1. Introduction
In the years since this guide was first published, there have been incredible changes in technology, in sociology, and in the way we work, based on those changes. Who in the early 1970s would have imagined that automation professionals would be looking at the outputs of sensors on hand held devices the size of the "communicators" on the science fiction TV show Star Trek? Yet by late 2007, automation professionals could do just that (see FIG. 1).
There is now no way to be competitive in manufacturing, or no way to do science or medicine, without sensors, instruments, transmitters, and automation. The broad practice of automation, which includes instrumentation, control, measurement, and integration of plant floor and manufacturing operations management data, has grown up entirely since the first edition of this guide was published.
So, what exactly is automation, and why do we do it? According to the dictionary, automation has three definitions: 1: the technique of making an apparatus, a process, or a system operate automatically; 2: the state of being operated automatically; 3: automatically controlled operation of an apparatus, process, or system by mechanical or electronic devices that take the place of human labor.
How do we do this? We substitute sensors for the calibrated eyeball of human beings. We connect those sensors to input/output devices that are, in turn, connected to controllers. The controllers are programmed to make sense of the sensor readings and convert them into actions to be taken by final control elements. Those actions, in turn, are measured by the sensors, and the process repeats.
Although it’s true that automation has replaced much human labor, it’s not a replacement for human beings.
Rather, the human ability to visualize, interpret, rationalize, and codify has been moved up the value chain from actually pushing buttons and pulling levers on the factory floor to designing and operating sensors, controllers, computers, and Merriam-Webster online dictionary, 2008. Final control elements that can do those things. Meanwhile, automation has become ubiquitous and essential.
Yet as of this writing there is a serious, worldwide short age of automation professionals who have training, experience, and interest in working with sensors, instrumentation, field controllers, control systems, and manufacturing automation in general.
There are a number of reasons for this shortage, including the generally accepted misunderstanding that the profession of automation is not necessarily recognized as a profession at all. Electrical engineers practice automation.
FIG. 1 Transpara Corporation.
Some mechanical engineers do, too. Many non-engineers also practice automation, as technicians. Many people who are not engineers but have some other technical training have found careers in automation.
Automation is really a multidisciplinary profession, pulling its knowledge base from many different disciplines, including mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, systems engineering, safety engineering, chemical engineering, and many more areas.
What we hope to present in this guide is a single-volume overview of the automation profession-specifically, the manufacturing automation profession and the tools and techniques of the automation professional.
It must be said that there is a closely allied discipline that is shared by both manufacturing and theater. It’s the discipline of mechatronics. Gerhard Schweitzer, Emeritus Professor of Mechanics and Professor of Robotics at the ETH Zurich, defines mechatronics this way:
Mechatronics is an interdisciplinary area of engineering that com bines mechanical and electrical engineering and computer science.
A typical mechatronic system picks up signals from the environment, processes them to generate output signals, transforming them, for example into forces, motions and actions.
It’s the extension and the completion of mechanical systems with sensors and microcomputers which is the most important aspect. The fact that such a system picks up changes in its environment by sensors, and reacts to their signals using the appropriate information processing, makes it different from conventional machines.
Examples of mechatronic systems are robots, digitally con trolled combustion engines, machine tools with self-adaptive tools, contact-free magnetic bearings, automated guided vehicles, etc.
Typical for such a product is the high amount of system knowledge and software that is necessary for its design. Furthermore, and this is most essential, software has become an integral part of the product itself, necessary for its function and operation. It’s fully justified to say software has become an actual "machine element."2 This interdisciplinary area, which so obviously shares so many of the techniques and components of manufacturing automation, has also shared in the reluctance of many engineering schools to teach the subject as a separate discipline. Fewer than six institutions of higher learning in North America, for example, teach automation or mechatronics as separate disciplines. One university, the University of California at Santa Cruz, actually offers a graduate degree in mechatronics-from the Theater Arts department.
In this text we also try to provide insight into ways to enter into a career in manufacturing automation other than "falling into it," as so many practitioners have.
2. Job descriptions
Because industrial automation, instrumentation, and controls are truly multidisciplinary, there are many potential job
Descriptions that plant the job holder squarely in the role of automation professional. There are electricians, electrical engineers, chemical engineers, biochemical engineers, control system technicians, maintenance technicians, operators, reliability engineers, asset and management engineers, biologists, chemists, statisticians, manufacturing, industrial, and civil and mechanical engineers who have become involved in automation and consider themselves automation professionals. System engineers, system analysts, system integrators-all are automation professionals working in industrial automation.
3 Careers and Career Paths
A common thread that runs through surveys of how practitioners entered the automation profession is that they were doing something else, got tapped to do an automation project, found they were good at it, and fell into doing more automation projects. There are very few schools that offer careers in automation. Some technical schools and trade schools do, but few universities do.
Many automation professionals enter nonengineering level automation careers via the military. Training in electronics, maintenance, building automation, and automation in most of the Western militaries is excellent and can easily transfer to a career in industrial automation. For example, the building automation controls on a large military base are very similar to those found in the office and laboratory space in an industrial plant. Reactor control technicians from the nuclear navies of the world are already experienced process control technicians, and their skills transfer to industrial automation in the process environment.
Engineering professionals usually also enter the automation profession by studying something else. Many schools, such as Visvesaraya Technological University in India, offer courses in industrial automation (usually focusing on robotics and mechatronics) as part of another degree course.
Southern Alberta institute of Technology (SAIT) in Canada, the University of Greenwich in the United Kingdom, and several others offer degrees and advanced degrees in control or automation. Mostly, control is covered in electrical engineering and in chemical engineering curricula, if it’s covered at all.
The international Society of Automation (or ISA, formerly the instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society and before that the instrument Society of America) has addressed the multidisciplinary nature of the automation professional by establishing two global certification programs.
The Certified Control Systems Technician, or CCST, program serves to benchmark skills in the process industries for technicians and operator-level personnel: "ISA's Certified Control Systems Technician Program (CCST) offers third-party recognition of technicians' knowledge and skills in automation and control."3 The certification is divided into seven functional domains of expertise: calibration, loop checking, Troubleshooting, startup, maintenance/repair, project organization, and administration. The CCST is achieving global recognition as an employment certification.
Although ISA is the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) curriculum designer for the Control System Engineering examination, ISA recognized in the early 2000s the fact that the U.S. engineering licensure pro gram was not global and didn't easily transfer to the global engineering environment. Even in the United States, only 44 of 50 states offer licensing to control system engineers. ISA set out to create a non-licensure-based certification program for automation professionals. The Certified Automation Professional (CAP) program was designed to offer an accreditation in automation on a global basis: "ISA certification as a Certified Automation Professional (CAP ) will provide an unbiased, third-party, objective assessment and confirmation of your skills as an automation professional. Automation professionals are responsible for the direction, definition, design, development/application, deployment, documentation, and support of systems, software, and equipment used in control systems, manufacturing information systems, systems integration, and operational consulting."4 The following guidelines list the experience and expertise required to achieve CAP certification. They are offered here by permission from ISA as a guide to the knowledge required to become an automation professional.
3.1 ISA Certified Automation Professional (CAP) classification system
Domain I: Feasibility Study. identify, scope, and justify the automation project.
Task 1. Define the preliminary scope through currently established work practices in order to meet the business need.
Knowledge of:
1. Established work practices
2. Basic process and/or equipment
3. Project management methodology
4. Automation opportunity identification techniques (e.g., dynamic performance measures)
5. Control and information technologies (MES) and equipment
Skill in:
1. Automating process and/or equipment
2. developing value analyses
3. From www.isa.org.
4. ISA Certified Automation Professional (CAP) Classification System, from www.isa.org/~/CAPClassificationSystemWEB.pdf.
Task 2. Determine the degree of automation required through cost/benefit analysis in order to meet the business need.
Knowledge of:
1. Various degrees of automation
2. Various cost/benefit tools
3. Control and information technologies (MES) and equipment
4. Information technology and equipment
Skill in:
1. Analyzing cost versus benefit (e.g., life cycle analysis)
2. Choosing the degree of automation
3. Estimating the cost of control equipment and software
Task 3. Develop a preliminary automation strategy that matches the degree of automation required by considering an array of options and selecting the most reasonable option in order to prepare feasibility estimates.
Knowledge of:
1. Control strategies
2. Principles of measurement
3. Electrical components
4. Control components
5. Various degrees of automation
Skill in:
1. Evaluating different control strategies
2. Selecting appropriate measurements
3. Selecting appropriate components
4. Articulating concepts
Task 4. Conduct technical studies for the preliminary automation strategy by gathering data and conducting an appropriate analysis relative to requirements in order to define development needs and risks.
Knowledge of:
1. Process control theories
2. Machine control theories and mechatronics
3. Risk assessment techniques
Skill in:
1. Conducting technical studies
2. Conducting risk analyses
3. Defining primary control strategies
Task 5. Perform a justification analysis by generating a feasibility cost estimate and using an accepted financial model to determine project viability.
Knowledge of:
1. Financial models (e.g., ROI, NPV)
2. Business drivers
3. Costs of control equipment
4. Estimating techniques
Skill in:
1. Estimating the cost of the system
2. Running the financial model
3. Evaluating the results of the financial analysis for the automation portion of the project
Task 6. Create a conceptual summary document by reporting preliminary decisions and assumptions in order to facilitate "go/no go" decision making.
Knowledge of:
1. Conceptual summary outlines
Skill in:
1. Writing in a technical and effective manner
2. Compiling and summarizing information efficiently
3. Presenting information Domain II
Task 1. Determine operational strategies through discussion with key stakeholders and using appropriate documentation in order to create and communicate design requirements.
Knowledge of:
1. Interviewing techniques
2. Different operating strategies
3. Team leadership and alignment
Skill in:
1. Leading an individual or group discussion
2. Communicating effectively
3. Writing in a technical and effective manner
4. Building consensus
5. Interpreting the data from interviews
Task 2. Analyze alternative technical solutions by conducting detailed studies in order to define the final automation strategy.
Knowledge of:
1. Automation techniques
2. Control theories
3. Modeling and simulation techniques
4. Basic control elements (e.g., sensors, instruments, actuators, control systems, drive systems, HMI, batch control, machine control)
5. Marketplace products available
6. Process and/or equipment operations
Skill in:
1. Applying and evaluating automation solutions
2. Making intelligent decisions
3. Using the different modeling tools
4. Determining when modeling is needed
Task 3. Establish detailed requirements and data including network architecture, communication concepts, safety concepts, standards, vendor preferences, instrument and equipment data sheets, reporting and information needs, and security architecture through established practices in order to form the basis of the design.
Knowledge of:
1. Network architecture
2. Communication protocols, including field level
3. Safety concepts
4. Industry standards and codes
5. Security requirements
6. Safety standards (e.g., ISAM, ANSI, NFPA)
7. Control systems security practices
Skill in:
1. Conducting safety analyses
2. Determining which data is important to capture
3. Selecting applicable standards and codes
4. Identifying new guidelines that need to be developed
5. Defining information needed for reports
6. Completing instrument and equipment data sheets
Task 4. Generate a project cost estimate by gathering cost in formation in order to determine continued project viability.
Knowledge of:
1. Control system costs
2. Estimating techniques
3. Available templates and tools
Skill in:
1. Creating cost estimates
2. Evaluating project viability
Task 5. Summarize project requirements by creating a basis of-design document and a user-requirements document in order to launch the design phase.
Knowledge of:
1. Basis of design outlines
2. User-requirements document outlines
Skill in:
1. Writing in a technical and effective manner
2. Compiling and summarizing information
3. Making effective presentations
Domain III
Task 1. Perform safety and/or hazard analyses, security analyses, and regulatory compliance assessments by identifying key issues and risks in order to comply with applicable standards, policies, and regulations.
Knowledge of:
1. Applicable standards (e.g., ISA S84, IEC 61508, 21 CFR Part 11, NFPA)
2. Environmental standards (EPA)
3. Electrical, electrical equipment, enclosure, and electrical classification standards (e.g., UL/FM, NEC, NEMA)
Skill in:
1. Participating in a Hazard Operability Review
2. Analyzing safety integrity levels
3. Analyzing hazards
4 . Assessing security requirements or relevant security issues
5. Applying regulations to design
Task 2. Establish standards, templates, and guidelines as applied to the automation system using the information gathered in the definition stage and considering human-factor effects in order to satisfy customer design criteria and preferences.
Knowledge of:
1. Process Industry Practices (PIP) (Construction industry institute)
2. IEC 61131 programming languages
3. Customer standards
4. Vendor standards
5. Template development methodology
6. Field devices
7. Control valves
8. Electrical standards (NEC)
9. Instrument selection and sizing tools
10. ISA standards (e.g., S88)
Skill in:
1. Developing programming standards
2. Selecting and sizing instrument equipment
3. Designing low-voltage electrical systems
4. Preparing drawings using AutoCAD software
Task 3. Create detailed equipment specifications and instrument data sheets based on vendor selection criteria, characteristics and conditions of the physical environment, regulations, and performance requirements in order to purchase equipment and support system design and development.
Knowledge of:
1. Field devices
2. Control valves
3. Electrical standards (NEC)
4. instrument selection and sizing tools
5. Vendors' offerings
6. Motor and drive selection sizing tools
Skill in:
1. Selecting and sizing motors and drives
2. Selecting and sizing instrument equipment
3. designing low-voltage electrical systems
4. Selecting and sizing computers
5. Selecting and sizing control equipment
6. Evaluating vendor alternatives
7. Selecting or sizing of input/output signal devices and/or conditioners
Task 4. define the data structure layout and data flow model considering the volume and type of data involved in order to provide specifications for hardware selection and software development.
Knowledge of:
1. data requirements of system to be automated
2. data structures of control systems
3. data flow of control systems
4. Productivity tools and software (e.g., in Tools, AutoCAD)
5. Entity relationship diagrams
Skill in:
1. Modeling data
2. Tuning and normalizing databases
Task 5. Select the physical communication media, network architecture, and protocols based on data requirements in order to complete system design and support system development.
Knowledge of:
1. Vendor protocols
2. Ethernet and other open networks (e.g., deviceNet)
3. Physical requirements for networks/media
4. Physical topology rules/limitations
5. Network design
6. Security requirements
7. Backup practices
8. Grounding and bonding practices
Skill in:
1. designing networks based on chosen protocols
Task 6. develop a functional description of the automation solution (e.g., control scheme, alarms, HMI, reports) using rules established in the definition stage in order to guide development and programming.
Knowledge of:
1. Control theory
2. Visualization, alarming, database/reporting techniques
3. documentation standards
4. Vendors' capabilities for their hardware and software products
5. General control strategies used within the industry
6. Process/equipment to be automated
7. Operating philosophy
Skill in:
1. Writing functional descriptions
2. Interpreting design specifications and user requirements
3. Communicating the functional description to stakeholders
Knowledge of:
1. Specific HMI software products
2. Tag definition schemes
3. Programming structure techniques
4. Network communications
5. Alarming schemes
6. Report configurations
7. Presentation techniques
8. database fundamentals
9. Computer operating systems
10. Human factors
11. HMI supplier options
Skill in:
1. Presenting data in a logical and aesthetic fashion
2. Creating intuitive navigation menus
3. implementing connections to remote devices
4. documenting configuration and programming
5. Programming configurations
Task 2. develop database and reporting functions in accordance with the design documents in order to meet the functional requirements.
Knowledge of:
1. Relational database theory
2. Specific database software products
3. Specific reporting products
4. Programming/scripting structure techniques
5. Network communications
6. Structured query language
7. Report configurations
8. Entity diagram techniques
9. Computer operating systems
10. Data mapping
Skill in:
1. Presenting data in a logical and aesthetic fashion
2. Administrating databases
3. implementing connections to remote applications
4. Writing queries
5. Creating reports and formatting/printing specifications for report output
6. documenting database configuration
7. designing databases
8. interpreting functional description
Task 3. develop control configuration or programming in accordance with the design documents in order to meet the functional requirements.
Knowledge of:
1. Specific control software products
2. Tag definition schemes
Task 7. design the test plan using chosen methodologies in order to execute appropriate testing relative to functional requirements.
Knowledge of:
1. Relevant test standards
2. Simulation tools
3. Process Industry Practices (PIP) (Construction industry institute)
4. General software testing procedures
5. Functional description of the system/equipment to be automated
Skill in:
1. Writing test plans
2. developing tests that validate that the system works as specified
Task 8. Perform the detailed design for the project by converting the engineering and system design into purchase requisitions, drawings, panel designs, and installation details consistent with the specification and functional descriptions in order to provide detailed information for development and deployment.
Knowledge of:
1. Field devices, control devices, visualization devices, computers, and networks
2. installation standards and recommended practices
3. Electrical and wiring practices
4. Specific customer preferences
5. Functional requirements of the system/equipment to be automated
6. Applicable construction codes
7. documentation standards
Skill in:
1. Performing detailed design work
2. documenting the design
Task 9. Prepare comprehensive construction work packages by organizing the detailed design information and documents in order to release project for construction.
Knowledge of:
1. Applicable construction practices
2. documentation standards
Skill in:
1. Assembling construction work packages Domain IV: Development. Software development and coding.
Task 1. develop Human Machine Interface (HMI) in accordance with the design documents in order to meet the functional requirements.
3. Programming structure techniques
4. Network communications
5. Alarming schemes
6. i/o structure
7. Memory addressing schemes
8. Hardware configuration
9. Computer operating systems
10. Processor capabilities
11. Standard nomenclature (e.g., ISA)
12. Process/equipment to be automated
Skill in:
1. interpreting functional description
2. interpreting control strategies and logic drawings
3. Programming and/or configuration capabilities
4. implementing connections to remote devices
5. documenting configuration and programs
6. interpreting P & IDs
7. interfacing systems
Task 4. implement data transfer methodology that maximizes throughput and ensures data integrity using communication protocols and specifications in order to assure efficiency and reliability.
Knowledge of:
1 . Specific networking software products (e.g., i/o servers)
2. Network topology
3. Network protocols
4. Physical media specifications (e.g., copper, fiber, RF, IR)
5. Computer operating systems
6. interfacing and gateways
7. data mapping
Skill in:
1. Analyzing throughput
2. Ensuring data integrity
3. Troubleshooting
4. documenting configuration
5. Configuring network products
6. interfacing systems
7. Manipulating data
Task 5. implement security methodology in accordance with stakeholder requirements in order to mitigate loss and risk.
Knowledge of:
1. Basic system/network security techniques
2. Customer security procedures
3. Control user-level access privileges
4. Regulatory expectations (e.g., 29 CFR Part 11)
5. industry standards (e.g., ISA)
Skill in:
1. documenting security configuration
2. Configuring/programming of security system
3. implementing security features
Task 6. Review configuration and programming using defined practices in order to establish compliance with functional requirements.
Knowledge of:
1. Specific control software products
2. Specific HMI software products
3. Specific database software products
4. Specific reporting products
5. Programming structure techniques
6. Network communication
7. Alarming schemes
8. i/o structure
9. Memory addressing schemes
10. Hardware configurations
11. Computer operating systems
12. defined practices
13. Functional requirements of system/equipment to be automated
Skill in:
1. Programming and/or configuration capabilities
2. Documenting configuration and programs
3. Reviewing programming/configuration for compliance with design requirements
Task 7. Test the automation system using the test plan in order to determine compliance with functional requirements.
Knowledge of:
1. Testing techniques
2. Specific control software products
3. Specific HMI software products
4. Specific database software products
5. Specific reporting products
6. Network communications
7. Alarming schemes
8. i/o structure
9. Memory addressing schemes
10. Hardware configurations
11. Computer operating systems
12. Functional requirements of system/equipment to be automated
Skill in:
1. Writing test plans
2. Executing test plans
3. documenting test results
Task 3. install configuration and programs by loading them into the target devices in order to prepare for testing.
Knowledge of:
1. Control system (e.g., PLC, DCS, PC)
2. System administration
Skill in:
1. installing software
2. Verifying software installation
3. Versioning techniques and revision control
4. Troubleshooting (i.e., resolving issues and retesting)
Task 4. Solve unforeseen problems identified during
installation using Troubleshooting skills in order to correct deficiencies.
Knowledge of:
1. Troubleshooting techniques
2. Problem-solving strategies
3. Critical thinking
4. Processes, equipment, configurations, and programming
5. debugging techniques
Skill in:
1. Solving problems
2. determining root causes
3. Ferreting out information
4. Communicating with facility personnel
5. implementing problem solutions
6. documenting problems and solutions
Task 5. Test configuration and programming in accordance with the design documents by executing the test plan in order to verify that the system operates as specified.
Knowledge of:
1. Programming and configuration
2. Test methodology (e.g., factory acceptance test, site acceptance test, unit-level testing, system-level testing)
3. Test plan for the system/equipment to be automated
4. System to be tested
5. Applicable regulatory requirements relative to testing
Skill in:
1. Executing test plans
2. documenting test results
3. Troubleshooting (e.g., resolving issues and retesting)
4. Writing test plans
Task 6. Test communication systems and field devices in accordance with design specifications in order to ensure proper operation.
Knowledge of:
1. Test methodology
4. Programming and/or configuration capabilities
5. implementing connections to remote devices
6. interpreting functional requirements of system/equipment to be automated
7. interpreting P & IDs
Task 8. Assemble all required documentation and user manuals created during the development process in order to transfer essential knowledge to customers and end users.
Knowledge of:
1. General understanding of automation systems
2. Computer operating systems
3. documentation practices
4. operations procedures
5. Functional requirements of system/equipment to be automated
Skill in:
1. documenting technical information for non-technical audience
2. Using documentation tools
3. organizing material for readability Domain V
Task 1. Perform receipt verification of all field devices by comparing vendor records against design specifications in order to ensure that devices are as specified.
Knowledge of:
1. Field devices (e.g., transmitters, final control valves, controllers, variable speed drives, servo motors)
2. design specifications
Skill in:
1. interpreting specifications and vendor documents
2. Resolving differences
Task 2. Perform physical inspection of installed equipment against construction drawings in order to ensure installation in accordance with design drawings and specifications.
Knowledge of:
1. Construction documentation
2. installation practices (e.g., field devices, computer hard ware, cabling)
3. Applicable codes and regulations
Skill in:
1. interpreting construction drawings
2. Comparing physical implementation to drawings
3. interpreting codes and regulations (e.g., NEC, building codes, OSHA)
4. interpreting installation guidelines
5. System/equipment to be automated
6. operating and maintenance procedures
Skill in:
1. Communicating with trainees
2. organizing instructional materials
3. instructing
Task 10. Execute system-level tests in accordance with the test plan in order to ensure the entire system functions as designed.
Knowledge of:
1. Test methodology
2. Field devices
3. System/equipment to be automated
4. Networking and data communications
5. Safety systems
6. Security systems
7. Regulatory requirements relative to testing
Skill in:
1. Executing test plans
2. documenting test results
3. Testing of entire systems
4. Communicating final results to facility personnel
5. Troubleshooting (i.e., resolving issues and retesting)
6. Writing test plans
Task 11. Troubleshoot problems identified during testing using a structured methodology in order to correct system deficiencies.
Knowledge of:
1. Troubleshooting techniques
2. Processes, equipment, configurations, and programming
Skill in:
1. Solving problems
2. determining root causes
3. Communicating with facility personnel
4. implementing problem solutions
5. documenting test results
Task 12. Make necessary adjustments using applicable tools and techniques in order to demonstrate system performance and turn the automated system over to operations.
Knowledge of:
1. Loop tuning methods/control theory
2. Control system hardware
3. Computer system performance tuning
4. User requirements
2. Communication networks and protocols
3. Field devices and their performance requirements
4. Regulatory requirements relative to testing
Skill in:
1. Verifying network integrity and data flow integrity
2. Conducting field device tests
3. Comparing test results to design specifications
4. documenting test results
5. Troubleshooting (i.e., resolving issues and retesting)
6. Writing test plans
Task 7. Test all safety elements and systems by executing test plans in order to ensure that safety functions operate as designed.
Knowledge of:
1. Applicable safety
2. Safety system design
3. Safety elements
4. Test methodology
5. Facility safety procedures
6. Regulatory requirements relative to testing
Skill in:
1. Executing test plans
2. documenting test results
3. Testing safety systems
4. Troubleshooting (i.e., resolving issues and retesting)
5. Writing test plans
Task 8. Test all security features by executing test plans in order to ensure that security functions operate as designed.
Knowledge of:
1. Applicable security standards
2. Security system design
3. Test methodology
4. Vulnerability assessments
5. Regulatory requirements relative to testing
Skill in:
1. Executing test plans
2. documenting test results
3. Testing security features
4. Troubleshooting (i.e., resolving issues and retesting)
5. Writing test plans
Task 9. Provide initial training for facility personnel in system operation and maintenance through classroom and hands on training in order to ensure proper use of the system.
Knowledge of:
1. instructional techniques
2. Automation systems
3. Networking and data communications
4. Automation maintenance techniques
Task 4. Provide training for facility personnel by addressing identified objectives in order to ensure the skill level of personnel is adequate for the technology and products used in the system.
Knowledge of:
1. Training resources
2. Subject matter and training objectives
3. Teaching methodology
Skill in:
1. Writing training objectives
2. Creating the training
3. organizing training classes (e.g., securing demos, pre paring materials, securing space)
4. delivering training effectively
5. Answering questions effectively
Task 5. Monitor performance using software and hardware diagnostic tools in order to support early detection of potential problems.
Knowledge of:
1. Automation systems
2. Performance metrics
3. Software and hardware diagnostic tools
4. Potential problem indicators
5. Baseline/normal system performance
6. Acceptable performance limits
Skill in:
1. Using the software and hardware diagnostic tools
2. Analyzing data
3. Troubleshooting (i.e., resolving issues and retesting)
Task 6. Perform periodic inspections and tests in accordance with written standards and procedures in order to verify sys tem or component performance against requirements.
Knowledge of:
1. Performance requirements
2. inspection and test methodologies
3. Acceptable standards
Skill in:
1. Testing and inspecting
2. Analyzing test results
3. Communicating effectively with others in written or oral form
Task 7. Perform continuous improvement by working with facility personnel in order to increase capacity, reliability, and/or efficiency.
Knowledge of:
1. Performance metrics
2. Control theories
5. System/equipment to be automated
Skill in:
1. Tuning control loops
2. Adjusting final control elements
3. optimizing software performance
4. Communicating final system performance results Domain VI: Operation and Maintenance. Long-term support of the system.
Task 1. Verify system performance and records periodically using established procedures in order to ensure compliance with standards, regulations, and best practices.
Knowledge of:
1. Applicable standards
2. Performance metrics and acceptable limits
3. Records and record locations
4. Established procedures and purposes of procedures
Skill in:
1. Communicating orally and written
2. Auditing the system/equipment
3. Analyzing data and drawing conclusions
Task 2. Provide technical support for facility personnel by applying system expertise in order to maximize system availability.
Knowledge of:
1. All system components
2. Processes and equipment
3. Automation system functionality
4. other support resources
5. Control systems theories and applications
6. Analytical Troubleshooting and root-cause analyses
Skill in:
1. Troubleshooting (i.e., resolving issues and retesting)
2. investigating and listening
3. Programming and configuring automation system components
Task 3. Perform training needs analysis periodically for facility personnel using skill assessments in order to establish objectives for the training program.
Knowledge of:
1. Personnel training requirements
2. Automation system technology
3. Assessment frequency
4. Assessment methodologies
Skill in:
1. interviewing
2. Assessing level of skills
3. System/equipment operations
4. Business needs
5. optimization tools and methods
Skill in:
1. Analyzing data
2. Programming and configuring
3. Communicating effectively with others
4. implementing continuous improvement procedures
Task 8. document lessons learned by reviewing the project with all stakeholders in order to improve future projects.
Knowledge of:
1. Project review methodology
2. Project history
3. Project methodology and work processes
4. Project metrics
Skill in:
1. Communicating effectively with others
2. Configuring and programming
3. documenting lessons learned
4. Writing and summarizing
Task 9. Maintain licenses, updates, and service contracts for software and equipment by reviewing both internal and external options in order to meet expectations for capability and availability.
Knowledge of:
1. installed base of system equipment and software
2. Support agreements
3. internal and external support resources
4. Life-cycle state and support level (including vendor product plans and future changes)
Skill in:
1. organizing and scheduling
2. Programming and configuring
3. Applying software updates (i.e., keys, patches)
Task 10. determine the need for spare parts based on an assessment of installed base and probability of failure in order to maximize system availability and minimize cost.
Knowledge of:
1. Critical system components
2. installed base of system equipment and software
3. Component availability
4. Reliability analysis
5. Sourcing of spare parts
Skill in:
1. Acquiring and organizing information
2. Analyzing data
Task 11. Provide a system management plan by performing preventive maintenance, implementing backups, and designing recovery plans in order to avoid and recover from system failures.
Knowledge of:
1. Automation systems
2. Acceptable system downtime
3. Preventive and maintenance procedures
4. Backup practices (e.g., frequency, storage media, storage location)
Skill in:
1. Acquiring and organizing
2. Leading
3. Managing crises
4. Performing backups and restores
5. Using system tools
Task 12. Follow a process for authorization and implementation of changes in accordance with established standards or practices in order to safeguard system and documentation integrity.
Knowledge of:
1. Management of change procedures
2. Automation systems and documentation
3. Configuration management practices
Skill in:
1. Programming and configuring
2. Updating documentation The Certified Automation Professional program offers certification training, reviews, and certification examinations regularly scheduled on a global basis. interested people should contact ISA for information.
4-- Where Automation Fits
In the extended enterprise in the late 1980s, work began at Purdue University, under the direction of dr. Theodore J. Williams, on modeling computer-integrated manufacturing enterprises.
6 The resultant model describes five basic layers making up the enterprise (see FIG. 2):
Level 0: The Process Level 1: direct Control Level 2: Process Supervision Level 3: Production Supervision
6. This effort was documented in A Reference Model for Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM): A Description from the Viewpoint of Industrial Automation, Theodore J. Williams, Ph.d., editor, ISA, 1989.
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LEVEL 3: Plantwide Operations and Control LEVEL 2: Area Operations LEVEL 1: Basic Control/Safety Critical LEVEL 0: The Process LEVEL 4: Site Business Planning and Logistics LEVEL 5: Enterprise FIG. 2 The Purdue Model.
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Level 4: Plant Management and Scheduling
Level 0 consists of the plant infrastructure as it’s used for manufacturing control. This level includes all the machinery, sensors, controls, valves, indicators, motors, drives, and so forth.
Level 1 is the system that directly controls the manufacturing process, including input/output devices, plant net works, single loop controllers, programmable controllers, and process automation systems.
Level 2 is supervisory control. This is the realm of the distributed Control System (dCS) with process visualization (human/machine interface, or HMI) and advanced process control functions.
These three levels have traditionally been considered the realm of industrial automation. The two levels above them have often been considered differently, since they are often under the control of different departments in the enterprise.
However, the two decades since the Purdue Research Foundation CiM Model was developed have brought significant changes, and the line between Level 2 and below and Level 3 and above is considerably blurrier than it was in 1989.
In 1989, basic control was performed by local control loops, with supervision from SCADA (in some industries, otherwise known as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) or dCSes that were proprietary, used proprietary networks and processors, and were designed as standalone systems and devices.
In 2009, the standard for control systems is Microsoft Windows-based operating systems, running proprietary
Windows-based software on commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) computers, all connected via Ethernet networks to local controllers that are either proprietary or that run some version of Windows themselves. What this has made possible is increasingly integrated operations, from the plant floor to the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, because the entire enterprise is typically using Ethernet networks and Windows-based software systems running on Windows operating systems on COTS computers.
To deal with this additional complexity, organizations like MESA international (formerly known as the Manufacturing Execution Systems Association) have created new models of the manufacturing enterprise (see FIG. 3). These models are based on information flows and information use within the enterprise.
The MESA model squeezes all industrial automation into something called Manufacturing/Production and adds two layers above it. immediately above the Manufacturing/ Production layer is Manufacturing/Production operations, which includes parts of Level 2 and Level 3 of the Purdue Reference Model. Above that is the Business operations layer. MESA postulates another layer, which its model shows off to one side, that modulates the activities of the other three: the Strategic initiatives layer.
The MESA model shows "events" being the information transmitted to the next layer from Manufacturing/operations in a unidirectional format. Bidirectional information flow is shown from the Business operations layer to the Manufacturing/Production operations layer. Unidirectional information flow is shown from the Strategic initiatives layer to the rest of the model.
Since 1989, significant work has been done by many organizations in this area, including WBF (formerly the World Batch Forum); ISA, whose standards, ISA88 and ISA95, are the basis for operating manufacturing languages; the Machinery information Management open Systems Alliance (MiMoSA); the organization for Machine Automation and Control (OMAC); and others.
5-- Manufacturing execution systems and manufacturing operations management
5.1--Introduction
For more than 30 years, companies have found extremely valuable productivity gains in automating their plant floor processes. This has been true whether the plant floor processes were continuous, batch, hybrid, or discrete manufacturing. No manufacturing company anywhere in the world would consider operating its plant floor processes manually, except under extreme emergency conditions, and even then a complete shutdown of all systems would be preferable to many plant managers.
From the enterprise level in the Purdue Model (see FIG. 2) down to the plant floor and from the plant floor up to the enterprise level, there are significant areas in which connectivity and real-time information transfer improve performance and productivity.
5.2-- manufacturing execution systems (mes) and manufacturing operations management (mom)
At one time, the theoretical discussion was limited to connecting the manufacturing floor to the production scheduling systems and then to the enterprise accounting systems.
This was referred to as manufacturing execution systems, or MES. MES implementations were difficult and often returned less than expected return on investment (ROI). Recent thought has centered on a new acronym, MoM, which stands for manufacturing operations management.
But even MoM does not completely describe a fully connected enterprise.
The question that is often asked is, "What are the benefits of integrating the manufacturing enterprise?" in "Mastering the MoM Model," a section written for the next edition of The Automation Guide of Knowledge, to be published in 2009, Charlie Gifford writes, "Effectiveness in manufacturing companies is only partially based on equipment control capability. in an environment that executes as little as 20% make-to-order orders (80% make-to-stock), resource optimization becomes critical to effectiveness. Manufacturing companies must be efficient at coordinating and controlling personnel, materials and equipment across different operations and control systems in order to reach their maximum potential.
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Financial & Performance Focused:
ERP, B1 Product Focused:
CAD, CAM, PLM Supply Focused:
Procurement SCP Asset Reliability Focus: EAM, CMMS Compliance Focused:
Doc Mgmt, ISO, EH&S Customer Focused:
CRM, Service Mgmt OBJECTIVES RESULTS VERSION #2.1 AGGREGATE REAL-TIME Product Tracking & Genealogy Resource Allocation & Status Performance Analysis EVENTS BUSINESS OPERATIONS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES DATA QUERY EVENTS Process Management Quality Management Labor Management Dispatching Production Units Logistics Focused:
TMS, WMS Controls:
PLC, DCS Data Collection Acquisition Quality and Regulatory Compliance Project Lifecycle Mgmt Real Time Enterprise Additional Initiatives...
Asset
Performance Mgmt MANUFACTURING/PRODUCTION OPERATIONS Lean Manufacturing
FIG. 3 The MESA Model.
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FIG. 4 ISA-95 generic detailed work activity model (part 3) for MoM ANSi/ISA95.
Used with permission of ISA.
===
5.3-- The connected enterprise
To transform a company into a true multi-domain B2B extended enterprise is a complex exercise. Here we have provided a 20-point checklist that will help transform a traditional manufacturing organization into a fully extended
3. identify the current and future role of the internal supply chain.
4. identify the gap between the technologies and infra structure that are currently available and those that are required to fully integrate the enterprise supply chain.
5. identify all the corporate views of the current and future state of the integrated supply chain and clearly define their business roles in the extended enterprise model.
6. determine the costs/benefits of switching to an integrated supply chain model for the operation of the extended enterprise.
b. Requirements Assessment:
1. develop a plan to scale the IT systems, enterprise-wide, and produce a reliability analysis.
2. determine the probable failure points and data storage and bandwidth load requirements.
3. Perform an assessment of the skill sets of the in-house team and determine how to remedy any gaps identified, once the preliminary work is done and upper management has been fully educated about and has bought into the project, the enterprise team can begin to look at specific tactics.
Identify the business drivers and quantify the return on investment (ROI) for the enterprise's integrated supply chain strategy.
1. Perform a supply chain optimization study to deter mine the business drivers and choke points for the supply chain, both vertically in the enterprise itself and horizontally across the supplier and customer base of the enterprise. Enterprise with a completely integrated supply chain and full B2B data interchange capability.
To begin, a company must develop, integrate, and maintain metrics vertically through the single domain of the enterprise and then horizontally across the extended domains of the company's supplier and customer base. At each step of the process, the company must achieve buy-in, develop detailed requirements and business cases, and apply the metrics to determine how much progress has been made toward an extended enterprise. The following details the key points that a company must include in any such checklist for measuring its progress toward becoming a true e-business.
Achieve upper management buy-in. Before anything else, upper management must be educated in the theory of manufacturing enterprise integration. The entire C-level (CEO, COO, CFO, CIO, etc.) must be clear that integration of the enterprise is a process, not a project, that has great possibility of reward but also a possibility of failure.
The board and the executive committee must be com mitted to, and clearly understand, the process of building an infrastructure for cultural change in the corporation.
They must also understand the process that must be followed to become a high-response extended enterprise.
Perform a technology maturity and gap analysis. The team responsible for enterprise transformation has to perform two assessments before it can proceed to implementation:
A. Feasibility Assessment:
1. identify the main corporate strategy for the extended enterprise.
2. identify the gap between the technologies and infra structure that the company currently uses and those that are necessary for an extended enterprise.
2. Perform a plant-level feasibility assessment to identify the requirements for supply chain functionality at the plant level in the real world.
3. Create a preliminary data interchange model and requirements.
4. Do a real-world check by determining the ROI of each function in the proposed supply chain integration.
5. Make sure that the manufacturing arm of the enterprise is fully aligned with the supply chain business strategy and correct any outstanding issues.
Develop an extended enterprise and supply chain strategy and model that is designed to be "low maintenance."
1. Write the integrated supply chain strategy and implementation plan, complete with phases, goals, and objectives, and the metrics for each.
2. Write the manufacturing execution infrastructure (MEI) plan. This process includes creating a project steering team, writing an operations manual for the steering team, developing communications criteria, creating a change management system, and establishing a version control system for both software and manuals. This plan should also include complete details about the document management system, including the documentation standards needed to fulfill the project goals.
3. Last, the MEI plan should include complete details about the management of the project, including chain of command, responsibilities, authority, and reporting.
Once the plan is written, the enterprise team can move to the physical pilot stage. At this point, every enterprise will need to do some experimenting to determine the most effective way to integrate the supply chain and become an extended enterprise.
Develop an MEI plan. In the next phase, the team must develop a manufacturing execution infrastructure (MEI) plan during the pilot phase that will respond appropriately to the dynamic change/knowledge demands of a multidomain environment. in the pilot phase, the earlier enterprisewide planning cycle takes concrete form in a single plant environment. So, we will see some of the same assessments and reports, but this time they will be focused on a single plant entity in the enterprise.
1. Perform a plant-level feasibility and readiness assessment.
2. Perform a plant-level functional requirements assessment that includes detailed requirements for the entire plant's operations and the business case and ROI for each requirement.
3. determine the pilot project's functionality and the phases, goals, and objectives that are necessary to achieve the desired functionality.
4. draft a plant manufacturing execution system (MES) design specification.
5. determine the software selection criteria for integrating the supply chain.
6. Apply the criteria and produce a software selection process report.
7. design and deploy the pilot manufacturing execution system.
8. Benchmark the deployment and produce a performance assessment.
9. Perform a real-world analysis of what was learned and earned by the pilot project, and determine what changes are required to the pilot MoM model.
Once the enterprise team has worked through several iterations of pilot projects, it can begin to design an enterprisewide support system.
Design a global support system (GSS) for manufacturing. in an integrated manufacturing enterprise, individual plants and departments cannot be allowed to do things differently than the rest of the enterprise. Global standards for work rules, training, operations, maintenance, and accounting must be designed, trained on, and adhered to, with audits and accountability, or the enterprise integration project will surely fail.
1. draft a GSS design specification.
2. draft a complete set of infrastructure requirements that will function globally throughout the enterprise.
3. draft an implementation plan and deploy the support system within the enterprise.
Finalize the development of data interchange requirements between the MES, ERP, SCM, CRM, and logistics and fulfillment applications by using the data acquired during the pilot testing of plantwide systems.
1. Develop an extended strategy for an enterprise application interface (EAI) layer that may incorporate the company's suppliers and customers into a scalable XML data set and schema. Finalize the specifications for the integrated supply chain (ISC) data interchange design.
2. Figure out all the ways the project can fail, with a failure effort and mode analysis (FEMA). Now, in the period before the enterprisewide implementation, the enterprise team must go back to the pilot process.
This time, however, they are focusing on a multiplant extended enterprise pilot project.
3. Extend the MEI, global support system (GSS), EAI layer, and the failure effort and mode analysis (FEMA) into a multiplant, multidomain pilot project.
perform a multiplant plant-level feasibility and readiness assessment.
identify detailed requirements for all the plants in the project, including business case and ROI for each requirement.
draft a multiplant design specification.
draft an integrated supply chain specification for all the plants in the project.
draft and deploy the multiplant MES.
draft and deploy the multiplant integrated supply chain (ISC).
Benchmark and measure the performance of the system "as designed." Finally, it becomes possible for the enterprise team to develop the corporate deployment plan and to fully implement the systems they have piloted throughout the enterprise. To do this successfully, they will need to add some new items to the "checklist":
1. develop rapid application deployment (RAD) teams to respond as quickly as possible to the need for enterprisewide deployments of new required applications.
2. develop and publish the corporate deployment plan.
The company's education and training requirements are critical to the success of an enterprisewide deployment of new integrated systems. A complete enterprise training plan must be created that includes end-user training, super-user training, MEI and GSS training, and the relevant documentation for each training program.
3. The multiplant pilot MEI and GSS must be scaled to corporate-wide levels. This project phase must include determining enterprisewide data storage and load requirements, a complete scaling and reliability plan, and benchmark criteria for the scale-up.
4. Actually deploy the MEI and GSS into the enterprise and begin widespread use.
Next, after it has transformed the enterprise's infrastructure and technology, the enterprise team can look out ward to the supplier and customer base of the company.
1. Select preferred suppliers and customers that can be integrated into the enterprise system's EAI/XML schema. Work with each supplier and customer to implement the data-interchange process and train personnel in using the system.
2. Negotiate the key process indicators (KPI) with sup ply chain partners by creating a stakeholders' steering team that consists of members of the internal and external supply chain partners. Publish the extended ISC data interchange model and requirements through this team. Have this team identify detailed requirements on a plant-by-plant basis, including a business case and ROI for each requirement.
3. This steering team should develop the specifications for the final pilot test: a pilot extended enterprise (EE), including ISC pilot implementation specifications and a performance assessment of the system "as designed."
4. develop and track B2B performance metrics using the pilot EE as a model, and create benchmarks and tracking criteria for a full implementation of the extended enterprise.
5. develop a relationship management department to administer and expand the B2B extended enterprise.
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