How Mobile Devices are Improving Maintenance Operations

Tablets and smartphones have become indispensable parts of most of our lives today. Understandably, they’ve also worked their way into our workplaces. There are some questions surrounding this fact – questions largely related to security.

The security concerns are justified in large part by the fact that many of these monitored systems are controlling some essential processes – distributing electricity and water, mining and drilling for resources, cultivating and processing food, among many others. These are not processes that deal well with disruption or – even worse – catastrophic failure.

While some of the security concerns are certainly valid, the benefits of mobile devices are impossible to overlook, and the truth is that many of the security concerns are not inherent in the devices themselves, but in the way that the control system and network infrastructure are configured.

Anyone who has spent a significant amount of time working in automation and process control could easily think of some scenarios in which having mobile access to live process data could have saved some time or prevented a stoppage or failure of some sort. Consider some of the pains that mobile devices can help eliminate:

• A field operator must call the control room to ask for the reading on a certain piece of equipment (i.e. valve, switch) he/she is looking at or manipulating.
• A field operator must call the control room to confirm whether a certain piece of equipment has truly been shut down for maintenance work because it sounds like it is still running.
• A field technician unknowingly works on a live line because the control room has shut down the wrong line.
• A field operator must call the control room to describe equipment schematics because he/she has no access to an HMI or drawings on the floor at that moment.
• A field operator must call the control room to pull out the manual for a piece of equipment because the panel on the one he/she is looking at is different from the others he/she is used to.
• A field operator must describe over the radio what he/she is seeing – lights on a panel, leaks, etc.
• An operator must take a check-list out to the field, return to control room and enter the results into a form or spreadsheet, or into the control HMI.
• Constant calling back and forth between field and control room when testing or calibrating a measurement or control element.

When properly configured and combined with role-based user access control, several new possibilities emerge. The time saved in the field can now be used to perform other tasks or implement programs for optimization. A safer, more productive workforce is a very real benefit, and that’s not something that business owners or managers will take lightly.

A mobile device can be used to remotely monitor processes and equipment, view drawings or manuals, review an online checklist, enter information into a form, as well as adding value as a tool for remote collaboration.

Excerpted from the whitepaper “The Benefits of Data Mobility”, downloaded at www.scada.com.

The Separate Benefits of Real-Time and Historical Data Visualization

It’s safe to say that everyone has some sort of concept of data visualization. We live in a very visual world, replete with pie charts, trend graphs, heat maps, and infographics. The use of graphics to display data for easy consumption and analysis is very common. In fact, it has been happening since ancient times. What is less common is the graphic display of real-time data – data that is continuously updated as new data is generated by connected devices or people. Real-time data visualization – when done correctly – can transform decision-making and lead to a completely new understanding of the people, places, and things with which we interact.

While most of us have encountered real-time data visualization at one time or another (think of the digital signage at the airport keeping you apprised of flight schedules or the sign at your local bank displaying the current temperature), most haven’t considered how this concept differs from the standard type of data visualization we encounter in reports and presentations.

This distinction between real-time data visualization and historical data visualization is key, as they serve two very different purposes and should not be – as they often are – treated in the same way.

Real-time data visualization does not used past data to plan future activities (though historical data can and should be used to plan the creation of the real-time visualization). Real-time visualization is used to provide an instantaneous look at the current conditions of a person, place or thing.

Real-time data is not used to make plans; it is used to make decisions. This distinction requires that we approach real-time data visualization with a different philosophical and practical tact than that used to approach historical visualization.

Excerpted from the whitepaper “Real-Time Data Visualization Essentials”, downloaded at www.scada.com.

3 Ways to Use Information Modeling for Continual Improvement in Your Enterprise

The concept of continual improvement has been a regular feature of modern manufacturing enterprises. Its gaining favor now in different circles, and for good reason. Continually making small incremental improvements to business processes has proven time and again to have a positive impact on production quality, efficiency, and safety. What’s not as well known, however, is how much more effective continual improvement programs can be when used in conjunction with an information model.

An information model can be thought of essentially as a virtual representation of your enterprise, and it provides the organizational and relational structure of your enterprise’s data. Providing context and organization to the raw data is the first step in turning it into actionable information.

Data included in your information model can be drawn from nearly any source. Include data from databases, web services, sensors, PLCs , calculations, real-time user input, or data from other enterprise applications like ERP or MES systems – essentially anything of relevance that can add value and support decision-making.

By modeling your information in this way and providing context to your real-time data, you can visualize your asset management data alongside your process control data, or your maintenance data alongside procurement data. Any data relevant to your business processes is now accessible to your visualization system, and opportunities for optimization become much more apparent when data is presented in context.

For instance, you can visualize how a particular motor’s production throughput is affected by changes in the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). You can see how the OEE is affected by maintenance operations. The sort of real-time situational awareness enabled by information modeling reveals new opportunities to lower maintenance and operation costs by maximizing asset performance. By defining the relationships in your information model, the data that you visualize becomes much more understandable and actionable.

Another – and perhaps greater – benefit of information modeling is the ability to track the results of incremental changes in real-time across multiple channels.  This allows for faster analysis and greater collaboration. It also becomes much easier to establish new standards, as information entered into your information model is immediately accessible to all who use it. Also, additional media – like videos and manuals – can be included in your model to ensure that all personnel have immediate access to the latest standards and best practices.

There are many ways information modeling can help your continual improvement efforts. Here are three categories of benefits many business owners are already seeing.

1.      Analytics, Reporting, and Condition-Based Task Automation

If managed through the right software system, one of the great benefits of information modeling is that your data is normalized and available in a consistent format, regardless of where the raw data was generated. This presents tremendous opportunities for data analysis, reporting, and task automation. It allows machine-to-machine communication, business-to-machine communication, and business-to business communication. An event in one device or location can automatically trigger an action in another device or location. Automated reports can include data from multiple sources. This is the essence of the Internet of Things (IoT) – the interconnection of all of assets and their associated data.

This also presents opportunities for improvement maintenance operations, as machines can generate their own work requests or alert personnel of potential problems. The possibilities are truly endless when we free ourselves from the data silos many of us struggle to integrate daily.

2.      Data Mining and Activity-Based Intelligence

The US Department of Defense employs a process known as Activity-Based Intelligence (ABI) to find useful details in large sets of data. The process involves creating an automated mechanism to sift through large sets of data in search of anomalies.

Today’s industrial enterprises are finding ways to employ similar techniques. Huge amounts of data are being recorded and opportunities for improvement are known to exist, but how do we know what to look for and how do we find it? The same sort of ABI employed by the DoD is finding a place in the commercial world.

If we can review our historical process data to define the circumstances surrounding certain conditions (unplanned downtime, spikes in energy consumption, etc.), we may be able to recognize repeated patterns or anomalous activity related to these specific circumstances, thereby enabling us to act to correct the situation before it happens again. By finding the data that stands out from the rest, detailing the characteristics of that data, and looking for those characteristics elsewhere, we may be able to pinpoint causal relationships that were previously obscure or misleading.

On the flipside, the same techniques can be employed to define the circumstances surrounding periods of extended productivity or energy efficiency. The same techniques used to discern the cause of deficiencies can be used to optimize asset performance and improve the quality and efficiency of our processes.

By creating analytic mechanisms aligned with the principles of ABI, we are able to create a safer, more efficient, more productive work environment.

3.      Repeatable and Scalable

As you make the changes that will lead to a more efficient, more productive, and safer business, these changes become part of your information model.

Your information model not only helps you identify opportunities for improvement and publicize updated standards and procedures, but also gives you a means for endless repetition and growth. Your information model is progressive; it can always be modified or expanded. As you make successful optimizations, any changes made to your information model can be easily repeated for any other relevant processes. You are also able to expand your model by adding new locations, new assets, new process cells – whatever it is that you have optimized about your model can be repeated or extended indefinitely.

Excerpted from the whitepaper “Continual Improvement with Status”, downloaded at www.scada.com.

4 Ways Mobile Devices Have Transformed Remote Monitoring and Process Control

Mobile devices have changed many things about the way we live and work today. They’ve changed the way we interact with each other, consume new media, purchase goods and services – they have become essential lifestyle accessories in a relatively short period of time. This is true not only for individuals, but entire industries have been impacted in a significant way.

With that in mind, here’s a look at 4 ways in which mobile devices are changing remote monitoring and process control.

Remote Device Monitoring

Mobile devices can be used as portable HMIs (Human Machine Interfaces) to monitor remote equipment in the same way that standard HMIs are used. Field operators can quickly and easily assess the current conditions of a process or piece of equipment without being tied to a workstation.

This can be particularly useful for checking the system-wide effects of repairs or configurations that are made to field equipment, rather than manually visiting each piece of equipment to take measurements or waiting until someone in the control room lets him/her know about any potential problems or abnormalities.

There may also be situations in which a problem can be diagnosed and corrected without even visiting the site. By giving field operators and technicians the ability to access real-time data from wherever they may be, it may possible to eliminate any travel time or expense, freeing the operator or technician to work on other tasks. This may also eliminate the need for the technician to call back to the control room for updated information. This means the control room operator now has more time as well.

Viewing Documents and Other Media

In addition to monitoring and controlling processes and equipment, mobile devices can also serve as a sort of repository for useful information, providing a handy reference for materials that would ordinarily fill several books and would be nearly impossible to carry around over the course of a work day.

New workers can reference training materials like manuals, pictures and videos. Use tablets and smartphones to access safety guidelines or troubleshooting procedures. View schematics and diagrams.  Review incident reports or outstanding work orders.

If you think of mobile devices as nothing more than a portable library of relevant media, this use alone is enough to justify the investment.

Filling out Forms or Checklists

Operators and technicians frequently have a need to add information to a database regarding certain tasks performed – or simply as part of their day-to-day responsibilities. Whether performing inspections, completing service orders, updating personnel files, or any number of other tasks, mobile devices can save employees a tremendous amount of time by allowing them to perform these tasks from anywhere at any time.

Field technicians can update the control system instantaneously from the field – without having to return to the control room to fill out a form or deliver the results to a control room operator over the phone.  It’s not hard to imagine a scenario where a technician in the field, several miles from any control room, can use a single device to read a procedural document, review a checklist, enter relevant information into a form, then check to confirm that the information was entered completely and accurately – without any unnecessary travel time or phone calls.

Collaborating

One of the most profound applications of mobile devices is as a tool for instant collaboration. By allowing continuous access to live process data, personnel from different departments can collaborate and make decisions with up-to-date and accurate information at their fingertips.

Mobile devices can be used to document best practices by uploading pictures or videos of particular procedures and allowing these items to be reviewed by workers at other locations in other facilities. Smartphones and tablets allow personnel to access rich media at any time as a means of conveying a certain set of information to relevant parties. Use displays of real time and historical data in meetings or presentations. Mobile devices allow off-site personnel to participate in real-time activities with on-site personnel. Many possibilities are introduced by mobile technology.

Excerpted from the whitepaper “The Benefits of Data Mobility”, downloaded at www.scada.com.

The History and Evolution of Data Visualization

Data visualization is a very old idea – ancient in fact. Stretching back to the very beginning of human history, we recognize that actual observed data was used to generate everything from star charts to maps. These ancient visualizations were also very integral to the lives of our ancestors, as they were used to plan essential activities like planting food or hunting.

Figure 1 – This Egyptian star chart was found in the tomb of Ramses VI (reign 1145 BC to 1137 BC). This Egyptian star chart was found in the tomb of Ramses VI (reign 1145 BC to 1137 BC)

Star charts were common and widespread throughout the ancient world, and like all historical data visualizations, used recorded data from the past to make predictions about the future. The same could be said about all of the wonderful, detailed maps that were created and then used to navigate our ancestors through periods of colonization in the past. Observed data was recorded and then used to direct future activity. This same notion carried through all the way to the modern world, when in the late 18th Century new types of historical data visualization were created by Joseph Priestly and William Playfair. Priestly is credited with creating the timeline chart, while Playfair invented numerous types of graphic displays to visually depict social and economic data: introducing in 1786 the line, area, and bar chart, then 15 years later the pie chart and circle graph.

These types of visualization are still very commonly used today.

Figure 2 – This trade-balance time-series chart was published by William Playfair in 1786.

Again, diagrams of this sort used historical data to direct actions occurring presently or in the future.

Today – maybe more than ever – we still value charts, graphs and other forms of data visualization that allow us cognitively assess data in a way that appeals to our senses rather than our intellect.

Excerpted from the whitepaper “Real-Time Data Visualization Essentials”, downloaded at www.scada.com.

3 Things to Consider Before Choosing an IoT Platform for your Business

Like many others, you may be considering ways to leverage new IoT technology to advance your business. Whether that means buying new sensors, servers, routers, or other devices – that depends on your goals and expectations. No matter you envision, though, you are very likely to need some sort of software platform to enable it. Your software is what will transform your operational data into meaningful information, and your software will provide the interfaces your staff will use to interact with the information provided. Ideally, your software platform will provide many other benefits as well, including an ability to archive data, a way to automate certain tasks and enforce rules, and an ability to be customized and/or scaled to meet the needs of your growing business.

How do You Start Your Search?

Before selecting a software platform, it’s good to start with a clear idea of your needs, expectations, and goals. Then, when evaluating different platforms, see how they measure up against your checklist. This won’t necessarily help you choose the right platform, but it can certainly help you identify the wrong ones.

There are countless things to consider if you want to be rigorous to the point of decision paralysis, but if you’re eager to move forward, here are 3 important things to consider:

Think About Security

Every organization has a particular structure that must be maintained. Staff members need to have access to certain information to do their jobs and nothing more. This is not just a matter of security, but simple efficacy. There is no reason to burden someone’s mind with information that has no impact on their personal responsibilities within the organization.

It’s important that your software platform provides a means of managing user access. A maintenance technician logging in should not see the same information as a C-level executive. The technician does not need to see a graph depicting recent trends in discretionary spending any more than the executive needs to see a list of open work orders.

Of course, this should not be a matter of simply directing a certain user to a certain dashboard. The system should include the ability to completely lock down certain sets of information so that they cannot under any circumstances be accessed by another user.

Think About Your Existing Systems

Is this new system going to completely replace all your existing management systems? Or is it being installed as a supplement to what’s already in place? It may be possible to enhance and add value to your existing systems if done correctly. Will the new system communicate with your old systems and devices? Will it be read-only or bi-directional?

Unless you want to do a full replacement of your current systems, there will be many questions to ask about how all of these moving parts will fit together.

Think About the Future

Implementing your new IoT system will require some significant investment – both in resources and time. It’s important that the work done today doesn’t need to undone tomorrow when your work practices or business processes change. Ensure that the system you put in place today can be extended or modified as needed.

Assuming everything goes according to plan, it won’t be long before you’re thinking about expanding. Make sure your IoT software system doesn’t handcuff you.


Excerpted from the whitepaper “Choosing the Right IoT Platform”, downloaded at www.scada.com.

Kaizen and the Philosophy of Continual Improvement

One of the mostly well-known and widely used philosophies of continual improvement originated in Japan. It is known by the name, kaizen, which translates approximately to “good change”. Kaizen has been employed in a wide range of industries – healthcare, banking, psychotherapy, government, and many others. In business, kaizen typically refers to activities that continually improve all business functions and involve all employees.

Kaizen is frequently used to optimize purchasing, logistics, and supply chain processes, and has been employed in lean manufacturing processes to help eliminate waste. Kaizen was first used by Japanese businesses following World War II, and has since spread throughout the world and been implemented in environments outside of business and productivity.

Kaizen places a strong emphasis on employee feedback, encouraging employees at every level to apply the scientific method in learning how to spot and eliminate waste in business processes. Kaizen can be applied in a very small, personalized way, or it can apply to larger processes that involve groups of employees. In a very general way, the Kaizen methodology can be understood as:

1. Discovering opportunities for small adjustments based on process data and customer feedback
2. Implementing these small changes incrementally
3. Monitoring the results of each individual adjustment for a certain period of time
4. Using the new data to make adjustments
5. Defining the results of successful adjustments as standards, and using these standards as baselines for additional improvements
6. Repeating this cycle indefinitely

The kaizen philosophy aims to improve process efficiency, quality, and safety by making it easier for employees to do their jobs well and with confidence – rather than expecting them to work harder through incentives or fear of replacement.

Improvements made using the kaizen philosophy are typically on a much smaller scale than those found in the “command and control” improvement programs popularized in the mid-twentieth century.

This system of incrementally improving operations is also known the Shewhart Cycle, Deming Cycle, or PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act).

Similar ideas are investigated in the realms of Organizational Development (OD) or Business Process Improvement (BPI). The general intent of all of these philosophies is the same: to maximize the value of all available material, personal, and intellectual assets and to improve business processes by making use of resources that are already available.

Like the methods outlined above, other popular methods like Six Sigma, Lean, and Total Quality Management emphasize employee involvement and collaboration, standardizing processes, and reducing variations, defects and cycle times.

Excerpted from the whitepaper “Continual Improvement with Status”, downloaded at www.scada.com.