Today’s market pressures require manufacturers to
constantly balance productivity, globalisation, innovation
and sustainability. In order to do this, they must effectively
leverage their automation investments for continuous
improvement and the achievement of plant-wide
optimisation, as Rockwell Automation explains

Working towards the goal of plantwide
optimisation, the primary
objective is to get all parts of a
manufacturing environment working to
maximise asset utilisation, productivity and
uptime and seamlessly integrate this with all
other aspects of the organisation. Although
there are multiple facets to these objectives,
the deployment of a robust, single-platform
integrated architecture that can handle
discrete, control, process, safety and motion
sets the foundation upon which all further
optimisation steps can build.

The value of an automation supplier is its
ability to provide total solutions for a plant –
from MES to I/Os – with real-time visibility
and complete control of all production
parameters across the plant. In addition, the
ability to link the process automation to the
discrete automation provides higher
performance and lower operating costs. The
right supplier will also be able to link
regulation and safety compliance to high
productivity.

Dominic Molloy, director of marketing,
Rockwell Automation – European Region,
explains: “Arguably the most important
element of any plant-wide optimisation
programme is the ‘backbone’ that acts not
only as the conduit for the data, but also for
all the automation and safety functions of the
machines and processes. With multiple
networks, protocols and suppliers,
bottlenecks are inevitable, as data is
transposed from one format to another,
adding unwanted time to any process.

“Through the use of a single network, in
this case a standard, unmodified Ethernet
Industrial Protocol network (EtherNet/IP),
Rockwell Automation is advancing the
seamless transfer of data from point to point;
be it the simplest component-level I/O block,
all the way up to the overarching company
MES system.”
With EtherNet/IP providing the link
between discrete control, process, safety,
automation and motion, investment in
training, software licenses, machine design,
programming, parts management and data
handling can be reduced. With the singlenetwork
approach utilising Integrated
Architecture the sharing of data, from highlevel
programmes all the way down to simple
on/off signals is made simple.

In addition, the seamless integration of
EtherNet/IP and the two other standard
networks from Rockwell Automation
(DeviceNet for plant-floor networks and
ControlNet for an enterprise network) allows
simple and efficient migration steps to be
made or the use of all three networks which
allows movement of data in much the same
way as a standard EtherNet/IP network.

“With our portfolio of EtherNet/IPenabled
devices growing on an almost daily
basis, this open standard is spreading into
just about every element of the enterprise,”
Molloy elaborates.

“Our value as a supplier is now not just
restricted to the technology and services we
can deliver. Now it is also measured on
how we can help manufacturers – either
directly or via our comprehensive
worldwide network of system integrators and
distributors – optimise their operations;
helping them towards getting the best
possible performance from their investment.

“Someone once said that the only thing
constant about change is change itself,”
Molloy concludes. “As plants, their
technology and industry legislation evolve, so
does the definition and the goal posts of
plant-wide optimisation. Complete, 100%
optimisation, if I am honest, isn’t going to be
possible due to these ever-changing factors.

“However, Rockwell Automation is helping
get companies onto the right path and facing
in the right direction, along with helping
advance forward – more often than not
within touching distance of complete
optimisation.”

Guide published
Rockwell Automation has published
Converged Plantwide Ethernet (CPwE) Design
and Implementation Guide (DIG) 2.0, which
has been written to help manufacturers
converge their industrial and enterprise-level
networks. The guide, a collaborative
development effort from Cisco and Rockwell
Automation, provides detailed design
guidance, recommendations and best
practices for deploying standard EtherNet/IP
network technology.

By following the guidance, manufacturers
can achieve network convergence between
manufacturing and IT systems within their
enterprise, fostering greater business agility
and opportunities for innovation with a high
degree of security.

To download a free copy of the guide, visit
www.ab.com/networks/architectures.html