New manufacturing systems embrace open networks

That's the view of John Browett of the CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA), which has 1,500 member firms worldwide promoting and developing the CC-Link open network technologies. Browett cites the main cost elements of automation projects as including the hardware, engineering resource and cabling of the system, including installation. "There is an alternative to conventional wiring systems that cuts costs substantially less for both existing and new projects," he says. "This is to use a single ring or bus communications topology, where field devices are daisy-chained, rather than individually wired back to a controller." It's far from a new concept, but Browett argues that while digital plant networks have been the de facto choice in Germany for some time, most of industrialised Europe is lagging by "about three-to-eight years". He adds that Japan is "probably on a par with, or slightly ahead of, Germany" and that neighbouring Asian economies, which have become manufacturing powerhouses, are "well advanced with installing open networks". And the same is also true across North America, he asserts. "The facilitator to achieve these control system benefits is an open fieldbus, such as CC-Link. In essence, CC-Link sends the right signals to the right field devices, and does it in a time frame that matches the old fashioned dedicated wiring model. Another major advantage of CC-Link is that, because it is open, users can mix and match equipment from different manufacturers in a single system." The net effect of this is that machinery is retrofitted rather than scrapped, also resulting in greatly reduced project costs. In addition, disruption to production is reduced and commissioning becomes much quicker and easier. CC-Link, he says, is "finding a welcome home" in central and eastern Europe as well as the old Soviet-bloc. "These economies are rebuilding manufacturing facilities that are basically of 1950s' origin. But they do not have to work through the technologies of the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s to catch up. They are thrusting straight into the best today has to offer and aiming to build world class facilities," states Browett. He cites the Russian Railways Corporation, one of the world's three biggest railway companies. Its 85,500km network is the second-largest in the world, extending across eleven time zones from the Black Sea to the Pacific, but the organisation is currently updating its rolling stock, using modern manufacturing and automation to get production rates and quality up. Its overall system incorporates machine tools, welding robots, conveyor and handling systems and an RFID tag system for component tracking, as well as a CC-Link fieldbus network and HMI control terminals, he explains. "In addition to fast and secure communications, the new system also provides full transparency for all the plant and machinery. It was all installed with a minimum of downtime, is easy to operate and has already proved robust reliable and adaptable to change," states Browett.