The Siemens Industry Automation Division has expanded its offer for the development of PC-based automation solutions for series machine manufacturing with a Profinet driver for controller applications. With the driver, which is delivered as source code, it is easy for the user to implement individual Profinet communication solutions on a standard PC, for networking machines in a production line, for example. No special hardware is required for this communication solution since the driver utilizes the conventional Ethernet interface to be found on standard PCs. The Profinet driver is also suitable for standard operating systems and is configured via an open XML interface. Engineering tools such as the TIA Portal (Totally Integrated Automation) can provide support for the user here. The new driver supports Profinet with real time (RT) and achieves cycle times of as little as 1 ms when using a real-time operating system.

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PetroChina Company Limited will expand its use of Honeywell advanced information management and process modeling software tools to 17 additional refining and petrochemical sites across China, to help meet the country’s growing demand for chemicals and transportation fuels. PetroChina currently uses Honeywell’s information solutions at 13 locations.

Honeywell’s Refining and Petrochemical Modeling System (RPMS) and its Intuition® Executive advanced information management software will give PetroChina plant operators the ability to monitor operations across its entire organization to help provide the real-time information they need to better improve the profitability and efficiency of their plants.

“Refiners and chemical plant operators must make complex business decisions quickly to take advantage of rapidly changing market conditions – from prices for feedstocks such as crude oil and natural gas, to rising demand for finished products,” said Aldous Wong, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Process Solutions, China. “Implementing these Honeywell solutions across more of their locations will help PetroChina maximize profitability through better visibility and efficiency of their overall operations, and help them meet the growing demand for energy.”

MatrikonOPC™ has recently announced the release of the MatrikonOPC UA Proxy, which makes it easy for companies to take advantage of the next generation OPC standard – called OPC Unified Architecture (UA) – while continuing to use their existing OPC classic architectures.

While the OPC UA standard is backward compatible with classic OPC from a data perspective, it uses different technologies to establish connections and to transmit OPC data. By using the UA Proxy from MatrikonOPC, companies can easily bridge this gap making it possible for them to maximize their ROI on their existing classic OPC architectures while being free to start adopting the broad range of new OPC UA based product offerings.

"Companies using OPC classic have seen the benefits of adopting standards based data connectivity, see the additional value and reach OPC UA has to offer, but have concerns about how to go about tying the two technologies together. With the release of the UA Proxy, MatrikonOPC removes those obstacles – providing the first easy, reliable way to seamlessly combine these two OPC technologies." said Darek Kominek, marketing manager of MatrikonOPC.

Key features include:

• Streamlined setup workflow allows for connection in minutes;
• Easy to use, the smart defaults require minimal user knowledge of OPC UA;
• Eliminates traditional DCOM or firewall issues;
• Operates on Windows system server.

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Life sciences companies have the dual task of maintaining flexible production lines to respond to changing market demands and cost-effectively managing compliance requirements. Rockwell Automation continues to expand the flexibility of its Rockwell Software PharmaSuite v5.2 system (MES) to help manufacturers respond to these challenges and execute electronic batch records in new and more efficient ways. The PharmaSuite v5.2 system includes improved agility and production control, as well as native integration with FactoryTalk Historian software and the OSIsoft PI System to help pharmaceutical and biotech companies optimize production, improve reporting and shorten development time.

“We’re aiming to set new performance standards for MES with the PharmaSuite v5.2 system,” said Martin Dittmer, PharmaSuite product manager, Rockwell Automation. “Empowering operators with agility and production control, without sacrificing quality, delivers improved time to results. The PharmaSuite v5.2 system decreases the time required to produce, review and release each batch, and speeds processes across production areas or individual lines for more efficient recipe execution.”

Improved Agility and Production Control – Recipe elements can be executed in parallel by multiple shop-floor operators with the PharmaSuite v5.2 system. On the production line, recipe tasks can be freely moved between electronic batch recording stations or can be fixed to a specific station by recipe design. This iteration allows operators to define and control the level of execution freedom on the shop floor and increases the efficiency of electronic batch recording.

In addition, the PharmaSuite v5.2 system supports dynamic registration of devices like industrial laptops or tablets to a production line station to enable worker mobility and collaboration in a more flexible, but still secure manner.

Native Historian and MES Integration – The newest version of the PharmaSuite system also includes native integration with FactoryTalk Historian software and the OSIsoft PI System to increase insight into production by gathering and archiving actionable information into one deliverable. Historian integration automates the process of collecting historical data, developing trend charts, and attaching this information to the batch record. This reduces human error so operators can focus on production rather than reporting.

“We look forwarding to expanding our long-standing alliance with Rockwell Automation to simplify MES-historian integration because we understand the importance of accurate, historical data in making smarter decisions, and clearly and easily communicating historical production quality to regulators,” said Ted Gorrie, Vice President of Enterprise Sales, OSIsoft. “Integration with the PharmaSuite system increases the value of the investment manufacturers have already made in our historian and MES systems.”