End-User Highlight: Metaldyne

This month we interviewed Michael Young, the Lead Process Engineering Technician for Metaldyne, a leading global designer and supplier of powertrain and chassis products for the automotive industry.

IA: What do you use Inductive Automation software for in your company or facility?

Michael: We are monitoring our process for machine status, alarm history, downtime and OEE calculations. We can now view this anytime and in real time from unlimited clients through intranet or VPN.

IA: Why did you choose Inductive Automation software?

Michael: It is the most versatile I have seen yet, and if you are imaginative, the Inductive Automation technical support staff can help you figure out how to turn those dreams into reality.

IA: What features have you found most useful to your specific process?

Michael: I have found out, while learning to use them, that all of the tools such as SQL syntax, scripting, Jython and expression language give you tremendous options and flexibility.

IA: How has the introduction of SQL affected your development and implementation?

Michael: I am still learning it, but without it some things just are not possible without a lot of extra work.

IA: What have you found to be the main benefits of the software?

Michael: The flexibility of it and after getting better at it, the freedom of it.

IA: How do you plan on using IA software in the future?

Michael: All that I can, because there is no limit to the type of information that I can save and store in the database. This makes it a great tool for all of us involved in the project.

IA: Is there anything else you can say regarding your experience with Inductive Automation?

Michael: They are in California, but we won?t hold it against them.

Screenshots:

End-User Highlight: Hancock Lumber

This month we interviewed Kevin Murphy of Hancock Lumber about his experience with Inductive Automation software.

IA: What do you use Inductive Automation software for in your company or facility?

Kevin: We use all three components (Factory SQL, Factory PMI and the Reporting Plug-In) to centrally monitor multiple PLCs at three sawmills located throughout the state of Maine. The collected data is presented in a dashboard-like environment for use by sawmill managers to improve their processes by evaluating correlations between downtime events and process outputs.
The flexibility of the software has allowed us to customize both data collection points and interfaces so that we can gather exactly the data that is relevant to our processes.
At the beginning of January, 2008, we added a second FactorySQL/PMI data collection server in our Bethel, Maine facility for use in controlling our upgraded wood-fired boiler. Factory PMI with SQL tags made it exceptionally easy for us to custom develop a control panel to meet the needs of our environment in a cost- and time-efficient manner.

IA: Why did you choose Inductive Automation software?

Kevin: Our primary reason for selecting Inductive Automation was its lower cost compared to competing products. In addition, the ability to install the software and run it in a meaningful way before purchasing it was key to our decision-making process. During our evaluation process, Inductive Automation's engineering staff made themselves available to us to answer many technical questions, long before we bought the software. Having a working model of what FactoryPMI could do for us with our data in it made it very easy for us to get Management approval to purchase the software.

IA: What features have you found most useful to your specific process?

Kevin: The ability of the software to speak to any database, as well as to any OPC server, has been a big plus to us. In addition, the ability to publish any FactoryPMI solution on any desktop, without the need for additional licensing has made it very easy for us to roll out the solutions in our environment.

IA: How has the introduction of SQLTags affected your development and implementation?

Kevin: SQLTags made it possible for us to produce the screens for our recent boiler project in a fraction of the time it would have taken in past versions. Since this project was on a very tight timeline, the ability to produce the necessary controls quickly was a huge advantage to us.

IA: What have you found to be the main benefits of the software?

Kevin: The initial benefit to us was in the ease of deploying our solutions. When a user requests access to the dashboard, all we have to do is send them a link with logon information, and they have all the access they need.

As we have gotten deeper into the software, we are finding many more ways to utilize the controls features that the FactoryPMI interface offers. We have been able to accomplish several small controls projects quickly and inexpensively simply by building the interfaces through FactoryPMI.

IA: How do you plan on using IA software in the future?

Kevin: We look forward to establishing additional servers for data collection at several other points of control throughout our network. We are exploring the possibility of using Inductive Automation tools to update and automate one of our oldest mill facilities.

IA: Is there anything else you can say regarding your experience with Inductive Automation?

Kevin: Our experience with support from Inductive Automation has been very, very good. When we called with issues printing from the Reporting plugin, the IA staff worked to replicate the issues we were having so they could help us resolve the issue. We are also tracking other issues within our environment for which IA technical staff have been invaluable resources. In short, Inductive Automation has provided us with excellent service throughout our entire experience with their software.

End-User Highlight: Helix Water District

SACRAMENTO, CA SEPTEMBER 7, 2007 - This month we interviewed Henry Palechek, an Engineer of Helix Water District, about his experience with Inductive Automation software.

Located in La Mesa California, Helix Water District is a progressive industry leader, providing high quality water, through an efficient and reliable system. Their innovative and dedicated employees and Board members maximize human and technological resources, providing superior service to their customers.
IA: What do you use Inductive Automation software for in your company or facility?

Henry Palechek: There is a requirement under the EPA's Surface Water Treatment Rule (SWTR) that process data be stored every 15 minutes. In the past this was done using the existing SCADA system. The SCADA system used an SQL connect and insert script to do this. It was a complex function and not robust as it should have been. About 18 months ago we changed to an OPC to OBDC data logging product. The product was robust and difficult to maintain. We decided to look for a more user friendly, intuitive product.

IA: Why did you choose Inductive Automation software?

Henry Palechek: We evaluated all of the leading OPC to OBDC product on the market and found that I.A. was clearly the easiest to setup and use. For example, the evaluation CD not only comes with the I.A. software but includes a demo copy of Kepware and an open source SQL database.

IA: What features have you found most useful to your specific process?

Henry Palechek: It only took a few minutes to setup the software. The software had the ability to view the Kepware OPC tags. It was simple as drag and drop.

IA: How do you plan on using IA software in the future?

Henry Palechek: I think it is important for water utilities to use systems that use current technologies, such as SQL and web servers. Our existing SCADA software will have to be replaced in the future. It seems logical to me that anyone facing an upgrade of their SCADA system would evaluate if the I.A. product will work for them.

End-User Highlight: Hirzel Canning and Farms, Inc.

SACRAMENTO, CA AUGUST 14, 2007 - This month we interviewed John McEvoy, the Project Supervisor of Hirzel Cannery, about his experience with Inductive Automation software.

Located in northwest Ohio, Hirzel Canning and Farms, Inc. is a family owned business, passed down through the generations, serving the food industry for over 70 years.

They oversee the entire processing chain of events, from planting a seed in our greenhouse, to the harvesting, canning, and the final delivery of a labeled container to a wholesaler, or directly to a corner store.

They provide their clients with a wide range of products. Anything from Palletized 300 gallon totes, private labeled products in various sizes of metal, glass, and plastic containers, and of course, their famous in house labels, "Dei-Fratelli, Star Cross, and Silver Fleece".

IA: What do you use Inductive Automation software for in your company or facility?

John McEvoy: Our management, maintenance, and operations teams need precise and timely information regarding our production systems. Given the current state of networking technology, the best choice to disseminate this information is via some sort of "Web Based" system.

By making information available via our internal Intranet, any of our internal "Information Consumers", can get precisely the information they need, when they need it, via our Intranet.

Example 1:
We have authored pages in FactoryPMI that look exactly like the Operation Screens at the production control station. This allows our management, supervisors, QA lab, or anyone with authorization, to "Tune In" to the Operator’s screen and "Look over their shoulder", seeing the same screen as the operator is seeing.

Example 2:
Our QA lab needs to document many of our processes. We have authored FPMI screens that allow Lab personnel to search, display, and print historical data, on demand, directly from a FPMI screen.

Example 3:
In a similar manner, our Management and Supervisors need the ability to review production data in order to establish production requirements and goals. Having historical data available at their fingertips takes the guessing out of this task.

IA: Why did you choose Inductive Automation software?

John McEvoy:
a. Mainly, Inductive Automation’s logical solution to the SCADA problem;
b. No tag limitation.
c. No concurrent user limitation.
d. No proprietary connections, IA uses MySQL (or many other) database, OPC client, Java based web server.
e. The entire system is infinitely expandable.
f. Cost - We’re a small company. When I make a purchase, its "my" money I’m spending. We’re very, very conservative, when it comes to "New Purchases". We want the most value for our dollar.

FactorySQL

Two way communications to/from an OPC server. This is the only thing that touches the OPC server, no multiple connections.
Read an OPC server. Write the data to a data base.
AND
Read a database. Write the data back top the OPC server.

FactoryPMI
Two parts to this;
Authoring package - I can design and build pages, In our case we actually built a "Web Site" that contains all of the FactoryPMI screens.

Server - Sends the pages to the end user (client). These Java based pages can run inside an "Internet Explorer" screen or as a stand alone Java screen.

Data that’s required on the screen, is retrieved from the Database, Not the OPC server.
If the end user (client) is allowed to change things on a page, the changed data is sent back to the database. (FactorySQL then sends the change back to the OPC server, if required)

Over the years we’ve reviewed several popular Name Brand SCADA software packages, Iconics, Cimplicity, and Wonderware. Although each of these packages meet our basic needs, They all had several technical or financial limitations that would require work arounds;

Tag Number limitations - Although not a big problem now, this could be a problem later as our systems expand. A license needs to be purchased for X number of tags the system processes.

Concurrent connections - Same as Tag number limitations.

OPC Connectivity - (Iconics, Cimplicity) Allowing an end user client to directly connect to an OPC server can cause problems. Particularly, as the number of clients increases, the server starts to bog down.


Proprietary connectivity - (Wonderware) problems, Although Wonderware is transitioning from DDE based to OPC based, they still face the same connectivity issues as the other two.

IA: What features have you found most useful to your specific process?

John McEvoy: Selected OPC readings go into a database. Now, anyone can read them.
Web based monitoring of production lines.
Everything in Item 2.

IA: What have you found to be the main benefits of the software?


John McEvoy: See item 2

IA: How do you plan on using IA software in the future?

John McEvoy: As we get more familiar with the FactorySQL and FactoryPMI products, we’ll be connecting to other "non-OPC" type databases that we use at our facility. Here are a couple things the boss has already requested:
a) Real time cost analysis of production lines. Read the financial database to retrieve several financial components, labor rates for individuals assigned to a task, current overhead rate, current COM, etc. Apply this to current product speeds and runs to display "REAL TIME" production cost, based on a lot code.

This information is invaluable when submitting a bid to a customer.

b) Web based access to our inventory control database, Allow authorized users to view and/or update inventory data items.

IA: Is there anything else you can say regarding your experience with Inductive Automation?

John McEvoy: Service and Support from Inductive Automation has been exceptional.

IA answers their phone. If I have an immediate problem or question, there’s a human being available almost immediately.

The "HELP" sections of the IA software packages are reasonably up to date and often contain examples to guide us.

I’ve found the "Forums" area of the IA web site is an ideal place to ask questions, and find solutions to our design or operation problems.

This type of "support" system is invaluable, Not only as a "Problem Solver" but as "Learning Tool". While browsing the forums for one topic, I often run across other topics that I find interesting, and tuck away for later use’

NOTE ON FORUMS - One of the Other SCADA suppliers doesn’t provide access to their forums unless you’re a licensed user. I ask myself, what are they hiding. The forums were one of the selling points to us.

IA is very responsive to feature requests.

Its nice to talk to the "Designer"; I can explain a problem, or describe a feature that would be nice to have, and the response I get is; "Hey, I can do that, it’ll be in the next release". BRAVO
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End-User Highlight: MAP Industries

SACRAMENTO, CA JUNE 5, 2007 - We interviewed a MAP Industries manager. He uses FactoryPMI to interact with his existing databases for inventory management.

IA: What does MAP Industries do?

Manager: MAP manufactures components for the HVAC industry. These are typically made to order from copper tubing. Our processes include: cutting, bending, forming, and welding. Each individual step is fairly automated. Welding is done manually. We have a lot to track.

IA: What do you use FactoryPMI for?

Manager: We're mainly using FPMI for inventory management. It allows us to turn existing data into useful data. It REALLY does! I use PMI like I would use Visual Basic. The Reporting Plugin allows us to create reports for the morning efficiency meeting.


Before I set this up, everything was done in spreadsheets. Our other programs track good data, but haven't been able to do everything we need. I've taken on the biggest unknowns. We use PMI to start with our existing database and give us information to be more profitable.

Our FactoryPMI project interfaces with different databases to analyze past sales data. It tells us how much raw stock to buy for future months, notifies us of critically low inventory, breaks down estimated labor cost and helps decide how many welders versus fabrication workers are needed.

As a company, we get paid by standards like time to bend, cut, and weld. FactoryPMI has given us the tools to better analyze and meet projected standards. We actually used your software to determine that there were a few quoted standards that we weren't able to meet. Our options were to re-quote or improve the process. There have been a lot of process improvements.

IA: How has FactoryPMI helped your company?

Manager: One of our biggest cost benefits was going from an 85% on-time delivery in December to 99% now. FactoryPMI had a lot to do with this. It's helped us analyze productivity in realtime and show if we're getting behind during the day. I use FactoryPMI to see sales by part and production. I look at this daily to see if I'm getting behind in production or inventory. With a catalog of 400 parts it can be hard to tell.

We created a screen that shows welder productivity by day and assigns and color code. A week after we individually went over their production, we saw an average 20% productivity increase per welder! That alone paid for FactoryPMI.

FactoryPMI reports save several hours of work a day. We use an "on board" to track inventory. This report lays out all the parts in sequence, making the manual process take about 10 minutes. We used to hand write 260 labels a day because the old system couldn't match the format as specified by the customer, even though the data was in the database. Our report lays it out however we want showing: date, quantity, tubs and numbering, tub size, and rack location.

IA: Could you tell me more about using FactoryPMI for inventory management?

Manager: One of our issues is that we have roughly 800 component pieces that make up 400 finished good parts. Daily usage ranges from 1 part per day to 2000. We guarantee a 2 1/2 day supply in plant for finished goods with a max of 5 days. Customers keep 2 1/2 themselves. At any given time there's only a week supply.

To give you an example, we have 214 different lengths of 3/8" tubing alone. Each piece is cut to a tolerance of +-.06". Any pieces outside of that tolerance is scrap. I created a FactoryPMI screen that finds the closest size scrap to use. Our whole inventory is tracked. We cut a lot smaller quantities than we used to. Now we go out 3 months instead of 2 years when we overcut.

IA: How do you plan on using IA software in the future?


Manager: Our future products will incorporate FactorySQL and FactoryPMI to set up recipes and use a barcode for location. One limitation I've always seen is searching capabilities. We have 300-400 recipes.

IA: How do you plan on solving that with FSQL/FPMI?

Manager: Next year the goal is to hook into the PLCs and become more automated in all of our machines. We'll use FactoryPMI and FactorySQL for everything. We'll store the recipes in MySQL and send the recipes to the PLC. The operator at the machine would use a barcode scanner and have a screen to verify that they have the correct selection. They will then print a work order (router) with the chosen recipe.

Their biggest setup time right now is finding the recipe in a long list. The biggest scrap producer is choosing the wrong one. Both can be solved with your software.

IA: Is there anything else you would like to say regarding your experience with IA software?


You guys have great customer support!

End-User Highlight: Fosters America Group

SACRAMENTO, CA APRIL 4, 2007 - We interviewed a Fosters America Group manager. His mobile bottling trailer,
powered by Inductive Automation software, services the finest wines of Napa Valley.


IA: What do you use Inductive Automation software for?

John: It runs our mobile bottling line. The semi trailer goes all over Napa and Sonoma county. I'm not always with the trailer, but I always want to be able to access process information. It logs production totals, CIP (clean in place) cycles, and user input. I can pull up any info including realtime values from anywhere. We're still in the development stage. Eventually I want to integrate our maintenance and more. We want the most advanced mobile bottling trailer there is.

IA: What is a mobile bottling line?

John: Imagine a complete bottling line inside a semi trailer. They connect a hose where the wine comes in, out goes bottled, labeled wine. We do about eighty bottles per minute. We're not the only mobile bottling line around, they're common for smaller wineries who only bottle a couple of times per year. The difference is that ours does the best wines Fosters makes. Owning our own mobile bottling line is actually new to us, we're developing this application to meet our needs for the best wines.


IA: Why would you use a mobile bottling line?

John: We've consolidated our bottling facilities into one large location that services most of our wine. This is efficient and cost effective. Premium, delicate wines, for example, a Private Reserve Cabernet, are bottled on site. The winemaker demands that the wine comes out in exactly the same quality as it went in. They're concerned with the effects of transportation, storage, and the bottling process. The mobile bottling trailer goes to their site and bottles the best wines that Fosters America makes: Beringer, Lindemans, Meridian, Wolf Blass, and many more.

IA: What makes your mobile bottling line different?

John: We don't do anything unique, but have onboard technology and tracking software. We have high quality equipment, but the main difference is that my team has to be very careful. For example, all SOPs are available on the touch screen. They have to acknowledge every step during the bottling process, which is logged to our server. It's not so much to check on my crew but if there is ever a question we can prove exactly what happened. It tells me who did the CIP, when, and gives pertinent info. The team can't bypass the process - and they're trained. They can either go by procedure exactly or abort, which is also logged. There's another thing that's important about this technology. Say there is a failure somewhere. We have the ability to find out what went wrong and correct the procedure. I can even troubleshoot via the PLC from anywhere.

IA: Could you describe some of the technology in your trailer?


John: We have a web server and SQL database in the trailer. A proxycast cell modem allows me to access the realtime process and historical data from anywhere - regardless of where the mobile bottling happens to be. Right now I'm in Napa and it's in St. Helena. I get a report every hour on my cell phone and email since they're producing. I can pull up the process from a web browser. We also have wifi setup even though we can do everything via the proxycast modem.

IA: What can you say about the web based model?

John: That's extremely important; it was the main selling point for us. I wanted to allow anybody in the company go to the web page for information. A winemaker might look at the schedule of the trailer. They can verify that bottling occurred smoothly and view relevant data.

There is a lot of expandability. I'm looking into what Senior VPs who report to Australia are really looking for. They can already bring up the information from any computer, regardless of where the trailer is. I've yet to find anything that the system can't do. The program seems to be easily expanded or modified to suit customer needs.

IA: Is there anything else to say about the Mobile Bottling Line?

John: The mobile line is a showcase. We take pride in our wine and do the best. Remote troubleshooting capabilities are very important. The wine is delicate. Winemakers want their wine in bottles as soon as possible from when they get started. Downtime likely jeopardizes the quality and worries winemakers. That's a bigger point than production. Quality comes first with our wine. If a winemaker is confident in the mobile bottling line, they can focus on their artistry, wine. That's their job and where they excel. When you look at a bottle of wine, it has their name on it. They take that very seriously.