06 Mar

The Synergy of Man and Machine

The Synergy of Man and Machine

Smart machines only hold as much intelligence as the humans who build and program them. William Hawkins mentions the idea of machines and computers that learn from each other to be frightening. In such an environment, a machine could “learn” to override human actions it interprets as harmful. While current technology and gather, measure and interpret large amounts of data, they lack the ability to learn from it. That job is left to humans who must work in synergy with plant machines.

Having both humans and machines involved in a process system takes advantage of the strengths of each. Machines are an obvious asset with their predictability and ability to withstand steps in the manufacturing processes that are risky for humans. Process and plant engineers, on the other hand, have ingenuity and creativity that can be harnessed as continuous business improvement.

Synergy Systems balances these strengths with a three pronged process. We send our engineering experts directly to client plants and communicate with the process engineers working there. Since plant employees play such a crucial role in the operation of a system, we believe their input is vital to the success of any project. The three things we discuss are what machines should be doing, how they are currently running and how the plant employees would like them to run. Balancing these three realities with the goals of the business is a sure way to achieve success.

When it comes to business success, it is imperative that the strengths of all available assets be used. Cutting-edge technology is only one facet of success. Incorporating the knowledge, needs and ideas of plant employees to work in tandem with technology enables any company to accomplish its highest goals.

26 Feb

The Keys to Safety System Maintenance in the Process Industry

The Keys to Safety System Maintenance in the Process Industry

Safety continues to be a huge issue within the process industry. We’ve written about cyber security in the past as something that grew from the protection of personal information to the protection of business control. Maintenance of overall safety extends beyond computer systems to the preservation of employee and mechanical health. Maintenance of the systems that protect the safety of plant employees is critical to continuous success.

Safety system maintenance is always a priority, but it’s rarely considered critical. If everyone is happy and systems are running fine, then what is there to maintain? Spending funds to assess a system only to find out it’s perfectly fine can seem like a waste, but it’s in fact necessary. The flip side of the coin is that maintenance is put off until something in the safety system breaks, something that could have disastrous consequences.

A process system is like the human body in this case. There are certain things we know can go wrong, like prostate cancer or ovarian cancer, without causing any immediate symptoms. This is why we have routine checkups even when our bodies appear to be healthy. It’s better to spend money to know everything is running smoothly than to cut the life of the system short by ignoring routine maintenance.

Routine checkups in the process industry involve verification that all systems and alarms are working as they should. Small issues can be found before they lead to disaster. Here, we cover the four main areas you should look into on a regular basis to ensure your plant is always as safe as possible.

Configuration

This involves making sure everything is running smoothly, notifying employees of the proper alerts and avoiding nuisance trips. Verifying system communications and redundancy is an absolute must. Gone unchecked, you might unintentionally have a malfunctioning module for which the redundant module has taken over. While the system may not be in critical status, the absence of redundancy puts the whole plant in far more risk. The same can be said for system communications and alarms. If the proper alarms aren’t being sent and attended to, fixable problems may persist and create more damage than they would have otherwise.

Backups

Part of cyber security maintenance, backups are a necessary aspect of running a business. Safety maintenance, however, requires more than the existence of backups. Typically, businesses will have a system of automatic backup in place. It is this system which must be assessed to verify safety and security. Automatic and redundant backups only work if the system is void of corruption. Making sure the system is alive ensures you never have be in a situation where you need to use a backed up copy of data only to find the data is corrupted and useless.

Plant Environment Impacts

Many process systems have a number of environmental factors, such as excessive dust or temperature differences, from which their employees and machinery may need protection. It is imperative that the systems regulating these environmental factors be checked so that any issues can be resolved before there is excessive damage.

Consultation

Safety is paramount for any industry to be efficient and reliable. All systems are fail able, but they can also be made better. New improvements are released every day that further perfect existing safety systems for the process industry. A sure way to ensure you remain on top of the latest safety needs is to consult experts in process system safety.

06 Feb

What Defines a Flexible Control System?

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Traditional manufacturing typically involves discrete automation. Systems are built for one specific purpose. Their sole purpose in life is to pound, mold or shape products in the process system. This form of manufacturing lends itself to program logic control (PLC) systems. These industries create circuit boards and hammer out parts. For the entire lifecycle of the system, each asset will have a select few specific functions.

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The opposite of this traditional manufacturing is processing, which often handles melted metals and gas and oil refining. These actions, which are usually continuous in nature, tend to be controlled by distributed control systems (DCS). The needs of these systems are greatly different from traditional manufacturing as they need to be able to measure and calculate multiple aspects of the ingredients in order to perform their step in the creation of a product.

 

Today, you are likely to find both of these manufacturing methods within a single plant. The food and beverage industry is a perfect example. One part of the plant is focused on mixing ingredients and making the food. The other part is focused on sealing lids and placing stickers on jars. How do you go about finding the right control system to fit that plant’s needs?

 

The first step is to look at the entirety of needs, including future needs. Ask yourself how long you expect this system to last and what, if any, changes will need to be made during that time. You may find yourself with a need for this system to handle both traditional and process manufacturing techniques. This is where programmable automation controllers (PAC) come in. Acting as a middle ground between the two types of manufacturing, these systems have multifunction, multidomain and multitasking capabilities.

 

Many other questions surrounding the expectations of your new system need to be discussed with your automation consultant. Does the system need to have the flexibility to talk to different systems created by different companies? Do you need the ability to add on additional components or extra features in the future? Will the system be expected to generate actionable information for both management and plant employees?

 

Answering all these questions requires extensive expertise in not only flexible control systems, but in understanding client needs. With a platform agnostic view and 35 years of experience, Synergy excels at installing premium control systems that meet client needs and goals. We can help you decide which system, be it PLC, DCS or PAC, will best accomplish your business goals. Our engineers are always on call and would be more than happy to discuss your plans for an optimized process system.

 

30 Jan

The Four Main Causes of Nuisance Trips and How to Fix Them

The Four Main Causes of Nuisance Trips and How to Fix Them

Those who have worked in an environment plagued by high volumes of nuisance trips know all too well the chaos they cause. These disruptions to normal operating conditions cause unnecessary loss of employee time, asset reliability and business income. No system has to settle for the disturbance of these trips. Below, we’ll explore the most common types of nuisance trips, their causes and how they can be prevented.

#1 Power Faults

Power Faults are typically caused by at least one of three things: unreliable power, inadequate planning or poor quality of power. Poor planning in the design of power distribution can result in overloaded circuits. When the power supply hasn’t been properly conditioned, the quality will suffer and result in a fault.

The Fix
A system suffering nuisance trips from power faults needs to be reexamined and, likely, redesigned. Specific attention needs to be given to the distribution of power surrounding the plant. Depending on the unique issues causing power faults, power feeds may also have to be updated.

#2 Communication Faults

Faults due to poor communication between controllers share similarities with power faults in that one of their causes is inadequate planning. Overloads and hardware faults can result from poor communication between site assets. Today’s technology is meant to interact intelligently with other machinery in the system. It’s no surprise that a system with poor communication would be prone to nuisance trips.

The Fix
The communication design between site assets needs to be reevaluated. Wiring should be optimized to ensure each machine in the system is performing at full potential. Communications should be intelligently designed into your system. It should be a benefit, not a detriment. Optimization of asset communication design and layout can go a long way to eliminating nuisance trips.

#3 Process Alarms

This is another perfect example of an aspect of a system that should act only as a benefit. Process alarms alone do not cause faults. Instead, it’s how they communicate the health of the system and how plant employees react to them that cause problems. Typically, we see one of three things happening in regards to process alarms. The alarms fails to activate when needed. Too many alarms go off at once, preventing plant employees from identifying the main cause. Plant employees ignore the alarm. All of these have the potential to cause unnecessary trips.

The Fix
Alarms are there to alert plant employees of issues in the system so they can address them before they cause problems. If the alarm fails to appear, appears in a confusing fashion or frequently appears when there are no issues, employees are not going to be able to do their job properly.

An alarm management study is necessary to correct these issues. The exact remedy is dependent on the unique issues effecting the plant, but may include installation of alarm filters, time delays, priority ranking and reduction of duplicate alarms. With these fixes in place, employees will no longer need to ignore alarms or worry they aren’t addressing the correct alarm.

#4 Application Program

A lot can go on within the programming of a system, especially when multiple people have worked on it.  Lack of optimization within an application program can cause glitches that result in nuisance trips. Parts of certain programs may remain in the system even after they are no longer being used. Real confusion results when many people have added and removed various programs from the system. Imagine a cake being baked my various cooks. A different cook performs each step without communicating with the others. What you’ll end up with is a poorly made cake that may or may not be edible. Just as the disjointed process prevented the cooks from doing their job, confusion within the program can prevent site assets from acting properly. The unfortunate results is often a nuisance trip.

The Fix
Have the same person or company work with an application program throughout the duration of its life. A single cook making a cake is far less likely to be confused by the actions of others. This fix requires something unique from the automation world, which is why Synergy offers varying levels of support contracts. Included in each one is an annual maintenance and backup visit to ensure all programs are running as they should. More frequent visits are available depending on the level of support a client chooses. When one person or company has sole responsibility over the programming of an asset, optimization is far easier to achieve and nuisance trips less likely to occur.

19 Dec

New Opportunities with Smart Technology

“Successful companies have leveraged the knowledge and experience of leading automation companies in implementing smart plant projects to consistently deliver quantifiable business results measurable in real-time, predict asset performance, avoid surprises, and reduce risks to life, plant, and environment.”

This photo, “Control Systems Security” is copyright (c) 2014 Idaho National Laboratory and made available under an Attribution 2.0 Generic

So says a recent article published at Flow Control Magazine. Companies around the globe are harnessing the new opportunities provided by smart technology. As these advances become cheaper and cheaper to implement and their benefits ever more evident, it’s often a no-brainer for a business to update their site assets.

Serious issues can plague a plant that operates on outdated machines. With a limited ability to measure critical data and make predictions, businesses either plan downtime, sometimes when it’s not needed, or have unexpected issues that require downtime.

Downtime, the dirtiest D-word in the automation world, can be dramatically reduced with a system that collects historical data, measures critical aspects of the architecture and predicts any future issues. When known ahead of time, some problems can be handled with now downtime at all. In this way, the plant staff acts in a predicative and proactive role, addressing problems before they cause any harm.

If you are wondering just how affordable all this technology is, consider the fact that many of Synergy’s solutions have an ROI of a year or less. It is said that an iPhone has more advanced technology than what we used to land on the moon. Process control systems have enjoyed the same rapid advancement. What used to cost an outrageous amount of money, is now simple and can achieve more with a significantly lower initial investment

 

11 Dec

Common Mistakes With Process Control Upgrades

This article was originally posted on Manufacturing Business Technology.

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Significant improvements can be demonstrated in updating automation in either independent machine controls or an entire facility. More and more manufacturers are upgrading control systems primarily to fight the battle of equipment obsolescence, rather than taking the opportunity to invest in upgrades, in order to gain more productive years out of major capital assets.

There has been a noticeable trend in projects that are successful in achieving just hardware replacement, and those projects that leave the manufacturing process with more intelligence, flexibility, and improvements in production goals.

MISTAKE 1: FOCUSING ON THE PROBLEM, NOT STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
The most common mistake made in automation projects is one we all make in our personal lives or in business decisions — we spend too much time dealing with the issues that are counter-productive to our goals and strategic objectives. The Boston Matrix model (BCG Matrix) demonstrates how we categorize everything we do — including the projects we fund — into one of four groups. We typically spend time and money in capital improvement projects, specifically automation enhancements that are:

  1. Important and urgent (cash cows)
  2. Important but not urgent  (rising stars)
  3. Not important and urgent (question marks)
  4. Not important and not urgent (dogs)

It goes without saying that we shouldn’t be spending much of our limited resources on the things that are neither important nor urgent, but it may be counter intuitive to say that only 20 percent of our resources should be spent with issues that are important with critical timing constants as that is reactive only, and 80 percent of our resources on areas of importance without critical time constraints as these are the areas that drive strategic plans. All too often automation systems are upgraded only when the need to replace them forces the issue into immediate replacement, or because the decision to replace with project scope of “functional equivalent replacement” was made in haste. If an organization is spending 80 percent of resources on item 1 above (cash cows), which is the world most of us live in today, we are significantly limiting our ability to grow the organization in terms of productivity and quality. We all should be spending the vast majority of efforts in “rising star” aspects of the production environment.

MISTAKE 2: FAILING TO INCLUDE ALL ASPECTS OF BUSINESS IN PROJECT
Many organizations put initiatives in place to optimize manufacturing operations in order to gain efficiency or reduce costs. One popular area has been in efficiency gains that reduce energy due to the environmental focus of our cultural initiatives. More importantly for those of us in manufacturing, upgrades in this area can qualify for rebates provided by efficiency programs from utility companies to offset capital expenditures.

Rather than upgrading automation systems with “like in kind” replacement strategy funded by maintenance or capital appropriations, a case can be made to fund automation upgrades through a number of other benefits that can yield dividends to an organization, such as:

  • Examining automation strategies to take advantage of current technology building greater intelligence within automatic controls
  • Implementing new modern technologies to include improvements in record keeping and preventative maintenance programs
  • Taking advantage of automation objectives in both internal and external organization promotions

MISTAKE 3: FOCUS ON RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI) RATHER THAN NET PRESENT VALUE (NPV)
Historically, capital expenditures have always had one key metric for the invest-or-save decision — return on investment calculation. Years ago, automation projects could yield under a one year ROI, primarily due to the level, or lack thereof, in automation deployed. Returns were computed based upon increased production. Today, this method can prove to be difficult to gain funding of capital expenditures on production increases, quality improvements, or scrap rates alone due to the accounting constraints on expected return on investment. We can argue that today’s modern automation hardware/software, when properly maintained, can sustain for a significantly longer period of time than the return on cost target that our financial professionals set forth.

We have been involved with updating automation systems that were first installed in the 1980s and earlier. Some organizations have seen the benefits of implementing proper automation for more than 30 years. A new automation strategy will yield benefits continually for years to come long after the investment has paid for itself — especially in today’s energy conservation climate — and organizations will see energy dollars saved on overhead cost for years to come. Energy savings projects are driving automation improvements down to the smallest potential project.

MISTAKE 4: CHOOSING THE WRONG PARTNER
Unfortunately, we have seen this error occur all too often. Manufacturing organizations have made the choice to use a consulting engineering firm or system integrator to spearhead the effort for upgrading their automation system.

Selection of the right consulting engineering/project management firm is more important than choosing what hardware to use or what software to deploy. We wouldn’t recommend that someone in our family be seen by the least expensive doctor if it meant sacrificing quality and we wouldn’t visit a doctor who doesn’t have extensive experience in a required specialty. Find the right partner by using the same criteria as you would when choosing a doctor.

CRITERIA 1: PREFERENCE
Select a partner that puts your needs first, focusing on your problems. This partner should be someone that your organization feels comfortable with, discussing needs and concerns unfiltered. Your partner should be able to find the root causes of issues, provide the necessary technical knowledge, and have a spirit that enables your organization as a “client” and not a “customer.”

CRITERIA 2: EXPERIENCE
As you evaluate your potential automation provider partner, investigate their published experience and inquire with their existing clientele. Ask for resumes of key personnel that will be working on your project and ensure that you are comfortable with entrusting the safety and reliability of your organization.

CRITERIA 3: INTEGRITY
It’s obvious that you want to do business with a firm that is going to stand behind their work in addition to conducting their business in an ethical manner. Look for an organization that offers warranty not for just hardware and software (supplied by vendors), but also offers warranty for intellectual property that is the running automation created by your partner. A hallmark for finding a partner that demonstrates this is someone willing to provide 24/7 emergency response to issues and extended maintenance support contracts. Top tier organizations exhibit these characteristics and demonstrate this by participating in groups focused in their area of expertise, or a professional organization such as the Control System Integrators Association (CSIA).


Synergy Systems, Inc. of Lisle, Ill., is a control system integration company specializing in automation design with a focus on throughput increases, cost reduction, and process optimization for  the steel production, power generation, chemical and food processing industries. For more, visit www.synsysinc.com.

Synergy Systems is a member of the Control System Integrators Association (CSIA), a global non-profit professional association that seeks to advance the industry of control system integration for the success of members and their clients. For more information, visit www.controlsys.org.

04 Dec

Workforce and Asset Management

The work force is aging. As baby boomers get ever closer to retirement, the average age of employees increases. This is a trend seen in many industrialized countries and poses its own challenges. In the business world, this changing demographic can have a significant effect on asset management.

Asset management involves how to optimize operational performance and profitability of a business. Life cycle cost and return on investment play a huge role in the optimization of a plant, but equally important is the value employees bring to the business. The longer they work with assets, the more they understand the variables that affect them. With the right automation, these skills can be maintained in the workforce even as employees retire.

Sophisticated control systems have the ability to measure and record more information about a plant than ever before. When installed by industry experts, these systems also learn the finer points of each asset. In this way, the skills and knowledge of current employees can be passed down and built upon by new hires.

Synergy understands the great benefits employees provide. We have grown in our expertise of asset management and are committed to optimization of operational performance and client profitability. This is why we make a point to train client employees, the greatest asset to every business, on all new asset management systems we install.

 

21 Nov

Reap the Benefits of Energy Demand Optimization

This photo, “Energy, Carol Stream, IL” is copyright (c) 2014 Daniel X. O’Neil and made available under an Attribution 2.0 Generic license

The level of sophistication automation can bring to a business’s energy management system is extraordinary. Equally impressive is the money (and energy) saved through implementation of a strategic demand control system. Look no further than Taking Control of Energy Use, an article recently published on InTech filled with examples of savings and energy conservation.

Common practice is for companies to pay a demand charge to utility companies based on peak demand. Enabling a system to moderate loads, reducing peak demand, can save thousands annually. Automation systems go beyond anything that can be achieved manually. Set to act in a specific fashion, intelligent energy management systems can root out inefficiencies, slow down cycling blowers and shut down battery charges as needed.

A key factor of energy management is reducing demand without affecting production. This is where the true brilliance of automation shines. A system can be built to react to countless factors and be programmed in such a way that it never modifies aspects of the business that need to be running at all times.

Envision every asset, tool and machine in a plant working and reacting to one another without the need for manual instruction. The whole system works in harmony, optimized to its best performance level. In order to achieve this improvement, an evaluation of the plant should be performed. This should involve identification of potential savings of the life of a system, saving opportunities and saving initiatives. It can be helpful to have automation experts evaluate your processes for you as they have been trained to notice every detail of a system. Pick the guys who will tell you the truth, not just the truth you want to hear, and you’ll be amazed at the funds you save after you achieve return on investment.

25 Sep

Pros and Cons of Advanced Technology

With every passing year, it seems like technology is improving at ever increasing rates. Just look at popular phones like the iPhone. Didn’t we get a new one less than a year ago and already we have not one, but two, new phones complete with technology more advanced than the last.

While we can provide the latest and greatest technology available for boiler systems, process control and stack analysis, our overall goal is to help our clients achieve their business goals. With safety and optimization as a top priority, we want to improve the business of our clients. Just because something is new, does not mean it will be the best asset for business performance.

The benefits of improved technology can be seen in improved safety, efficiency and reliability of business assets and machinery. In addition, technological advances can allow businesses to identify and analyze measurements that may have been unattainable in the past. Fuel and energy use can be improved, with advanced technology that requires less energy to power.

All of these benefits are fantastic and have the ability to drastically improve any plant. Incorporating them correctly is often the key to their use. Sometimes the way in which a business is run, the goals a business has in mind and the type of people who will be using the technology make it difficult for a technology to be used in a way that makes it efficient.

Synergy makes a point to put client business goals first. If it won’t get you any closer to your goals, there is no reason to spend more resources in order to have the latest technology. We maintain an open discuss with our clients throughout a project to ensure all we do is not just for the sake of technology, but for the sake of their business goals and performance.

If you are curious about the type of services and solutions we can offer to help you achieve top business performance, contact a Synergy engineering expert.

 

 

11 Sep

Synergy’s Full Accountability Commitment to Clients

Business managers want the best solution to optimize their plants delivered on time and on budget. While multiple parties are often more than happy to accept a portion of accountability for the project, the process is most smoothly run when all responsibility is in one entity.

The majority of any automation or process control project is completed before deliverables ever make it to a plant. The software and intellectual property a business pays for needs to be built according to the specific desires and goals of the client before it can be sent on its way. Once delivered, there is often a need for assembly and final testing.
Smooth is the process where the person who orders material, creates the software, assembles the unit, performs necessary tests and trains plant employees is the same. Even experts who are thrown into the middle of an ongoing project will need time to at least familiarize themselves with what has already been done and what is left to do.

At Synergy, we offer to carry all accountability on our projects. We feel that our valued commitments to safety, reliability and optimization are best carried out with full responsibility. Clients are provided full disclosure on all projects, with frequent meetings and updates. In every moment, Synergy is open to the ideas, suggestions and changes a client may request on their project.

We are all driven by the goals and aspirations of clients. Through our solutions and services, we aim to achieve the goals of our clients with increased optimization and superb return on investment. This is easily accomplished on time and on budget with Synergy carrying full accountability.