But Chris Van Sambeek took it on and met it. Van Sambeek is a control systems engineer at Appleton Papers Inc., a diversified paper manufacturer based in Appleton, Wis. He was involved with upgrading and re-instrumenting a large paper-coating machine when management asked if there was a way to tap into diagnostic information in the various field devices on the machine to improve reliability, and, as a bonus, to provide accurate information to support the company’s ISO 14001 certification process.

Though challenges remain for connecting assets to information, engineers automating asset management systems have boosted plant profitability—and even helped increase sales.

“The machine is controlled by a PLC (programmable logic controller) with connections to more than 100 Hart devices,” says Van Sambeek. “I pull out the Hart data through the backplane via a multiplexer before it enters the control system. I investigated a fieldbus, but we already had Hart hard-wired into the system. We weren’t pulling live data from the existing MicroMotion devices—merely using it just for configuration. With the project, we saw there was a great benefit from pulling information for the new system.”

Typical of most U.S.-based manufacturers, Appleton faces a lot of overseas competition. In this business, customers drive machine upgrades when they change the specifications of what they want. Engineers at Appleton have to design ways to meet the specs, as well as figuring out ways to drive down costs. Van Sambeek describes the installation, “It was pretty much a straightforward installation. We did lots of legwork verifying the network interface cards from Spectrum Controls and the software ahead of time. There was considerable cost savings with only one twisted pair cable to get the information rather than the usual multiple conductors. You do have to watch your shielding for electrical noise, but it’s no problem for someone knowledgeable with instrumentation and 4-20 milliAmp wiring. You do have to make sure that your application software is compatible with the personal computer’s operating system and up-to-date.”

Appleton uses the Asset Management Suite from Emerson Process Management, an Austin, Texas, process automation supplier, as an integral part of its ISO 14001 documentation program.  ISO 14001 is an environmental management system standard promulgated by the International Organization for Standardization.

“We used to document all device calibrations by hand in big books,” Van Sambeek says. “What we needed was a way to combine all the information in such a way that a technician coming in at night who might not be familiar with the instrument can find all necessary information to perform his maintenance or troubleshooting duties. We use the data logger for event documentation, as well. The keystroke logging gives us a history of who did what and when. We also can dump the device configurations into mobile terminals to download to the instrument.”

The net result for Appleton was a $25,000 savings on wiring costs for the project. It also cut the number of man-hours required for instrument documentation in half. Calibration and configuration costs were cut by 50 percent to 75 percent. The alarm management feature reduced downtime by providing better information and filtering non-essential alarms.

Watch energy use

Observing a manufacturing operation with an eye toward reducing cost and inefficiencies can result in projects covering all manner of systems, machines and processes. One topic especially high on every manager’s list concerns energy. With rising oil prices driving higher electricity costs, this suddenly becomes an area in which “real money” can be saved.

John Hillencamp, a Knoxville, Tenn.-based sales representative for automation vendor Yokogawa Electric Corp., has an automotive manufacturing company customer that was looking at ways to do just that. “My customer wanted to get a handle on its energy costs and narrow down the costs per line per device to make sure it’s profitable.”

Hillencamp installed a Yokogawa MW100 data acquisition/data logger system with panel-mounted power and energy meter that integrates all of the measuring functions required for power management. The system included a Yokogawa PR300 power meter system that also features connection via Ethernet to a local area network that enables centralized monitoring of power usage and demand.

“The customers love a Web browser interface, and the MW100 comes with a built-in Web server,” notes Hillencamp. “I did the whole project in-house. The built-in Web server has pre-built screens that are very easy to integrate. We look at water, nitrogen, compressed air, temperature, humidity—anything that can affect soldering machines. Where information previously went only to the facilities department, now cell supervisors can call up ...