I/O system from Opto 22 to control robots assembling headliners for automobile interiors. Aside from the wireless connection to the computer network, the application is similar to the one at Delphi Delco: A barcode scanner on the assembly line reads the serial number and transmits the information to the control station, which then tells the robot what the appropriate assembly routine is. By not having to separate the waterjet cutter and the assembly robot, the factory not only increased throughput, but also made its quota with fewer people in 2½ shifts, rather than three.

Web Makes Links Easy

Internet protocols (IPs) and browsers are additional commercial technologies that hold great potential in manufacturing—potential that factories are striving to tap as a means of simplifying the flow of information between platforms. “The full set of Internet protocols is a low-cost, ubiquitous way of sharing information,” says Sielinski, at Microsoft. “So many business applications expose their user interface through the browser.”

An advantage of software interfaces built with Internet protocols is that computer networks can exploit the power of the Java applets and other plug-in technologies that produce the graphic displays on Web pages. Java applets make checking the status of a machine as easy as checking stock quotes, sport scores, or the weather on the Web. “You just go to the Web page, and click it,” says Mike Broussard, manager, Ethernet-enabled automation and control products, at Schneider Electric’s New Orleans office.

Moreover, the location of the data becomes irrelevant. “It could be in the plant manager’s office, on the factory floor or anywhere in the world,” say Broussard. “You don’t have to go around with a clipboard checking levels or alarm lights. You can sit in your office and pull up the Web page.” Even better, the script can page or e-mail a maintenance person or an engineer when things go awry.

Another advantage of Internet technology is that the software exists in one location. “So you don’t have to buy a $5,000 license for every machine that you want on the network,” says Broussard. Not only is buying individual licenses for each machine expensive, but “it’s kind of a bear to maintain, because you have to actually update each machine” as upgrades become available.

Internet protocols also are helping to streamline the flow of data between databases. Despite the robustness of relational databases built on Microsoft’s SQL Server technology, many industrial automation systems experience lag in data exchanges, mostly because the data flow from the machine through a human-machine interface (HMI) before arriving at the database. Consequently, many hardware companies are developing methods for bypassing the HMI and allowing the data to flow directly into SQL Server. One method of doing so is to combine a Web server—such as Microsoft’s Internet Information Server (IIS)—to the SQL Server database. The technique allows the database to exchange extensible markup language (XML) data directly with equipment on the plant floor.

XML is a unicode scheme (of mostly ASCII characters) being championed by Microsoft for tagging data so that any platform can search the database for the tag and find what it needs. “We’re envisioning XML Web Services as a technology that will be appropriate for virtually every communication scenario,” says Sielinski. “Microsoft and our partners have been defining a very low cost way for solving fairly hairy technical problems with respect to the exchange of information, particularly interoperability and the transparency of these messages going through things like firewalls.” The OPC (for OLE for Process Control) Foundation has already published its first tagging standard for XML Web Services.

These strides toward helping various platforms to share data with one another will have enormous consequences for supply chain management, as well as for the technician or engineer who is on call. Imagine receiving a page or phone call from the machinery while you are half way home on a 50-mile commute. With this technology, you will be able log into the Internet with the nearest computer, look at the problem, and decide either to make the appropriate adjustments online or to return to the plant. The machines stay healthy, and the people get some rest and relaxation—which is good medicine for both man and machine.