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!
We’re excited to announce we will be exhibiting at Automate 2022 with our partners at Apera AI. We hope you’ll SWING by at booth #4113 to see our ABB cobot TEEing up a golf related demonstration utilizing the latest in adaptive 4D vision technology. You wont want to miss out! Click Here to Register for Automate 2022.
E Tech Group’s Vice President of Business Development, Laurie Cavanaugh was a presenter for this Control Engineering webcast, where she and Matt Ruth, President of Avanceon, discuss what “just enough data analysis” is, pros and pitfalls, and the future of data analysis in automated manufacturing. The webcast included live Q&As from the audience, and was followed up with an article offering even more answers to automation professionals’ questions about data analytics in their plant processes. Just-in-time supply chain strategy limits were exposed in a global pandemic. Is just-enough industrial data analysis working for operations? Is the right data getting to the right people to optimize operations in time? Where are the bottlenecks and how are they being addressed? Where’s data going to become information and who’s seeing it? In the cloud or on premise or both? Are your knowledge brokers seeing the right information quickly enough to make the right decisions, or are your analytics too much, too late to be effective? Utilizing case studies as illustrations and an interactive format, Cavanaugh and Ruth advise control system integrators on how to: Determine if just-enough data analytics provides enough benefits to operations. Identify if enough data intelligence (results of analytics) is getting to people who matter. Examine bottlenecks in data analysis and how to address them. Review tools and architectures for eliminating bottlenecks. See lessons learned in applying data analytics (too little too late or just enough in time). This presentation focused on the future of data analytics in industrial manufacturing, including obstacles control engineers need to overcome in order to move forward in the industry and embrace the new role data analysis will take in the field. Visit E Tech Group’s blog for more automation industry news and insights.
Challenge
The surge in e-commerce operations and expedited shipping demands have caused unprecedented challenges for distribution centers. To keep the pace, many distribution centers are implementing automation solutions to maximize system throughput and reduce fault recovery time. For a global leader in parcel services, it was mission-critical to develop an extensive fault monitoring and package flow control scheme. The parcel services leader commissioned another company to develop PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) programs for their multiple sortation systems; however, the engineering team was challenged with a tight timeline and limited availability. E Tech Group was engaged to quickly develop and troubleshoot the PLC programs as well as lead the system startup and testing.
Solution
To foster seamless parcel routing and pinpoint system abnormalities, their parcel operations required extensive fault monitoring and suppression for Human Machine Interface (HMI) animation and fault logging, conveyor operation, as well as package flow rate tracking. One aspect of maximizing throughput required the monitoring of package flow to adjust the feed rates for optimal input supply without exceeding the max system capacity. Maintaining throughput also relates to fault recovery times. “Proper fault suppression is a result of monitoring the status of every circuit breaker, Ethernet adapter, VFD status, power supply status, and all IO cards in the local and field racks.” explains Vimal Sandhu, E Tech Group Senior Controls Engineer about the importance of a fault isolation system. “For example, if a particular circuit breaker tripped, the loss of power may cause the PLC(s) to lose communications with numerous field devices. This can result in anywhere from 1 to 100+ unique faults displayed on the HMI. With proper fault suppression logic in the PLC, only the circuit breaker fault will be displayed. With fault suppression, troubleshooting time is greatly reduced which not only helps maintenance, but also aids in reducing system downtime.”
Experienced in PLC program development with sortation and conveyor machinery, E Tech Group prioritized the commission of the primary sorter systems which included diagnosing and correcting errors in the newly developed logic followed by extensive testing. Once completed, the team promptly set up the communication between the PLC and the customer’s warehouse management system. E Tech Group then proceeded with the setup of the numerous conveyor belts that were required to run with the package tracking logic.
Result
With changes satisfactorily completed to the primary sorter systems, E Tech Group was able to direct the former lead engineering team to update the subsequent systems. E Tech Group stayed onboard to support further testing as well as commission the remaining parts of the primary sorter line. Within a few months, the system became fully operational with E Tech Group’s programming support. The parcel services leader was able to fully maximize its large scale distribution center operations, and E Tech Group was later invited to lead the development, startup, and testing of the second phase which included an additional five sortation systems.
