0906

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controldesign.com
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Project Bids: Fixed-Price or T&M?
When a Programmable Relay Beats a PLC
Whose Operator Interface Is It Anyway?
E-Design Tools Improve Collaboration,

but Face-to-Face Teamwork Remains
a Critical Need
JUNE 2009
CD0906_01_Cvr.indd 30 5/26/09 11:51 AM

The most practical touch panel now performs Remote Access and Control!
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* Software and firmware versions 2.4 or later are downloadable for authorized customers from www.automationdirect.com
** Supports Windows XP and Vista operating systems only
CD0906_FPA.indd 2 5/26/09 2:52 PM

CONTRLDES_0609:Control Design 5/14/09 2:58 PM Page 1
Where Do I Go for Temperature Measurement and Control Products?

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CD0906_FPA.indd 3 5/26/09 2:53 PM

2008-10438-821-101.qxp 11/25/08 3:24 PM Page 1
Green Engineering at 3,100°F

MEASURE IT – FIX IT
Green engineering in the least likely places. Imagine the energy required to heat steel beyond
its melting point. With NI LabVIEW graphical programming and NI programmable automation
controllers (PACs) like NI CompactRIO, Nucor Steel optimized its steel melting process to reduce
the amount of electricity consumed and improve the overall efficiency of its recycling plant.
MEASURE IT FIX IT
Acquire Analyze Present Design Prototype Deploy
Acquire and Analyze and Present data Design optimized Prototype designs Deploy to the
measure data extract information with HMIs, control algorithms on ready-to-run hardware platform
from any sensor with signal Web interfaces, and systems hardware you choose
or signal processing and reports
Nucor Steel isn’t alone in realizing the benefits of optimized automation. Engineers and scientists around the world
are using the NI graphical system design platform to measure and fix industrial machines and processes. And along
the way they’re not only optimizing existing systems but also creating innovative solutions to address some of
today’s most pressing environmental issues.
>> Download the “Optimizing Efficiency” resource kit at ni.com/3100 800 451 6015
©2008 National Instruments. All rights reserved. CompactRIO, National Instruments, NI, and ni.com are trademarks of National Instruments.
Other product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies. 2008-10438-821-101-D
CD0906_FPA.indd 4 5/26/09 2:53 PM

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June 2009 features
contents
32 Cover Story
Amer
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PUBLICATIONS
Extreme Meetings
ica
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E-Design Tools Improve Collaboration, iet
yo l ic a
f Business Pub
but Face-to-Face Teamwork Remains a
Volume 13, No. 6

Critical Need
Dan Hebert, PE, senior technical editor
41 Machine Control
32
Relays Show Staying Power
As Their Control Capabilities Increase, Relays Encroach on PLCs
Dan Hebert, PE, senior technical editor
45 Operator Interface
Touchscreen Advantages—Part II
Hardware Interfaces Can’t Match Software’s Upside for Difficult
Environments, Lower Costs and Space Savings
Phil Burgert
41
48 Product Roundup
See the Future of Machine Vision
Cameras and Sensors Create Industry-Specific Applications
45
CONTROL DESIGN, (ISSN: 1094-3366) is published 12 times a year by Putman Media, 555 West Pierce Rd., Suite 301, Itasca, Illinois 60143. (Phone 630/467-1300; Fax 630/467-
1124.) Periodical postage paid at Itasca, IL, and at additional mailing offices. Address all correspondence to Editorial and Executive Offices, same address. Printed in the United States.
©Putman Media 2009. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or part without consent of the copyright owner. POSTMASTER: Send address
changes to Control Design, Post Office Box 3430, Northbrook, Illinois 60065-3430. SUBSCRIPTIONS: To apply for a free subscription, fill in subscription form. To non-qualified sub-
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Ontario, Canada N9A 6J5. Printed in the United States.
controldesign.com June 2009 Control Design 5
CD0906_05_07_TOC.indd 5 5/28/09 9:36 AM

CD0906_FPA.indd 6 5/26/09 2:53 PM
Your HMI and Industrial PC Authority
CONTENTS
COLUMNS
8 ControlDesign.com
Registration Necessary APL3000
17 Industrial PCs
11 Editor’s Page
Flat-World News
13 Machine Builder Mojo

Fixed-Price Vs. T&M
Six Things You
27 Live Wire 53
Must Consider
Hydraulics Get Better With Age
Before You
31 Embedded Intelligence Purchase Your
A Damaged Business Model Next Industrial PC
54
47 TechFlash Core™Duo Performance for
1 Data-Intensive Mission Critical
Tailored-to-Fit Operator Interface Applications
Solid-State Drive CF Option

2 for Higher Reliability than
58 OEM Insight Traditional Hard Drives
PCs and PLCs Have Grown Up 3 Integrated Factory Alert System

(Early Warning Diagnostics)
4 Data-Redundancy RAID Option
HOT BUTTONS 5 Hot-Swappable Hard Drives

for Easy Maintenance
15 Feedback 51 Real Answers 6 UL Class 1 Div 2

Hazardous Location Certified
Fine Art of Fiberoptic

17 OEM Spotlight Connections
How to Speed Up T-Shirt
Reliability +
Printing 55 Product Showcase Performance +
28 InDiscrete Data Protection =
AMT Testifies Before Congress Low Maintenance
Lower Your
CONTROL DESIGN EXCLUSIVES Maintenance
53 Siemens’ Wireless I/O Module Saves Time Costs Now,
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54 AVG’s Brighter, Greener, More Economical HMI Investments
and Save!
Find out here…
controldesign.com June 2009 Control Design 7 profaceamerica.com/compareCD
023009_APL3000_FTB_ad_final_CD_V1 1 2/23/2009 6:59:40 PM
CD0906_05_07_TOC.indd 7 5/28/09 9:36 AM

CONTROLDESIGN.COM
Registration Necessary NEw whITE PaPERS
HigH-Slip BraKing
So, once in a while you browse the Web and you come upon this Software Examine a new
cool site—like ControlDesign.com—that has all the information load-braking alternative called
you’re looking for and more. But then when you start clicking away, high-slip braking (HSB).
these pop-up boxes jump out, asking you to register.

USing wireleSS
Register? What is that?
tecHnology Overcome
Suddenly, you think that the amazing new site you just discov-
concerns about wireless
ered wants to know everything about you—age, religion, home ad-
PACs and I/O in industrial
dress, phone number, what time you go to bed, marital status and automation.
so on. Why do they want to know so much about you? All you want
to do is use the content they offer on the online pages. Why must cHooSing a cUStom
you let them into your inner circle and have them know every- controller or cotS micro
thing, from your Social Security number to the color of your socks? plc Read a step-by-step review
ControlDesign.com isn’t like that. for OEMs to make the best
Yes, I know that, when you visit us, we do have friendly boxes—if controller choice.
you haven’t registered on our site yet—that ask you to register with
kbonfante@putman.net
To download PDF papers, go

us, too. However, we don’t want every detail of your life. We don’t
to www.ControlDesign.com/
ask for much. We just want to get to know you better and be able to
whitepapers.
provide you with what you want and need.
When you visit us, all we ask for is your email address—a work-
ing email address please. SPECIaL TO ThE wEb
Yes, I know that right now you’re asking, “Why should I give
you my email address?” Well, there are so many benefits to giv- aUtomation tV Not only
•
managing editor, digital media
ing us your email address that I don’t even know how to start can you watch videos in
telling you about them. our multimedia library, but
you also can access them at
Let’s see. Once you register, you can access premium content
www.youtube.com/user/
that is not open to everyone. This premium content varies from ex-
ControlControlDesign.
clusive articles, video reports and white papers to market research
reports and more.
follow control DeSign on
Once you register with us, you can receive our various news- twitter at http://twitter.com/
letters and white paper alerts. Don’t worry, we won’t bombard Control_Design.
you with emails. You decide which content you want to get. You
•
tell us which of our alerts—one, two, all or none—you want to

Katherine Bonfante
macHine BUilDer forUm

receive. Through our email alerts, we tell you about the latest Machine Builder Nation is your
industry news, industry technological advances and events that community. Speak up and be
are happening. You get to read our most popular and exclusive heard at www.ControlDesign.
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content, and you get to read it first.
Registering with us also gives you access to exclusive white
DiD yoU Know yoU can
papers. Our white papers can help you with industry problems you
receiVe control DeSign
could be facing daily. They offer solutions, and you can’t get this
electronically? Subscribe
information for free anywhere else. to the digital issue of Control
Other benefits of registering with us include becoming part of Design and you’ll be able to
our community, the Machine Builder Forum. This no-cost, no- download a high-quality PDF
strings-attached registration gives you access to our forum where file of the magazine exactly
you can comment on and participate in conversations with our as it appears in print. Not only
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8 Control Design June 2009 controldesign.com
CD0906_08_WebTOC.indd 8 5/26/09 11:07 AM

Downtime SHOULD
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CD0906_FPA.indd 9 5/26/09 2:53 PM

PCI-104 PC/104+
Expansion Expansion
CD0906_FPA.indd 10 5/26/09 2:54 PM

Flat-World News
editor’s page
Sourcing and manufacturing times as many respondents plan-
controldesign.com
in China is indeed risky business. ning to increase that activity.
AMR Research (www.amrre- Outsourcing is out?
555 W. Pierce Rd., Suite 301
search.com) analyzes the global In other world news Machine
Itasca, Illinois 60143
630/467-1300 supply chain and its supporting Builder Nation needs to know, I
Fax: 630/467-1124 technologies. It just released a re- draw your attention to a 20-page
editorial team port indicating this risk is increas- booklet produced by ZVEI (www.
editor in chief
Joseph Feeley jfeeley@putman.net ing rapidly as a result of intellectual zvei.org), the German Electrical
executive editor property infringement, quality and Electronic Manufacturers’
Joe Feeley
Jim montague jmontague@putman.net failures and regulatory compliance. Assn., titled Safety of Machinery.
managing editor
“Concerns with China’s product Notes on the application of standards
mike baCiDore mbacidore@putman.net
quality and safety record continue EN 62061 and EN ISO 13489-1.
managing editor, digital media
katherine bonFante to rise from quarter to quarter,” Its introductory page asks, “Are
•
editor in chief
kbonfante@putman.net
says Noha Tohamy, AMR’s vice you a machine manufacturer
senior technical editor
Dan hebert dhebert@putman.net president of research and author or system integrator? Do you
editorial assistant of the report. “This will ultimately upgrade machinery? This is what
lori golDberg lgoldberg@putman.net limit China’s play in high-value, you need to consider in the future
•
columnist
labor-intensive manufacturing for functional safety.”
jfeeley@putman.net
Jeremy pollarD jpollard@tsuonline.com
outsourcing.” This isn’t an all-encompassing
design/production
art director U.S.-based manufacturers and compendium, but it provides a nice
Derek Chamberlain retailers that responded to the summary and some direction. It
multimedia director
sCott babCoCk survey identified the top supply comments on why safety-related
subscriptions chain risks, where and why they parts of a control system that
customer service source and manufacture and how
888/644-1803
these companies mitigate risks. China earned most-risky
circulation
China earned most-risky honors honors in 12 of the 15
audited december 2008
Air & Gas Compressors 822 in 12 of the 15 risk categories iden- risk categories identified
Engineering & Systems 9,290
tified in the report. Respondents in the report.
Integration Services
Engines & Turbines 1,746 cite China as contributing the most
Food Products Machinery 1,755
to intellectual property infringe- were designed in accordance with
Industrial Fans, Blowers,
& Air Purification Equipment 839 ment (59% of all respondents), EN 954-1 might not cut it in the
Industrial Heating, Refrigeration,
product quality failure (55%) and future. It provides several pages of
& Air Conditioning Equipment 1,493
Industrial Process Furnaces & Ovens 589 regulatory compliance (34%). Last overview each for the two stan-
Machine Tools 4,686
quarter China contributed the most dards that succeed EN 954-1, and
Materials Handling, Conveyors, 1,824
Conveying Equipment risk in 10 out of 15 categories. concludes with a step-by-step risk
Metalworking Machinery 3,149
Overall, regardless of region, assessment summary.
Mining Machinery & Equipment 562
Oil & Gas Field Machinery & Equipment 1,218 36% cited commodity price This will interest you if you sell
Packaging Machinery 799
volatility as the second-highest into the European Union. I can’t
Paper Industries Machinery 501
Printing Trades Machinery & Equipment 573 risk, showing that manufacturing direct you to an English version
Pumps & Pumping Equipment 965
executives might be happier with on its website, so we’ve made a
Rolling Mill Machinery & Equipment 152
Semiconductor stability rather than low prices. PDF file and posted it in our white
Manufacturing Machinery 881
According to the survey re- paper library at www.ControlDe-
Textile Machinery 246
Woodworking Machinery 236 sults, 49% of these U.S. compa- sign.com/whitepapers.
Other Industries & Special Industrial
nies source from and manufac- And that’s the world in review
Machinery & Equipment NEC 12,709
total 45,035 ture in the U.S., and 14% source for this month.
from and manufacture in China.
In addition, companies continue
to look near-shore for sourcing
and manufacturing, with three
June 2009 Control Design 11
CD0906_11_Edit.indd 11 5/26/09 11:08 AM

E20001-F270-M101-X-4A00
How does Totally Integrated Automation

drive maximum productivity?
With one framework for all HMI tasks.

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software products for all visualization requirements. Automation users benefit from simplified integration eliminating
common migration and conversion problems. No other HMI brand provides more built-in capabilities, sharing a core
intelligence with over 100,000 compatible automation products. This level of open flexibility and interoperability is
what we call Totally Integrated Automation (TIA). Synchronized with customer requirements, TIA optimizes factory,
machine and process operations, allowing you to increase efficiency and gain a competitive advantage.
More information: www.sea.siemens.com/TIAdisplays
Answers for industry.
CD0906_FPA.indd 12 5/26/09 2:55 PM

Fixed-Price Vs. T&M
machine builder mojo

As A mAchine builder, you’re generally tasked and tested on the shop floor. The software devel-
with two types of projects. One is to build a new opment portion of the project should be bid and
machine or substantially change the design of executed on a fixed-price basis, but shop-floor
an existing machine. The other is to install your testing might have to be priced on a T&M basis as
machine or machines, often along with ma- the contractor might have to work around other
chines from other suppliers, as all or part of a startup and test issues when testing its software.
manufacturing line. Let’s now look at fixed-price versus time-and-
When you plan either type of project, one of material for projects that consist of installing your
your most important decisions is whether to machine along with machines from other suppli-
execute the work in-house or with outside contac- ers to make all or part of a manufacturing line.
tors. A while back, I discussed this subject in a Much depends on project size and scope. In
two-part column—www.ControlDesign.com/out- general, the smaller the project, the harder it is
source1 and www.ControlDesign.com/outsource2. to get fixed-price bids, especially if the project is
This month we’ll assume that the decision has small and consists of many scope areas.
been made to go outside for help, so let’s look For example, if installing the machines will
at the best options for executing projects with require relatively small amounts of demolition,
Dan hebert, Pe
contractors, namely fixed-price or time-and- building modifications, new concrete slabs, piping
material (T&M). and electrical work, it could be hard to find a bid-
The total cost is known up-front on fixed- der with this wide range of expertise willing to do
price projects and the bidder usually makes a relatively small project.
schedule and performance commitments. But The best course of action in this case probably
•
senior technical editor
getting contractors to submit firm fixed-price is to separate the work into different areas and
bids is not always easy. have each executed by a specialty contractor. If
Let’s look first at machine-design projects. Bid- the scope can be well-defined, then fixed-price
ders must have detailed knowledge of exactly what
the new or redesigned machine is supposed to do. If your company lacks expertise with
Imparting this knowledge to bidders via a detailed the customer’s preferred control
scope-of-work document so they can submit fixed- system, then going outside for a
•
dhebert@putman.net
price bids can be quite a chore. If the design can be fixed-price bid can make sense.
accomplished in-house, that’s usually the best op-
tion. But if skills are needed that are not available is the way to go. Pouring a new concrete slab is a
internally, soliciting fixed-price bids from outside good example of this type of work as the calcula-
contactors could be the best way to go. tions and drawings needed to design the slab can
For example, a customer might require your often serve as the bid package.
company to provide a control system of its choos- If defining the scope is more challenging than
ing for your machine. If your company lacks actually doing the work, then T&M makes more
expertise with the customer’s preferred control sense. For example, routing and installing inter-
system, then going outside for a fixed-price bid connecting piping among machines often is best
can make sense. done on-site via field routing with machine-build-
In most cases, the bidder’s scope of work will er personnel directing hourly workers.
consist primarily of software development, so For capital projects that exceed $1 million,
they will need a detailed scope-of-work docu- fixed-price is the best way to go, as costs can be
ment describing the control system’s functional- more closely controlled than they can be with
ity. In many cases, all or part of this document is time-and-material jobs. These types of proj-
available in internal documents such as machine ects typically require an extensive and detailed
operations and maintenance manuals. contract between machine builder and customer.
After the machine builder buys and installs This contract then can be turned into a bid docu-
the necessary control system components on its ment, and it’s relatively easy to find multiple
machine, the contractor’s software can be loaded fixed-price bidders for large jobs.
CD0906_13_Mojo.indd 13 5/19/09 11:32 AM

Life is complicated,
but SAFETY doesn’t have to be.
E-Stop Switches (XA, XW Series)
• “Safe break action” ensures

contacts open if detached
• Depth behind the panel only
48.7mm for 4 contacts
• Direct opening action contacts
Padlock-type Switches (XN4E)
• Prevent resetting of latched

E-Stop with up to 20 padlocks
• “Safe break action” ensures
contacts open if detached
• Direct opening action contacts
Safety Controller (FS1A)

Interlock Switches (HS6E, HS6B) No programming required. When it comes to SafetyOne can replace up to six safety relay
easy-to-use safety solutions that won’t cost an modules with no PLC needed. Not only that,
arm and a leg, IDEC can help! With a complete line SafetyOne can be configured simply by turning
of safety products, you can find everything you on a logic switch and one module can connect
need to safeguard your machines. Just take a look with various IDEC safety components such as
at our new SafetyOne safety controller. Ideal for emergency stop switches, pilot lights, sensors,
applications too cumbersome for safety relays interlock switches and light curtains.
and too simple for an expensive PLC, our safety
controllers make it easy to consolidate your
• Thinnest solenoid-type interlock
switch in the world
safety circuits and save money doing it.
• NC contacts are direct opening
• IP67 degree of protection Want to know more? Visit www.idec.com/safety
Interlock Switches (HS5B, HS5E) Enabling Grip Switches (HE1G) Enabling Switches (HE5B)
• Flexible installation allows 8 actuator entries • Three-position functionality (OFF - ON - OFF) • Ergonomically-designed 3-position operation
• Metal actuator entry slot ensures long life • Contacts will not close when released from • Easy recognition of position 1 – 2 transition
• 1000N min. actuator locking strength depressed OFF to OFF • IP65 degree of protection
• IP66 degree of protection
IDEC Corporation • 1175 Elko Drive, Sunnyvale CA 94089 • www.IDEC.com/usa • 1-800-262-IDEC
CD0906_FPA.indd 14 5/27/09 2:03 PM

Manufacturing’s Pendulum
FEEDBACK
Labels such as PC or PLC or PAC PLCs can be small, so what would
I read your Embedded Intelli- often lead engineers to a wrong you call our new CX8000? The L-
gence column [“Lead the Horses perception based on past experi- shaped module is actually a small
to Water,” Mar09, p33, www. ence. Engineers PC-based controller
ControlDesign.com/horses]. today must look past attached to local I/O.
While I couldn’t agree more labels toward the It uses a 32-bit ARM
with your analysis—in fact I’ve innovative prod- processor and Windows
done two speeches to seventh ucts using COTS CE. It delivers real-time
graders this year about automa- technology. Many functionality and DIN-
tion engineering—I noted your of them, like our rail mounting with em-
comment about IPC family are very bedded connectivity. Be
manufacturing small and can run careful of labels and look
returning to from solid-state deeper into the product
North America memory. There are also DIN- specs and always use the best-
“as it will for rail-mounted embedded PCs that suited one for the application.
many reasons.” look just like a traditional PLC GRAHAM HARRIS, president,
I also feel that to the casual observer. These Beckhoff Automation,
way. The pen- embedded PCs feature local I/O www.beckhoff.com
dulum simply and solid-state memory but use
has swung so high-performance Intel proces- GIVE US A PIECE OF
far in the opposite sors and Windows CE as the YOUR MIND.
direction that it must eventually operating system, which is a EMAIL US at CDFeedback@putman.
net. POST A COMMENT in our forum
swing back. I also think we’ve real-time OS. Some quoted in the
at www.ControlDesign.com/mbf.
seen that a highly service-based article seemed to think that only
economy—i.e., you cut my hair,
and I’ll mow your lawn; he’ll
sell us both insurance, and
she’ll sell us all mortgages—will
RUGGED HMI
eventually take some serious
hits. Another is the foolish
willingness to teach the rest of
the world how to do things that
many of us here worked hard
to figure out in the first place.
My business is booming, which
makes me think the pendulum
is on the way back already.
STEVE GUNNERSON, president,
Nautilus Systems, www.nautilussys.com
No L Shape in PC QTERM-G58
In your PC-based controls article
[“Controls Choice Still Evolving,” Touch Screen
May09, p17, www.ControlDesign. WiFi
com/pcplc] many respondents
appeared to think that a PC Battery
couldn’t be designed for indus- Rugged
trial applications. Perhaps they
didn’t know that industrially
Economical
hardened PCs have been on the
market for several years.
866-466-8158
controldesign.com
cd.qsihmi.com
CD0906_15_Feedback.indd 15 5/26/09 12:01 PM

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CD0906_FPA.indd 16 5/26/09 2:55 PM

How to Speed Up T-Shirt Printing
OEM SPOTLIGHT
Machine and Supplier Team Up for Uniform Devices, Clickable Network
When a pro SporTS team

wins a conference or national
title, many players instantly
put on T-shirts and hats pro-
claiming victory. Almost as
fast, there are thousands of the
same shirts and hats on sale
everywhere. So, how is this
trick done? It takes seriously
fast textile printing.
One machine builder that
helps T-shirt makers and fans
celebrate their long-awaited
victories is M&R Printing
Equipment (www.mrprint.
com) in Glen Ellyn, Ill. Bo Biel,
T-SHIrT-GO-rOund
A modified Sportsman continuous carousel textile press from M&R Printing
M&R’s chief electrical engineer, Equipment prints multi-colored images onto T-shirts, while a RadiCure dryer
says his company has built melts the plastic-based inks onto the fabric and a robot plucks the shirts from
carousel textile presses for the line at ABB Automation & Power World 2009 in Orlando, Fla.
18 years, including its eight-
year-old Sportsman press for the Sportsman’s switch motor RS-485 communications, we
continuous T-shirt printing and controls, AC drives and circuit added a Phoenix Contact com-
its RadiCure dryer, which uses breakers, but then they ap- munication module for the
radiant panels to melt plastic- proached us with the idea of drives,” says Biel. “However,
based inks onto the shirts after building it with all ABB compo- it was unpluggable and had to
they’re printed. nents,” says Biel. “We usually be terminated with a screw-
However, as Sportsman pick the best components via driver. We needed that click,
evolved to meet shirtmakers’ trial-and-error, but this time so eventually we converted
changing needs, M&R added we tried a one-for-one switch these terminal blocks on the
devices and capabilities until out of the PLC, HMI, servodrive, drive to an RJ45 socket, which
its 12-station presses bristled Modbus RTU networking and gave us an Ethernet-like hub
with dozens of components other solutions.” for the drives and other com-
from many suppliers. As a M&R and ABB’s engineers ponents. This finally lets us
result, M&R worked with the inventoried Sportsman’s ex- click in all 10 drives and other
low-voltage drives depart- isting devices and found they devices, and they’ve been
ment in ABB’s (www.abb.us) could switch more than 100 working well.”
automation products division components, including drives, Now, the master PLC can talk
over the past nine months to motors, PLCs, push buttons, to and monitor all the drives,
see if they could jointly build pilot device switches, stack says Biel. “This isn’t about
a Sportsman press using only lights, contactors, relays, soft deterministic control; it’s just
ABB automation components. starters, e-stops and other about communicating to all
ABB’s organizers coordinated parts. M&R’s staff then as- devices and data exchange,” he
input and components from sembled them as part of the says. “However, with one touch,
five business units and two new machine. we now can send a recipe on
divisions to help build M&R’s “We also had 10 ac drives the HMI to all the drives. This
new carousel press. we needed to connect, but makes setup much easier—in
“ABB previously supplied since RJ45 wasn’t approved for seconds instead of minutes.”
CD0906_17_OEMSpot.indd 17 5/26/09 5:42 PM

2007
Although We’re Global, We Prefer To Think Of Ourselves As

Local In Places All Over The World.
With more than 11,000 experts in 44 countries around the globe, you can be sure there’s always
someone nearby who speaks your language. At SEW-EURODRIVE, we speak the language of
our customers. Automotive. Bottling. Warehousing. Speed. Torque. Cost. Power. We understand
what you do and how we play a part in your operations as a whole. With our global presence and
product line, you can be sure of local support all over the world. And our expertise means you
get the right support from someone who truly understands your business.
www.seweurodrive.com
GEARMOTORS | DRIVE ELECTRONICS | D R I V E A U T O M AT I O N | SERVICE
CD0906_FPA.indd 18 5/26/09 2:55 PM

2009 product overview
Quality that’s on the mark.
Convenient online ordering -

that's E-direct!
www.e-direct.us
2009 edirect insert_CP993E.indd 1 11/12/2008 10:40:33 AM

Vibration limit switch for liquids Multiple point liquid level limit switch
Liquiphant T Liquipoint T
FTL20 FTW31/32
• Reliable tuning fork technology • Detect up to five level limits

• Compact size with one device
• Rugged stainless steel housing • No moving parts in the tank
• No calibration required
Starting at $136 (for 1-5 pcs.) Starting at $138 (for 1-5 pcs.)
Level limit switch for bulk solids Vibration limit switch for bulk solids
Minicap Soliphant T
FTC260/262 FTM20
• Calibration–free start–up • No calibration, easy start-up
• Active build–up compensation • No moving parts
• Maintenance free, rugged design • Sensor material 316L
Capacitance level limit switch for solids
Nivector
FTC968
• Maintenance-free operation
• No calibration, quick start-up
• With “Protector”: no contact
with solids
Starting at $160 (for 1-5 pcs.)

Capacitance continuous level measurement for liquids Safe pressure switch to 6,000 psi
Liquicap T Ceraphant T
FMI21 PTC31/PTP31
• No calibration needed - • High visibility digital display

preconfigured from factory 0 to • High reproducibility and
100% to ordered probe length long-term stability
• Non-corrosive materials • Stainless steel housing
• Safe operation regardless of tank
geometry
Starting at $588.50 (for 1-5 pcs.) Starting at $318 (for 1-5 pcs.)
Absolute & gauge pressure transmitters Pressure transmitters for sanitary use
Cerabar T Cerabar T
PMC131/PMP131 PMP135
• Rugged, abrasion and corrosion
resistant ceramic sensor • Flush-mounted process connections
• Polysilicon sensors with metallic • Design per 3-A sanitary standards
diaphragm • Up to 5 times overload resistant
• Reliable with long-term stability
• For process pressure ranges of
0-5 psig to 6,000 psig
Application example
Measurement System Local display
PMC131 - Pressure Transducer
RNS221 - External power supply
RIA261-C2K - Display
Power supply
Analog output 4 to 20 mA
to PLC or Recorder

Temperature sensor with integrated transmitter Transmitter for thermometers & thermocouples
easytemp™ iTemp®
TSM470F/G TMT127/128
• Fixed measuring ranges for 3- and
• Highly accurate all-in-one system
4-wire resistance thermometer and
• Sensor and electronics potted to
thermocouples including linearization
protect against condensation
• For mounting on DIN rail
(NEMA 6)
• UL 3111-1 approval
• 4 to 20 mA loop-powered signal
Temperature switch Transmitter for thermometers & thermocouples
Thermophant T iTemp®
TTR31 TMT187/188
• 2-wire technology, 4 to 20 mA
• High visibility digital display
analog output
• High repeatability and long-term stability
• High accuracy in total ambient
• Stainless steel housing 316L
temperature range
• For mounting in (Form B) sensor head
Starting at $317.50 (for 1-5 pcs.) Starting at $88 (for 1-5 pcs.)
Application example
Available in E-direct
1. Liquiphant T FTL260 for spill detection
2. Liquiphant T FTL20 measuring high level condition
3. Liquiphant T FTL20 measuring low level condition 5
4. iTemp® TMT187 head temperature transmitter
5. Temperature sensor for pump motor monitoring
TMT127/128
5 2
transmitter
to PLC 1 3
4 to 20 mA
4

Color process display Digital loop-powered displays
RIA452 RIA251/261
• Min/max logging function

• Pump control function
• Digital output with integration • 4 to 20 mA circuits, no external power needed
• FM-IS approval, optional
• Backlit display and trend bargraph (RIA261)
Paperless recorder
Ecograph T
RSG30
• Reliable data archiving with

lockable internal memory and
removable CompactFlash card
• Web server function allows for remote monitoring
from anywhere via the web
• Network integration via Ethernet, modem or USB
Application example
Setpoint
relay
Analog or
output
PLC
RIA250 local display
Recorder Example:
and loop-power supply
Ecograph T from E-direct
Example:
Sensor for pressure
measurement such as a
PMC131 from E-direct

Active IS barrier DIN Rail signal conditioner
RN221N RMA421
• Loop power supply and IS barrier • Most standard measurement signals
in one device (V, mV, mA, RTD, TC, Ω)
• Communication sockets for HART® • Flexible set point monitor with 2
• With FM AIS intrinsically safe input relay contacts and scalable output
• Built-in linearization function
Limit alarm Power supply
RTA421 RNS221
• 2 relays for set point monitoring • Two-channel supply for two 2-wire
(with changeover contacts) sensors or transmitters
• Loop power supply (option) • LED status indicators
• Quick setup • Wide range power supply: 20 to 250 V
AC/DC, 50/60 Hz
Application example
Compact thermometer
Connect to an Endress+Hauser RMA421 to
supply loop power, provide local display, and
retransmit signal to a higher level controller.
For power supply only, use Endress+Hauser
RNS221.
RSG30 Digital recorder
4 to 20 mA Output

People for
Process Automation
Passive barrier
Level
RB223
• For driving valves, controllers,
indicators in hazardous or non-
Pressure
hazardous areas - up to SIL 3
• 2 wire or 4 wire sensors
• Instrinsically safe barriers
• HART® smart Flow
Temperature
Flow switch
Flowphant T
DTT31 Liquid Analysis
• For monitoring and displaying
relative mass flow rates of liquid
media in the range from 0.03 to
3 m/s (0.1 to 9.84 ft/s)
• Optional 4 to 20 mA analog output
Recorders
• Top housing section can be rotated
310º for easy viewing
Starting at $384 (for 1-5 pcs.) Components
Close to you Service

Driven by the knowledge that powers a
global company
Solutions
Endress+Hauser is a global supplier of process automation solutions. The
power of this global company is realized by its local support to you. This
support starts with excellent manufacturing facilities located within the
USA. ISO 9001-2000 certified manufacturing facilities and ISO 17025
certified calibration capability assure Endress+Hauser delivers highly
reliable measuring instruments to customers throughout North and
Shop online for low-cost instruments,
South America.
devices and components at:
www.e-direct.us
A network of skilled sales and service personnel are located throughout
the US and Canada, ready to provide the support required. Regional
sales and service locations assure there is someone available, in your
time zone, to support you.
7

E-direct offers you
• High quality - 50 years of experience are built
into every E-direct product
• Fast delivery - most orders ship within two
business days
• 30-day trial - not sure if you want to switch to
an E-direct product? Test a product in your
application before you buy! Contact us for
complete details
Quick delivery from our stock maintained at

Endress+Hauser, Inc. in Greenwood, IN
Visit our on-line shop for

information on all products
offered through E-direct or
to order:
Web: www.e-direct.us
Telephone: 888-EHDIRECT
Fax: 800-321-7754
E-mail: e-direct@us.endress.com
Endress+Hauser reserves the right to change or modify our product
appearance, specifications or pricing at any time without notice.
ISO 9001:2000 Certified
USA
Endress+Hauser, Inc.
2350 Endress Place
Greenwood, IN 46143
Tel. 317-535-7138
Sales 888-ENDRESS
Service 800-642-8737
Fax 317-535-8498
inquiry@us.endress.com
www.us.endress.com
CP 993E/24/ae/10.08
AE/INDD CS2

Hydraulics Get Better With Age
LIVE WIRE
Stick with what you know. Dance with the controlled, will reach the sheet before the other
girl you brought. Don’t rock the boat. due to misalignment errors caused by measure-
Just like these old sayings, hydraulics as a ment limitations or different play in the roll
power source has been around for a long time. bearings,” explains Little. “We synchronously lift
Some accounts of its use by the Chinese date back each side of the roll onto the sheet under position
more than 26 centuries. control with a low-level force override.”
Mike Bacidore
But change can be good. While hydraulics The roll is lifted up to the sheet, but is limited
hasn’t changed too much over the years, hydrau- by a force override outer control loop until both
lic controls seem to take leaps from time to time, sides of the roll make contact and the bearing
as long as they don’t interrupt production. play in the top roll is taken up, he says.
•
Used for high-power density, hydraulic sys- The initial force is enough to lift both rolls
managing editor
tems have improved over the years, offering but not enough to risk grabbing or jamming the
tighter tolerances and better fault-sensitivity. As sheet and ruining product or losing hours of pro-
a result of this improved performance, necessary duction. “With the old system we had as many
field operator skills have increased to the point as six strip breaks in a year, due to grabbing,
where certification is all but required. Cleanli- whereas in the past two years we’ve had none
•
mbacidore@putman.net
ness of the fluid and the hoses or pipes that due to hydraulics,” says Little.
transport it also becomes more important, as Once both sides are in contact and all bear-
does temperature control. ing play is removed, the force is ramped to the
When the original manufacturer stopped required process level with near-zero overshoot.
supporting the 30-year-old analog-based control “Low-level control—the skin pass roll control—is
system at New Zealand Steel (www.nzsteel.co.nz) implemented using the digital microprocessor-
in Auckland, New Zealand, control of the produc- based controller,” he says. “The control strategy
tion lines had to be modernized.
“We’re something of a boutique steelmaker, The new system replaced the
producing small tonnage runs for near-just-in- existing, servo-valve manifold
time customer delivery, so no interruption of assemblies, which control each
production was feasible,” explains Damian Little, of the load cylinders.
principal engineer at New Zealand Steel. “Con-
sequently, Global Hydraulics & Controls built implemented was developed specifically for this
a freestanding shadow mill stand with a Moog production line based on a detailed analysis of all
control system to fully validate the design before operational modes of the process.”
modifying the production line.” The controller provides the closed-loop posi-
The new control system has been used success- tion movement and force control for the skin
fully for almost two years, but the nuances of hy- pass roll and also includes management of the
draulic control weren’t without their challenges. auxiliary hydraulic valves operating the actua-
“To meet customer specifications, our cold- tors and the supporting hydraulic power unit,
rolled annealed strips are given the desired sur- explains Little.
face finish in a skin pass mill,” explains Little. “It The new system replaced the existing, servo-
improves flatness while suppressing yield-point valve manifold assemblies, which control each
elongation. Anti-rust oil is used on strip surface of the load cylinders. “These are effectively
as protection from rust. A single, two-high skin displacement rams, relying on the weight of
pass mill varies the force to complete its final the roll to retract,” he says. However, when the
finish and thickness.” system is in emergency mode, a powered retract
The process control requires the roll to be lifted is required to move the roll off of the sheet
onto the sheet for a “kiss” before applying a con- quickly and reliably.
trolled load. Conceptually simple, the control is Change can be good. And change is even better
complex in practice. when, as in this particular case, it doesn’t inter-
“One side of the roll, although synchronously rupt production.
CD0906_27_LiveWire.indd 27 5/19/09 11:37 AM

IndISCRETE
AMT Testifies Before Congress
two manufacturing The danger for auto compa-
executives, both also repre- nies and others at the top of
senting AMT—the Assn. for the manufacturing food chain
Manufacturing Technology is that they will lose their
(www.amtonline.org), testified important suppliers and then
before Congress in May. not have access to key technol-
Carl Reed, president and ogy for crucial projects at the
CEO of Manhattan, Kan.-based point when they need it most,
Abbott Workholding Products explains McGibbon. “Over the
(www.abbottworkholding.com), past nine months, domes-
told the U.S. House Commit- tic automakers drastically
tee on Small Business that reduced orders and shut down
unless auto industry sup- manufacturing operations,” he
pliers get help immediately, STRATEGIC says. “This has disrupted pay-
many of them will “take their RESEARCH ments to the automakers’ Tier
AMT’s Patrick McGibbon says 1 suppliers. With less money to
last breaths.” Eugene Haffely,
bankruptcies of Tier 1 suppliers
Jr., chief operating officer of conduct their businesses, the
cause Tier-2-supplier bankruptcies,
Dayton, Ohio-based Assembly which creates a domino effect. Tier 1 suppliers are not using
and Test Worldwide (www. the assistance they are receiv-
assembly-testww.com) and agreement with the auto com- ing to make orders. By the
a member of AMT’s board of panies. There’s no opportunity time we work our way down
directors, testified on restoring to adjust shipments based on to the bottom of the produc-
available credit to support the health of customers or pay- tion chain, none of the money
nation’s defense industrial base ment integrity as with the injected into the top of the
before the U.S. Senate Banking flow suppliers.” supply chain has trickled down
Committee’s Economic Policy A few weeks after the testi- to the bottom. Tier 1 suppliers
Subcommittee. monies before Congress, Patrick go bankrupt, causing the Tier 2
Reed warned that if a high McGibbon, vice president—stra- companies to go bankrupt, and
number of technology suppliers tegic information and research on down the line.”
to the auto industry suddenly at AMT, elaborated. Small businesses make up
cease operations, it would set Current resources are the overwhelming majority of
off a “domino effect” that will focused on a few large compa- the manufacturing technology
go well beyond the automakers nies with the theory that the industry, explains McGibbon.
and could affect aerospace and stimulus will trickle down, “They rely on the ability to ob-
other industries. explains McGibbon. “That tain working capital in order to
Despite the U.S. Treasury strategy would work and has stay in business,” he says. “Many
Department’s auto supplier worked in recessions where the have gone months without a
support program, “inexplica- decline has happened in an- single order, so credit has be-
bly, AMT Tier 1 suppliers have nual rates of 30-40% in a year,” come unavailable to them. Their
been left out of the program,” he says. “The current situation ties to the auto industry have all
said Reed. “The car companies is punctuated with January’s but dried up access to the capital
have interpreted the program 70% decline in manufacturing they need to manufacture
as protection for companies technology orders and a first- their products. Manufacturing
who supply them on a flow quarter decline of 68%. That technology companies typically
basis rather than on a trans- type of fall will result in the have low turns in their inven-
action basis. This leaves out exit of a majority of this indus- tory, including work in process,
AMT suppliers, whose com- try’s domestic producers before so credit is essential to main-
mitments come one transac- the first dollar of the stimulus taining a flow of work through
tion at a time, amounting to initiative reaches our small the factory, where machinery is
essentially an all-or-nothing manufacturers.” produced in 10 to 270 days.”
CD0906_28_30_Indiscrete.indd 28 5/29/09 11:13 AM

Demand for Automation Hits the Brakes
DeMAnD foR AuToMATIon (www.longbowresearch.com). “Price increases have report-
equipment is in decline, ac- Among those surveyed, 48% edly stopped almost entirely,”
cording to a survey of industrial now say the market is weaker says Lustgarten, as a result of
automation distributors and than it was at this time last the trends. “Not only is this the
integrators by Eli Lustgarten, year, compared with 34% in De- first survey where we have seen
analyst at Longbow Research cember and 24% in October. price declines, but the number
NEWSWORTHY
The ISA100 (www.isa100.
org) Standards Committee
on Wireless Systems for
Automation approved
ISA100.11a, “Wireless Systems
for Industrial Automation:
Process Control and Related
Applications.” It now is pending
approval by the ISA Standards
and Practices Board and
ratification by the American
National Standards Institute.
Trumpf (www.trumpf.com)
received Daimler’s Key Supplier
Award in the Innovation
category for its contribution to
the development of the robot-
driven laser welding system
RobScan.
Frost & Sullivan (www.frost.

com) awarded MicroStrain
(www.microstrain.com) the
2009 North American Business
Minimum space,
Development Strategy
Leadership of the Year Award in
the sensors market.
Adventech’s Industrial
Automation Group (www.
Maximum possibilities.
adventech.com) and ACP (www.
thinmanager.com) marked the
10-year anniversary of their thin-
X20 and X67
client-producing partnership.
R. Stahl’s (www.rstahl.com)
device type manager (DTM)
for the IS1 remote I/O system
was tested and certified by the
FDT Group (www.fdtgroup.
com) for full interoperability
with corresponding FDT frame
applications. X20 and X67 System by B&R: I/O, fieldbus, controller - in IP20 or IP67. Removable terminal blocks, unmatched
density, hot-pluggable electronics, seamless integration of IP67 I/Os, excellent EMC properties.
controldesign.com
Perfection in Automation
www.br-automation.com

of respondents reporting price Demand reports were imPrEssivE
indiscrETE
declines (11%) was higher than predominantly flat or nega- groWTh in china’s
those reporting price increases tive. Flat demand remains a loW-volTagE
(5%); the vast majority of re- relatively stable percentage of moTor drivE
spondents (84%) now categorize all reports, at 43%. markET
prices as flat, compared with Demand growth was reported
0% in our December and Octo- by 10% in March, vs. 20% in De- SaleS of low-voltage motor
ber surveys.” cember and 33% in October. drives in China were estimated
to be worth $1.7 million in
2008, a growth of about 8.3%
rEsulTs of conTroldEsign.com WEb Poll
over 2007, according to the lat-
If your firm is maintaining staffing levels during this est statistics from IMS Research
recession, how will you handle less work with the (www.imsresearch.com).
same number of people? The China drives market is
heavily dependent on machine
We will encourage
builders, with sales to this
We will train staff to take time
more: 33% off: 33% channel representing almost
two-thirds of total market rev-
enues in 2007.
We will job-share: 15%
Some major suppliers started
to worry about the market in
We will take some We will retool our own the first half of 2008 before the
other approach: 13% manufacturing: 5% global economic crisis started
because of the sharp decline
of the demand from the textile
machinery sector, which ac-
counted for 25% of the total
shipment in terms of units,
according to IMS.
Analyst Jackey Wang com-
mented: “The slowdown or even
decline of some machinery sec-
tors did decelerate the growth
of sales to machine builders
significantly in the second half
GNARLY APPLICATION
of 2008. However, the impact
of the global financial crisis on
end-user markets was insignifi-
cant until now. Sales to end-user
markets continued growing as a
result of the government-guided
energy-saving and omission-re-
duction projects and related poli-
cies. The fast growth in end-user
markets offset the slowdown of
the machinery market.”
In 2005, the Chinese govern-
www.stealth.com ment announced an ambi-
tious goal of reducing energy
consumption per unit of GDP by
20% between 2005 and 2010.
controldesign.com

A Damaged Business Model
embedded intelligence
What Would you do if you found that your ing downtime and production shortages. Because
bridges were burning? of the relationship, I rescheduled other work to
Metaphorically speaking, bridges can be any accommodate their request. I spent two days and
connection between two points, people, events or only charged them for one-and-a-half. While they
data. I refer to people in this case, and the busi- didn’t know that, I felt better about it because the
ness bridge that exists between the user and the work wasn’t fully completed.
supplier. That reliable old relationship seems to The work was done, and the invoice was deliv-
be in a dire state these days. ered in March. Two months later, no check. Now
I’m finding a reckless panic in this bad econo- there could be various reasons why this has hap-
my that has people stomping all over the rela- pened. I don’t think I did anything to tick anyone
tionships they’ve built over time, as if they don’t off, but I haven’t asked.
mean anything. This customer has changed course in relation-
Case in point: I’ve done work for a local ships. No longer do they care about anything
company for more than 13 years. They call me long-term. They’ve concluded that there always
for programming, design, training and, most will be someone to help them, as long as they are
importantly, troubleshooting when their in-house willing to pay. I can’t understand why automation
people can’t solve a problem. services are being treated in the same way as get-
Jeremy Pollard, CEt

We have had a great relationship. They call and ting a room painted.
I get the work done. I invoice and they pay. All is Is it the economy? Is it a case of desperate com-
good, and all is fair. panies doing desperate tings?
We’ve had projects that needed to be carefully I worry that many long-term relationships can
quoted, but, all in all, they know me, they trust me, be and will be destroyed if our process changes
and they know I get the job done. Until now, that is. from the way it used to be to one of burning
•
jpollard@tsuonline.com
What I really can’t get my head around is how
important a few dollars are, relative to a long- What I really can’t get my head
term relationship. They obviously think the around is how important a few
dough is more important. dollars are, relative to a long-term
You also would hope that if there were com- relationship.
peting bids for similar service that were a small
percentage lower in price, the customer would bridges, slashing and trashing and an all-about-
call you about it, to be clear about your proposal the-cost mindset. If we take a more-caring ap-
and, out of respect for the long-term relationship, proach to our business, we’ll be in better stead
be clear on the situation at hand. when the recovery occurs.
I don’t suggest that any customer dismiss a com- I’m in new project discussions with another
peting quote, but if a company knows my abilities client who does recognize and value our long-
and knowledge from firsthand experience, I would term relationship. For them, it brings comfort to
think they would want to talk about it if I came in their operations by knowing they have an expert
a few bucks too high. Maybe I’m building myself in their corner. Their needs are changing, and
up too much, but you know what I mean. they want me to be part of the change process.
I was shocked that I never got a chance to do For them it’s more of a let’s-make-this-happen
anything about it. scenario. We will be successful.
The relationship is damaged. Beyond repair? I know bridges can be rebuilt and fences can be
Probably not—I like doing work for one particular mended. But many shouldn’t have been broken in
individual, but the benefit of any doubt is gone. the first place.
I often spent extra time doing and explaining
things to their inside people and didn’t charge JErEmy Pollard has been writing about technology and
them for that. Was that a poor business decision? software issues for many years. Publisher of The Software
Another time, I was asked to go in and help User Online, he has been involved in control system
them with a new piece of equipment. It was caus- programming and training for more than 25 years.
CD0906_31_EmbedIntel.indd 31 5/19/09 11:34 AM

E-Design Tools Improve Collaboration, but Face-to-Face Teamwork Remains a Critical Need
by Dan Hebert, PE, senior technical editor
FACE-TO-FACE meetings used to be the primary The Whites of Their Eyes

method of communication among machine builders, Remote e-design collaboration saves travel time,
customers and suppliers. Phone calls were the only is cheaper and is easier to set up, but face-to-face
practical way to supplement face-to-face interactions, meetings deliver advantages. “There is a genius to
and conference calls were a rather complex novelty. human interaction only brought out by close face-
Every phase of a project now can be conducted ei- to-face involvement,” believes Jim Butler, president
ther face-to-face or remotely using e-design tools. Best of IntePro (www.inteproinc.com), Waynesburg, Pa.
practices come from selecting the right type of meet- IntePro builds manual and semi-automatic work-
ing for each phase of the project and using the correct station setups that are integrated into continuous-
e-design tools as needed. flow manufacturing lines (Figure 1). “Direct human
The Internet has spawned a host of e-design tools interaction is needed at specific times throughout a
including virtual meetings, fi le-sharing sites, video collaboration to create the atmosphere for truly ef-
conferencing, 3D publishing and viewing software fective brainstorming and creativity and to make the
and, of course, email. Most of these tools are low- leaps of progress that bring high achievement,” adds
cost or free, and ease-of-use and performance have Butler. “The cost and time concerns for such progress
improved dramatically. are insignificant in the context of a well-balanced
But despite the ubiquity, low cost and ease-of-use face-to-face and e-design collaboration.”
of these new design tools, there are some instances System integrator Optimation (www.optimation-
where face-to-face meetings are required. tech.com), Rush, N.Y., currently is setting up secure
CD0906_32_40_CoverStory.indd 32 5/28/09 10:14 AM

client portals accessible through its website to share A subset of e-design is remote access and support for
documents, manage schedules, support project blog- machines and systems installed in the field. “From our
ging and provide revision control for shared data. home office, we can connect to a system anywhere in
the world to remotely view the operator interface and
Despite this commitment to e-design, Optima-
connect with the PLC controlling the machine,” says Keith
tion knows it can’t fully replace on-site meetings.
Gardener, product engineering manager at MPI (www.
“From a service supplier point of view, e-design can
mpi-systems.com) in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. MPI builds wax
have some drawbacks for new customers,” says Dan
injection-molding machines and automated pattern
Curry, PE, senior process engineer at Optimation. “It assembly systems for the investment casting industry.
can take longer to build a relationship and form trust MPI first establishes a VPN connection to a customer’s
when you’re not working on-site, so we try to meet network—a network controlled by the customer. The VPN
with each client face-to-face before a project begins. normally is disabled and activated only by the customer
No form of e-design will ever be able to give you the when required. Client VPN policies establish MPI’s limits
nonverbal cues that you get in a face-to-face meet- for network access. After a VPN is established, connection
ing. A client’s nonverbal communication often is more to each machine requires a separate login.
“Remote access allows us to provide training, setup
powerful than what is said.”
advice and troubleshooting,” adds Gardener. “We can
also update machine operating sequences. We use
InduSoft Web Studio as the HMI and the Web server. This
allows us to remotely see the same screens as the operator
via Internet Explorer, but some issues such as mechanical
breakdowns still need hands-on diagnosis.”
MoCo Engineering & Fabrication (www.mocoeng.
com) in Spokane Valley, Wash., builds lumber-handling
equipment for the wood products industry. “We offer
a remote-access option to our customers via a Web port
device that uses open VPN tunnel technology,” explains
Loren Wernecke, electrical and hydraulic manager
and field service specialist at MoCo. “Once the tunnel
is created, we can connect to any Ethernet device on
the private side of the Web port, as if we were on-site.
We can modify device settings, change programs and
A leading machine builder agrees. “Face-to-face troubleshoot equipment. This allows us to be highly
meetings include body language, and participants responsive to customer demands in the most efficient and
have a greater sense of being a stakeholder in their economical manner possible.”
actions,” notes Raymond McKinney, senior condition-
monitoring specialist at Dresser-Rand (www.dresser-
rand.com), Olean, N.Y. Dresser-Rand makes industrial
reciprocating and centrifugal compressors, steam
turbines and their associated control systems.
Integrated Process Engineers & Constructors (www.
MOCO ENGINEERING & FABRICATION
ipec-inc.com) in Fort Atkinson, Wis., is a process

system design and build specialist for the food, dairy,
beverage and pharmaceutical/biotech industries
(Figure 2). Gary Johnson, project manager with the
company, says, “Face-to-face meetings can be useful,
especially near the beginning of the design process. A
trip to the client’s facility lets the engineer see design
considerations and limitations that would not be ap-
SYNCHRO STACKER
parent in descriptions, drawings or pictures.” MoCo Engineering & Fabrication built this green lumber
This automation supplier clearly values personal stacker, which can be accessed remotely via a Web port
meetings. “Face-to-face meetings play an impor- device that uses open VPN tunnel technology.

tant role in customer relationship-building,” says and CAD software to exchange models. Typically, a
Bill Savela, marketing director at Delta Computer customer views its portion of the project via models
Systems (www.deltacomputersystems.com). “When a used to check for fits into manufacturing lines. “We
company commits to using a Delta controller, it bets fi nd that e-design saves the cost and time of flying
the success of its own business and reputation on our engineers to customer sites,” says Bob Fung, director
ability to meet its needs,” adds Savela. “With stakes of engineering at Owens. “It’s also more productive
this high, in-person interaction is im- due to the rapid exchange of models
portant to build trust.” “There is a genius to we can update or change very quickly.”
System integrators see the value of
human interaction
E-Design Advantages e-design for both themselves and their
only brought out by
No matter the e-design tool employed, clients. “E-design allows us to respond
remote interactions have some impor- close face-to-face immediately without the time and ex-
tant advantages over in-person meet- involvement.” pense required to travel from New York
ings. “E-design saves time during each to anywhere in the world,” notes Keith
stage of the design process and makes it easier for Gardener, product engineering manager at MPI (www.
clients to give input,” observes IPEC’s Johnson. His mpi-systems.com), Poughkeepsie, N.Y. MPI makes
firm uses email, FTP file-sharing websites, Web-based wax injection-molding machines and automated
virtual meetings and document-sharing software. pattern-assembly systems for the investment casting
Owens Design (www.owensdesign.com) in Fre- industry. “By eliminating travel time to and from the
mont, Calif., makes highly automated and complex field, it also frees up our service engineers’ schedules.
machines used primarily in the semiconductor, disk The only drawback is that not all customers have the
media and solar industries (Figure 3). It uses virtual resources or systems in place to support the remote
meeting software for long-distance interactions connectivity, making initial setup difficult.”

without face-to-face meetings,” says Hilpert says he also used eDrawings
HilTech President Lee Hilpert. “It extensively at his prior employer,
allows us to listen to client needs and machine builder Hutchison Hayes. “We
then send clients an interactive 3D did a lot of development work with
HilTech (www.hiltecheng.com), a model of what we envision will meet our sister company in New Zealand,”
system integrator in Tomball, Texas, the project requirements. Having a states Hilpert. “Face-to-face meetings
uses eDrawings, a free SolidWorks fully interactive 3D model also allows were limited, and so we used e-design
product, to convey important the customer to see potential pitfalls technology to get the job done. That’s
engineering information to its and design improvements that might when I realized the value of this
clients and suppliers. “EDrawings not otherwise be recognized until technology and truly embraced it as
is an invaluable tool that gives us later into the project when corrections a preferred way of collaborating with
the confidence to do up-front work become more costly.” customers and vendors.”
Larry Wells, PE, principal with industry consultant e-design. “Remote design allows us to keep all our
CCSA in Lawrenceville, Ga., says, “Remote meetings design documents on a single computer in the of-
can be set up much more quickly, and more people can fice and access the design database and drawings
attend, which brings in additional firsthand infor- via an Internet connection,” says Stephen Carter,
mation. If an electronic talking tool such as virtual president of LT Software Solutions (www.ltsoftware.
meeting software is used, information is generated in com), Portsmouth, N.H. “We use Aucotec’s Engineer-
real-time so that all can see and concur with the infor- ing Base software to provide services to our clients
mation that appears on their computer screens.” from our office and from remote locations. With the
Document management also improves with software, on several occasions I have been able to
CD0906_32_40_CoverStory.indd 35 5/29/09 12:40 PM

provide last-minute changes to together faster with the full exper-
OEM client design documents and tise needed to handle a particular
on-site customer data from an problem, rather than just send-
airplane seat.” ing someone who is available,”
E-meetings eliminate travel he argues. “As travel costs are
costs and time, adds McKinney eliminated, it is feasible to have
of Dresser-Rand. “This makes it newer employees attend meetings
possible to pull working groups to gain exposure.”
every ac motor
deserves
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The most ubiquitous and widely
used e-design tool is the humble
The fastest growing AC drives
email. Now that almost everyone
company in the world
has an email account with remote
Vacon was established in 1993 from a passion to as well as local access, email is
develop and produce AC drives globally. Vacon
designs, manufacturers and applies AC drives in even more popular.
the broadest power range on the planet – from “Email is invaluable for quick
fractional to megawatts (0.33–7,000 HP).
and concise questions and an-
We focus on energy – energy efficiency and
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building automation to steel mills, from offshore oil
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needs. will be compromised by getting
Call us today to learn more! lost in the sheer volumes,” says
Vacon, Inc., tel. 1-877-822-6606 Butler of IntePro.
www.vacon.com “The major disadvantage of
emails is over-reliance on them for
conversational communications,”
adds Butler. “This leads to periph-
eral people becoming involved
when they shouldn’t be and email
storms in which communication
devolves into confusion and pos-
sibly to destructive conclusions.”
Email attachments of drawings
and documents save the time and
controldesign.com
www.vacon.com
CD0906_32_40_CoverStory.indd 36 5/28/09 1:35 PM

INTEPRO
DESIGNED FOR FLOW
Figure 1: Extensive face-to-face discussion with its customer was essential for IntePro
to optimize the design process for this integrated continuous-flow manufacturing
line for assembling and testing electromechanical products.
expense of package deliveries, It’s a Virtual World

notes Johnson. “FTP sites are also It started with the phone more
useful tools for the transmittal of than a century ago and then pro-
large drawings or documents that ceeded to conference calls and fi-
would exceed the size limitations nally to video conferencing. Virtual
of many email servers.” meeting software borrowed the
Optimation’s Curry is a fan of phone-conferencing concept and
file-sharing sites. “We use FTP sites incorporated the Internet, and now
to share large data files such as it’s used often in conjunction with
drawings and other phone conferencing.
project informa- “E-design saves time “Web-based
tion,” he says. “FTP during each stage of virtual meetings
sites are great. the design process with simultaneous
They’re a secure conference calls
and makes it easier for
place for the client allow active input
and Optimation to
clients to give input.” from the clients
quickly share in- during the design
formation. We get current versions process,” explains IPEC’s John-
of active documents and drawings, son. “Clients are able to view a
and we make extensive use of 3D model of the system without
up-to-date action item lists on the needing design software installed
site. By keeping the FTP site as the on their computers. Viewing a 3D
main storage place, we cut rework model at different stages of the
issues because everyone is now design process allows clients to
using the most current version of understand the design decisions
each drawing and document.” and the impacts.”

Butler of IntePro has some advice progress and of interaction between or special circumstances, in-person
for making virtual meetings more participants. For instance, watch meetings should occur at least once
productive. “Virtual meetings bring out for over-reliance on the conve- every six weeks.”
people together well for general nience and lesser accountability of Video conferencing might one
reviews and light problem-solving remote meetings. Our experience day be the ultimate in virtual
but are limited for creative ses- shows that about a third of general meetings, combining the advan-
sions,” he states. “Facilitators need review sessions need to be face-to- tages of face-to-face gatherings
to continually monitor quality of face. Depending on project length with the low cost of remote col-
laboration. “Optimation is head-
ing toward video conferencing,
but not everyone is ready for it,”
Louis Tisch thinks Curry. “We do think that it
ROSS Project Engineer
will become standard practice over
New valve that operates time because nonverbal communi-
using inert gas cations are so important.”
CAD Tools
Machine builders, their customers
and their suppliers use 3D CAD
products to improve the design
process. “In the selection of a six-
axis robot for one of our machines,
the reach and movements were
tested using the SolidWorks draw-
ings of our framework that were
sent to Staubli, the robot manufac-
turer,” says Bob Horrell, manager of
sustaining engineering at Stras-
baugh (www.strasbaugh.com),
San Luis Obispo, Calif. Strasbaugh
If you can imagine it, we’ll makes wafer-polishing machines
We turn design and build it. That’s
because we’ll do whatever
for the semiconductor industry,
“What if...”
as well as grinding and polishing
it takes to provide our machines for the precision optics
customers with exactly what industry. “In two Web conferences,
they need – like this small the robot was articulated by Staubli
footprint, highly-reliable within the space of our SolidWorks
into reality. poppet valve that can
operate using lighter-than-air
model,” explains Horrell. “Several
robot manufacturers quoted on the
gases without compromising project, but only Staubli had the
leakage specifications.
Talk to us about your fluid

ADVANTAGES OF
power needs. We’ll tell you
REMOTE E-DESIGN
what we tell ALL our Saves cost
customers: Saves time
Easier for more to participate
Consider it DONE! Easier to manage version control
Encourages more frequent interactions
VISIT THE BRAND NEW

WWW.ROSSCONTROLS.COM
controldesign.com
LouisInert.indd 1 3/23/09 1:41:29 PM

INTEGRATED PROCESS ENGINEERS & CONSTRUCTORS
TURNKEY PHARMACEUTICAL
Figure 2: Integrated Process Engineers & Constructors built this pharmaceutical
formulation and sterile storage system. Face-to-face meetings early in the project let
the client more easily see and adjust design limitations.
3D capability for placing the robot uploaded easily and available to all
in our framework and articulating team members. Distribution using
it to all the required target loca- email isn’t necessary and doesn’t
tions. The model next was emailed clog in-boxes with long down-
to Staubli for incorporation in its loads of multi-megabyte drawings.
animation demo, which was in real When a new version is uploaded,
time to our engineers. Subsequent- previous versions of all files are
ly, further iterations were sent to automatically saved for reference
us from Staubli so the animation as needed.”
could be run here to achieve the Users edit the current version,
end design.” which locks the file until they
CAD Tech Resources (www. upload changes and release the
cadtech.com) knows some of the lock. CAD administrators or project
nuances of using the Web to man- managers set permissions for each
age CAD drawings. “Our clients group of users to control access
use our Web Drawing Manager to and ability to change designs.
securely share drawings, files and “Customers can be authorized to
pictures among team members view the final design, the pricing
worldwide via electronic folders,” group can edit costs, and design-
says Tom Armstrong, CAD Tech’s ers can edit working drawings,”
president. “Current documents are explains Armstrong.
ADVANTAGES OF FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS

Relationship building
Nonverbal clues are transmitted
Can see machines and manufacturing lines firsthand
Easier to draw-in important but reluctant participants
Easier to communicate among larger groups
More accountability among participants

Newer versions of CAD soft-
ware have more options for
document sharing, thinks IPEC’s
Johnson. “A simplified version of
a 3D model can be created that
the client can view using a free
companion program from the
software manufacturer,” he says.
“The client can view the 3D model
but not make modifications.”
OWENS
The Right Mix

Most projects use both in-person
and remote e-design, with the op-
WAFER HANDLER
Figure 3: An operator loads a 300-mm, front-opening, unified pod onto an Owens timal mix being determined by the
Design metrology automation platform. Owens uses virtual meeting software for client. “The customer dictates the
long-distance interactions and CAD software to exchange models. amount of required face-to-face
meetings,” says Lee Hilpert, presi-
dent of HilTech (www.hiltecheng.
com), a system integrator in Tom-
Worldwide standards organizations require long-term and ongoing ball, Texas. “Some customers feel
collaboration among members located across the globe, making them a great very comfortable with e-design
fit for remote e-design. GE Energy’s Steve Sabin is the secretary of the American and need few in-person meetings,
Petroleum Institute’s Subcommittee for Mechanical Equipment (SOME) 670 5th but others just aren’t comfortable
Edition Task Force (www.controldesign.com/some). Subcommittee participants doing business remotely. We fi nd
include machine builders, machine end users, engineering firms and instrument that the more a company embrac-
vendors, and they are responsible for several dozen standards related to rotating es new technology, the more open
and reciprocating machinery used in the petroleum industries. they are to e-design.”
“When I last worked on SOME task forces for API 612 and API 670 back in
One potentially can move
1998-2000, all meetings were face-to-face. Participation was limited because of
through a project more quickly
required travel, and many companies simply stopped supporting API activities
and have access to many more
due to travel time and cost,” observes Sabin.
In 2008, Sabin participated in revisions of the standards he worked on in engineering and manufacturing re-
1998-2000. “In the intervening 10 years, things changed,” he states. “Now, sources by using e-design. “That’s
only two meetings per year are conducted face-to-face. The rest of the time, why our company prefers to spend
we do everything via WebEx and teleconference. Our 50 task-force members money on new e-design technol-
share screens, make edits on the fly and generally conduct business in a ogy instead of travel expenses,”
virtual meeting format.” concludes Hilpert.
Sabin says his work on the task forces and committees was revolutionized by When determining the right mix
this technology. “When working on the fourth edition of API 670, I traveled more of technologies to use for each proj-
than 15 times in 24 months,” he marvels. “Since we have started on the fifth
ect, it’s wise to consider the pros
edition, I’ve had to travel twice in 12 months. We also have greater participation
and cons of each approach. “We use
from outside North America. Finally, the ability to post materials to a website for
WebEx for project, purchase order
task-force participants to review when they miss a meeting is much easier than the
and contract review of schedule,
old method of faxing or snail-mailing documents around the world.”
progress and issues,” relates Bill
Robertson, project manager at Em-
erson Process Management (www.
REALLY VIRTUAL. VIRTUALLY REAL emersonprocess.com). “Remote e-
design allows for immediate online
What mix of face time plus e-tool-enabled collaboration makes the
communication of design changes
most effective combination? Voice an opinion and check the pulse of
Machine Builder Nation at www.ControlDesign.com/edesign. or updates, and it minimizes travel
costs and time.”

MACHINE C ONTROL
Relays Show Staying Power

As Their Control Capabilities Increase, Relays Encroach on PLCs
by Dan Hebert, PE, senior technical editor
RELAYS MIGHT SEEM to be in retreat for all but the PLCs Can’t Do This
most basic control applications in the face of seem- PLCs continually add capabilities, but these additional
ingly relentless PLC advances. Instead, relays actually functions usually improve control, connectivity and
are adding capabilities and encroaching into control performance. This leaves the field wide open for relays
territory formerly occupied by PLCs. in traditional application areas. Some of these tasks
Today’s relays and programmable relays are better can be performed by PLCs, but not practically from a
than PLCs in two main categories. Traditional relay cost/performance perspective.
functions such as voltage conversion, current amplifi- “Solid-state and electromechanical relays excel at
cation and electrical isolation fall into the first category. conversion, amplification and isolation,” observes
“We generally use power relays for high power Mike Garrick, product marketing lead specialist for
or large inductive loads,” says Carl Van Tilburg, PE, Phoenix Contact (www.phoenixcon.com). “Relays often
electrical engineer in the controls department of are used to convert 24 Vdc to 120 Vac so machines can
Daifuku America (www.daifukuamerica.com). “The use safe, low-voltage control, with relays switching
nature of these loads demands a hardened component to higher voltages as required. For example, a 24 Vdc
with load-breaking capabilities.” Daifuku is located in
Reynoldsburg, Ohio, and makes a variety of material- ELECTROMECHANICAL LIVES
handling and assembly-line equipment (Figure 1). Relays mounted on printed circuit boards often can
The second category includes control functions replace PLCs in machine control applications.
for which relays are a better alternative in terms of “We engineered a custom electromechanical relay
cost, performance and ease of use. “For our retrofit PCB that integrated nearly 85% of a machine’s discrete
control application, we needed a simple-to-install, panel components,” says Carey Perschke, electronics
and manufacturing engineering supervisor at Wago
low-cost, add-on solution, and programmable relays
(www.wago.com). “The machine builder was looking to
fi lled the bill,” explains Jeffrey Smith, product sup-
trim costs by eliminating a separate power supply while
port manager at MEC Aerial Work Platforms (www.
minimizing the overall footprint for the controls. The PCB
mecawp.com) in Selma, Calif. MEC manufactures a integrated two electromechanical relays with photosensor
variety of electric and internal-combustion-powered relay control. The board is 3.1x4.9 in. and includes a
self-propelled aerial-work platforms for the con- universal-voltage 24 Vdc regulated power supply.”
struction industry (Figure 2). For MEC’s application, Wago chose electromechanical relays because the
a PLC was too complex and expensive, so it instead board connects to a VFD that directs a motor to run
used a type of preprogrammed relay. forward or backward through the drives forward/
Let’s look at instances where relays and program- reverse digital inputs. “Solid-state relays would have
mable relays are a better solution than low-end PLCs. created false starts because of leakage current,”
cautions Perschke, who explains the relays also helped
the customer avoid maintenance issues and provided
RELAY THE REALITY simple setup as compared to a PLC-based solution.
“With relays, there’s no need for battery backup,
Help us better define the line between there’s no chance of losing a program due to an
programmable relays and programmable outage, and there’s no need to reload the program if
controllers at www.ControlDesign.com/relaycontrol. you replace the board,” concludes Perschke.
CD0906_41_44_feature2.indd 41 5/26/09 12:13 PM

DAIFUKU AMERICA
STACK ConTrol
Figure 1: This automated storage & retrieval system from Daifuku America handles materials and is controlled by a combination of
relays and programmable controllers.
PLC output might control a 24 Vdc relay coil that would often are positioned by or controlled by VFDs, which
toggle a 120 V solenoid on and off.” produce a tremendous amount of electrical interfer-
Relays commonly are used to amplify current so ence, so noise immunity is important.”
low-cost, high-density and low-current PLC out- Replacing a damaged programmable relay requires a
puts can drive high-current loads. For example, a 24 fraction of the time and cost of replacing a PLC; it takes
Vdc/500 mA output point from a PLC could connect up much less cabinet space than a PLC does and gener-
directly to the coil of a relay, and the relay contacts ates much less heat than a PLC does, adds McConahay.
could drive a high current load.
As isolators, relays protect critical control com- Safe by Design
ponents from dangerous loads and electrical noise. Relays fail to a predictable state on power loss, mak-
“When power is removed, inductive dc load devices ing them ideal for many safety-system applications.
collapse the magnetic field in an attempt to sustain “Some machine-control applications must adhere to
current flow,” explains Garrick. “As a industry safety standards such as IEC
result, a voltage spike is generated and
The very simplicity and 61508 or 61511,” notes Moore’s Mc-
sent to whatever source is turning the limited capability of Conahay. “Programmable relays come
device off and on. A relay contact can programmable relays with these approvals at a fraction of
absorb the kickback voltage spike.” confers ease-of-use. the cost of a safety PLC. Safety integrity
Jim McConahay is a senior field level (SIL) 2/3 programmable relays
applications engineer with Moore Industries (www. cost as little as a few hundred dollars, where many SIL
miinet.com), and he details some other electrical 2/3 safety PLCs cost thousands of dollars. These PLCs
advantages of relays and programmable relays over also require special documentation and personnel
PLCs. “Programmable relays have much higher inher- when programmed and commissioned. Programmable
ent RFI/EMI protection than PLCs, often as high as relays use push buttons, potentiometers or free PC
50 V/m,” notes McConahay. “Robots and machinery programming software that any technician can use.”

MACHINE C ONTROL
GE Energy’s Steve Sabin is secretary of the American Relays in Control

Petroleum Institute’s Subcommittee for Mechanical Relays and programmable relays have many electri-
Equipment. “To my knowledge,” he states, “relays are cal and safety advantages over PLCs, but program-
the only viable option for applications above SIL 1. I don’t mable relays also can outshine PLCs in real-time
think there is any digital communications protocol yet control and monitoring.
considered appropriate for SIL 2 or SIL 3 applications.” “We’ve used programmable relays to control small
GE builds electronic machinery protection systems accumulation sections on conveyors,” explains
that meet API 670 and other industry standards. “Al- Daifuku’s Van Tilburg. “The advantage over a stan-
though there is some discussion currently in the task dard PLC was solely price. The programmable relay is
force about revising the standard to allow the use of better-suited for small, stand-alone, low-complexity
digital protocols, it does not appear that this will be al- applications. Once integration into a system or high
lowed when the installation has to meet a designated control complexity is required, the programmable
SIL,” explains Sabin. relay loses its applicability.”
As Van Tilburg notes, higher control complexity
RELAY ADVANTAGES OVER PLCS favors PLCs, but the simplicity and limited capabil-
1. Cheaper 7. More reliable ity of programmable relays confers ease-of-use.
2. Simpler 8. Have higher RFI/EMI “Programmable relays can be programmed by tech-
3. Smaller tolerance nicians via push buttons or free PC programming
4. Can provide voltage 9. Faster to replace
software,” reminds Moore’s McConahay. “Most PLCs
conversion 10. Certifiedf or safety
5. Can amplify current
still require licensed software and always need a
applications
6. Can provide isolation person skilled in PLC programming.”
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• The Industry’s five-year growth rate?
• Whether your compensation plan is competitive?
• Which end-user markets will remain strong?
• How your sales compare with the industry?
• How your customers feel about you?
Credible market data, industry surveys, peer networking
and so much more from the
Measurement, Control and Automation Association
905.844.6822 mcaa@measure.org www.measure.org

MACHINE C ONTROL
CHEAPER, SIMPLER, BETTER

MEC Aerial Work Platforms (www.mecawp.com) in Selma, interrupt the start command for a period of time to match
Calif., manufactures a variety of electric and internal- the duty cycle of the starter. The solution had to serve as a
combustion-powered, self-propelled aerial work platforms retrofit as well as a production change so the requirement
for the construction industry. “We faced an issue where was for a simple-to-install and low-cost add-on.
the machine operators, after running the diesel engine “We contacted five different suppliers,” says Smith. “The
out of fuel, would over-crank and damage the starter in other companies provided us with a variety of timed relays
attempt to re-prime the fuel system,” relates Jeffrey Smith, with limited programmability, but it was the cumulative
product support manager at MEC. “We needed a single- timer requirement that only ABB could provide.”
unit controller to monitor and temporarily interrupt the ABB programmed the device based on conversations
start system in order to allow some cool-down time. ABB’s with MEC and then provided MEC with pre-production
ProgramaCube fit well with our current electrical system samples for testing. “We installed each sample on
without having to make any significant changes. Basically a production machine and attempted to override,
it was a plug-and-play arrangement that we could offer to trick, bypass and basically destroy the unit,” continues
our clients at minimal cost to us.” Smith. “We also tested the unit in a variety of ambient
This unit was required to monitor the duration of the conditions and with varying voltages. After testing, the
start command, including cumulative time in case the ProgramaCube was released as a standard ABB part in
operator tried to outsmart the protective device, and then early 2008. We have not had one failure of the unit.”
In addition to ease-of-use, control advantages of than low-cost PLCs. A mV-level thermocouple signal
programmable relays over PLCs often are price-related. can be scaled and converted for matching to a PLC.
“Many programmable relays have local displays and The relay can provide scaling, thermocouple conver-
LEDs that display input faults, relay status and the sion and cold junction compensation.
variable,” notes McConahay. “PLCs need an additional- For many applications, just a few I/O points require
cost HMI and software to accomplish the same tasks.” high-speed monitoring and control. Instead of buying
Using relays for signal conversion lets a low-cost an expensive PLC with high-speed capabilities, it’s
PLC be employed as the main controller, while the often more cost-effective to combine a low-cost PLC
relays perform specialized duties. with a high-speed programmable relay.
Programmable relays typically offer higher A/D
input resolution and accuracies for RTD measurement Relay Trends
Relays are a mature technology, still ripe for ad-
vances. “Relays will feature reduced size with same
resistive-load output,” opines Mark Boston, power
relay product marketing manager at Omron Electron-
ic Components (www.omron.com/ecb). “Low height
will be the most-favored size reduction as it reduces
panel depth and can lower the cost of the enclosure.
Another similar trend will be same or similar size
with greater functionality such as over-temperature
alarms or diagnostic alarms.”
More latching relays will be employed, thinks Bos-
ton, especially for applications where switching speed
is not critical and relay is switched on for more than
10 minutes on average. “The energy savings derived
MEC
from just having to pulse a latching relay on and then

being able to remove the current will make this a very
NEW HEIGHTS OF CONTROL
attractive option for many applications,” he says.
Figure 2: This scissor lift has a working height of 43 ft and
platform capacity of 1,000 lb. It is available in diesel, dual-fuel
(gas/propane) or all-electric power configurations. MEC Aerial MORE ON CONTROL PLATFORMS
Work Platforms uses a programmable relay as the primary For a list of materials on control platforms, visit www.
control device for its scissor lifts. ControlDesign.com/controlplatforms.

OPer ATOr InTerfAce
Touchscreen Advantages—Part II
Hardware Interfaces Can’t Match Software’s Upside for Difficult Environments,
Lower Costs and Space Savings
by Phil Burgert
[This is the second of a two-part article on the the use of touchscreens for discrete manufacturing operator interface
applications. Part I appeared in the May issue of Control Design, or you can read the complete story now
at www.ControlDesign.com/touchscreen.]
Touchscreen-based hMI is finding its way into

more and more discrete manufacturing applications,
replacing traditional interfaces such as keyboards and
mechanical buttons. Reduced footprint, lower cost,
less wiring and reprogramming capabilities all impact
touchscreen’s surge.
But versatility and flexibility are the big drivers at
BG Industrial Control (www.bgics.com), Placentia, Ca-
lif., which uses touchscreens from AutomationDirect
in a system it developed for real-time monitoring of
AUTOMATIONDIRECT
employee efficiency and productivity in textile rental
plants (Figure 1).
“It’s a simple application,” says Brian Greer, presi-
dent of BG Industrial Control. “The complicated part
is figuring out the logic and how to make that work to TAcTILE TEXTILES
use the database and connectivity.” The work at five Figure 1: With touchscreen Ethernet-based controllers from BG
plants with a total of 160 touchscreens involves wash- Industrial Control, employees switch to different stations and
ing, ironing, folding and keeping track of textile uni- continue monitoring daily efficiency.
form pieces as they travel through the plant. Touch-

screens have been used in the plants for five years, but The most important advantage of touchscreens over
they have been upgraded in the past two years.” other panels is versatility, says Greer. “I can send out ac-
Each individual workstation has a touchscreen, says tual strings or actual names,” he says. “I can use variable
Greer. “A worker logs in an employee number and the screens and use it for maintenance or to send messages.”
task to be performed and then view the item’s name Rick Tomfohrde, HMI business development man-
and the rate at which they are supposed to work,” he ager with Pepperl+Fuchs (www.pepperl-fuchs.com),
says. “It shows them how they are doing during the notes the ability of operators to directly see and touch
course of the day. That’s all reported back on the main machine visuals to activate desired functions as a chief
computer and it sends out production reports.” advantage of touchscreens when compared to key-
boards or mechanical buttons. “Any other style of input
Too Much Touch? requires some back-and-forth, hand-eye coordination
by the operator,” says Tomfohrde. “While this might
A graphical representation of the machine
seem simple, and it often is, each cycle takes just a
or process in operation can help with operator
little more time and is just a bit more tedious and prone
understanding. But too much information can
to error. Over time these incremental bits add up to
be dangerous, too. Tell us where the line is at
www.ControlDesign.com/toomuchtouch.
reduced throughput and more operator errors.”
A touchscreen’s biggest advantages are cost and
CD0906_45_46_featr3.indd 45 5/26/09 12:21 PM

Oper atOr interface
flexibility, says Gary Marchuk, member of the business Importantly, disadvantages of touchscreens
development team at AutomationDirect (www.auto- sometimes could involve safety issues, says Milo
mationdirect.com). “Since touchscreen HMI products Grika, industrial PC product manager for Beckhoff
are software-based, the interface can change with the Automation (www.beckhoff.com). “When it comes
alterations of an operation or process,” he says. “With to an e-stop, nothing can replace a big, red, physical
some control systems remaining in place for years, button, especially when e-stops are placed all around
changes in the process can be made easily.” the machine,” he says.
While safety concerns can be addressed with
Cost-Effectiveness physical interfaces such as e-stops, light curtains,
Lawrence Liang, product manager for Advantech dead-man switches and pressure mats, the major-
Industrial Automation Group (www.advantech.com), ity of machine control can be accomplished using
says his company’s ratio of touch to non-touch HMIs on-screen buttons, says Grika. “Software buttons on
sold is 85% to 15%. “The key advantage of touchscreen a screen can mean less space for other kinds of visu-
monitors is that they act as both an input and output alization,” he says. “However, minimizing screens or
device with a graphical user interface,” he says. menu systems gets around this.”
Touchscreens have dropped in price, says Shaun Replacing a touchscreen is generally much more
Kneller, sales manager with B&R Industrial Automation complex than dropping in a new physical switch, says
(www.br-automation.com). “A keyboard with 50 or 60 Grika, and “wear and tear is exacerbated by operators
keys on it might even be as expensive as who use whatever is in hand to hit the
a panel,” he says. Kneller notes it wasn’t “The complicated buttons on the screen. Many touch-
long ago when industrial PCs with a part is figuring out screens have to be replaced because
touchscreen cost $10,000, but compa- of damage from a screwdriver used to
the logic and how to
rable devices now are $3,000 or less. activate on-screen buttons.” But Grika
make that work to
Ryan Gunderson, product marketing argues that new display technologies
manager for PanelView at Rockwell use the database and and quality improvements to panel
Automation (www.rockwellautoma- connectivity.” designs for easier replacement of the
tion.com), notes that touchscreen op- glass screen all combine to make using
erator panels really have taken over much of what was software buttons more feasible in the long term.
handled with push buttons since the start of this decade. Maybe so, says Advantech’s Liang, “but touchscreen
“Now touchscreen volume projections are three times panels will not function in very harsh environ-
that of graphical keypads moving forward.” ments with temperatures above 55 °C or below -10 °C.
Brightness is not strong enough when used outdoors
Mind the Disadvantages although sunlight-readable and transflective LCD
The only disadvantage that Bob Meads, president and technology have improved this.”
senior software engineer for Odessa, Fla.-based system Touchscreens now are very reliable, says Tom-
integrator iQuest (www.iquestcorp.com), notes is that fohrde. “Surface wear, abrasion and accidental damage
the screens do require cleaning. “This is far outweighed can and does occur,” he cautions, “but to address these
by the environmental problems and cleaning require- potential durability issues in the most extreme envi-
ments with traditional interfaces,” he says. “Some say ronments, some suppliers now offer hardened front
touchscreens don’t allow a robust interaction with the surfaces or sacrificial overlay protective sheets.”
process. However, if the applications are designed with
the touchscreen in mind, the application can enjoy all Phil Burgert is a freelance writer specializing in technical
the benefits without the drawbacks.” trade media.
Problems with touchscreens, however, could arise in
applications with older, less-advanced technology. Some
touchscreen designs aren’t usable when an operator is
MORE ON OPERATOR INTERFACE
For a complete list of operator interface articles,
wearing gloves. However, newer touchscreens based on
white papers, news and products, visit
analog-resistive technology are pressure-sensitive and
www.ControlDesign.com/oi.
respond to almost any input device.
CD0906_45_46_featr3.indd 46 5/26/09 12:21 PM

Tailored-to-Fit Operator Interface
techflash
Software choiceS about branding and Further customizing the operator interface can
image come into play when machine builders be simple, “unless it’s customization that would
decide to provide their own unique operator interfere with operator safety, liability, warranty
interaction by customizing the human-machine and serviceability,” says Labadie
interface (HMI), rather than settle on the default Roy Kok, vice president of sales and marketing
interface of the vendor. for Kepware Technologies (www.kepware.com),
If a machine builder sells into an industry says HMIs are extremely flexible today, to the
in which control traditionally has been accom- point that they can be completely customized for
Phil burgert
plished with physical control panel operations OEM use. “For custom graphics or screen controls,
and indicators—where operators aren’t accus- all HMIs have the ability to import third-party
tomed to seeing full-featured HMIs—making graphics, ActiveX or .NET controls.”
•
the screen appear like the control panel can be a Donna Smalls, HMI/SCADA product manager
philip.burgert@pipeline.com
big factor in encouraging adoption. It can lower for Schneider Electric (www.schneider-electric.
training costs for the machine builder’s custom- com), says users save time by creating a master
ers. This also can be important in a global market panel of common objects and shared interface
where language might be an issue. controls that can be applied to multiple panels.
“The old saying that a picture is worth a 1,000 “You can use either one master panel or layer
words applies,” says John Weber, president of multiple master panels,” she says. “Master panel
Software Toolbox (www.softwaretoolbox.com). layers let you choose the common objects that
“If the operator can look at the screen and say, ‘I show up on a panel and determine the order in
know what that means because it looks just like which the layers will be displayed at runtime.
the physical control panel,’ then that’s a win.” How With master panel layers, you have the flexibility
much an OEM can customize the HMI depends on to use a master panel that contains all common
the software in use and whether it’s off-the-shelf objects or one that only contains select objects.”
or homegrown, adds Weber. “If they use an off-
the-shelf HMI package, they need to see if the HMI “If the operator can look at the screen
software allows for standards-based, third-party and say, ‘I know what that means
plug-ins. Most HMI software packages have their because it looks just like the physical
own vendor-specific interfaces by which third- control panel,’ then that’s a win.”
party products can add functionality. But having
a standards-based interface will give the OEM The HMI industry is trending to more simplistic
machine builder the most choice.” interfaces that follow either company or industry
Almost all operator interfaces are based on interface design standards, says Linda Onnen,
existing HMI toolsets, says Blair Sooley, pre-sales global director for consumer products and origi-
engineer for Trihedral Engineering (www.trihedral. nal equipment manufacturers at GE Fanuc Intel-
com). “Few companies develop their own function- ligent Platforms (www.gefanuc.com). “Typically
ality because it is too difficult to get all the pieces the end user isn’t aware of the HMI software type
to work together,” he notes. Interfaces are often so unless they are in development mode,” she says.
highly customized that a lot of functionality isn’t Nathan Massey, regional sales manager for B&R
directly supported out of the box, says Sooley. Industrial Automation (www.br-automation.com),
Gary Labadie, marketing manager for Pro-face says it’s critical for many machine builders to create
America (www.profaceamerica.com), says a ma- custom HMI by using both visualization software
chine builder needs to decide how far to apply the packages and customized hardware options. These
brand name and image to some or all parts of its create a solution that is specific to the machine
machine. For a unique look, they should brand the builder and allows the machine builder to more
operator interface hardware, datasheets, manual closely meet the needs of end users, he says.
and brochures, as well as the operator interface, he
says. “There are times I can’t tell from the front that Phil Burgert is a freelance writer, specializing in technical
it really is our equipment,” says Labadie. trade media.
CD0906_47_Techflash.indd 47 5/19/09 11:35 AM

PRODUCT ROUNDUP
See the Future of Machine Vision
Cameras and Sensors Create Industry-Specific Applications
ApplicAtions thAt require ing greatly, says Bradley VISION APPLIANCE

speed, high resolution and Weber, director of application IPD VA61 GigE-ready vision
good sensitivity to light will engineering at PPT Vision appliance has two expand-
push vision-system technol- (www.pptvision.com). “For a able GigE camera ports and
ogy forward. relatively small cost, a smart industrial I/O and processor for
John Butler, North American camera ensures the quality, multiple monochrome or color
sales manager at Pleora Tech- safety and traceability of the GigE cameras applications. It
nologies (www.pleora.com), products being packaged,” he supports resolutions 640x480
identifies those applications as: says. “The true advancements
Sorting systems—The faster in machine-vision technology
the systems are the more today are demonstrated in the
cost-effective they can be; software now available, which
cdroundup@putman.net
they are looking into 10 GigE includes complex algorithms

in the near future. presented in an intuitive,
Semiconductor manufactur- easy-to-use way.” to 1,600x1,200 and Spyder 3
ing inspection—Companies A couple of industries that line-scan cameras that have
get cutting-edge speed by us- recently have benefited are dual-line-scan technology for
ing short wavelength imaging. the packaging industry and improved noise immunity.
Even though most companies the solar industry, says Joshua The VA61 can power and drive
are enduring the downturn, Jelonek, technical product cameras locally via dedicated
they can benefit from a 10 manager—vision and mark- camera I/O connections or
GigE throughput. ing technology, Keyence interface with them remotely
High-end surveillance and of America (www.keyence. using Ethernet only.
the military—Though not typi- com). “One application would Dalsa; 514/333-1301;
cal machine-vision systems, be inspecting for packaged www.dalsa.com
the military uses machine- goods through cellophane,”
vision technology and looks he states. “Previously it was
for nothing less than the latest difficult to get an accurate SMART CAMERAS
advances, believes Butler. count on the targets, but by NI 1744, 1762 and 1764 smart
“One trend has been toward using some new image-en- cameras are shipped with NI
more sensor-like vision sys- hancement tools we’re able to Vision Builder for Automated
tems that don’t require a com- eliminate the glare from the Inspection interactive software
puter for setup or program- cellophane to clearly see the and integrate with LabView
ming,” says Brent Evanger, product underneath.” and the NI library of image
applications engineer, vision, Any industry where fast, processing and machine-vision
Banner Engineering (www. precise or repetitive mea- algorithms. A 533 MHz Pow-
bannerengineering.com/ivu). surements or readings are erPC powers NI 1744, with a
“A wide range of industries required can benefit from high-resolution image sensor
can benefit from the capable machine vision, says Ben
simplicity of a sensor that Dawson, director of strategic
retains many of the features development, Dalsa (www.
from higher-end, more-com- dalsa.com). “Examples include
plex platforms while offer- measuring caliper diameters
ing a comfortable, intuitive, on bolts, defects in flat-screen
digital-camera-like interface.” TVs, shape and color of baked
Pharmaceutical and food goods or agricultural products
and beverage applications for and critical tolerances for
machine vision are expand- medical devices,” he explains.
CD0906_48_50_Roundup.indd 48 5/26/09 3:01 PM

that acquires images up to MORE OUTPUTS
PRODUCT ROUNDUP
1.3 megapixels (1,280x1,024). Inspector I20 Flex vision sen-
NI 1762 has a 720 MHz TI DSP sor has interchangeable lenses
coprocessor alongside the 533 and an I/O extension module
MHz PowerPC. NI 1764 offers with up to 16 outputs for in-
the highest resolution and specting high-speed packag-
performance, featuring the 1.3
megapixel sensor and the 720
MHz coprocessor.
National Instruments;
800/258-7022; www.ni.com
either side of the base control-
ler creates a solution without
NO PC REQUIRED added PLC programming or
The iVu series TG image sensor wiring. New algorithms detect
combines the simplicity of a foreign objects or burrs on ir-
photoelectric sensor and the regularly shaped profiles and
intelligence of a vision sen- filter out glare or background
noise. The controllers have ing applications. The I20 offers
built-in statistical functions four different lens options,
that let the user view the in- and the I/O extension module
spection results in real-time. enables users to program up
Keyence; 888/539-3623, x.70703; to 19 outputs.
www.keyence.com/cv5 Sick; 800/325-7425;
www.sickusa.com
CHECKERED VISION
Checker 3G vision sensor GIDDy FOR GIGE
series in a IP67 housing can TXG cameras with PoE over Cat.
sor. It offers three advanced be configured for presence or 6 Ethernet cable, up to 100m,
sensor types in one compact, eliminates the need for a sepa-
rugged package, integrated or rate power cable. Frame rates to
external lighting, 68.5-mm LCD 90 frames/sec provide resolu-
touchscreen, software emula- tions from VGA to 5 megapixel.
tor to program the iVu off-line, Standard functions include
752x480 CMOS imager, remote
teach function, onboard USB
port for upload/download to
USB drive and inspection/sys-
tem logging for rapid analysis.
Banner Engineering; 888/373-6767; measurement. Checker detects
www.bannerengineering.com and tracks more than 6,000
parts per minute and doesn’t
require a PC for setup. A Sen- gain, offset and exposure time.
FAST HIGH-DEF sorView teach pendant can be A generic programming inter-
CV-5000 vision system has a used to set up any number of face facilitates integration into
5-megapixel camera for trans- Checker 3G sensors and can an application, and SDK soft-
ferring ultra-high-definition remain connected for real-time ware provides camera control
images in 61.2 msec. Connect- application monitoring. and development.
ing extra lighting controllers Cognex; 508/650-3000; Baumer; 800/937-9336;
or camera expansion units to www.cognex.com/3g www.baumergroup.com

VISION FORESIGHT inspection stages. A PC can be and has a sampling rate of
PRODUCT ROUNDUP
4Sight XB imaging platform disconnected once inspection 185-2,000 images/sec.

with an Intel Core2 Duo pro- is configured, and the cameras Festo; 631/ 435-0800;
cessor supports full-height, interface directly with the www.festo.com/usa
half-length PCIe boards and press control, so the Sentinel
third-party standard add-in monitors the press.
PPT Vision; 952/996-9500; BACKLIGHTS
www.pptvision.com Nerlite LT430 backlights deliver
high image-processing contrast
with continuous or strobe op-
HIGH-SPEED INSPECTION eration for static to high-speed
ZFX machine vision sensor in operations to verify presence or
cards for I/O and supports GigE one- or two-camera models absence of component proper-
Vision and IEEE 1394b IIDC. condenses image-processing ties and for measuring, edge
Matrox Imaging; 800/804-6243; know-how into recipes that highlighting and component
www.matroximaging.com let users select from auto-list positioning or identification.
options. Hardware consists of Siemens Energy & Automation;
800/siemens; www.sea.siemens.com
IN-CAMERA BOARD
With a 42x42 mm form factor
and 1.45 W power consump- OPEN SOuRCE LIBRARy
tion, NTx-Mini provides a main Open source program library
board for conversion of imag- OpenCV is adapted for VC
smart cameras to increase
a camera with intelligent light-

ing and a controller with built-
in HMI. A three-step procedure
reduces setup.
Omron Electronics; 866/88omron;
ing data to IP packets at 1 Gb/ www.omron247.com
sec data rate. It is bundled with
eBus Driver, iPort PureGEV, their application range and
iPort Vision suites and iPort HIGH-SPEED MOTION RECORDER includes many algorithms
AutoGEV software. Intelligent, compact vision enabling movement detection,
Pleora Technologies; 613/270-0625; system SBOC-M/SBOI is an facial recognition, object track-
www.pleora.com alternative to high-speed ing, contour processing and
cameras for diagnostics and image segmentation.
monitoring of fast-motion Vision Components; 603/598-2588;
HEAD-LESS OPERATION sequences on high-speed www.vision-components.com
Sentinel Mold Protection Solu- production equipment. It
tion supports four cameras; simplifies fault localization,
MORe, MORe, MORe
each can configure five mold- integrates into existing instal-
lations, connects via Ethernet Find additional information
on vision products from
companies including
Balluff, JAI, Optex FA,
Toshiba Teli and Value
Engineering Alliance at
www.ControlDesign.com/
roundupsarchive.

Fine Art of Fiberoptic Connections
REAl ANSWERS
I’m convInced that there’s value to us using transmission speeds, long distances and EMI
fiberoptic cabling for some of our long and noisy immunity. As for breaking down and changing
control signal connections between machine control and signal wiring configurations, the
trains. But we have a degree of regular, routine connectors are very robust and are specifically
reconfiguration of the machines that means mak- designed for such applications.
ing, breaking and changing control and signal chuck dawson, product marketing lead specialist,
wiring configurations. It looks like it’s too hard, or Phoenix Contact, www.phoenixcon.com
is too much of an art, to dependably make these
fiberoptic cable and connector connections our- Media Conversion
selves, and we’d be forced to go outside for it each It is true that the use of fiberoptic cabling is a
realanswers@putman.net
time. Advice please. great solution for long network cable runs or in
situations where there is a large degree of electro-
ANSWERS mechanical or magnetic noise.
Let’s consider the need to make, break or
Push-Pull Connection change wiring, or perform signal wire modifica-
That was very true in the past. Fiberoptic connections at the machine level. Fiberoptic cables and
tions, while very fast and reliable, were difficult their respective connectors are not designed for
and time-consuming to complete in the field. repeated coupling, nor are they easy and cost-
Available connectors were fragile and often not effective to terminate. A very simple and quick
compatible with harsh industrial environments. option would be the use of a media converter. A
In the past few years, there have been several media converter is an active device that converts
innovations in the use of fiberoptics on the plant Ethernet signals from one format to another.
floor. The development of new fiberoptic materi- One standard configuration of media converter is
als and connection systems has made fiberoptics fiberoptic to RJ45 copper.
suitable for industrial applications. Placing a media converter in close proximity
One example is the push-pull connection sys- to each machine will enable the use of fiberop-
tem featuring the miniature SC duplex connector, tic cables over long distances or in areas of high
known as the SCRJ. While this system was de- noise and would provide the ability to use copper
signed originally for the European auto industry, connections via a standard network cable such as
it is useful in a wide variety of machine-building a Cat. 5 cable with RJ45 connectors. Standard cop-
applications. The innovative push-pull connec-
tion technology makes it very easy to connect or
disconnect with just one hand. AuguSt’S PROBlEM
The SCRJ is compatible with most fiber types. thIs probably Is more complicated than I
The easiest to use is polymer optical fiber (POF), think, but what are the critical hardware, firmware
which has the same transmission properties and/or software differences between a safety PLC
as Cat. 5e Ethernet cable, 100 Mbps over 100 m. and a “regular” PLC? Can I really use just one for
A person with no experience with fiberoptics both functions now?
quickly can learn how to make fast, reliable fiber-
optic connections using the push-pull connection send us your comments, suGGestIons or
technology. The push-pull connector provides an solutIons For thIs problem. We’ll include
it in the August ’09 issue and post it on www.
IP67 connection that is fully sealed to prevent the
ControlDesign.com. Send visuals if you’d like—a
ingress of liquids, dust and dirt.
sketch is fine. Email us at RealAnswers@putman.net.
There are other fiber types available for faster
Please include your company, location and title in
transmission speeds and longer distances up to the response.
several kilometers. While a little more involved,
users can use field termination kits to quickly have a problem you’d lIke to pose to the
complete reliable fiberoptic connections. Fiber- readers? Send it along, too.
optic connections offer advantages such as fast
CD0906_51_52_RealAnswrs.indd 51 5/26/09 3:42 PM

per (Cat. 5) patch cables could be used to make ately making a fiberoptic cable “too long.” The
real answers
the direct connections with the machine via the reader could then carefully store the excess cable
media converter. This would provide flexibility in loop in the side of an electrical cabinet. Users of
making connections and multiple reconnections. fiberoptic cable should take care to ensure that
For added flexibility, many manufacturers pro- the cable’s bend radius is never smaller than the
duce small network switches that have fiberoptic minimum allowed by the vendor.
ports and a number of RJ45 Ethernet ports. There The benefits of fiberoptic cabling for some ap-
are versions available with two fiberoptic ports plications are partially economic and partially
and six standard RJ45 connections. One of these technical in nature. If the application has highly
switch devices can be used in place of a media distributed equipment, the cost of fiberoptic
converter, allowing additional network or signal cabling (glass fiber) can drastically undercut the
connections while using the original fiberoptic cost for comparable copper wire.
cable. Using this solution, the fiberoptic line would As the reader is probably well aware, copper in
remain unchanged and local connections, modifi- other forms of cabling can degrade due to weather
cations or maintenance could be performed with conditions and is more susceptible to electromag-
standard Cat. 5 cables. netic and electric field interference. Light transmis-
Bruce Hofmann, director of marketing, sion does not suffer from those issues. In the case
Weidmüller North America, www.weidmuller.com of fiberoptic transmission, the light source must
continue to modulate at the correct brightness for
Make It Longer the receiver to work properly. This is the biggest
In the reader’s continuously reconfigured ap- consideration when using fiberoptic technologies.
plication that requires ongoing changes in cable Kurt WadoWicK, I/O systems product specialist,
lengths, problems could be avoided by deliber- Beckhoff Automation, www.beckhoff.com
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Wireless I/O Module Saves Time
exclusive
Remote contRol in many discrete manu-
facturing operations can’t be realized via wired
communications because of the nature of the
operation or the prohibitive cost of installing a
wire-line network. A variety of material-handling
applications, including conveyors, cranes, assem-
bly and packaging equipment, automated guided
vehicles and warehouse logistic equipment, as
well as rotating equipment, come to mind.
For more inFormation
Siemens Energy & Automation has a plan to help Call 800/241-4453 or browse to www.sea.siemens.com/
with that. The company says its new Simatic ET et200.
200pro IWLAN saves significant communication
cabling and installation costs by delivering wire- The ET 200pro IWLAN includes a complete wire-
less connectivity from any distributed I/O station. less network interface with removable antenna-
“It’s compatible with Siemens’ complete line interface unit, standard ET 200pro connection unit
of ET 200pro I/O and specialty modules, and for adding modular I/O devices, diagnostic LEDs
the rugged IP67-rated IWLAN interface can be and a built-in Ethernet port for local programming
mounted directly on a machine, eliminating the or network troubleshooting. An industry-standard
need for installation inside an electrical enclo- /8-in. plug-in connector provides the power con-
7
sure,” says Andreas Czech, Siemens discrete nection and each ET 200pro station can be verti-
automation product manager. cally or horizontally installed without restrictions.
Based on IEEE 802.11 WLAN standards, the Optional antennas including omnidirectional an-
wireless design supports deterministic iPCF tennas are available for direct or remote mounting
(industrial point coordination function) for criti- and higher-gain signal transmission over longer
cal industrial Ethernet communications using distances or through obstructions.
standard Profinet. “This reliable, wireless I/O con- “The wireless radio frequency is selectable for
nectivity allows access to machines and process either standard, 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz, and includes
systems that previously could not be reached support for IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/h/e/i transmission
using a cabled network,” says Czech. standards,” states Czech. “The maximum wireless
Machine-mount I/O users already benefit from data transmission rate is 54 Mbps with a typical
reduced hardwiring and design costs plus the abil- send cycle of 32 msec.”
ity to locate I/O closer to connected devices with The company says each ET 200pro IWLAN
just a single communication cable back to a host includes a built-in Web server with HTML pages for
controller for a variety of equipment applications. editing configurations, setting security access and
“Only recently has machine-mount I/O included viewing diagnostic information. “Separate configu-
a more complete line of devices beyond standard ration software is not required,” explains Czech.
I/O signals, including motor starter modules, small “This enables easy access to each ET 200pro IWLAN
horsepower drives, and safety-rated I/O,” adds through a secure Ethernet access point connection
Czech. “The ET 200pro IWLAN interface takes the over the LAN or Internet/intranet.”
already broad range of Simatic machine-mount The ET 200pro IWLAN has built-in compatibility
I/O to a new level of capability with its wireless to all Siemens Scalance-W wireless access points
connectivity. By eliminating the connection to for easy networking to host controllers, industrial
a communications cable, automation designers PCs or programming terminals, adds Czech, noting
can be more creative and cost-conscious when it also supports rapid-roaming capability for mov-
implementing distributed I/O. Additionally, they ing equipment between multiple wireless access
can further enhance their modular manufacturing point ranges without interruption.
practices by using wireless I/O to reduce startup ET 200pro IWLAN products have an IP67 case
times after changeovers, eliminating the need to certified with industry standard approvals includ-
maintain communication cable connections.” ing cUL US, CSA and CE compliance.
CD0906_53_54_Exclusiv.indd 53 5/26/09 11:33 AM

Brighter, Greener, More Economical HMI
EXCLUSIVE
YOU’VE PROBABLY SEEN the ads for the new

white LED replacements for light bulbs. They
claim extreme longevity and power savings, while
providing better illumination than conventional
or compact fluorescent bulbs.
AVG’s EZAutomation group has applied the
technology to produce what the company claims
is the first industrial LCD display HMI with white
LED backlight, the EZ Durapanel.
“With CCFL bulbs you get a nominal 50,000
hours at 25 °C,” says AVG CEO Shalli Kumar. “In
reality, that works out to maybe 30,000 hours
because of environmental conditions, depend-
ing on the manufacturer and the model. What FOR MORE INFORMATION
we’ve been able to do is to produce an HMI Call 877/774-3279, email sales@ezautomation.net or
display that will last for 100,000 hours. We’re browse to www.ezautomation.net.
extending the warranty on Durapanel displays

to four years as standard.” Kumar reports that the Durapanel HMI series
The new Durapanel is brighter than previous will include software and fi rmware features
displays. The brightness is specified at 500 nits, or such as online programming, on-screen recipe
500 cd/m2, which is as bright as the brightest stan- edit and a built-in photo editor. The display
dard desktop displays, as opposed to previous LCD uses vector graphics for the most effective use
touchscreens that were rated at 300 nits. of memory and provides distortion-free scal-
“We had to turn down the backlight because ing of objects. The user can monitor tag values
the white LEDs were so much brighter than the remotely, and the Durapanel permits remote
CCFL bulbs,” claims Kumar. “We wound up reduc- monitoring and control via Internet/intranet or
ing the voltage to make them less bright.” modem. Event-triggered email notification is
The EZ Durapanel is supplied with drivers for available on some models.
nearly all PLCs including Allen-Bradley, Automa- The Durapanel series includes features such
tionDirect, GE Fanuc, Omron, Mitsubishi, Modi- as instant mouse-over colors, animation objects,
con, Siemens, Square D and many more. Network project simulation, bitmap buttons, thumb-wheel
drivers on most Durapanel models include A/B entry objects, visibility control over objects,
Data Highway Plus or Remote I/O, DeviceNet, screen thumbnail views, Unicode support and
Profibus-DP, Modbus and CC-Link. detailed database management and syntax check-
Additionally, says Kumar, the user can select ing. Many models in the Durapanel series will be
from a variety of Ethernet PLC networks, including optionally equipped with up to 2 GB of local data
DF1 over Ethernet, SRTP over Ethernet, Modbus storage on a standard SD card.
TCP/IP over Ethernet, Ethernet IP, EZPLC/Ethernet According to Kumar, the Durapanel series is
and Koyo/ADC ECOM. “The Durapanel series is significantly “greener” than previous LCD displays
FDA-compliant and has built-in design protection because of its much lower power consumption,
for OEMs and system integrators,” he adds. made possible by using the white LCD technol-
Available in 6, 8, 10 and 15-in. sizes, the panel ogy for backlighting the display. “It will be 10-20%
features include a 0.09-in.-thick touchscreen, lower depending on the model,” he says.
higher temperature specifications (to 55 °C) than “Not only have we made a technology break-
former EZ touchscreen HMIs, a built-in antiglare through,” Kumar says, “but we have also made
screen and optional data acquisition over RS-232/ a pricing breakthrough. For the fi rst time, our
RS-422/RS-485. “It has the fastest touchscreen customers can enjoy the benefits of an ad-
response time in the industry,” Kumar claims, vanced 10.4-in. TFT touchscreen HMI costing
“typically 0.75 sec.” under $1,000.”
CD0906_53_54_Exclusiv.indd 54 5/26/09 11:33 AM

Products EMBEDDED COMPUTER ETHERNET SWITCHES
Product showcase
Uno-3282 fanless, diskless, Stride line includes industrial-
GLOBAL MACHINE ACCESS cableless, embedded computer grade, unmanaged Ethernet
Serial modem provides global switches and media convert-
access to machines and systems ers with aluminum housings.
via GSM connections. An inte- Designed for -40 to 85 ºC ap-
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devices automatically deter-
mine and remember devices
connected to each port and
only route messages through
has a Core 2 Duo CPU, one PCI
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the PCI Express/PCI slot com-
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cdproducts@putman.net
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with GSM and GPRS networks in Advantech, Industrial Automation
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AutomationDirect; 770/889-2858;
MOTION CONTROL www.automationdirect.com
LIGHTS ON MDrive AccuStep motion con-
AS-Interface signal towers pro- trol for step motors prevents
vide visual and/or audible status synchronization loss due to STOP IT
indication in industrial automa- transient or continued over- XA e-stop 29-mm and 40-mm
tion applications. The lights load, extreme acceleration or mushroom operators come
have an IP65 housing and can in red, yellow or gray. 16-mm
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deceleration, or excessive slew

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provide 100,000 hours of contin- mable motion controller, step e-stops comply with SEMI S2
uous operation. Audible alarms motor, microstepping driver standards and come with up
up to 105 dB are available. and internal encoder. to four contacts.
Pepperl+Fuchs; 330/486-0001; Intelligent Motion Systems; IDEC; 800/262-4332;
www.am.pepperl-fuchs.com 860/295-6102; www.imshome.com www.idec.com/usa/estop
CD0906_55_56_Showcase.indd 55 5/26/09 2:13 PM

LINEAR POSITION SENSORS ideal rate of each part/machine
ProDuct ShowcaSe
Temposonics R-Series and combination.

G-Series linear position Wintriss Controls; 978/795-1916;
sensors for machine tooling www.wintriss.com
equipment are capable of
DATA CONNECTIVITY SOFTWARE

Pro-server EX factory-floor HMI
data-connectivity software es the 8B isoLynx SLX300 data
supports Vista and Office 2007. acquisition system, ReDAQ
It is used to capture data on software for the SCM5B isoL-
any machine and link to the ynx SLX200 data acquisition
plant’s existing MES, ERP or system, the 8BP01 DIN-rail-
continuous operation at SCADA software. Users can mount carrier, and 8B33 True
external vibration levels download this updated version RMS and 8B43 general-pur-
of 15 g and surviving shock from www.profaceamerica. pose signal conditioners.
levels of 100 g. The sensors are com/proserver. Dataforth; 800/444-7644;
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MTS Systems, Sensors Div.; www.profaceamerica.com
919/677-0100;
www.mtssensors.com reSourceS SAFETY SELECTIONS
2009-2010 Machine Safety
Software WORLD OF AUTOMATION Products Catalog contains 288
Hardbound 1,056-page full-color pages of safety light
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Proficy HMI/SCADA Cimplicity encyclopedia offers technical ners, fiberoptic safety systems,
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Windows XP and Windows machine interface, motion and emergency stop devices.
Server 2003 for future scal- and pneumatics, relays and A comprehensive selection
ability. It includes a new user timers, wire connection, power guide compares and contrasts
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Historian integration. enclosures, pushbuttons
GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms; and stack lights and more.
800/433-2682; www.gefanuc.com Omega Engineering; 203/359-
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LINE EFFICIENCY TRACKING

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CD0906_57_Class.indd 57 5/26/09 11:49 AM
oem insight
PCs and PLCs Have Grown Up
The quesTion is whether or not I believe PC- troubleshooting tool. Curiously, it was about
based controls will replace PLCs, PACs or CNCs. this time that the maintenance mechanic’s life
I’ve been around in the industry long enough to got a little harder. He no longer could just look
remember when both PCs and PLCs were in their at a machine for two seconds, declare it to be
infancy, and the “old-timers” still were designing an electrical problem and walk away to drink
their control systems around relay logic. coffee and play cards, while the electrician was
It still sends a shiver down my spine when left to prove that the solenoid valve or cylinder
I recall sitting in front of a multi-door control seals were bad.
Gregory Kempfer • gregory.kempfer@mcdean.com
cabinet chock full of relays and motor contac- In the past decade though, PLCs evolved such
tors, trying to figure out which contact was bad, that they can perform the same functions as
while I looked at a dog-eared, incomplete set of the PCs, and the PCs have become more rugged.
“as built” blueprints. Ah, those certainly were The advent of soft logic-type programming for
memorable days. PCs virtually eliminated the need for specialized
So, now that I’ve established my bona-fides, custom programming for most industrial control
along with a few credentials in both age and applications. Both the PC and the PLC CPU still
senility, let’s address the question at hand: PC- require an I/O interface of some type, whether a
based controls or PLCs? PC chassis or PLC rack.
This question has been around for a while, My company, M.C. Dean is a designer/builder
too, but it really got to be a hot topic in the ’90s. and integrator, specializing in electronic and
Prior to that, any process that required higher- electrical systems. Its CIM Automation Systems
order mathematics—trigonometry functions, for division specializes in automation and drive
example—was handled by a PC because the PLCs systems for the pulp and paper industry, semi-
conductor industry and others.
PLCs have evolved such that they At this time, our group currently uses a
can perform the same functions as control architecture that specifies PCs for the
the PCs, and the PCs have become SCADA overview networked to PLCs in the field.
more rugged. The PCs run the SCADA software that handles
database tasks such as history collection, and
at that time did not have the math co-processing the PLCs are often stand-alone units merrily
chips. Also, PCs were networkable and could running their tasks. The PLCs are monitored
handle a lot of database applications. by the PCs, and the operators interact with the
However, PCs were notorious for failing in process via the SCADA hardware.
industrial conditions because their hardware It could as easily be just the PCs and remote
wasn’t designed to handle heat, dust and vibra- racks or PLCs with HMI monitors. The point is
tion. Also, you were required to have special- there’s more than one way to skin the cat now.
ized programming skills that the run-of-the- I believe it just boils down to one thing—the
mill industrial electrician/technician did not money. Most industries want to spend just
possess, so if there was a breakdown that re- enough capital to get the job done, so the ap-
quired troubleshooting beyond checking the I/O, plication drives the engineering design, and
it often required bringing in outside resources competition or lack of funds dictates the type of
to fix the problem—good for OEMs and integra- control system.
tors; bad for production people. PCs or PLCs? Look at what you have to spend
PLCs were made specifically for industrial and the application. Then decide on what meets
control applications. The hardware was rug- your demands the best. Both PCs and PLCs are
gedly designed, and the programming wasn’t basically the same animal now.
complicated as it was based on the electrical
control wiring ladder diagram. Gregory Kempfer is a controls engineer at M.C. Dean/
Joe the Maintenance Electrician easily could CIM Automation Systems (www.mcdean.com) in
learn to program the PLC and then use it as a Harrisonburg, Va.
CD0906_58_OEMInsite.indd 58 5/28/09 9:42 AM

CD0906_FPA.indd 59 5/29/09 11:55 AM
The DL205 micromodular PLC is an industry workhorse, time-tested in some of the
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I/O and communication options ensure you’ve got the tools you need to do the job.
And our direct prices, 30-day money-back guarantee and FREE award-winning
technical support are all standard features that make that job a little easier!
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peer-to-peer access to HMI, other PLCs and PCs on AutomationDirect prices are from April 2009 Price List. Allen-Bradley prices are based on
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CD0906_FPA.indd 60 5/26/09 2:55 PM

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Project Bids: Fixed-Price or T&M?

When a Programmable Relay Beats a PLC

Whose Operator Interface Is It Anyway?

E-Design Tools Improve Collaboration,

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June 2009 features

Volume 13, No. 6

controldesign.com June 2009 Control Design 5

CD0906_05_07_TOC.indd 5 5/28/09 9:36 AM

13 Machine Builder Mojo

Solid-State Drive CF Option

58 OEM Insight Traditional Hard Drives

PCs and PLCs Have Grown Up 3 Integrated Factory Alert System

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June 2009 Control Design 11

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How does Totally Integrated Automation

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machine builder mojo

controldesign.com June 2009 Control Design 13

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• “Safe break action” ensures

Padlock-type Switches (XN4E)

• Prevent resetting of latched

Safety Controller (FS1A)

IDEC Corporation • 1175 Elko Drive, Sunnyvale CA 94089 • www.IDEC.com/usa • 1-800-262-IDEC

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To find out how you can benefit from iQube2,

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