Zoom In on the Data

Factories have a variety of industrial machinery operated and maintained by end users and sometimes by the machine builders themselves. In the past, control and maintenance were usually performed right at the machine. Remote control was non-existent, and remote monitoring consisted of little more than a general trouble alarm contact. End users and machine builders are now moving toward a better way of managing industrial machinery, and these efforts are greatly aided by advances in communications hardware and software.

It is now possible to control, monitor, and troubleshoot most plant machinery from a remote location. The remote location may be a centralized control room, it may be a computer on a company intranet, or it may be a fixed or mobile communications device connected to the Internet. Remote machine management is saving end users money by optimizing machine operation, reducing downtime, and facilitating preventive maintenance.

Merit Ink & Coating (http://www.merit-ink.com) manufactures automatic ink-dispensing machines (Figure 1). Packaging manufacturers and other users of finished ink products use the machines to mix their own ink formulations on a custom job-by-job basis. Merit worked with system integrator and application service provider Inteworx (http://www.inteworx.net) to implement a sophisticated Internet-based remote machine management solution.

Machines equipped with the Inteworx system can automatically dial out via a phone line to a server farm operated and maintained by Inteworx. Alternately, a machine with an Inteworx system, an Ethernet interface, and an I/P address can connect to the server farm on a real-time basis through the Internet. In either case, clients can use a local ISP to access the Inteworx server via the Internet, thus saving long distance or Internet access charges.

The Inteworx server captures information from the machine and posts this data to a web site in the form of reports. OEMs or their customers are able to securely access the machine data from their company intranet or via the Internet from any web browser. The amount and type of data sent from the machine to the Inteworx servers is limited only by the needs and the imagination of the user.

Merit Ink's customers use the remote machine management system to monitor production, costs, ink usage, and inventory. Those customers' ink suppliers use the remote machine management system to monitor ink inventory levels and generate automatic invoices to prevent out-of stock conditions and execute just-in-time ordering.

The system will even keep track of the operators, too. Some of Merit's clients use the biometric scanner option for employee monitoring. "Our machines can be supplied with an optional fingerprint sign-in clock to record employee hours," explains Jack Tanksley, Merit's vice president of sales and marketing. "The fingerprint feature allows employee time to be tracked remotely and prevents clocking-in abuse sometimes associated with a simple time-clock punch system."

Merit's ink dispensing machine is controlled by an AutomationDirect (http://www.automationdirect.com) PLC with Ethernet I/O. The operator interface for the machine is a Windows NT-based PC running Think & Do control and monitoring software. The PC also runs and executes the Inteworx remote machine management software program.

EcoVend (http://www.ecovend.com), a manufacturer of machines that automatically dispense cleaning chemicals and supplies, also uses Inteworx remote machine management software. Most EcoVend machines are equipped with the biometric fingerprint scanner, and EcoVend clients use the scanner as a time clock and audit trail for product-dispensing requests.

EcoVend clients use the remote machine monitoring system to perform many other functions. "The EcoVend monitors the quantities of cleaning supplies used, provides operational status of the machine, sends automatic notification of maintenance needs, and orders supplies automatically," says Kirk Hegwood, president of Hegwood Electric (http://www.hegwoodelectric.com), the designer and manufacturer of the EcoVend.

The machine is controlled by an AutomationDirect PLC with Modbus I/O. Operator interface is via a Windows CE-embedded touchscreen computer running a custom software program written by Inteworx. The CE computer also runs and executes the Inteworx remote machine management software program.

DHAS Automation Services (http://www.dhasautomation.com) is an OEM and a system integrator that also uses the Inteworx remote machine management solution. Their PLC-controlled skid-mounted pressure-test system conducts either air or hydro tests at pressures to 3,000 psi and is used with products requiring pressure verification such as industrial hoses, pressure vessels, and tanks.