News & Knowledge

We’re your source for automation news. Keep up with the latest industry updates and E Tech employee spotlights, as well as tips and guidance from our manufacturing experts.

| June 15, 2022

E Tech Group Employees Earn PI Certification

Congratulations to our Principal Engineer, Matt Martin, and Senior Project Manager, Tony O’Deay on earning their PI System Infrastructure Specialist Certifications.To complete the PI System Infrastructure Specialist certification an individual must have one year of experience configuring the PI system, complete a set of training modules, and pass a 50-question final exam. The certifications show our company has trained and is experienced with PI System. E Tech Group is committed to providing expert service and support for the PI system. Thank you, Matt and Tony, for pushing yourselves and sharing this expertise to E Tech Group and our clients!

| January 24, 2022

Making Cybersecurity Approachable

Providing cybersecurity context, encouragement, protection and detection for users in multiple process industries There’s no way to go it alone on cybersecurity. Because no one knows everything, even the most informed and competent end user is going to need help from someone more know-how and information about a certain device, software, best practice or other protection their process or facility requires. Mere mortals usually need cybersecurity help just to get started. Fortunately, there are many well-informed and generous sources, who can provide history, education, encouragement and solutions to make cybersecurity projects workable, efficient, thorough, cost-effective and reliable over the long term. We spoke to an E Tech Group executive about cybersecurity: how do they handle securing a facility’s network and operations, and how IT and OT must be managed to minimize malfunctions and associated downtime. E Tech Group is an Ohio-headquartered integration and automation firm with 18 locations covering all of North America. IT vs OT to Ethernet & IIoT Laurie Cavanaugh, Business Development Director at E Tech Group, reports that cybersecurity’s recent evolution is a natural outgrowth of operations technology (OT) and information technology (IT) learning to work together and speak each other’s languages. Cavanaugh explains that OT and IT must cooperate on their organization’s overall cybersecurity assessment, which will give a true reading of its OT assets, PLCs and unmanaged devices, as well as its network topology, managed switches, firewall protections and IT-related components. IT/OT assessments don’t only identify weak points in the network and prioritize the fixes they need; they help modernize automation platforms, which eliminates the risks that obsolete hardware poses. Moving to a plant-wide IIoT-driven control system offers an easier-to-understand IT-OT dialect. Un-flatten Your Network To beginning addressing some of the IT-based tasks that cybersecurity requires, individual process and site characteristics can show what gaps need to … Continued

| October 4, 2021

How to Perform a Risk Assessment

– By Tony Schalk, Functional Safety Engineer (TÜV Rheinland), Automation Systems Engineer, E Technologies Sophisticated companies know that safety is a journey, not a destination. It is a part of their strategic and ongoing growth. As more and more companies look to implement safety programs, questions about budget, time, effort, and feasibility come into play. Larger companies may already employ a safety engineer or even a safety team, with well-established metrics and objectives each year. If you don’t fall into that category, don’t be discouraged. The most important thing you can do on any journey is to start. To begin your safety journey, you start with a risk assessment. In the United States, when an accident originates from machinery, the owner of the machine is responsible for the safety, not just the manufacturer of the machine. This means that if something happens, it’s technically your responsibility. If that doesn’t scare you, it should. The beauty of the risk assessment is that it is your education on what could happen with the machinery in your facility. What you choose to do with your newfound knowledge is up to you; however, in the immortal words of G.I. Joe, “Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.” There are a few caveats. Although companies could self-perform their risk assessments, it isn’t a job that just anyone in your plant can do. A TÜV certification is needed, as well as an understanding of ISO 13849 or IEC 62061 standards. Anyone could pick up the standard and follow the process, but it’s hard to implement a standard and its many details if you’re new to safety. This is where having a safety professional can be very beneficial for efficiency’s sake. He or she can walk into a situation and quickly identify what needs to … Continued

Returning a Roll Coater Paint Line to Maximum Profitability

Our automation engineers expanded line capabilities and upgraded to state-of-the-art Siemens digital drive systems to support a leading steel company.

Project: Bring Existing Automation Tech Back Up to Specs

A leading steel company hired E Tech Group to expand their line’s capabilities to begin production of light gage steel, as well as increase throughput on existing operations by upgrading an existing roll coater paint line to return it to the OEM specs of 1600 fpm.

Solution: Evaluate and Optimize the Automated Equipment’s Capabilities

To accomplish this, E Tech group conducted an equipment audit to determine the failure rate and root causes, and conducted a tension study to determine the equipment’s limitations. This data was then used to improve the tension control on the line by monitoring tower operations and load cell closed loop tension regulators, then tuning them accordingly.

Our engineers also analyzed cable conduit versus using remote I/O, performed a safety study and implemented the study’s recommendations, and performed startup and commissioning services of the plant.

Results: Unmatched Line Speed, Way Less Downtime

This successful project installed a state-of-the-art Siemens digital drive system with new PLC, operator stations, and HMI. The result was a 33% increase in line speed; the line was returned to the maximum OEM-spec speed of 1600 fpm from 1200 fpm prior to the upgrade. Another result of the upgrade was a 50% reduction in electrical downtime. With the hardware and software installation complete, E Tech Group expanded the line’s capabilities to include the production of light gage steel.

As one the nation’s leading control system integrators, E Tech Group is a multifaceted automation company offering the best in process automation solutions to manufacturers across industries. E Tech Group has experience in the metals, chemical, machine building/OEM, pharmaceutical industries, and more. Our turnkey factory integration services provide clients with robust, cutting-edge control systems that adapt, scale and optimize your processes.

Learn More About E Tech Group’s Building Automation Services