Tips for a Successful Plantwide Network Deployment
It wasn’t that long ago that industrial operations like factories had at least two separate networks and most often many more than that. Not only were these networks disparate entities that did not share information, they were most often completely different proprietary technologies. The office systems ran on Ethernet while the plant floor ran on numerous altogether different and incompatible technologies, like PROFIBUS and PROFINET.
It is no secret that this situation is changing rapidly. Many companies have already adopted Industrial Ethernet networks in the production space, unifying their architecture and enabling plantwide networking – which is the foundation for vertical integration, giving you a single, consolidated network infrastructure.
This isn’t a great secret either. Indeed, if factory automation is something you are at all concerned about then you have heard of Industrial Ethernet. If you haven’t already installed it then it is something you may be considering, and if you aren’t thinking about it now you will be at some point in the future. The big questions you’ll need to answer are: “What am I getting myself into?” and “How do I make the project successful?”
“It may sound trite, but ultimately, adopting Industrial Ethernet is going to make your life a lot easier,” says Marty Jansons, an industrial networking expert with Siemens Industry. “It’s also going to make your plant more transparent to you and improve production.”
The benefits offered by Industrial Ethernet are pretty straightforward. Put simply, Industrial Ethernet is a ruggedized version of the same networking technology that has been powering your front office applications for the past 30 years. “However, it’s not quite the same technology,” adds Jansons. “In addition to being ruggedized for the harsh production environment, Industrial Ethernet features dramatically improved fault tolerance and performance to make sure the real-time applications that run the plant environment operate without a hitch. No one cares if their print job is delayed three seconds, but that same delay on the production line could be a crisis, so Industrial Ethernet is designed to avoid those situations. Additionally, wireless Ethernet offers a new level of mobility that fieldbus can’t possibly match.”
These factors make it much easier to gather critical plant data, like production throughput, and send it back to the office applications that help with tasks like capacity planning and make sure the plant is generating as much revenue as possible.
On the plant floor itself, Ethernet is easy to install and maintain and lowers total cost of ownership when compared to the fieldbus technologies it replaces. And its standards-based, multi-vendor nature means that a single type of network can support all your operational requirements; doing away with the need for numerous vendor-specific proprietary networks that don’t talk to each other without a major integration project. And there are no concerns about the longevity of office equipment in the hostile manufacturing environment. Industrial Ethernet switches, cables and connectors are ruggedized to exacting standards for reliable service.
So now that you’ve decided to adopt a plantwide networking approach what do you need to do? Jansons has some helpful tips for successful Ethernet deployment.
Tips for successful Industrial Ethernet deployment #1
Choose Industrial Ethernet. “It may seem obvious, but it still needs to be said and supported. There may be pressure internally to just do more of what you are already doing. Unless you’re in a Greenfield situation and are commissioning a new plant, you may already have cabling runs figured out and an architecture you’re familiar with that works for you. That’s all well and good, but that leaves you where you are today. For some people that will be fine, but in my experience most people are looking for ways to maximize production, competitiveness and profitability. Ethernet has so many advantages over legacy systems that you really should carefully consider it. Besides, the way it’s growing it won’t be long before all your competitors are using it and pulling ahead of you. Then it might be too late.”
Tips for successful Industrial Ethernet deployment #2
Plan the deployment in detail. “Generally speaking, Ethernet deployments require more up front planning than fieldbus. You really need to think carefully about your network topology and switch placement before you start.”
Ethernet was originally implemented in a line topology, with multiple devices sharing a single cable, however with this set up any cable break or fault disrupted communications to and from all devices it serviced. Modern Industrial Ethernet uses a ring topology to further protect against failure. “With ring topology, a device failure effects only that device and any others connected directly to it. If the cable itself should break, traffic can be routed around the break in the opposite direction to its destination. So no single point of failure can cause a significant network failure.”
In addition to making the network more redundant and reliable, adds Jansons, these latter topologies also make the network almost infinitely scalable. As long as you have a need for it, you can always add capacity.
Tips for successful Industrial Ethernet deployment #3
“Another thing you should do up front is determine who will own the network; who is going to be responsible for maintaining and troubleshooting it.”
The IT department owns the office network and because the technologies are similar the company may be tempted to turn the industrial network over to them. This is not always a practical arrangement. It’s true that the technologies are similar and have the same foundation, but the reality is that typically the automation engineer and the IT staffer live in different worlds, with different concerns. “The IT guy is an expert in what happens in his world and there is a lot of crossover, traffic issues and things like that. But there are a lot of differences too, especially when it comes to time. Things happen a lot faster in the production environment than they do in the office and the factory is typically very unforgiving of delays. Besides, every second your network is down is a second your plant is producing nothing so waiting for the IT staffer to make his way to the factory floor doesn’t make as much sense as having the automation engineer on hand deal with the problem when it happens.”
Tips for successful Industrial Ethernet deployment #4
Pay attention to security. The TCP/IP protocols that underlay Industrial Ethernet make improved diagnostic tools, including remote monitoring and access, possible. For example, when a network issue arises it can be addressed by a technician anywhere around the globe. He can tap in, access diagnostic data all the way down to the field device, look at the historical data to determine what’s gone wrong and initiate the fix.
This is a tremendous benefit, but implementing those features means your factory is going to be accessible from outside its four walls and you need to make sure that only authorized people have access. “The first step is to segment the plant network from the enterprise network at the architectural stage. Then you need to install a good firewall and after that you can limit access. If a person or device doesn’t need to access a given function or PLC then he or it shouldn’t.”
Tips for successful Industrial Ethernet deployment #5
Relax. “Industrial Ethernet is no more complicated to learn than the technologies you are already familiar with. And because it is easier to maintain, it will make your life easier in the long run with the benefits easily outweighing the time it will take you to pick it up.”
“The hype about Industrial Ethernet is all real,” says Jansons. “Industry analysts are all pretty consistent with their predictions. For example ARC Advisory Group estimated the market at 1 million nodes in 2007 and forecast it would triple by 2012. It is rapidly replacing other forms of industrial networking. Wherever intelligence plays a part in the manufacturing process, wherever you need to monitor or program or adjust a device, you need control and connectivity and that is going to be Ethernet. Ultimately, the goal is to be able to run your entire operation on a single, fully-integrated network infrastructure.”
Industrial Ethernet Resources:
• The Industrial Ethernet Advisory Group, a resource and community that covers all aspects of Industrial Ethernet, including a forum for technical support and queries, news and events, articles and product information. www.industrialethernet.org
• An explanation of Industrial Ethernet and its various components from Siemens, a major Industrial Ethernet supplier: http://tinyurl.com/ddo93u
• Industrial Ethernet, 2nd Edition, by Perry S. Marshall and John S. Rinaldi, a reference tool on installation and troubleshooting of Industrial Ethernet networks. The book is intended to help readers “prepare to plan industrial Ethernet installations with realistic expectations, make knowledgeable purchasing decisions, and identify and prevent common causes of failure.”
• Industrial Ethernet on the Plant Floor: A Planning and Installation Guide, by Robert Lounsbury, also provides guidance on how to plan an Industrial Ethernet network, including a discussion of network architectures, components, product selection and the basics of noise.
Have an Inquiry for Siemens about this article? Click Here >>
Comments
Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!