Industrial Solutions - Ethernet I/O

Online machine metering aids price calculation

nospam@example.com (Bruce) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:50:00 -0600

Single-machine solution

As mentioned some time ago (refer to "Smart Metering" in Green IT ...), Metering.Network is used comprehensively to record the overall energy consumption of a given plant from within the switching cabinet. However, if you want to put your focus on the complex behavior of a single machine, then the versatile Ethernet Terminal I am about to introduce is the right device for you. It can be applied directly to an S0 supply meter of any machine on the factory floor and does not only monitor machine energy consumption, but also enables you, above all, to correlate machine energy consumption with PDA (Production Data Acquisition) and MDA (Machine Data Acquisition) data. In the following I would like to highlight just one of a whole range of possible applications this amazing tool has.

Rising energy costs

In times of skyrocketing energy prices rising by 20 to 30 to 50% and more … energy is becoming one of the most salient cost factors to dictate the prices of machine-manufactured goods and thus to redefine the profitability margin of production processes, methods or individual machines. Above all, one question looms up in the minds of production, project, and sales managers alike: How much does it cost to produce a specified article? How much do I have to add to the price to compensate for the rising energy costs? How, where and when can I save energy on the machines to profitably maintain a given price level?

Correlation with PDA data

This, of course, can only be answered by measuring the power consumption of a given machine (or a number of machines of a production line) and correlating it with the PDA (Production Data Acquisition) data, especially with regard to piece numbers per batch/shift/order, etc. But how? Manually? By individual readings?

Monitoring energy costs online

To reach the level of transparency and flexibility you need in order to adapt to the unpredictably rising energy costs, a more systematic, continuous, and automated online approach is required, especially wherever large-scale production lines with a great number of manufacturing procedures and steps are involved.

Implementation

The Ethernet Terminal is just the device you need to do the job efficiently with low costs and incredibly high returns. All you have to do is attach the Ethernet Terminal to an S0 supply meter on the machine or device you want to monitor and connect it to a PC/terminal via Ethernet. This enables you to record and monitor order-specific energy utility consumption data, evaluate it statistically with the ipcas software "FAMOUS Base" and relay the respective data to your PC/terminal for further analysis and correlation with piece-, batch-, line- and shift-specific PDA data.

For each application - the right solution

Get the aid you need to adapt your price calculation to a fast changing world of rising utility prices and global environmental pressures! If you want to be able to calculate energy consumption as a variable price determining parameter automatically as an integral part of your online accounting system, then the Ethernet Terminal is the right device for you. For more specifics please visit the Ethernet Terminal website.

Alternatively, if your focus is primarily on how to reduce energy consumption - whether comprehensively on a factory level or in-depth on a machine level - without necessarily wanting to link this information to any other acquisition data, then the Metering.Network is the right solution for you. In that case, supply yourself with the smart metering tool you need to pinpoint peak loads and high consumption areas at the individual machine and production line level. Put yourself in the position to proactively eliminate power hogs in your production lines! For more specifics please visit the Metering.Networkwebsite.

Whatever your case may be, the ipcas hardware and software portfolio is able to provide you with an incredible range of applications and industrial solutions some of which I have already presented and many more are to come ... By the way in case I haven't mentioned it yet, the ipcas system house also specializes in customizing and made-to-order projects!

Controlling in automated letter mailing systems

nospam@example.com (Bruce) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:04:00 -0600

Specified application

The other day (refer to "Data Logger ..." article) I showed how companies are using the ipcas Data/Event Logger in combination with a light barrier to automatically count paper sheets in printing applications. Yet other companies devised the means of combining the Data/Event Logger with a barcode reader to crosscheck and verify processed addresses with respect to requested mailing lists in automated letter mailing procedures.

Implementation

How is it done? – A customary barcode reader is simply attached to conveyer at the output side of the printing machine or at the end of an automated letter processing procedure. The data logger is then connected to the device and to the industrial network or PC. Using the barcode reader, the data logger identifies and compares the addresses and possibly even the letter contents of the processed letters with the list of requested addresses and the required letter content.

An idea of what the monitoring mask might look like can be gleaned from a Windows.Form application among many possible others (see Application range of included software below).

Thanks to the ipcas Data/Event Logger mailing companies can now always be sure they've sent the correct mail to all of their desired addressees.

For further information, please go to ipcas Data/Event Logger specifications.

Data Logger used as network paper counter

nospam@example.com (Bruce) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:15:00 -0600

Scope and aims of ipcas industrial solutions

The example to follow serves to show that there is simply no end to the list of potential applications of ipcas industrial solutions. And there are no limits to applying ones ingenuity to discover new applications or invent additional combinations of ipcas products with other devices to induce network ability and raise industrial processes control to a higher level. In a nutshell, all this adds up to a major trend in industrial processes development towards ...

... greater control of industrial processes through online computing ...

… and ipcas industrial solutions are geared to play a pivotal role in
promoting this trend.

This contribution is the first in a series to highlight the great opportunities involved in implementing ipcas industrial solutions products in special applications, possibly in combination with other appliances, to advance the above aim.

Interesting new application

These considerations have been prompted by a sharp increase in sales of the ipcas Data/Event Logger with Digital I/O. Apparently printing companies are reaching out to upgrade their machine equipment, and the respective machine suppliers want to enhance their products with added functionality. Asking for the background story I heard through the grapevine that some companies devised the means of combining the ipcas data logger with a light barrier device to computer-count paper sheets in printing applications.

Implementation

How is it done? – A customary light barrier device is simply attached to the paper conveyer on the output side. The data logger is then connected to the device and to the industrial network or PC. The data logger converts analog light signals into digital data for further computer processing. An idea of what the monitoring mask might look like can be gleaned from a Windows.Form application among many possible others (see Application range of included software).

Benefits

Online/network paper sheet counters are obviously used to improve material
planning and logistics of a company. This added functionality

optimizes material utilization in general
supports company conservation plans to identify sources of paper waste and reduce rejects (saves material costs)
helps companies to plan material supplies and processes correctly to prevent machine idling and time waste (increases productivity)
serves to streamline production lines by enabling continuous monitoring
can be used to identify, alert, warn against, and thus to prevent malfunctions, bottelenecks, etc. or at least to remedy in time to avoid further damage or waste
supports environmental protection aims by promoting waste prevention
raises TQM standards (increased reliability, productivity, environmental protection)

Of course, these benefits can be fully utilized in combination with the corresponding ipcas material planning software FAMOUS.

Application potential

What has been said for the printing industries can be applied to all kinds of mass production wherever high piece numbers are involved. With other kinds of sensor devices the ipcas Data/Event logger also can be used to log other important PDA (production data acquisition) parameters such as temperature, humidity, pressure, tension, etc. Besides, with new combinations perhaps using other ipcas products, this applicability can be extended to MDA (machine data acquisition) or even to the purpose of correlating process data with machine data (e.g. for testing new products in research and development) … and more …

Used as an event logger it can also be widely applied on site, for example, for TDC (time data capture) in connection with turnpikes, turnstiles, etc. or CAQ (computer-aided quality) applications.

In the entries to come I would like to give you a better idea of the scope of applications and potential functionality of the data logger as well as other ipcas products partly used in combination with specific third-party appliances.

For further information, please go to ipcas Data/Event Logger specifications.