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ETHERNET DRIVE NETWORKING |
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Ethernet Drive Networking 2005 and Beyond |
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INTRODUCTION |
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We live in a time of major changes to the way electronic Drive System systems are manufactured, integrated, supported and maintained. No longer are our customers willing to accept islands of automation. Instead the trend, if not the demand, is for open systems that seamlessly integrate from the lowest sensor on the factory floor to the Enterprise Manufacturing Execution System. Data which once was unobtainable is now required. Data, once hand collected, now must be effortlessly assembled, sorted and merged. It must be painlessly transferred from the factory floor to the desk of the CEO even if that desk is a continent away.
These trends and business requirements are not unique to Drive System end users. They cut across many major vertical markets including medical, automotive manufacturing, military, aerospace, and process control (chemical, food, beverage and many others). These trends are driving major enhancements to both hardware and software controls technology. Costs are falling, speeds are sharply increasing, functionality is greater than ever and integration time is dropping.
There are four overriding factors that are driving increased networking of all types of controls including Drive System control: |
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1. Increased Time-to-Market Pressure |
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It’s no secret that business today is fast paced. Life cycles for specialty foods are short. Medicines, once approved, need to quickly get into distribution. Brewery and other beverage systems are required to quickly meet production goals. Costs to discretely wire a new point with point-to-point wiring continue to rise both for labor and materials. Engineering time to add new points, especially if more hardware is required, is more scarce.
Networking is one way machines can be assembled faster, with less overall cost and with fewer errors. In some networks a Drive System controller can be added by simply clamping the controller on the network cable. |
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