety Systems use alarms. Ineffective alarm management systems are contributing factors to many major process accidents and so this was an important session to end the symposium.

The social aspect of this event was not forgotten, and following a wine reception there was an evening of networking, with music, at the end of the first day.

Training Courses

Eric Cosman in full flow

On the Wednesday, although the symposium itself was finished there were two formal all day training courses.

1. Introduction to Industrial Automation Security and the ANSI/ISA-62443 Standards (IC32C – Leader Eric Cosman, OIT Concepts ).
2. Introduction to the Management of Alarm Systems (IC39C – Leader Nick Sands, DuP0nt).

These, and other, ISA courses are regularly held in North America and the Ireland Section occasionally arranges for them in Ireland.

In Summary

Andre Michel, ISA FPID Director, and President of Efficient Plant Inc, summed up the impressions left by this first such ISA conference outside North America: “This was truly an internationally focused event because it tackled the significant issues and trends in automation affecting the food and pharmaceutical industries on a global scale.”

All in all the Ireland Section and its members may feel very proud in looking back on a very well organised and informative event which in an email from one of the attendees, “Thank you all, It was the best symposium I attended in the last 10 years!”

Major EMEA process industry conference in April

12 to 14 April will see a major exhibit of process instrumentation and automation solutions in Brussels, open to all EMEA process engineers and systems users. This type of event has replaced the crowded, commercial exhibition/conference, and is targeted at the real users who need to understand the latest developments available. Admittedly financed by one supplier, Emerson Process Management, it gives the customer the ability to look and listen to the capabilities of their systems in detail, and talk to the real engineers behind the products, not just the salesmen. Better than that, all the other delegates are similar users of process installations, with their own experience: some present this in the applications lectures, but plenty of others are available for discussions around the exhibition.

The conference programme consists of over 100 different presentations over the three days, and will include industry forums, allowing open discussions between delegates and experienced industry professionals, plus a solutions exhibition, where delegates can receive hands-on demonstrations of Emerson’s latest and most innovative products and services.

The event, known as the Emerson Global Users Exchange, is managed by a board of directors, comprising users from a range of industries, who formulate the conference content and guide the direction of the users group at large. It has been running in the USA for many years, but this is welcomed as their third such event in Europe, bringing European, Middle East and African users together to share experience and learn.

To get more information and register for the event go to www.EmersonExchange.org/emea

GE event: Improving Profitability with Big Data

In January, GE will launch a new Roadshow at three European centres: London, Paris and Milan. The event title is “Predict for Profit”- the GE Intelligent Platforms business will present their most advanced solutions to allow customers to transform the industrial internet information into reality, to gain valuable insights from the internet “Big Data” available from their processes and machines.

Big Data sets with no apparent value for the enterprise can be transformed into real Insights and information that customers can catch at the right time, and when the correct information is needed for decision makers.

The Industrial Internet is a key part of the GE strategy: it satisfies the need to combine machines, data, insights and people together in a connected infrastructure, a network that can be accessed by all operators regardless of the geographical position of devices and plants.

Every “intelligent” machine generates data that can be captured with the right devices and applications: these data can be represented through metrics along a time gap. The correct analysis and understanding of these data allow operators and managers to anticipate faults before they happen, and to plan the corrective action needed in advance.

The main benefit of predictive analysis is overall cost reduction, – or even cost avoidance – and profit increase, thanks to scheduled maintenance and leaner and more optimized operations.

‘Predict for Profit’ is an unmissable event for users that want to learn real application stories of companies that gained competitive advantage from the quantifiable production, profits and asset management improvements available using GE Solutions. It will be specific for professionals that want to know how to leverage the Big Data asset that each enterprise already owns.

Key insights are often hidden in the data storage, and can be extracted only with specific, user friendly and easy-to-implement Solutions. During these Roadshows, GE will show how to do this, and make Solutions Experts available from different geographical regions to show how it is possible to generate a real technology revolution in the industry.

The Roadshows will take half a day, finishing with a lunch, and will take place in: London on January 27th, Paris on January 28th, and Milan on January 29th. Apply for a place to attend at one of these events via:

http://www.ge-ip.com/ge-predict-profits