A Euro not saved is one wasted
As an engineering
community, there is no doubt that we can design excellent and innovative
products. But it would also be fair to say that technology product
vendors sometimes get a little too caught up in the excitement of
their latest developments and end up simply boasting about specifications
when they should be explaining how product features address users'
real needs. So rather than talking the language of technology, we
should be talking the language of business benefits.
Although the
Open DeviceNet Vendor Association includes the word 'Vendor' in
its name, these vendors only exist to support users and their applications.
In today's competitive marketplace every Euro not saved is one that
has been wasted and within ODVA Europe our objective is to help
technology users reap the business rewards of successful installations.
The ODVA has a key role to play in promoting technology, not just
for its own sake, but for the applications and benefits it delivers.
Right now two of the most exciting technology areas with potential
for bringing real business benefits are EtherNet/IP and OPC-DX.
EtherNet/IP
builds on the strengths of DeviceNet in the industrial networking
market. EtherNet/IP and DeviceNet share a common object model so
it is simple for users to implement networks which allow data to
flow seamlessly from device level through controller level up to
enterprise level without needing gateway hardware or software. This
makes implementation fast and simple for installers and reduces
engineering costs. The power of these two integrated networks is
harnessed to give the user performance benefits, and control information
becomes more readily available across a network as an essential
input to improved decision-making.
OPC-DX is another
initiative actively supported by ODVA together with a large number
of vendors. It gives users the ability to transfer information to
and from any device in an EtherNet/IP or DeviceNet network to a
proxy on a third party fieldbus. This eliminates one of the most
costly aspects of system integration and allows ODVA's more powerful
DeviceNet and Ethernet/IP architectures to be implemented alongside
existing Fieldbus networks or other legacy systems.
One important
emerging trend is the adoption of wireless networking. Hard-wired
systems are becoming a real issue and a sizeable expense, so industry
is moving towards distributed intelligence models that cater for
increased flexibility and mobility. More flexible and mobile equipment
is needed to satisfy the demand for frequent plant reconfigurations,
driven by the need to respond to ever changing market needs. Wireless
networking offers the promise of flexibility at a reduced cost,
and enables manufacturers to be quick to market with new product
developments. Wireless DeviceNet products have now come onto the
market from Omron that allow users to connect any DeviceNet compatible
product onto a truly wireless fieldbus, reducing expensive installation
and wiring costs. Wireless DeviceNet networks can accommodate up
to 32 wireless masters, each with 32 slaves, and the capacity of
the network is sufficient to handle as many combinations of subnetworks
as even the most demanding application is like to require.
Typical of
other new products becoming available is a new bus analyser for
DeviceNet and CANbus (DeviceNet runs on CANbus) from ODVA member
HM Computing. This eliminates the need for a special interface board
to be installed in the host PC or laptop and reduces installation
cost. CanScan-X plugs straight into the Ethernet port on the host
PC, or directly onto an Ethernet network, for easy bus analysis.
Further new
products are being developed all the time to help users to reduce
costs, simplify installations or increase flexibility and capability.
The ODVA will actively promote the technologies whilst assisting
users in adopting them to create improved industrial network systems.
ODVA
h100@industrialnetworking.co.uk
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