Time-Sensitive Networking in Profinet

Bob Squirrell of PI and the UK Profibus Group advises that Time-sensitive Networking is planned for integration into Profinet. The release is as follows: 

“A promising new IEEE technology for Ethernet that combines the bandwidth of IT (information technology) networks with the latency of OT (operational technology) networks is in the offing in the form of TSN (Time-sensitive Networking). TSN consists of a tool kit of standardized mechanisms that can be used in Ethernet-based networks. In the PI (Profibus & Profinet International) “Industry 4.0” working group, the requirements and goals for the future use of TSN in Profinet have now been worked out.

The focus of the work is first and foremost on easy handling for Profinet users. They should be able to use the new technology easily in their devices or systems while still taking advantage of the existing knowledge. Furthermore, services such as diagnosis, parameterization, etc. should be identical as in the current landscape. The engineering, i.e. the configuration of the network, should also be performed in the familiar way. In this way PI permits an easy transition to the new Ethernet landscape and ensures broad acceptance among users.

In addition, PI relies on standard Ethernet technology so it can both draw on a broad selection of Ethernet chips for the implementation of the Profinet interface on devices and also benefit from the further developments of IEEE technology such as gigabit bandwidths. Furthermore, synchronous networks can be implemented for isochronous applications with TSN. Previously, networks had to be set up separately and integrated in dedicated chips in the devices. This is the only way to ensure not only that Profinet remains future-proof for users, but also that simpler setups will be possible.

Besides a stack architecture that is easy to integrate and scale, a further crucial goal for the use of the technology is a high degree of determinism and robustness to IP-based traffic that is not real-time capable. The reliability increases, since TSN allows bandwidth to be reserved on the network for individual tasks so they are not disrupted by other traffic. This is especially important, since a variety of protocols will be used side by side in future in Industry 4.0 networks. In this way PI incorporates parallel communication via OPC UA between stations on the system level or from devices on the field level to the cloud right from the start.

However, with the introduction of TSN, it is also necessary to simplify the engineering of the network for more complex systems, until they become plug-and-work-capable networks that permit reconfiguration during ongoing operation. In addition, the TSN mechanisms that arise alongside the real-time protocol procedure offer the options that PI is consistently pursuing.

Karsten Schneider, Chairman of PI, summarizes the benefits of this approach thus: “PI will expand Profinet with the mechanisms of TSN in layer 2, retaining the application layer on the higher levels. This makes it possible to migrate the applications to the new technology simply and incrementally and to take advantage of the advantages of an open, globally standardized IT technology.”

 

Yokogawa invests in IIOT cybersecurity

Yokogawa has made some significant investments in the resources needed to develop future techniques for IIOT cybersecurity, first with a new engineering centre to be established in California, and second, by investing US$900,000 into Bayshore Networks, as a partner in a current round of venture capital funding.

New IIOT Division

The new Yokogawa Architecture Development Division in California will pursue the development of the core technologies needed to establish the robust and flexible architecture required to improve operational efficiency and productivity when using the IIoT. The new division will function as a unit of the Yokogawa Marketing Headquarters Business Development Centre, and will keep up with the new technologies being developed every day in the IIoT sector – as well as facilitate close co-ordination with partner companies. The West Coast of the USA is therefore the correct location for this work. The division will be staffed by engineers from Yokogawa who have an extensive knowledge of Yokogawa systems and services, and locally recruited engineers who are conversant in a range of IT fields. The first employees of the division have been located at the local engineering office of a partner company since November 2016, but their own offices are scheduled to open in April 2017. Subsequently, the division will add functions for planning services that use the IIoT and cloud computing, and it is expected that the number of staff will be increased to around 50 over the next five years.

Investment in Bayshore

A parallel press release from Yokogawa explains that there has also been a $900k strategic equity investment into Bayshore Networks, a company established in 2012 that has gained rapid recognition for its expertise in cybersecurity.

Mike Dager, CEO of Bayshore, commented “Yokogawa shares our vision for a secure industrial internet of things enabling new applications that will increase safety, optimize processes, and drive efficiencies. We are proud and excited to partner with such a renowned global leader in industrial controls.”

This Yokogawa investment is part of the recent US$6.6M Series A funding for Bayshore, arranged by Trident Capital Cybersecurity, and its existing angel investors.

Trident Capital

Trident Capital Cybersecurity is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage companies leveraging emerging technologies in cybersecurity. The firm is a spinout of (or maybe the successor to) Trident Capital, which in 1998 became one of the pioneers of cybersecurity venture capital investing. Renowned as the venture capital firm with the most valuable network of cybersecurity relationships, Trident Capital Cybersecurity also relies on input from a 40–person Cybersecurity Advisory Council, consisting of industry CEOs, customers and former top-level government leaders.

“We led the Series A Investment because Bayshore has been recognized as an innovator and early leader in an emerging cybersecurity segment that is largely untapped to date,” said J. Alberto Yépez, managing director of Trident Capital Cybersecurity. “We are honoured to have Yokogawa join us in supporting the development of the cutting-edge Bayshore technology and business.”

The Trident Capital Cybersecurity website claims 28 cybersecurity investments and 16 successful exits. These have included the Solera acquisition by BlueCoat in 2013, the Qualys IPO in 2012, the acquisition of Accertify by American Express in 2010, the Sygate acquisition by Symantec in 2006 and the Signio acquisition by VeriSign in 2000.

The Bayshore technology

The Bayshore cloud-based software, called the Bayshore IT/OT Gateway, provides IT departments with visibility into OT (Operational Technology) infrastructure, networks, applications, machines and workers.  These OT networks are undergoing transformation and require services traditionally available for IT networks, such as secure remote access and analytics. Bayshore provides immediate value by preventing OT process disruptions and enhancing operational efficiency and business continuity.   The software is distinguished by extremely granular inspection and filtering of network flows – all the way down to machine sensor values – and the ability to provide security enforcement and application segmentation and isolation via flexible, rapidly deployed policies.  The Bayshore policy engine is capable of supporting common industrial protocols and quickly adapting to new and proprietary protocols.

These capabilities are built from the ground up for Industrial Internet and provide Bayshore customers with future-proof, cloud-based solutions that are complementary to legacy hardware-based industrial firewalls. Designed for IT perimeter security, firewalls look for IP addresses and ports, which means they block attacks according to standard Internet parameters.  Because industrial cyber-attacks are typically based on granular machine instructions that alter sensor values, the unique Bayshore technology is well positioned to detect industrial attacks that are often overlooked by other security technologies.

Bayshore has strategic alliances with leading technology companies including AT&T, BAE Systems, Cisco Systems, and VMware. It is currently based in New York, but intends to relocate the HQ to Bethesda, Maryland. No engineering base is quoted as existing in California.

2017 Business plan comes together

Earlier, Yokogawa had announced the completion of the acquisition of Soteica Visual Mesa (SVM), the leading energy management technology provider, which will be integrated into KBC Advanced Technologies (acquired in April 2016) alongside “Data as a Service” (DaaS) provider Industrial Knowledge (acquired December 2015). Satoru Kurosu, executive vice president and head of Yokogawa’s Solutions Service Business Headquarters, commented that these moves delivered on a number of the key objectives of the Yokogawa Transformation 2017 mid-term business plan: “Key strategic objectives of Yokogawa’s Transformation 2017 plan are to expand the solution service business, focus on customers, and co-create new value with customers through innovative technologies and services.”

(c) ProcessingTalk

Emerson to work with Flexim

Emerson Automation Solutions and Flexim, the clamp-on ultrasonic flowmeter specialists, are to collaborate, to help process customers optimise their flow process design, flow meter selection and flow meter installation on capital projects. This will enable them to reduce execution risk and costs.

With customers under severe pressure to reduce schedule and cost targets on capital projects, Emerson project teams, using the Flexim clamp-on, ultrasonic flow metering portfolio in combination with the broader Emerson in-line flow meter products, are able to consult early and throughout the project cycle to reduce engineering, piping and installation costs as well as schedule risk.

Flexim non-intrusive flow meters are the market leaders in clamp-on, ultrasonic technology and provide the best reliability and the most advanced capability when addressing difficult applications with a non-intrusive flow solution. This co-operation will improve delivery of the exact flow solution needed by clients while supporting  ‘Project Certainty’ – the Emerson approach that is said to enable top-quartile performance in capital projects.

By empowering project teams with flow expertise to work with clients early in project phases, Emerson has consistently eliminated cost, accommodated change and reduced complexity on capital projects. The non-intrusive nature of the Flexim ultrasonic flow meters makes this product a powerful contributor to reduced engineering, piping and installation costs as well as schedule risk, given that it can be installed after piping is fabricated. Emerson and Flexim will collaborate to ensure less time is spent on engineering and installation by selecting the optimal flow solution for a given application and applying the most comprehensive flow portfolio available.

“In today’s market, we are seeing that our customers are looking for us to advise them early in their project cycle on technology to ensure streamlined and cost-effective project execution,” said Bret Shanahan, vice president of flow solutions, Emerson Automation Solutions. “We are pleased to be working with Flexim to provide our clients with the most appropriate flow solution that can be applied and support greater capital efficiency.”

“Flexim is excited to partner with Emerson on capital projects; our flexible, world-class, non-invasive meters are a perfect fit with the experienced Emerson project teams,” said Guido Schwanekamp, managing director for sales and marketing at Flexim. “Together we will be able to offer fully customised solutions that are tailor-made for a wide variety of capital projects, reducing capital expenditures while increasing efficiency for our clients and reducing total cost of ownership at the same time.”

SolutionsPT adds SCADA and HMI – from Citect – to its Wonderware offering!

SolutionsPT have issued a press release covering an expansion of their Wonderware offering from Schneider, to add SCADA and HMI Solutions. This reads as follows:

Industrial IT solutions specialist SolutionsPT has become the UK and Ireland distributor for world-class automation solutions provider Citect, strengthening its SCADA product portfolio.

Renowned for the development and application of SCADA and HMI solutions, the Citect brand is owned by Schneider Electric, and its range of products includes CitectSCADA, CitectHMI and CitectHistorian.

Schneider Electric already has a longstanding relationship with SolutionsPT, which has been the sole UK and Ireland distributor for its Wonderware suite of products since 1991. As a result, SolutionsPT was seen as the logical choice to take on the distribution of Schneider Citect software in the UK and Ireland because of its existing focus on, and technical expertise in, the automation sector.

To support the new product offering, SolutionsPT has promoted Anne Fletcher to the role of Citect Product Manager. Anne has been with SolutionsPT for six years, most recently working as Channel Relationship Manager.  Anne will be responsible for championing the Citect product set amongst SolutionsPT end users, OEMs and System Integrators to enhance the profitability and penetration of Citect products.

Martin Walder, VP Industry UK & Ireland, Schneider Electric, said: “Collaborating on sales and utilising SolutionsPT to support our Citect product will allow us to improve the service to Citect customers and enhance the breadth of our software offering. This deal will allow us to offer Historian, Batch Management and MES functionality as well as our targeted SCADA and HMI offerings. SolutionsPT is a well-established distributor and the right partner to work with to develop the overall market for Schneider software products.”

The press release ends there.

The outsider view

It is interesting to consider the background to this release, which on the face of it, is a little confusing, when you try to see it from the Schneider viewpoint. SolutionsPT is a long term independent but major Wonderware distributor and installer into UK and Irish industry. The relationship with Schneider only commenced after Schneider acquired Invensys plc: the acquisition process started with the takeover offer made in July 2013. This deal was not finalised until later in the year, after September.

In September 2013, Invensys plc, already subject to the acquisition offer from Schneider, acquired US based InduSoft, which was quoted as “a provider of HMI and embedded intelligent device software for the automation market”. This did indeed seem surprising, since Schneider had acquired a major HMI/SCADA software supplier when it bought Citect, many years before, in 2006. So why would the fairly inevitable Schneider/Invensys combined operation require two such similar companies?

This exercised several reports and analysis presented in the Industrial Automation Insider in late 2013, and some similar blog posts on http://www.ProcessingTalk.info.

However, today, in 2016, the InduSoft website promotes their Web Studio 8.0 as SCADA/HMI software for Intuitive Dashboards, OEE and the Internet of Things, under the brand of Wonderware InduSoft. Their UK distribution is quoted as dealt with by the InduSoft office in Germany. The original UK agent for InduSoft prior to 2013 was a private company, AdProSys, run by Mike Bradshaw, an ex-Wonderware employee, who then joined InduSoft as an employee in September 2013 to promote direct and channel sales of InduSoft throughout Europe. He then left InduSoft in July 2104.

With the InduSoft product being Wonderware branded, surely SolutionsPT would be selling it, as a part of their Wonderware package:  but the SolutionsPT website solidly refuses to recognize InduSoft as a search term….

The logic of this suggest that SolutionsPT have done their homework rigorously, and have decided that the Wonderware-Citect combination is the best match, to meet their market requirement for HMI/SCADA in Wonderware based applications.

©Processingtalk.info

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

New GM for SolutionsPT

Industrial IT provider, SolutionsPT, has announced the promotion of Sue Roche to General Manager. SolutionsPT specializes in providing industrial IT services to assist manufacturers in improving operational efficiencies, through operational intelligence, disaster resilience, cyber security and mobile technology solutions. The company is also the sole-authorized distributor in the UK and Ireland for Schneider-owned Wonderware.

Sue, previously Business Unit Manager of the SolutionsPT Wonderware UK & Ireland division, will assume full responsibility for all of SolutionsPT operations and will report directly to the Board, whilst retaining her position as lead on Wonderware UK & Ireland.

Sue has been with SolutionsPT for eight years and has played a key role in shaping the company’s evolution from traditional SCADA provider, to industrial IT experts capable of providing fully integrated industrial hardware and software solutions.  Her appointment as General Manager is part of the SolutionsPT market strategy to go ‘beyond HMI’ and deliver solutions which embrace cloud, mobile and virtualization technologies to meet customer requirements for high availability and resilience.

Sue has presided over Wonderware UK and Ireland during a period of substantial growth for the business which has seen it take on a number of significant projects for both new and existing clients, adding some of the largest and most influential businesses in the UK to the company’s books. This has included a major sales expansion with a leading water and wastewater customer, whilst significantly growing the company’s presence in the dairy sector.

Sue said SolutionsPT is firmly focused on continuing this growth and working with Wonderware parent company Schneider to become the UK and Ireland’s leading SCADA and industrial IT supplier.  She said: “We’ve had some fantastic wins over the last few years and have expanded into new sectors such as Infrastructure as well as growing our presence in key markets such as Food and Drink and Life Sciences. Wonderware will continue to be at the centre of our offering but we believe that our complementary industrial IT expertise, which includes mobility, cyber security and a managed service offering, will enable us to work with clients and the Systems Integrator community to deliver a holistic solution capable of delivering real efficiencies.”

(c) http://www.ProcessingTalk.info

InduSoft Web Studio software

InduSoft Web Studio software has been declared the winner of the Automation Inside 2014 Readers’ Choice Awards in the Best Automation Software category. InduSoft was selected from among 26 automation product competitors based on votes from Automation Inside readers in 36 countries. As a Readers’ Choice award, this recognition indicates a high degree of end user satisfaction with Web Studio, and is thus particularly important.

InduSoft Web Studio v7.1+SP3 gives a powerful collection of automation tools that provide the automation building blocks needed to simplify the creation of HMI and SCADA applications. This comprehensive development and runtime HMI/SCADA software solution provides over 240 built-in communication drivers allowing easy connection to a wide variety of PLCs and controllers. The full-feature set software includes all the tools users need to develop, deploy and present HMI graphics, alarms, trends, reports, recipes, and historian and database data.

Easy integration to the latest web, cloud, and mobility technologies allows users to create screens, widgets, animated graphics and controls that can be displayed, monitored and controlled, using the HTML5 standard, on a wide variety of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. The HMI/SCADA application can truly be deployed and accessed from almost anywhere.

InduSoft is grateful to all the end user customers, OEMs, certified system integrators, and distributors who use their products, and appreciate the continued support provided by InduSoft Web Studio.

About InduSoft

InduSoft, a Schneider Invensys company, offers a powerful family of HMI software products for industrial machines, embedded systems, intelligent embedded systems, and M2M. InduSoft develops tools and technologies that empower machine builders, OEMs, and other industrial automation customers to develop graphical interfaces for embedded PCs, PCs, industrial machines, and mobile devices. Today more than 250,000 InduSoft systems are operating worldwide through direct and partner sales.

 

 

Dynamo passes 100 applications

Honeywell Process Solutions announced today that its DynAMo alarm management technology is improving safety and productivity at more than 100 process plants and pipelines around the world by helping operators better and more quickly evaluate alarm situations in control rooms.

Plants and pipelines are increasingly relying on numerous automation systems, which can produce more than 1000 system alarms in a given day. The number of alarms can often overwhelm operators, a problem that leads to lower production and increased safety incidents that cost the process industry billions of dollars every year, according to the Abnormal Situation Management (ASM) Consortium, an industry group dedicated to advancing process technology.

“The Dynamo solution, which was launched in November 2013, allows plant operators to tune out noise and focus on critical situations by more efficiently managing and evaluating alarms,” said Ali Raza, vp and gm at Honeywell Process Solutions. “This allows operators to more easily detect and prevent problems, and to develop and implement effective alarm management strategies aligned with industry-recognized guidelines and standards.”

Dynamo is based on Honeywell’s 20-plus years of alarm management experience in the process industries. Dynamo reduces control room alarms by up to 80% by allowing operators to create customized dashboards on computers or mobile devices that allow them to view the alarm system health at a glance. This allows operators to better and more quickly diagnose alarms and their causes and consequence on one console.

Honeywell has licensed Dynamo technology at plants in Australia, Canada, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom, among others, as companies work to increase the efficiencies of their control rooms.

Richard Wawrzon, process engineering and control team leader for Qenos Pty Ltd, Australia’s leading supplier of polyethylene and polymers, said, “High quality tools to manage and maintain process alarm systems are critical to running petrochemical plants. The Honeywell Dynamo Alarm Suite has sensibly integrated analysis, documentation and notification tools to provide support engineers with an efficient way to stay in control of process alarm systems. Once process safety is being looked after, key resources can focus on production efficiency.”

As a global alarm management solution provider, Honeywell recognized the severity of alarm problems at industrial sites and delivered an effective tool for assisting in optimizing alarm management programs, which are intended to prevent alarm floods and reduce operator loading. With the Dynamo Alarm Suite, personnel can monitor alarm issues based on their specific roles and take action before abnormal situations escalate. A new, customizable, role-based dashboard enables operators, engineers and managers to view the health of their alarm system at a glance. The software has added mobile device compatibility for viewing alarm metrics at any time, from almost any location.

Chris Lucas, gas control team leader for Alliance Pipeline in Canada, said, “We chose Honeywell to provide our alarm management solution because its Dynamo Alarm Suite will help us meet our alarm philosophy and control room management plan objectives. Honeywell’s involvement with the ASM Consortium and the American Petroleum Institute also weighed into our decision, as did integration with the control system of our choice.”

Dynamo Alarm Suite works with any control system as well as complementing the Honeywell Experion PKS system. The alarm software provides a single window into alarm system performance and regulatory compliance, helping companies adhere to industry standards such as ISA 18.2, EEMUA 191, API 1167, and PHMSA.

Honeywell also provides a variety of services to help customers get the most out of their alarm management strategy. This includes alarm rationalization, alarm philosophy and strategy, workshops, best practices training and other services to enable customers to focus on alarm management priorities.

Schneider Electric to acquire InStep Software

Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management, has entered into an agreement to acquire InStep Software, of Chicago, Illinois, a leading provider of real-time performance management and predictive asset analytics software and solutions. It is the latest acquisition from the company’s growing Software business and deepens its presence in the power and energy market. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2014, subject to customary regulatory and other closing conditions. Financial details were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Chicago, and founded in 1995, InStep provides two primary real-time performance management and predictive analytics software solutions: eDNA historian software collects, stores, analyzes, displays and reports on real-time operational and machinery sensor data: Prism predictive analytics software monitors the real-time health and performance of critical assets by using advanced pattern recognition and diagnostic techniques to identify subtle deviations in operating behavior that are often the early warning signs of imminent failures. The company also offers the EBS energy management software, which helps universities reduce their utility costs by analyzing energy consumption and streamlining the utility billing, cost allocation and reporting processes.

“Acquiring InStep Software is indicative of our commitment to delivering game-changing technology and powerful new solutions that improve efficiency, manage risk and drive higher levels of customer value,” said Ravi Gopinath, evp of the Schneider Electric Global Solutions software business. “They have a proven, experienced team who are dedicated to helping their customers achieve new levels of value, performance and profitability, and we are delighted to welcome them to Schneider Electric.”

eDNA software strongly complements the Schneider Electric Wonderware Historian software, and Prism software enhances their industry-leading information and asset management software offerings. Many of the world’s most successful companies use InStep software products to manage and analyze the rapidly growing amount of real-time operational and machinery asset-health-related information, but its solutions also complement the Schneider Electric offerings in several other industries, including food & beverage, consumer packaged goods, metals & mining, life sciences and water & wastewater.

“As with other recent acquisitions, InStep Software strengthens our portfolio in targeted industries and segments,” said Rob McGreevy, vice president, information, operations and asset management, Schneider Electric. “Their solutions give us additional, stronger data management and predictive analytics capabilities in the power and energy management industries, including power transmission and distribution, and will help us fulfill our strategic plans around Big Data, the Internet of Things and other emerging trends. With InStep, we strengthen our reputation as an industry game changer, and we are immediately more competitive in traditional process manufacturing, which fits with our overall strategy of improving our access to the utilities market in North America.”

“The emerging technologies for Big Data, analytics, the Internet of Things, machine-to-machine and workforce mobility enable new means for improving process quality and equipment reliability while also reducing maintenance costs,” said Ralph Rio, research director at ARC Advisory Group. “InStep’s capabilities for predictive analytics leverage these technology trends and provide clear business value.  When combined with the strengths of Schneider Electric, we expect wider adoption in the power industry, and acceptance in a broader set of other industries where asset reliability and cost control are important.”

“Combined with Schneider Electric’s existing software offerings, our capabilities and expertise in the power and energy segment allow us to provide broader end-to-end visualization, asset management, operations and mobile solutions to our customers,” said John Kalanik, president of InStep Software. “Together, our software products will make it easier to bridge the IT-OT gap, empowering our customers to manage the increasing volume and complexity of their industrial operations. Our customers will continue to work with the same experienced InStep Software team, and we will continue to provide the same exceptional products and services they have come to expect and rely on. With Schneider Electric, our customers will be backed by a leading-edge global software company and our employees will have more opportunities to fulfill their potential for success.”

InStep Software will continue to be managed by its existing executive team, adding approximately 70 employees to the Schneider Electric operations in the United States.

Gary Mintchell, from the Schneider Electric bash (their Software Golbal Conference) in the US (Orlando), today additionally added to this release the following comments in his themanufacturingconnection.com blog:

“Schneider recently had announced a new extension to the SimSci product line. Now we have an acquisition. I take this to mean that Schneider has seriously decided to become a software company. I’ve never thought of the company as having a commitment to software.

Gopinath just used a word I used some time ago. Stability. These manufacturing software companies (Wonderware, SimSci, Avantis plus Foxboro, Triconex, etc.) under the instability of Invensys were threatened. Perhaps the stability of Schneider Electric will help these grow and prosper.”

– an interesting observation!

Yokogawa recovery is now completed

The recent Yokogawa User Conference in Berlin was reported in the INSIDER Newsletter July 2014 issue, showing a major emphasis on wireless systems, and the addition of new wireless sensors, for example for flammable gas alarm applications. The Berlin conference was the first significant Yokogawa European event since the Nice User Group meeting in November 2012, and so gave a good opportunity to talk to the management and assess how the business has reorganized and progressed over the few years. The overall impression is that Yokogawa is back to full health, so the major players need to move over.

The problems of the last five years.

The group has had a hard time over the last five years, following the world-wide recession and then their poor financial results in 2009. Then Japanese factors affected the Group badly, with the rise of the Japanese Yen reducing the competitive position – because of local production and group HQ costs – and the country then faced the impact and aftermath of the Fukushima disaster. Some of the Test and Measurement Division businesses were sold off, realizing some capital, and the company structure has been rearranged: jobs and resources were re-allocated. Wound around this, the wireless standards ‘war’ between ISA100 and WirelessHART, where Yokogawa for a long time took the brunt of the problems, and presumably had to help in the process of finalizing the ISA100 standard into a workable form: at least this is now completed, and consequently Yokogawa is the leader in the ISA100 field.

Recovery factors

Perhaps the major market factor that aided the Yokogawa recovery was the growth of the LNG liquefaction and shipping activity around the world, since is this an area where they have significant expertise and have a large market share compared to the other majors. Currently there are continuing LNG projects, the Japanese Yen has returned to the historic level of ¥100=$1, and over some years the production facilities have been diversified, reducing the concentration in Japan.

The flow company, Rota, has always been headquartered in Europe: now the special custom assemblies of complete analyzer houses are also built in Europe and the USA, plus the latest LNG project on the Yamal peninsula in Russia will be engineered from Europe. In a discussion at their Berlin conference, Yokogawa president and COO Nishijima san reminded me that they already had two established manufacturing joint venture companies in China, manufacturing transmitters and flowmeters, and the DCS systems plus other measuring instruments are built in Indonesia, with general pcboard manufacturing in Singapore. Nishijima san also commented on the need for local manufacture in the USA to provide the fast lead times required in that market, so we might see investment in a new production assembly venture there.

The next steps – with wireless

The Berlin conference showed that Yokogawa is building on their ISA100 position, and is seeking other add-on wireless sensor technologies to increase their ‘in-house’ capability. This might be by using their add-on wireless adaptor/interface, to existing mains powered sensors. It looks like a good relationship has developed with GE Bently Nevada, and corrosion and intrusion detection sensors might be next, with maybe fire detection sensors to go alongside the GasSecure flammable gas detectors on offshore platforms. Dräger, the specialists in oil and gas safety technology, were one of the major sponsoring partners of the Berlin conference, and also presented a talk discussing fire detection, using visual flame detection systems.

Nishijima was appointed President in February 2013: in April 2013 Herman van den Berg was appointed European President, and in December 2013 Simon Rogers was recruited as the head of the UK operation. Van den Berg, probably in common with Chet Mroz and others in the USA, has been burning up the air miles to Japan over the past 18 months, as a part of planning the recovery of the business. In fact there was an acquisition in March 2013 of Soteica Visual Mesa, marking an entry for Yokogawa into energy management IT services. Nishijima san sees further alliances and even acquisitions as an important route for Yokogawa to consider, to achieve the future growth his shareholders expect to see, and the current improvement in debt/equity ratio and normalization of the company share status makes this much more possible.

DCS and software developments

The major existing DCS developments have involved cyber-security improvements, probably in conjunction with McAfee after the February 2013 announcement, and ISAsecure certification for ProSafe RS. Additions to expect in this area are augmented reality added onto the displays, and compatibility with virtual servers. Yokogawa sees major business expansion potential in providing IT techniques and services for their IA customers, as a continuing service activity.

Examples quoted were CMMS in the cloud, which is already being offered as a service in Japan, and a software service called iMaintain, jointly developed and installed with Akzo Nobel in Germany: plus there is also their RigRider drilling procedure software, as reported from the Offshore Europe Expo in the newsletter last September. iMaintain enables client engineers to access device live data and history via a tablet on site, after reading the device ID locally using OCR. The iMaintain server accesses the DCS via an OPC link, to get current data, but can also call up device notes previously recorded, and also the instruction manual. A similar service offering is the Sotieca VisualMesa energy management system, which can suggest fuel and operational changes that will run plants such as refineries at minimal cost. One example of this is a recent project for the BP Lingen refinery in Germany: the system is in use in around 70 sites in refineries and petrochemical plants in the EU and North America.

The R+D activity on instrumentation also continues….

In the area of field instrumentation, continuing development will be seen following their strategy of having a two tier offering, featuring a top of the range unit backed up with a lower cost unit aimed at lower specification requirements. This has been seen with the EJX and EJA-E pressure transmitter, and the Admag AXF flowmeter, with the RXF unit typically for water industry applications. A new version of the TDLS combustion gas analyzer will also be launched soon. The activity level in this area of R+D is significant, with typically 400 to 500 new patents generated in a year.

Nick Denbow

The INSIDER Newsletter covering industrial automation and control is a Spitzer and Boyes publication, see http://www.iainsider.co.uk