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Safety Systems Meet Automation
Manufacturing can be a dangerous undertaking.
Some processes use machines that can cut, grab or sever. Some processes use toxic chemicals as part of the recipe for making useful products. Some processes use or generate volatile gases or liquids that can cause large, devastating explosions. None of us want to be on the front page of a number of daily newspapers or the top hit on a Google search as a result of an accident.
Meanwhile, engineers have been diligently working during the past 20 years or so to automate manufacturing processes, which often adds complexity. Paradoxically, this technical complexity has had the common effect of simplifying the work of manufacturing. The result has been much more efficient and productive plants. Managers have the capability of quickly switching from among a diverse set of products in order to meet market demand and trump the competition. Three major underlying themes behind all of this have been networking, standards and integration.
Networks have proliferated into almost every aspect of manufacturing. And the networking technology of choice is Ethernet, in either its commercial form or in one of the several flavors developed specifically for manufacturing. Let’s take machine control as an example. Controllers may communicate with input/output devices via Ethernet in order to control the performance of the machine. The safety system is a separate, “hard wired” (meaning every point has its own wire running back to a master emergency stop relay) safety circuit. This is not only extra cost, but it ignores the many benefits of digital networks—for example diagnostic information. Understandably, engineers have been working diligently to bring networks up to standard in order to gain all the advantages of digital networks without sacrificing safety.
Standards are a conundrum—especially for safety. If your design meets the applicable safety standards, and then there is a problem, you can point to the standards compliance as part of your due diligence in designing a safe system. On the other hand, standards are not written in marble. And, there exist more than one standard. I asked Contributing Editor Alex Anderson to make sense of the applicable safety standards. It was the “Impossible Dream.” He has summarized them and added some expert commentary, but the gist is that standards can be confusing, but necessary... Read more
» Pinto's Prose: Connections Count, by Jim Pinto
There’s an old saying—“It’s not what you know; it’s who you know.”
Since the beginning of time, humans have been sharing information to come up with new ideas. In the Internet age, personal networking has undergone a massive transformation and has become an essential tool for progress.
Relationships are critical to success. Being well connected is the ultimate source of personal effectiveness and advantage. It is shared success, where what you can give is as important as what you can get from your personal networking.
The best way to find jobs, or employees, is through networking. But networking isn’t just for job-hunters or the self-employed. Everyone needs networking skills to thrive in the new business environment.
Good personal networking leads to better jobs, higher performance and promotions. Employee networking improves relationships between peers, subordinates and superiors, taps the power of diversity and builds bridges between organizational units—and better bottom lines...
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