Working three times faster with wireless help

An industrial wireless network has revolutionised the working day for warehouse workers at the electronics manufacturer Elko.

"It's faster. It's easier. And it´s now more motivational to work than it was before,» says one of the workers who takes goods off the warehouse shelves at the electronics manufacturer Elko.

The work of moving goods from shelf to lorry has become easier for the people who sort goods for Elko. They now no longer have to keep track of which goods they have to retrieve, and where and when they have to do it. The workers are told this by a hand-held computer that they carry.

A computer calculates as effectively as possible when the workers have to take goods off the shelves. Messages about which goods are to be selected, when and how, are continuously sent to the wireless computers that the workers carry - as the workers go from one shelf to another.

Stacks of paper containing pick-lists have been replaced by simple, updated messages from a computer.

The warehouse workers now pick out three times more goods during the day than they did before the management introduced this system. And it is an industrial wireless network - which conveys the calculations from the computer system to the computers that the warehouse workers have - that makes all this possible.

A powerful network produces the signals
The Elko warehouse contains a lot of steel and concrete. Corners and girders. And long distances. The signals from a traditional wireless network, like the ones commonly found in Norwegian homes, do not reach here. And if the signals do not do their job, the suppliers do not receive their goods - and Elko loses money. Operations depend on wireless signals that reach the site from a reliable wireless network - irrespective of the working conditions.

Elko has chosen to purchase this from the supplier Radiolinx. Roughly 20 powerful boxes hang from the ceiling beams in the production hall and transmit the wireless signals - regardless of any obstacles. They are industrial routers that can tolerate intensive use and last a very long time. The only reason for Elko replacing one of these boxes recently was that a worker drove into it with a lorry."

"In any case, we are very pleased with this system," says Stig Nerland, who is a systems consultant at Elko.

For further information, e-mail: bforgue@prosoft-technology.com   

Engine high power connectors at high T° ( 260° C)

Souriau is extending its range of engine connectors to meet electrical power demands up to 80 A continuous rating in an external environment at 260 °C, with a 20% gain in compactness. The use of » all electric» on aircraft to replace hydraulic, mechanical or pneumatic energy is attracting increasing attention. Reliability and safety are increased, while costs are reduced, thanks among other factors to a weight saving which directly impacts fuel consumption. That is why Airbus, for example, has replaced one of the three flight control hydraulic systems of the A380 with an hydro-electrical network.

To support such a technological revolution, Souriau has extended its range of engine connectors, derived from the MIL-C-83723 standard and qualified according to the EN 2997 and ESC10 standards, so that it includes power connectors. The principal technological challenge of this new development was to match with high currents, high vibrations and high ambient temperatures, as this connector must be suitable for use under the most extreme conditions : those of aircraft engines.

To achieve this, Souriau has exploited a new contact technology which, by means of a bracelet optimizing the area of contact between pin and socket , is capable of conveying up to 80 A continuously in an environment at a temperature of 260 °C, while being 20% smaller than a standard contact of equivalent performance.

This range extension consists of two new contact sizes accepting currents up to 60 A and 80 A. These contacts can be used in various EN 2997 connector configurations: 2, 4, even 6 power contacts per connector for maximum density. Various other developments derived from this technology have also been introduced, such as hermetic power connectors with guaranteed leakage rates of less than 10-9 atm.cc/s.

This new Souriau power technology has been qualified by Airbus (ABS1426, ABS1427, ABS1343, ABS1344), and is now used in many A380 actuators driven by  electrical power. It has also since been applied to MIL-DTL-38999 connectors.

For further information, view website: www.souriau-industrial.com   Refer to next page

The new version of the PcVue software edited by ARC
Informatique puts the accent on opening up links to new protocols

The new version of the PcVue software edited by ARC Informatique puts the accent on opening up links to new protocols, such as integration of OPC KEPWARE servers and Smart Generator Step7®. Version 9.0 features major innovations that help to cut deployment and operating costs even further for process monitoring projects and utilities.

PcVue was created in 1985, and it is now a new-generation SCADA software package that sets itself apart by its advanced ergonomics and its powerful object-oriented tools. It considerably shortens development and deployment lead times for supervision applications covering industrial processes and utilities, whether they are in assembly factories, or on chemicals, pharmaceuticals or food processing sites, or even used for motorway, transport or power transmission infrastructures, etc. To develop and upgrade PcVue, the ARC Informatique teams were able to draw on their cumulative experience covering over 38,000 licensed installations.

Right from the start of the development work on PcVue 9.0, the accent was placed on opening up the systems and integrating new protocols. To begin with, servers from OPC KEPWARE, world leader for communication protocols, were integrated. Bundles were added to enable integration of over a hundred new automatic controller protocols. To add to those already included (Siemens, Schneider, etc.), the systems now support brands such as ALLEN BRADLEY, BECKHOFF, HONEYWELL, MITSUBISHI, YOKOGAWA, and so on. Then Smart Generator Step 7® was added, to cut development time by federating the monitoring database with that of Siemens automatic controllers. Lastly, configuration file exchange via FTP servers has been natively integrated in the product. This enables information to be stored or read on an FTP server. In particular, reports can be transferred and made available on the network automatically.

PcVue 9.0 is one of the first SCADA tools on the market to be fully validated on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and SQL Server 2008, but of course it is also compatible with Windows XP, Windows VISTA, and Windows 2003 server to enable full returns on the investments made by the many customers already using
earlier versions of PcVue.

PcVue V.9 is also set apart by the significant improvements made to its ergonomics and its ease of use
1) FactoryLinkTM Smart Generator has been further upgraded to make migration to PcVue even simpler. As well as conversion of all the graphics (mimics, symbols, and templates) and the base concerned, the latest version of the FactoryLink Smart Generator enables automatic conversion and presentation of TCP communication objects and mapping, and takes the tag scaling requirements into account.

2) CAD Smart Generator, for native import of CAD files. With its native interface for integrating CAD files (dwg, dxf) CAD Smart Generator can be used to link AutoCAD®  lock references with PcVue objects. The PcVue 9.0 mimics thus created have a bitmap background image, together with animated symbols and all the
corresponding variables, to replace each source file block occurrence.

3) The PcVue 9.0 graphic interface also includes many enhanced features. To facilitate generation of 3D mimics and meet the recurrent needs of automatic generation, the models and 3D symbols can now be saved in text format. This means that these objects can be generated by outside tools, to cut development lead times and reduce risks of errors. Filtering, sorting, and analysing alarm or settings windows is made even easier with the V9 version. The settings windows now support advanced sorting functions and pop-up windows. To monitor an event over a specific timeframe, the settings windows now support time filtering by start and end date or start date and direction. This makes information easier to access.

ARC INFORMATIQUE in profile
ARC Informatique is a European leader in SCADA/HMI software. Our innovative solutions allow supervision and control of industrial processes, services and facilities. Over 38,000 licensed copies of ARC Informatique products are installed worldwide.

For further information, view website: www.arcinfo.com   Refer to page 169