Products4Automation

The introduction of 5G promises great things not just for personal mobile communications, but also for business and importantly - plant automation. Carl Nash, technical director at Products4Automation, examines the use case for 5G in a SCADA context - looking at how it can pave the way for increased performance and greater functionality in plant automation, with simpler implementation than traditional wireless networks.

A high-end producer of technical fabrics, Samuel Tailored Bonding, has extended its automation control system from the factory to the owners’ house. Using Movicon 11 SCADA from Progea, distributed in the UK through Products4Automaton, it has been made possible to take work home, even when that is manging an entire production plant.

As manufacturers across a broad range of industries look to optimise batch management, ease of control implementation and recipe functionality is a key concern. In-line with this requirement Progea’s Movicon.NExT SCADA software now provides advanced management modules that make it far easier to create and edit complex batch processes.

Modern cruise ships are promoted as the epitome of comfort and luxury; hence, allowing passengers to adjust cabin temperatures to their liking is an essential part of the experience. With such a large number of rooms the HVAC control systems need to balance easy, responsive individual adjustment for hundreds of cabins with the main ship’s systems - in order to ensure an efficient, reliable and accurate service is maintained. 

The era of Industry 4.0 heralds a model where individual production systems will no longer work in isolation but will be connected to business systems and be able to quickly adapt to changing needs. So, is there a place for SCADA in this emerging picture? Carl Nash, the enabler for the Smart Factory of the future, also known as a Technical Director at Products4Automation, explains, SCADA.

The newly released Movicon.NExT Project Builder provides a well suited environment to develop the HMI aspect of a project alongside the control / PLC based core automation functionality. This saves time and adds convenience for system integrators and machine builders alike.

A global builder of industrial heat treatment furnaces has chosen Movicon SCADA for a major research and development project that hopes to lead to the next generation of sealed quench furnaces. Aichelin Unitherm Heat Treatment Systems is a supplier of thermal processing plants. It has more than 300 furnace installations worldwide. 

Gatwick Airport has incorporated Movicon SCADA software from Products4Automation (P4A) in its North Terminal public address system to handle alarms and provide an interface to an older legacy system. Gatwick is one of the busiest airports in the world with over 50 aircraft movements an hour and 35-40 million passengers annually. As such, its public-address system is vital for both passenger awareness and safety.

An augmented reality (AR) app has been developed by Progea that incorporates Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs) onto Smart Glasses. By superimposing digital information onto physical objects, the AR HMIs empower factory workers to interact with machines and manufacturing processes virtually. 

Modern industry requires many people to work alone, sometimes in remote and potential hazardous environments. To tackle this, a lone worker ‘man down’ alarm system has been developed based on Movicon SCADA so that it can integrate with company management systems as well as alerting a direct response team.

Industry 4.0 is not only revolutionising the way manufacturers operate. It is also transforming how Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems work and what we can expect from them. As a plant and process management tool SCADA has become the industry standard and its market is skyrocketing. 

As speeds increase and filling-line machinery becomes more sophisticated, both operators and management teams require improved visualisation and control information to ensure efficient plant operation. The good news is that current generation SCADA solutions have all the answers, regardless of your job role. Filling and bottling are fundamental steps in most automated process plants producing liquid products.

Products4Automation (P4A), has released the latest version of Movicon 11, the 11.6 version release includes a host of new features including a secure web client that uses the latest HTML5 technology to enhance both interface flexibility and security. Used all over the world, Movicon SCADA is the backbone of a wide range of control systems created for applications in manufacturing and processing, utilities, power generation and building management. 

It isn’t all about quality grape varieties when it comes to gaining a foothold in the wine market. Advanced automation and process control solutions help in meeting consumer demands - while maximising plant productivity. One of Italy’s leading winemakers invested in Progea’s Movicon SCADA to manage its production lines more efficiently.

  A hotel sought out by the rich and famous for its understated luxury and discrete security, has employed Movicon industrial SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) to illuminate its extensive gardens and create a high-performance CCTV protection system.    

Enhanced graphics within SCADA systems makes it far easier to visualise production processes, but does that have to be at the cost of increased configuration complexity? Paul Hurst of Products4Automation argues that it does not, and that today’s SCADA solutions can combine the highest levels of visualisation performance with an intuitive interface for ease of set up.

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems have been helping various industries to control and refine their processes for over 30 years. Thanks to its relative maturity and the level of investment made in SCADA platforms over the years, there are several tried and tested options available.  Author: Paul Hurst, Director at Products4Automation.

The shift to renewable fuels for power generation is leading control engineers to adopt new ideas and find flexible solutions for the greater variety of technologies and sizes of plants now being built. Author: Paul Hurst of Products4Automation (P4A) 

Constantly evolving and developing, SCADA has to keep pace with demanding production management requirements, as companies strive for greater productivity, increased energy efficiency and more efficient use of resources they are also looking for better benchmarking and traceability.

Scalability and flexibility are the new watchwords in industrial control technologies, as manufacturing and processing plants must be able to adapt almost instantly to changing market requirements. Movicon.NExThas been designed to ensure maximum scalability while offering an all-inclusive configuration environment through the selection of modular options that enable the easy development of bespoke solutions.