This is the post excerpt.
This is the blog in regard to Industrial Weighing Scale. Industrial products and techniques are effective supplement and extension to industrial weighing scale.
This blog will collect some informations about industrial products and techniques, hope to share the good and useful contents to friends with the same interesting.
The number of companies filing for bankruptcy is largely increased due to the global epidemic this year. Most industries have been severely affected.
Singapore becomes the largest foreign exchange market in the Asia-Pacific region.
According to the data released by foreign exchange industrial organizations in various Countries and regions,in April,the trading volume of Singapore rose 3%,exceeding the volume of Hongkong,as a result that Singapore became the largest foreign exchange market in the Asian-Pacific Region.
Brazil’s trade surplus in July achieved a high level.
Recent data released by the Brazilian Ministry of Economy show that Brazil obtained good results in July,which was higher than the same period last year,and set the highest record of trade surplus in single-month since the statistics began in 1989. The Brazilian Ministry of Economy said,it is mainly due to the increase in demand for Brazilian minerals and agricultural products from Asian countries,and the depreciation of the Brazilian Real against the US dollor.
Vietnam became the world’s second largest garment exporter.
According to the statistics from the Bangladesh Garment Manufactures and Exporter Association,Bangladesh exported garment worth 27 billion U.S. dollars from July 2019 to June 2020,and exported amount of garment in Vietnam reached 30 billion U.S. dollars for the same time. Vietnam surpassed Bangladesh to become the world’s second largest exporter in garment. Professionals believe that the free trade agreement between EU and Vietnam becoming effective played an important role in promoting the garment export,and Chinese investment in Vietnam also helped a lot.
GDP of EU entirely dropped in the second quarter
Upon the data released by Eurostat,the overall GDP of European Union fell 11.7%. Among them,Spain’s GDP fell the most,Finland’s GDP fell the least in second quarter. And GDP in the third quarter is much better.
Amazon wins double No.1 in British and American retail Apps
Published data revealed the top 10 shopping apps in North America based on the growth of monthly active user in second quarter of this year. Amazon firmly ranked first among them,it is not limited in American,it also ranked first in UK. Other online platforms were hard to compete with it.
Shanghai is the largest one among 50 largest cargo ports in the world
Based on the data in the second quarter of this year,there’re 939 cargo ports doing conventional shipping services in the world. Shanghai has 288 direct ports,which enable Shanghai have a huge advantage in direct transport among global ports. And other large ports like: Busan in South Korea,Antwerp in Belgium,Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Ningbo in China, Singapore, Hamburg in Germany, Hong Kong and Qingdao.
Apple Inc lauches the investigation of iPhone assembly in Vietnam
According to foreign media reports,Apple Inc is considering the possibility of assembling the iPhone in Vietnam and sending reresentatives to visit the factory facilities of it manufacturing partner.
1. Taking notes is one good habit for work. The one who first shares the notes is impressive during meeting.
2. Try to complete things what should be done today. And happniess feeling can be aroused if don’t put thing off till tomorrow.
3. Don’t delay dealing with the problems related persons. Don’t trust that luck can avoid some conflicts or other persons can understant the problems. The later you start to handle the matter,the worse the problems will get. Harsh words must be directly told the other one face to face as early as possible.
4. Develop a habit of rehearsal for personal actions. Making a draft and a plan,preparing carefully,then you will find many approaches to make your goals come true,furthermore,the whole process to achieve the goal is smooth and flexible.
5. Form a habit of double check for team work. Focus on what we have learned instead of finding out who’s wrong and affixing the fault to him.
6. If work needs more time to deal with people,then try to focus all meetings on several days of one week,so the total time will be saved,and remaining time can be used for written assignments and internal affairs.
7. For a manager,an important thing is to set aside some time each day for non-transactional conversations with team members. Develop a habit of respecting others and caring for people.
8. Think about the key data and questions.
9. Don’t look through the mobile phone when the conversation is going.
10. Dare end meaningless conversations at the meeting. Be good at getting straight to the point. Commit to the agreement on the plans and actions.
11. Record appointments with others precisely and don’t be late.
12. A rough work plan is more accessible to the practical situation than a detailed plan,and it is easier to implement as well.
13. Be well prepared before attending others’ activities. Prepare full personal pubic information and provide it to the organizer in time. Submit the speech as early as possible.
14. Select several time intervals to handle social media,email,etc.,like morning,nooning and evening each day,and it saves time.
15. Learn to ask and listen to a good question: what’s your opinion?
16. Buy a set of good work equipment.
17. Find a good partner and work with smart people.
In modern society,there’re so many alternations between new things and old ones, and the collision of traditional wisdom and fast-growing technology as well. However no matter how far the society will develop,quality is an essential factor should not be ignored.
A lot of responsible people feel annoyed,happy,worried,prospective,upset……,when facing quality. Why? Here are some feelings from following quality managers.
Mr. A said: The top managers of our company come from all over the world. They seem to care more about the cost,and the quality rarely raises their interests.
Ms. B said: In previous meetings,I often argued with others for quality problems. Then I felt bored,when talking about quality,I saw the top ceiling and ignored it. Now I feel that is very inappropriate,so I take a positive attitude: I will smile to the one who complains quality.
Mr. C said: Usually other departments think quality department is redundant,and we often make troubles for them. But once the problems appear,they think we should take some effective measures. It seems our existence is only for solving the problem,and our performance is also measured by the number and extend of solving the problem.
They are all quality managers in famous companies. As a sales person,I deeply understand that their distress and helpless from their so real and lively words. Usually we need to double check the quality of the products before they will be shipped out. Only the quality is double checked and confirmed that there’s no problem,so we dare to deliver the goods to our customers. After all a small flaw on the product will create the bad impression on the customers. Sometimes we saw some drawbacks and asked workshop staff to improve or rework them,and this indeed will influence a lot in their performance and assessment. Then we can see the conflict arised gradually.
In many companies, managers pay much attention on issues like purchase,design,cost,manufacturing etc. and quality is often neglected. Then what’s the true benefits that quality department can bring to the company? How to improve product quality,production efficiency? How to become the maker,maintainer,promoter and supervisor of the management standards? Maybe following content can achieve these goals.
1. Let managers understant quality issue and engage in quality management.
Try to communicate quality issue with managers in a clear language which can be easily unstood instead of using technical terms that often make them confused. If managers fail to understand important quality content,they will not actively participate in quality management. And once complaints arise,they will doubt the quality issue as well. Therefore quality staff should be aware that money is the key point which can really arouse manager’s attention, and quality is an obviously invisible and potential asset,after all quality is the authentic demand of customers. So managers can realize they should be responsible for quality issues rather than leaving the problems to quality staff.
2. Be aware what quality management is.
Quality means meeting customs’ needs. Managing quality is for the purpose of meeting customers’ needs better than competitors for the first time. While quality management’s purpose is to create a culture environment about quality according to the plan and goal,so quality will be becoming a kind of habit for company’s employees gradually. The basic principle for quality management is as below,
– All the work is a process.
– Quality is meeting requirements rather than good.
– The approach to achieve quality is precaution instead of inspection.
– The standard of work is without flaws,it’s not Ok to be just about right.
– Quality is measured by money.
Therefore we can say quality is actually the result of company’s policy and culture,not just controlled and managed by inspection department.
3. Change the way we think and develop it towards the goals of quality management.
Quality is not a technical issue,it’s an issue of management. What we need to do is to help managers proceed the quality management successfully. Blindly polishing the products and keeping the user manual perfect are not the purpose for the quality management.
4. Be confident
We should positively think about customers’ needs and reflect on our weakness. If we eager to seek certification, passively and cautiously expect others to remark our work, this unconfident performance will push the inspection staff into a tough situation. Quality staff should test,diagnose and make a plan for the entire organization like a doctor. After all,managing products is creating a trustable organization.
What is your impression when talking about Germany?
German people are well-organized,they do everything as scheduled plan,they make every effort to achieve good results in their work,and what else?
Germany Manufacturing is obviously well-known all over the world.
When speaking of Germany Manufacturing,you must know the brands like Mercedes Benz,BMW,Siemens,Adidas,etc. These brands have become the symbol of excellent products with high reputation around the world. German started industry very late. This was an agricultural country while England and France completed their industrial revolutions.
So,what are the key factors contributing to world-famous “Made in Germany”?
1. Put more emphasis on products’ quality,cherish good reputation.
Germans like things with historical stories and cultural memories. The ball-point pen produced by German,although it has fallen to the ground more than 10 times,it still can work. The residential buildings will not fall for more than 100 years,even if they were destroyed by the war,Germans would rebuild and recover them quickly. German economy doesn’t reply on the real estate market,and it is hard for German architects to get a building project. If someone fortunately wins the bid,there’s no doubt he will make every effort to design the building to be a fantastic artwork. Therefore each building is unique in Germany,people won’t see two same buildings.
2. The primary purpose of enterprise production is to make sure high-tech products possess practical applications for users,meanwhile the production processes are harmony and safety.
Why do Germany have so many world famous brands? Siemens’ president replied: Owning to our attitude and enthusiasm toward work,German employees focus on details of every production technology. They are greatly convinced it is their duty to commit themselves to producing first-class products,and providing good after-sales services as well. The soul of enterprise production is to design and produce high technical products with practical applications in safety production processes. Germany enterprises don’t pursue the maximum profits. They consider that following enterprise ethic and improving product quality are their duty and obligation.
In Germany,there’s no company which can be rich overnight and become global focus quickly. Many companies are world-famous,they have a history of more than 100 years,pay more attention on product quality and value. Most of them started from small companies focusing on a certain product and a specific field.
There’s a wine workshop with a history of almost 400 years,it was accidentally left in World War II. Adidas was founded in 1920,it also has a history of nearly 100 years.
In Germany,similar products competition and price war will not occur due to the industry protection,in addition,price is not everything. Price war will bring a worse influence to the entire industry. Without doubt Germany enterprises also pursue profits,however their goal is to earn basic profit,they would rather convert part of their profits into higher quality products and better service. They need to consider longer-term issues and future rewards.
Explore the essence and schedule future strategies
Only Berlin,Hamburg,and Frankfurt are international cities in Germany. Others are small and medium-sized cities. Majority people live in cities with population less than 200,000. People can find a common feature in different cities,the highest point of the city must be the steeple of the church,no other building can exceed it.
Generally high buildings only exist in Berlin,Hamburg and Frankfurt. What’s more one condition must be well-considered for a high building: It can’t overwhelm any another building if it will fall down in any direction. Therefore more open space must be left around higher buildings.
The price is expensive for a product with excellent quality
Germans admit, the advantage of manufacturing is not the price,their goods are indeed expensive; while the manufacturing strength lies in the good quality,the exclusive technique solving problems,the excellent after-sales service. Many products developed by German companies are often those units with the leading position in the world,the technique is hard for other countries to manufacture the same product in short period. More than 30% exports are exclusive products without competitors in the international market. A lot of industrial products,from large equipment like digging machine to the stapler,they all have world-leading quality.
Why can many Germany products use for 100 years? An entrepreneur explained it with some reasons. First,the resource is limited,nearly all important industrial raw materials are imported from abroad,as a result all must be sufficiently used,try to extent the working life,this is the greatest savings for raw materials. Another reason,Germans are greatly convinced that product quality will be mainly reflected in whether they are durable when using. Mostly importantly,Germany companies can keep continuous training for employees,it will increase the skills of employees,and reduce the management difficulty for companies as well,as a result product quality will be greatly improved.
Do you learn something from Germany Manufacturing?
Nowadays automatic batching system has been widely used in metallurgy,building materials,chemical industry and so on accompany with technologies updated greatly,and the performance of auto control system definitely determines the accuracy of batching system. But the accuracy is actually hard to be guaranteed in practical batching process. It’s well known that batching accuracy is a key factor affecting product quality,and batching system’s efficiency also plays a crucial role during production process. Therefore in recent years many companies focus more on improving efficiency of batching system as well as batching accuracy.
Composition of auto batching system
Auto batching system consists of three parts:mechanical system,detection system and electrical control. The role of mechanical system is to store ingredients,complete transportation processes,etc.,it is mainly composed of feeder,conveyor belt,hopper,switch of material door…; Detection part includes scale body,load cells,etc.,it’s task is to weigh varieties of ingredients during batching process. For electrical control system including motor,frequency converter,weighing indicator and computer,etc.,it can control the conveying,feeding and discharging processes of materials.
How does auto batching system work?
Set each material’s value upon batching proportion first. Weighing controller or computer controls feeding process of various ingredients in sequence,detects feeding amount of ingredients,and controls feeding motor’s speed according to ingredients’ amount set by system as well,then closes the feeding valve when ingredients’ amount reaches the set point. Finally batching process is completed when all ingredients’ amounts reach the set values.
According to the structure and application features of auto batching system,some controlling methods can be referenced to improve batching accuracy in different production processes.
Working modes of batching system
1. Manual mode
Operator uses manual button to implement batching process,and computer is only for display purpose as a terminal. This way is inefficient,generally applied in system debugging and some special situations.
2. Semi-automatic mode
Computer implements batching process and achieves the right ratio of ingredients according to operator’s instructions.
3. Automatic mode
Batching system automatically completes batching tasks based on selected batching procedure,no further human intervention required during whole process. In batching process,the accuracy will be affected by many factors,including feeding speed,uniformity,hopper vibration,the remainder in dropping stroke and overshoot,etc. Hopper vibration causes that weight signal obtained by load cells can’t accurately reflect practical weight of the ingredients in the hopper. Ingredients flow into hopper from feeder or valve,a portion of the ingredient during flowing process has not yet reached the ingredients surface in the hopper,then the remainder occurs. However the overshoot is due to the delay from the time a stop signal sent by electronic device till the time the valve is actually closed or the feeder stops. The random variation of overshoot caused by the differences in specific ingredient density,flow rate,dropping distance brings great difficulties to the control of batching accuracy.
How to improve the batching accuracy in auto-batching system? Here are three control modes.
1. Computer control
Automatically weigh various ingredients based on the preset dosing plan,controlling all sections of batching to complete the whole process. The key of accurate batching in auto batching system is to control the speed,start and stop of feeding motor. During batching process,motor speed should be adjusted according to feeding amount,therefore high-speed mode supported by low-speed mode can be applied to promote both batching efficient and dosing accuracy. If ingredient amount in the hopper is far from the set value,high-speed feeding mode is adopted to achieve high efficient of batching. And low-speed feeding mode should be started when ingredient amount in the hopper is close to the set value. The motor stops rotating when the spill value is reached due to the remainder in the air. Actually batching system will set the spill value for motor stopping according to the operating conditions,because each material density is different,so the weight of each air remainder is also different after motor stops rotating. The end of feeding time is determined by drop compensation coefficient of each ingredient. Reading the final weight and comparing it with the set value after the weighing hopper is stable,that can be the basis for the next selection of drop compensation coefficient. That means the current batching will use the average value of last batching drop value and drop compensation value to compensate for drop process,this way can increase batching accuracy accompany with the increase of batching number.
2. PLC control
Combining computer with traditional relay control system can enable industrial control process more flexible and reliable. In batching system PLC is in charge of receiving external signals to judge the operating status of current system,and output a variety of signals which can control switch,relay,electromagnetic valve and other components to perform corresponding actions. In actual batching process,motor starts to run;feeding system adopts high-speed mode first;when the ingredients weight approaches the target value,dot motion control mode should be adopted to ensure accuracy. Moreover PLC is also responsible for receiving the control commands from computer to complete batching control.
3. Weighing controller
Weighing controllers are typically designed for packaging,sorting,auto batching and other applications. They can collect weight signals,deal with them and output corresponding control signals. It is one of the most common control modes in batching system as weighing controller is easy to install and debug. Batching weighing controller can detect and control ingredients with high reliability,improve batching accuracy greatly,achieve weight proportion of ingredients directly. Generally batching controller has two feeding speed:high-speed and low speed. High-speed feeding is adopted at the begging of batching,the spill value of high-speed feeding will determine the feeding amount for low-speed process. After the set value is reached,high-speed changes to low-speed,and spill value of low-speed is to compensate for the impact of ingredients remaining in the air,so actual weight can approach to the set value as close as possible. Therefore setting weighing controller properly according to pratical production process,as well as setting proper spill value of fast feeding and slow feeding,then batching accuracy can be controlled and insured.
Batching weighing controller is suitable for processes with a uniform feeding speed. That is to say,batching accuracy will be affected if feeding speed fluctuates greatly which will cause a large dosing deviation.
At present predictive control algorithm is introduced into batching system,which contributes to some uncertainty factors of batching process can be well controlled,batching error is reduced,and weighing speed is expedited as well,this mode is suitable for batching systems requiring high accuracy.
Electronic weighing system is generally consisted of weighing platform,load cell,junction box,weighing terminal and so on. Weighing terminal is one of the important parts in weighing system. Firstly load cells output the weighing signals and signals are aggregated by junction box; then weighing terminal will amplify weak signals; after filtering step,A/D conversion and digital process the readable weighing data will be displayed on the screen. In addition,if systems need to connect signals to PLC、Touch Screen、Computer、Printer,etc.,weighing terminal also can output different signals via interface circuit to transfer weight data and control signal to the devices of other systems. Normally weighing terminal need to add more functions like setting/calibration/zero setting/tare/zero tracking…, so it will have good versatility and convenience.
In practical use varieties of fault symptoms may occur in weighing terminals,and these faults may be caused by many reasons. In order to diagnose the faults of weighing terminal,we must be familiar with the working principle of weighing terminal and the functions of each module,the diagnosis ways as well. Check the fault-related devices and determine the specific faulty location. Here are several common ways to use during troubleshooting procedure.
1. Observation
We can examine the terminal directly through our watch,hearing,touching and sniffing.
* Watch the junction box,and check whether the wiring between terminal and load cells is working or not? Whether the power circuit or control circuit is connected properly or not? Moreover observe whether inner circuit of terminal has been burnt or not,is there any water,is insurance component disconnected,etc.?
* Hear terminal’s inside to check if there is an abnormal noise;
* Touch the transformer,filter condenser and so on to check if the temperature of components is unusual?
* Smell to check if there is burnt odor inside of terminal?
2. Pull out and Insert
Pull out a component and insert analog component to check where the fault is and find out the cause of fault.
Example: If weighing terminal’s display is unstable,we can pull out the cable connecting junction box with terminal,replace the cable with analog device,if terminal’s display returns to stable,therefore we can come to the conclusion that the problem lies in the junction box or load cells,otherwise check the fault from weighing terminal.
3. Alternative
Using good components or circuit boards and so on instead of the doubtful faulty parts,check whether it can work well or not,then make further efforts to figure out the fault and the cause.
4. Comparison
Test the data of voltage,resistance,waveform etc. to the uncertain parts by using multimeter,oscilloscope and other devices,compare the data with stated value,then check and determine whether the component is faulty or not.
5. Measure weighing terminal in a particular state
Measure the levels of each point by using multimeter when weighing terminal is in a particular state,then analyze the reason of fault according to logic principle.
6. Code diagnosis
Weighing terminal shows the error code through self-diagnosis,check the error code to determine where is the problem.
In conclusion,don’t panic in case of some problems occur. Keep calm and diagnose the faults as well as the cause of the failure from the whole working principle of the weighing terminal and weighing system,check the parts that may cause the problems one by one,narrow the scope down step by step,and finally the fault can be eliminated accurately.
Weighing equipment has been involved in varieties of industrial fields now. It is used widely due to the multi-function and high accuracy. However in order to meet the demands of practical application,we should consider several critical factors to ensure a suitable and reliable design and avoid problems.
* Application of Weighing Equipment
Weighing purpose is the first factor we should consider during design process. Is the weighing equipment used to weigh solid or liquid? Is it applied in place based on laboratory scale or a larger scale? Is the object supposed to be weighed uniform-sized like capsules,tablets or small parts? Can it be used for automatic weighing system in a whole production line? How to control and adapt to changing circumstances of a weighing vessel,such as heating,cooling or mixing?
* Weighing Capacity
What is the expected weighing capacity,the size range of the object to be weighed? Does it need overload protection? Does it measure objects through weight or compression tension? Try more ways,to test with more weights,reduce the stress or the damage of sensitive internal electronic components within the specific capacity,and make sure higher precision.
* Weighing Accuracy
Accuracy is an essential factor or weighing purpose,including resolution,repeatability,linearity and uncertainty of measurement. What is your expected accuracy? How to choose high-quality electronic components? How will these components affect weighing accuracy during assembly and operation processes? Consider what kind of design can provide and ensure the accuracy you need.
* Material
Basic materials for weighing equipment cover aluminum alloy,carbon steel,aluminum-coated steel and galvanized steel. Using stainless steel is more qualified for higher level requirement of cleanliness and environment protection.
To ensure your final weighing system perform well and accurately,there are still many detailed factors should be paid attention to.
Weighing technology has been widely used in varieties of industries. Weighing transducers,weighing terminals,weighing controllers and other weighing devices are applied in explosive environments more and more. And how to prevent explosions of weighing devices? We should know some basic explosion-proof knowledge.
Usually an explosion will happen when sufficient oxygen,explosive substances,and ignition source exist at the same time. In this case,controlling one of the elements at least to avoid three elements meeting together is the purpose of explosion-proof.
Most weighing systems are comprised of load cells,weighing controller,junction boxes and cables. These components can be put in a safety place or a dangerous position,it’s up to weighing application. To reduce the risk of fire or explosion,each component located in a hazardous area should be protected. Here are some approaches to avoid an explosion in hazardous environments:
* Using intrinsically safe systems.
Any spark or thermal effect produced under conditions specified in the standard can not ignite stipulated circuit in the environments with explosive gas.
It is a safety design to restrain the energy of ignition source to avoid explosion. Sparks and thermal effects caused by weighing devices under regular operations and faulted circuit should be less than the minimum ignition energy and auto-ignition temperature of explosive gas.
In fact intrinsically safety design is a low power design technology. Therefore it is well adapted to industrial process weighing controllers or other devices.
* Using explosion-proof enclosure
Electrical components are placed in a very sturdy metal enclosure,ignition source is isolated from explosive substances. Even if an internal explosion happens,but the enclosure will not be damaged and the explosion will not spread to outside of the enclosure.
* Sand filling
This method involves the potential ignition source of surrounding fine sand. It can prevent internal explosion from external ignition.Non-flammable devices should be used,so they can’t release heat or electric energy which is sufficient to ignite flammable vapor or gas under normal conditions.
* Purification and pressure devices
This protection method requires a sealed enclosure filled with inert gas to prevent the entry of flammable gas,vapor or dust.
When weighing devices are used in hazardous environment,adequate safeguard procedure should be secured to prevent an explosion. Usually an explosion need sufficient amount of flammable gas,steam,air and fire,etc.,we must make sure these elements won’t appear while weighing.
A series of advanced technologies will overturn the entire manufacturing system primarily,including Artificial Intelligence(AI),Internet of Things(IOT),Advanced Robots,Automation,Wearable Devices,3D Printing. The Evolvement of these technologies and other latest technologies,as well as technologies’ application speed will shape the future of manufacturing. It is estimated that Industry 4.0 will be presented perfectly in future manufacturing.
Mass production era will be over. Depending on popular digital technology,most production orders can be fully customized and delivered in real time. At this point,any product on the market can be formed electrical product via selfie mode of digital technology whether in home,car,transportation,entertainment,education or personal health field. In such a manufacturing environment,value factors are aiming at R & D,sales,market and data.
In the first decade of this century,a wave of strong venture investment has expedited technology development. Many investors thought the first investments related to AI would be failure at that time,but they were wrong. Innovations of AI-related fields presented explosive growth,super computing technologies were continuously improving as well as increasingly sophisticated data analytics technologies were rapidly developed which effectively overcome this issue.
After breaking through early image and sound recognition,AI technique has been applied to a wider range of fields through self-learning. In the early 2020s,AI has completely changed manufacturing situation and redefined all aspects of our lives.
2020~2030,about 10 years of effort,AI will become the core of industrial manufacturing. Machines with deep learning function will achieve technique breakthroughs one by one,succeed in “understanding” and handling massive data. At first AI with narrow definition only can implement single instruction,but the following development speed is beyond the imagination of all people. Machines will join in the universal AI field,integrate many complicated tasks while their performance will get unprecedented improvements.
“Digital Brain”super smart will rapidly extend to other industries and regions. This technique will often acquire powerful support and allowance from government’s R & D department. Since 2020,competitions among powerful countries will have already exceeded the economy scope and quickly extended to super computing and AI fields.
IOT devices will continue to increase. Transducers with high interconnection will be existing everywhere. They will be extensively used in factories,homes,even every corner of human body. The number of devices accessing IOT will reach as high as 300 billion. Together with advanced big data analytics,human decision-making process,consumer experience and resource management capabilities will have been significant enhanced,these integrated factors will allow the great promotions of powerful predictive capability,descriptive capability,analytics capability, and planning capability which based on complicated algorithm. At the same time,advanced robots and 3D printing technologies will be rapidly developing. Robots will be commonly used in all industries. 3D printing will achieve great technique upgrade from a single material to large-scale application and change the industry pattern.
All these revolutionary innovations working together will completely shake traditional industrial activities and manufacturing processes. “Super aggregation” of key technologies will affect and redefine manufacturing value chain.
After 2010,a wave of technology revival will boost globalization once again. The new round of technology upgrading will primarily turn into enhancement of productivity and production efficiency,resource management and control,new opportunities for consumption upgrade. In conclusion,revolutionary technique’s driving effect on economy growth will be dispersed in different economies and secondary markets.
Many developing countries will be proceeding to the overtaking of national economy by taking advantage of new technologies. While some other countries will remain indifferent to the changes brought by new technologies,other countries will take full advantage of the opportunities offered by these technologies,and develop their own economy rapidly and continuously. But the applications of new technologies in developing countries will still result in different effects. Some areas lacking facilities and talents reserve will not catch up with the manufacturing revolution.
Now in the virtual ecosystem of human-computer interaction,plants feature the capabilities of real-time communication and on-site integration. Instead of past inefficient mode of non-automated and resources wasting situations,a brand new production mode is appearing. This new mode is simple and efficient,and manufacturing management base is also upgraded.Wearable devices reclassify workers based on the technical skills. Then the next virtual & reality training can quickly improve work efficiency. Perception technology will provide location,productivity,security and other series of key information. New technique will endow labor groups unprecedented capabilities. Workers will be worried about the works’ quantity and quality left by machines. Many experts think it will depend on how close you are to top level technology. History has shown only those revenues presenting the assimilation of defining new techniques could achieve huge rewards quickly. Labor market will move to two levels,one is the formal industries that benefit from technique assimilation,the other is informal industries that survive in seeking a highly dynamic situation.
Fieldbus is designed with a lot of advantages for industrial communication,such as
* Simple wiring
* Short project cycle with low cost for installation
* Easy to maintain
* High reliability,good stability,and strong ability of anti-interference
* Fast communication speed
* Safety system meets environment profection requirements.
Therefore many enterprises are paying more and more attention on the importance of fieldbus.
Some beginners are easy to confuse fieldbus with IIOT(Industrial Internet of Things). In fact fieldbus concept is indeed related to IIOT concept. IIOT involves load cell,video device,multimedia and some perceiving and controlling technologies. However Fieldbus,Industrial Ethernet,wireless communication serve as network communication technologies are also involved. In addition,IIOT also involves information processing technologies like data cleaning as well as analysis,data modeling,data storage,etc.,and other security management technologies(encryption and authentication,firewall,intrusion detection). So it can be concluded from above,Fieldbus is only a part of whole technology system in IIOT.
1. What is Fieldbus?
Traditional workshop automation monitoring and information integration system.
Figure 1:
Traditional automation monitoring system adopts 4-20mA/24VDC signal which information is limited,it is difficult to exchange information between devices or between systems and outside devices,so the control system is an isolated part in factory,which has seriously restricted to realize information integration and comprehensive automation of enterprises.
Workshop automation monitoring and information integration system based on fieldbus
Figure 2:
Automation monitoring system based on fieldbus adopts computer digital communication technology,enable control system and devices to join in factory information network. So information communication range will extend to production site. For example,using Fieldbus technology,a communication cable can inspect the connection of field intelligent devices with information interface,digital communication instead of 4-20mA/24VDC signal can control devices,detect and remote control industrial parameters and so on.
Fieldbus is a digital,bi-directional communication network which has multiple branches and can connect intelligent field devices of automation system. That is to say,fieldbus sets decentralized controlling and communicating devices as network node,to eventually form the controlling network which can deliver information freely and complete whole controlling task.
2. Development of Fieldbus
At present both science technology and information communication way are developing rapidly. Globalization and digitization are oriented. Automatic control system as the outcome from the development of information and science,it also has great changes in the past 200 years since 19th century. In conclusion,there are five generations as below,
First generation: Pneumatic signal control system(PCS)
Second generation: Electronic analog instrument process control system(ACS)
Third generation: Centralized digital control system(CCS)
Four generation: Distributed control system(DCS)
Five generation: Fieldbus control system(FCS)
3. Global Industry Network Market Analysis
Figure 3：HMS Data Analysis
The latest survey by HMS,a Swedish network specialist,shows that in 2016,the number of fieldbus security nodes accounted for 48% of global industrial network market. It can be easily proved fieldbus is still the most widely used network in present industry environment. Many advantages of fieldbus like simplicity,reliability and flexibility etc. have received great preference of users.
4. Fieldbus Market in China
Figure 4:
Affected by slowdown investment and declined international demand,fieldbus market witnessed a negative growth in 2016 and it is predicted to be at a low growth rate in the coming years.
5. Eleven Kinds of Fieldbus
(1) FF(Fieldbus Foundation) is based on interconnection of ISO/OSI development system,takes it’s physical layer,data link layer,application layer as the corresponding layer of FF communication model. Furthermore user layer is added on application layer. The user layer primary aims at demand of automation control and measurement,defines the uniform rules for information access,adopts device description language to set common function blocks.
Figure 5：
(2) HART(Highway Addressable Remote Transducer) was first introduced by US company Rosement in 1985. It is a kind of protocol for bi-directional communication between smart terminals and control devices. This protocol was supported by over 80 well-known instrument companies. HART Communication Foundation was established in 1993. HART fieldbus provides two simultaneous signal channels:4~20mA analog signal and a digital signal. These two channels can supply an integrated communication solution which is easy to use or configure. Moreover this reliable solution is low cost. Figure 6:
(3) CAN(Controller Area Network) is a serial communication protocol developed by Bosch of Germany in the early 1980s. This protocol can solve real-time data exchange between many control units and test instruments. As an international standard CAN has been supported by Motorala/Intel/Philips/Siemens/NEC and other companies and extensively used in discrete control field.
Figure 7:
(4) LONWORKS was developed by US company Echelon in the late 1980s,in 1992 the local operating network was introduced.Initially it was applied to building automation but then used in industrial field network soon. LonWorks fieldbus struture is simple,easy to wiring,expand capacity as well as add new functions. For different function requirements,just need to select different control node and write corresponding procedures,next connect it with control network to meet the expected demand without any addtional change of network structure.
Figure 8:
(5) DeviceNet was introduced by US Rockwell Automation Company in 1994. This network achieved network interconnection with low cost as well as good performance. Trough DeviceNet network can be connected with many industrial devices like Connectable Switch,photoelectric sensor,valve bank,motor starter,process sensor,VVVF devices,solid state overload protection,barcode reader,I/O and HMI.It greatly eliminates expensive wiring cost.
Figure 9:
(6) INTERBUS is the first kind of fieldbus in the world. It was developed by Phoenix Contact Company in 1984 and displayed in Hannover Fair in 1987. It developed fast and applied widely. INTERBUS has successively become German Standard DIN9258,European Standard EN50254 and International Standard IEC61158. Interbus diversified performance parameters are very close to the virtual needs of automobile production,it is the earliest fieldbus to enter automobile industry,and now it is the most welcome fieldbus in automobile industry as well. Automobile industry is the traditional application area for Interbus.
Figure 10:
(7) PROFIBUS served as either German National Standard DIN19245 or European Standard prEN50170,ISO/OSI model is also it’s reference model. Profibus-Dp,Profibus-FMS,Profibus-PA form Profibus series.
Figure 11:
DP type is approriate for process automation application to disperse high speed transmission between periphrals. FMS stands for field information specification which is suitable for general automation in textile industry,building automation,programmable controller,low-voltage switch etc. And PA is a type for process automation which complies with Standard IEC1158-2.
(8) WorldFIP is the first fieldbus technology introduced by FIP in France in 1988. In fact WorldFIP provided the basic network structure of fieldbus which made fieldbus system featuring information technology preliminarily.
Figure 12:
WorldFIP North American part was merged with ISP into FF,but WorldFIP European part remains independent and headquater is in France. It dominates European market and especially occupies about 60% of France market. WorldFIP features single bus structure to meet the specific need of different applications without additional gateway and bridge,the software can provide solutions for the convergence of high speed and low speed.
(9) CC-Link(Control & Communication Link) is the link system for control and communication.In November of 1996,a number of companies led by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation introduced CC-Link. It developed rapidly. CC-Link has wined a large share in Asia and currently it is growing rapidly in Europe and North America.
Figure 13:
In CC-Link system,control and information can be both delivered to the site network at a high speed of 10M bit/s. Excellent performance with low cost make CC-Link to be used widely. It can not only solve the problem of industrial complex wiring but also feature excellent anti-noise and compatibility. CC-Link is a kind of device-oriented network,it also can cover higher level control layer and lower level sense level.
(10) Modbus is a communications protocol developed by Modicon (now a part of Schneider Electric) in 1979. Schneider Electric introduced ModbusTCP in 1996. Modbus is widely used and developed in industrial areas.It is a standard network communication protocol which supports RS232,RS422,RS485 and EtherNet devices etc.
Figure 14:
(11) PowerLink was introduced by B & R in 2001. It is an open source fieldbus with good real-time performance. Powerlink can be implemented on different platforms(such as FPGA/ARM,etc.) based on common Ethernet without need of professional chip. Powerlink complies with IEC standard,communication description standard is IEC61784-2,service and protocol description standard is IEC61158-300/IEC61158-400/IEC61158-500/IEC61158-600,and device description standard is ISO15745-1.
Figure 15:
6. Fieldbus Comparison
Figure 16:
7. Fieldbus Development Trend
(1) In a view of technical point
-Low speed fieldbus areas will continue to develop and improve. At present,fieldbus are mainly low speed products. Whether FF,Profibus or other fieldbus all can implement process control with low speed request. Therefore it is hard to dominate the global market in low speed control areas.
-High speed fieldbus technology is developing with intense competition
High speed fieldbus is primarily used in interconnection of control network,which can connect PC,PLC,and other smarter as well as faster devices,meanwhile achieve the connection of low speed fieldbus bridges.It is necessary to fully implement the decentralized control structure of whole system.The competition in this area is more intense.
(2) In a view of application point
-Network structure tends to simplified
Earlier fieldbus models consisted of seven layers.Now Rockwell proposed three-layer structure automation.Fisher Rosemount proposed two-layer automation.Even one-layer structure was recommended,that can go from Ethernet to the bottom.Now consensus structure is three layer devices and two layer network.
-A lot of proven,developed and versatile technologies are widely used.
For communication protocol of management layer,more and more enterprises adopt the most popular TCP/IP protocol and Ethernet.Generally operating devices are industrial PC or ordinary PC.Control devices adopt standard PLC or industrial control computer. While control network is a variety of fieldbus application fields.
8. Fieldbus Manufacturers
Figure 17:
9. Fieldbus Application
Figure 18:
The original article is from following link,
atrontecscales 