The many networking schemes that once connected equipment on the factory floor are being replaced by a single well-known technology. Ethernet is rapidly becoming the standard for industrial networking, simplifying communication throughout an entire facility while easing installation and maintenance.

Today, there are few reasons not to extend Ethernet to the factory floor. Ruggedized equipment ranging from connectors and cables up to networking infrastructure equipment like switches can stand up to the harshest environments.  Real time capability has been added for applications that require high-speed determinism. Plus, a multitude of engineers and technicians are already familiar with the basics of Ethernet, so installation, diagnostics and upkeep are comparatively easy for the plant network as well.

Ethernet works because it can now reach down to the machine level.
Ethernet was first used on the factory floor as a backbone for linking various industrial networks together. Typically, it was only used to connect a manufacturing process to the business environment to gather quality data and manage recipes. But that has changed dramatically in recent years. Ethernet now reaches down to the machine level, where it handles I/O and other jobs that only use to be possible with a range of deterministic field bus protocols.

Ethernet is also displacing field buses at the system level, linking automation equipment together in a single homogenous network, even when the equipment is from a variety of vendors.  Instead of spending unnecessary hours figuring out how two pieces of equipment can coexist on one network, Ethernet makes it simple to plug them into a common switch.  These benefits come without impacting the existing links between manufacturing processes and the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) tools used to manage the complete plant.  As a result, it is possible to have one network infrastructure from the I/O level all the way to the MES.

Why use Ethernet?
There are many reasons to choose Ethernet throughout the networking hierarchy. One of the key driving factors in many organizations is the desire to create compatible networks throughout the entire facility. Automating operations is a critical factor for success in lean manufacturing environments. Linking the management systems that bring in orders to the manufacturing equipment that fulfills those orders makes it simpler to streamline operations.  Instead of passing and translating information from one level to the next over several different types of networks and field buses, Ethernet makes it possible for the management system to send information directly to individual pieces of the manufacturing equipment over a single network.  This is possible because Ethernet supports multiple protocols such as TCP/IP, HTTP, SNMP, OPC and real time I/O at the same time on the same wire, which is far more efficient than dedicating a field bus for each protocol.  Ethernet opens communication possibilities.

Using a single networking scheme also pays off when problems on the plant floor are diagnosed.  For instance, it was traditionally difficult to notify the maintenance staff if a wire broke on an I/O device’s sensor.  First, the automation controller would have to recognize that there was an issue on one of its I/O devices on the dedicated field bus.  Then it would send an alarm to an HMI over another network to notify the machine operator.  Next, the machine operator had to alert the maintenance staff.  They would then have to plug their programming device directly into the automation controller and its field bus to investigate the problem.  

Here’s how Ethernet can simplify your life.
Using an Ethernet network greatly simplifies this broken wire situation.  When the I/O device recognizes a wire break, the information can be pushed directly onto the Ethernet network by the device itself.  The diagnostic then can be read in multiple locations by a variety of devices. For example, the HMI can let the machine operator know that there is a broken wire, the MES can read the message and record the issue into its quality database, and the maintenance staff can be informed via an SMS message sent directly over the plant’s Voice over IP system that it uses on the same Ethernet infrastructure.  The maintenance staff can even collect further diagnostics directly from the I/O device regardless of where the programmer is located in the plant.  

This sort of Ethernet connectivity extends plant network visibility, bringing many new possibilities for delivering real time information and keeping equipment running at peak performance.  

Ethernet can lower your costs.
Cost is another benefit of Ethernet because compatible network throughout the enterprise helps keep expenses ...