Electricity and Control April 2020

INDUSTRY 4.0 + IIOT

Another benefit of PC-based control technology is the ease with which open interfaces such as OPC UA can be integrated and data exchanged across systems. This openness in turn is a prerequisite for being able to select necessary components according to their technical suitability and not solely based on their compatibility. This approach also makes it possible to implement the current trend towards more modularity in automation. All these developments will help establish open automation concepts in the process industry in a sustainable way. In addition, the new levels of openness and modularity will enable mid-sized speciality companies to integrate their best-in-class products seamlessly into existing systems. Furthermore, PC-based control technology will significantly simplify the integration of robotics, which are playing an increasingly important role in the process industries. They can be used to make many process steps more efficient and to minimise workplace hazards. The realignment of these operational factors will, in due course, make companies more competitive and safeguard jobs. PC-based control systems have also addressed major questions of IT security for many years. Since they provide the best possible foundation of future automation systems, they will eventually be just as successful in the process industry as they have been for decades now in discrete automation applications. In summary, PC-based control systems are the open automation platform we urgently need in the process industry. □

At a glance ■

Process automation engineers have developed a healthy scepticism towards new technologies, with good reason.The pressure to deliver is immense and the risks of implementing new technologies are difficult to predict. ■  On the other hand, there is an increasing need to innovate. For some time now we have seen steadily increasing interest on the user side to evaluate new technologies intensively and develop suitable applications.The aim is to achieve improvements along the entire value chain by using the potential of modern technologies in practice-oriented optimisation approaches.

According to Bruns, PC-based control systems are the open automation platform urgently needed in the process industry to simplify integration and enable real advances.

For more information visit: www.beckhoff.co.za

Benjamin Bruns, born in 1987, studied process automation at Hannover University of Applied Sciences, where he has also been an associate lecturer for mathematics, computer science and explosion protection since 2012. After working in the oil andgas industry and in technology consulting, he took over the process technology business management when he joined Beckhoff Automation. Beckhoff Automation is a family-owned company, with some 4 300 employees worldwide, that develops PC-based control systems.

Electricity + Control APRIL 2020

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