< Previous48AWJANUARY 2020REMOTE ASSETflowing in and out of proprietary control sys-tems so it can be consolidated, managed, and leveraged for insights related to operational performance and system uptime.The longstanding divide between opera-tional technology (OT) and IT hasn’t made things any easier. While manufacturers have remote asset management in their sights, the availability of dedicated IT personnel or a technical staff to facilitate and understand what is happening has held companies back, according to Benson Hougland, vice presi-dent of marketing and product strategy at Opto 22. “They would have to put in PCs, routers, and gateways, and it’s been too dif-ficult with the lack of available IT staff or skill sets to maintain the remote communications capability just to tap into what’s happening in the plant,” he says. “It’s a cobweb of vari-ous technologies—a pretty significant sized plant might have the right IT resources, but if you’re a raw materials facility, you don’t have a lot of expertise so the cost of obtaining the data outweighs the value of it.”Opto 22’s groov EPIC platform flattens the architecture, changing the return on investment (ROI) model for remote access management, bridging OT/IT convergence, and facilitating remote equipment commu-nications, Hougland claims. The platform ensures security via a built-in virtual pri-vate network (VPN) client while support for Node-RED and the MQTT publish/subscribe communications protocol facilitates data exchange between legacy PLCs and control systems, cloud platforms, and web services without requiring a direct connection to the corporate network.Trading up the old way of remote site monitoring via cell phones and VPNs for capabilities built on IIoT infrastructure and message brokers like MQTT is more palat-able to companies who may have balked at giving OEMs and machine builders access to their corporate networks, notes Day-mon Thompson, software product manager at Beckhoff. “Now you can take multiple facilities or OEM machines that don’t live in one facility and aggregate data back using the cloud,” he explains. “It allows for a cen-tralized location—a demilitarized zone, if you will—where disparate equipment can be connected in the cloud and OEMs no longer have to VPN or tunnel into users’ Opto 22’s groov EPIC helps facilitate remote asset management using industrial-grade hardware, software, HMI, and communications capabilities. Image Courtesy of Opto 222001_F1.indd 482001_F1.indd 481/20/20 1:54 PM1/20/20 1:54 PM49AWJANUARY 2020REMOTE ASSETnetworks. Some users have major concerns when you’re pooling machines from 20 to 40 OEMs; they’re not comfortable giving OEMs direct access or managing that many VPN connections or inputs.”In addition to connectivity improvements, advances in wireless sensors and cloud ana-lytics are enabling new forms of continuous monitoring of remote assets for predictive maintenance and performance management versus what used to be limited to manual check-ups. The ability to continuously moni-tor and analyze vibration or pressure data coming from a heat exchanger or piece of rotating equipment in the field provides better insight into the health and status of the equipment, allowing users or OEMs to detect problems earlier, says Mike Bou-dreaux, director of product management, cloud services and solutions at Emerson Automation Solutions.“It’s about measuring new things as well as replacing manual data collection with contin-uous data collection, which provides better visibility into the data with better certainty as to what you’re looking at,” Boudreaux explains. “If you’re manually collecting time series data once a month, there is no visibility into what happens in between those collec-tion points, and it’s subject to human error.”2001_F1.indd 492001_F1.indd 491/20/20 1:54 PM1/20/20 1:54 PM50REMOTE ASSETAWJANUARY 2020Calling new business modelsWhile manufacturers have generally under-stood how they might benefit from remote asset management services, many have been reluctant to let vendors connect into their networks due to security concerns. Plus, some are not yet convinced there is a clear reason to do so, contends Vishal Prakash, product manager at ProSoft Technologies, a division of Belden. Typically, the plant man-ager would control when and for how long an OEM was able to remotely connect to an industrial machine, opening up access through the network when there was a spe-cific problem in need of troubleshooting—a scenario that hampers any ability to deliver predictive maintenance services.“Conditions in a plant could change very quickly and, if they were in the midst of an upgrade or changing processes, they don’t particularly want a system integrator or machine builder to connect to their automa-tion devices and effect the process,” Prakash explains. To address those concerns, the com-pany offers ProSoft Connect, a cloud-native remote connectivity platform built with a multi-layered approach to security, support for REST APIs, and a Virtual Lockout-Tagout feature that allows for dynamic authoriza-tions of remote access for a specified period of time, giving users greater control of deter-mining access. “This makes it so operational data is easily available and can be retrieved by an enterprise system” to populate dash-boards that make it easily consumable by non-technical personnel, he says.While IIoT-enabled remote asset man-agement offerings promise a whole new level of operational efficiencies, there’s a longer-term opportunity for OEMs to shift to as-a-service business models for a broad set of industrial equipment. Take bearings, for example. SKF saw an opportunity to provide customers with more reliable rota-tion as opposed to selling them more bear-ing hardware. Using Siemens’ MindSphere Internet of Things (IoT) platform to col-lect and analyze data from instrumented remote equipment such as conveyor belts, electric motors, and other machinery, SKF has developed a pilot program to offer customers long-term contracts for bear-ings “as a service,” paid as a monthly fee and based on agreed-upon performance metrics such as hours of rotation.“MindSphere provides a common environ-ment for both the customers and a vendor like SKF to see the same data and perfor-mance. So there is no suspicion about trying to upgrade a plant and refurbish machines before it’s needed,” says Bill Boswell, vice president of marketing, cloud application solutions—MindSphere at Siemens Digital Industries Software. “IoT provides a common view that was hard for people to have before.”While FCI Watermaker is interested in the as-a-service concept to unleash new reve-nue streams, for now the company believes the ability to offer remote asset manage-ment capabilities to customers is enough of a differentiator and a key competitive edge. “Remote monitoring makes our product a better product,” says Ajemian. “Whenever you are able to see data in real time, the mindset is that you take better care of the product. You see things before they happen so you’re able to prevent problems and keep everyone happy.”FCI Watermaker’s reverse osmosis systems use groov EPIC to deliver remote asset management services to customers. Image Courtesy of Opto 222001_F1.indd 502001_F1.indd 501/20/20 1:55 PM1/20/20 1:55 PM Package and product changeovers on the fly: XTSThe XTS advantageinfinitely flexibledramatically reduces machine sizefaster time to marketMechanical flexibility embed XTS directly into machinesconfigure for any track geometryinstall flat, vertical or at anglesrepeat or stack XTS tracks30–50% reduction in machine footprintNEXTSTEPwww.beckhoff.us/xtsManufacturers around the world need to offer increasingly customized products – with machines that deliver reduced footprint and improved productivity. Available now in the U.S., the eXtended Transport System (XTS) from Beckhoff answers these machine design challenges and more. In combination with PC- and EtherCAT-based control technology, the XTS features a high level of design freedom for machine builders to develop game-changing concepts for product transport, handling and assembly. A stainless steel hygienic XTS version is ideal for use in the pharmaceutical and food industries.Take your next step in machine design with XTS:total freedom of installation positioncompact design integrates directly into machineryfreely selectable track geometriesfew mechanical parts and system componentsFull Page Ad.indd 73Full Page Ad.indd 731/20/20 12:44 PM1/20/20 12:44 PMFor more info: http://go.yaskawa-america.com/yai1369Yaskawa America, Inc. Drives & Motion Division 1-800-YASKAWA yaskawa.comGoin’ MobileIntroducing the GA800 Variable Frequency DriveAlready use your smartphone or tablet to interact with your television,your thermostat or your garage door opener? Would you love to do thiswith your variable speed drive?Enjoy a beautiful and intuitive experience with the newYaskawa GA800 featuring DriveWizard Mobile. Your days are complicated enough. Let us help simplify them. Call Yaskawa today at 1-800-927-5292.SUSTAINABLEFLEXIBLEEASYNEW!Full Page Ad.indd 73Full Page Ad.indd 731/20/20 12:44 PM1/20/20 12:44 PM53AW JANUARY 2020E-COMMERCEIn today’s e-commerce environment, it’s what Walmart wants. Or, more spe-cifically, “If you don’t do what Walmart says, they go somewhere else.” That was the statement from a representative of a large consumer packaged goods (CPG) company who participated in the Vision 2025 sessions at PACK EXPO Las Vegas last September. This meeting brought together machine builders, CPGs, and con-tract packagers to tackle issues ranging from asset reliability to request for propos-als to dealing with multifunctional equip-ment with fast and efficient changeovers—a byproduct of “what Walmart wants.” While Walmart and other online retailers are influencing manufacturing decisions, they are merely a symbol of a much bigger issue related to the omnichannel market—broadly defined as an integrated approach to e-commerce that serves a multichannel sales model. This new sales scenario means that products must be made in smaller formats and sizes. As a result, manufactur-ers must adapt processes to accommodate the batch of one, which requires flexibility on the manufacturing and packaging lines as well as in the warehouse and across the supply chain.Automation World recently reported on this Amazon effect (access the article at http://awgo.to/effect), in which consumers expect fast, frictionless transactions with visibility and accessibility at every step in the buying process. In this demand-driven mar-ket, the goal is to economically produce one customized product. This requires recon-figurable, modular machinery that can mix and match product flows. One solution for Meeting E-commerce Expectations with AutomationAs online retailers shape consumer buying behavior by o ering customized goods, manufacturers are turning to technology suppliers and machine builders to add flexibility into production, packaging, and supply chain processes.By Stephanie Neil, Senior Editor Automation World2001_F2.indd 532001_F2.indd 531/20/20 2:06 PM1/20/20 2:06 PM54AW JANUARY 2020E-COMMERCEthis comes in the form of flexible track sys-tems, such as B&R Industrial Automation’s AcoposTrak and Rockwell Automation’s iTrak independent cart technology.But technology suppliers are taking the concept of flexible manufacturing a step further by doing more integration, coupling traditionally independent applications—like robots, vision, and labeling—with machine control. They are also applying emerging technologies, like digital printing, and inves-tigating ways to tie it all together through enterprise applications.Integrating the automation portfolioRobots are an important element in the e-commerce ready factory. At Procter & Gamble (P&G), there are three pilot projects underway at manufacturing sites focused on digitization, from suppliers to customers—a specific response to omnichannel retail. As part of that effort, the company is deploying automated guided vehicles (AGVs), auto-mated mobile robots (AMRs), and collabora-tive robots (cobots).“As we move to e-commerce, we have changed the way we look at manufacturing,” says Jay Joyner, P&G’s engineering manager, product supply global engineering and sup-ply innovation. “We need to do more cus-tomization—like putting four different prod-ucts in one package—and therefore we are trying to increase the amount of automation to create agility and flexibility from when the order is placed to when it is shipped.”Cobots, specifically, are a natural exten-sion of B&R’s AcoposTrak technology because they have the flexibility to change end-of-arm tooling (EOAT) without chang-ing the layout of the processing station, says John Kowal, marketing director at B&R Industrial Automation. In November, B&R—which is a unit of ABB’s Robotics and Discrete Automation business—announced the integration of ABB robots into B&R’s automation portfolio, resulting in the inte-gration of robotics and automation into one controller and one engineering system. This means there is no need for an extra control cabinet for the robot, and that programming robotics and machine control is combined in one development application.This is the latest development in B&R’s integrated control strategy which added machine vision into the mix in 2018. A smart camera—including intelligent image processing algorithms and integrated with the control system—running over the same network can synchronize machine functions with microsecond precision.“We are running robotics, safety, the track system itself, and even condition and energy monitoring on the same processor, same program, and same network,” Kowal says. “It means you don’t have as many hardware connections and we can synchro-nize a robot to a shuttle axis with CNC kind of precision. These are fundamental changes, only possible with integrated software development and with Moore’s Law processing power and communication over a unified, high-speed network.”An example of how this can work was demonstrated at PACK EXPO Las Vegas in September 2019, where JLS Automation showcased its new patent-pending Pere-grine robotic cartoning system. Using B&R’s AcoposTrak—which JLS renamed to JLS Trak—the vision-guided system can handle a variety of packaging formats—all at once.“Peregrine has three elements that are game-changing,” said JLS president Craig Souser in a video interview. “It remains a high-speed cartoner, but it is a flexible machine that can do changeovers on the fly. Conceptually, we can run two different SKUs at the same time…and it is a small foot-print compared to conventional cartoning systems.”This type of flexibility carries through to other application areas on the production line, like labeling. A beer bottle may have a front label and a neck label or different shaped containers that requires different size labels, all of which AcoposTrak can manage.For example, an adaptive machine from Makro Labelling makes it possible to run different labels, container shapes, and sizes simultaneously on the same rotary labeler. One application could be making rainbow packs without repacking. Makro synchronizes two tracks, one below to serve as the bottle plates and one above to secure the bottles' necks. The bottle plates pair two shuttles to provide an infinitely adjustable bottle rota-tion with no changeover parts or stoppages, thus allowing any combination of label con-figurations inline. It is limited only by the number and type of aggregates available.The importance of labels, digitally speakingAn e-commerce package can pass through 20 to 30 different touchpoints in the sup-ply chain before reaching its destination. Tracking the individual packages to ensure the product is delivered all in one piece is an important part of the e-commerce story.When a product comes off the manu-facturing line it requires information of its origin and expiration dates. From there, layers of information are added. “Each movement requires yet another labeling action,” says David Crist, president of Brother Mobile Solutions. “So there is a E-commerce begins and ends with the consumer—from ordering to unboxing—the experience must be effortless and enjoyable.2001_F2.indd 542001_F2.indd 541/20/20 2:07 PM1/20/20 2:07 PMHMI+PLC in OneBy combining PLC processing and HMI monitoring, FT1A Touch makes it faster and easier to build smart machines by reducing initial design and maintenance costs. Just one compact HMI+PLC unit optimizes efficiency and productivity, providing the same functionality as a separate PLC and HMI system. Find out why the IDEC FT1A Touch is trending with engineers, and how you can take advantage!The Most Efficient Automation Solution• 3.8” 65K TFT color screen• Modbus TCP and RTU• Ethernet connectivity• Built-in analog inputs and outputs• User-friendly programming• High environmental & safety ratingswww.IDEC.com/usa800.262.IDECVisit us at www.IDEC.com/touch• -20 to 55˚ C operating temperatureFull Page Ad.indd 73Full Page Ad.indd 731/20/20 12:47 PM1/20/20 12:47 PM56Aerotech’s mechanical, electrical and software engineers collaborate to give you the perfect motion control solution – whether that is a standard or custom product, subsystem or completely integrated system.Learn more at automationworld.com/leaders and cast your Leadership in Automation vote.aerotech.com • 412-963-7470TEAMWORK IS OUR SECRET WEAPONAW JANUARY 2020E-COMMERCEneed for technology in a lot of different places whether it’s on the manufactur-ing floor or in the warehouse.”And with smaller lot sizes and mixed products, there’s a need for more detailed identification. “Amazon has set the stan-dard for small, customized quantities delivered instantaneously and done flaw-lessly, and that has become the consumer expectation that everyone is scrambling to organize their infrastructure around,” Crist says. “It may seem that printing is a dull part in the infrastructure piece, but it plays a role. Anything that moves in and around the infrastructure has to have a label on it with a barcode or RFID tag, or you can’t keep track of where it is going to satisfy these hyper-requirements.”Crist says Brother is stepping up to meet e-commerce demands with new products that are geared for the smaller, distributed warehouses being built closer to the customer.Last May, Brother Mobile Solutions announced the launch of its TD 4 Desk-top Thermal Printer Series designed with ‘supply-chain-ready’ functional-ity for printing barcode labels, tags, or receipts for virtually any application in the warehouse, transportation, and B&R Industrial Automation integrated a smart camera with its control system that includes intelligent image processing algorithms and innovative lighting.2001_F2.indd 562001_F2.indd 561/20/20 2:07 PM1/20/20 2:07 PM57Designed for Drives, Robot JointsOpen-center form factor fits around central shaft, cables or structuresPrecision rotation measurementwith multiturn range Rotation counter powered by Wiegand energy-harvesting technology- no batteries needed!SSI and BiSS-C interfacesDust and moisture tolerantFactory-friendly assembly toleranceswww.posital.comNEW HOLLOW-SHAFT KIT ENCODERSAW JANUARY 2020E-COMMERCElogistics supply chain, including the manufacturing plant. The product series was engineered to help the business or warehouse meet new standards of speed driven by omnichannel commerce. The initial launch included TD 4-inch printer models using direct thermal printing technology, which was followed by ther-mal transfer printing models—these are used on the factory floor for tagging sourced components when they arrive at the plant and move to shelves, bin boxes, and tool cribs. During production, barcode label systems identify and track items as they move through a facility or assembly line. And in the warehouse, they are used to mark racks, shelves, bins, and to identify finished goods for fast, accurate routing and traceability as they are packaged or shipped for deliv-ery across the supply chain.In addition, the printers integrate with warehouse management systems and enter-prise apps running on mobile devices.The end user experience starts in the enterpriseUltimately, e-commerce begins and ends with the consumer—from the ordering to the unboxing—the experience must be 2001_F2.indd 572001_F2.indd 571/20/20 2:07 PM1/20/20 2:07 PMNext >