Southwire Co., in
Carrolton, Ga.—an electrical wire producer— had difficulty determining the causes of machine downtime in the plant. Without data from the machines, figuring out what went wrong and predicting future downtime was guesswork. Southwire turned to the xCoupler ControlLogix input/output module to send data directly from control devices to the company’s SQL database. “With the xCoupler, we have data coming directly from our lines that allows us to see exactly what went wrong, so we don’t have to guess,” says James Hill, electrical engineer at Southwire. “Before, we would have to

Southwire is now using data from the lines to log and analyze machine downtime. “Now we can see what happened. With the data, we can see the part that failed, and we can look at trends,” says Hill. This data also helps Southwire predict failures ahead of time. Hill gets the data he needs from the database. “I can get the data through a database query,” says Hill. The system also monitors temperature readings and sends alerts when things go awry. “We can get a heads up on temperatures that are going away from where we want them,” says Hill. “We run the data through a single database and we can look at multiple machines at the same time.”

ImClone Systems Inc. —a New York City company the produces cancer-fighting drugs —

Most companies adopt plant-to-database connectivity to solve an individual problem, whether it’s asset management, maintenance or regulatory mandates. But once the data is flowing, the information can be used for other purposes such as process analysis or to meet track-and-trace requirements. “We also use the data for manufacturing analysis,” says Greguske. “The information is used by process engineers and manufacturing statisticians looking for process improvements.” And, like Southwire, the ImClone maintenance team also uses the data to reduce downtime.

Plants are using tools such as the xCoupler produced by Online Development Inc., of Knoxville, Tenn. ILS Technologies, of
Boca Raton Fla.—an IBM spin-off—writes database connectivity software products that enable data communication directly from programmable logic controllers (PLCs) or PACs directly to enterprise databases. Online Development licenses the technology from ILS and manufactures a module for the Rockwell ControlLogix PAC.

Working the connectivity

Plant-to-database connectivity is getting adopted quite quickly, partly because the connections are not difficult to deploy, and partly because companies are becoming increasingly interested in running data back and forth from the plant to the enterprise. “It’s early in the adoption curve, but almost all the major manufacturing companies are beginning to deploy xCoupler-type connectivity,” says Craig Resnick, research director at ARC Advisory Group Inc., in Dedham, Mass. “We’re close to full-scale deployment at Tier One manufacturers.”

Part of the popularity of the controller-to-database connectivity is the ease in making the connections. “In one deployment, we walked into the plant, plugged the module into the PLC, and 47 minutes later, we had live data moving from the plant floor into the enterprise system,” says John Keever, chief technology officer, ILS Technology. “And we never stopped production.”

One of the benefits of the PLC-to-database connectivity is that it requires no customization. “Back in the ’90s, all of the connectivity was customized, and there were no standards or off-the-shelf drivers,” says Laurie Wilson, director of product development for the xCoupler at Online Development. “With customized technology, you’re only as good as the person who customized it.”

While xCoupler-type technology is becoming widely adopted, it is not the only option. “There are a wide variety of ways to get data out of control systems and into databases,” says Michael Pantaleano, product manager for the software group at Rockwell Automation Inc., in
Milwaukee. “There’s a product like FactoryTalk TransactionManager, which uses Java programming to get data out of the control system, or you can use an HMI (human-machine interface) to move into a corporate database.” Pantaleano notes that in most cases now, companies want the data to move in both directions, from plant to enterprise and enterprise ...