Electricity + Control October 2018

CONTROL SYSTEMS + AUTOMATION

Bringing greater productivity and flexibility to a connected enterprise

downtime, especially in continuous pro- cess-control applications. Removal and insertion under power (RIUP) allows technicians to replace exist- ing I/O, and an online change capability al- lows configuration of new I/O, both while the system continues to run. In addition, the flexibility to configure alarms, events and diagnostics at the channel level helps drive maintenance efficiency. “We are building on the success of our popular FLEX I/O platform, and long-time users will find that flexibility and reliability continue to be its hallmark,” said Christo Buys, Business Manager – Control Sys-

The new Allen-Bradley FLEX 5000 I/O platform from Rockwell Automation can create smarter, more productive and more flexible industrial control systems. The platform’s higher-speed connec- tivity and expanded bandwidth deliver increased amounts of data back to the controller. This helps future-proof control systems for a Connected Enterprise. It is built on a 1 Gigabit architecture with com- munications supporting Device Level Ring (DLR), linear and star topologies. A future release will support Parallel Redundancy Protocol (PRP) for a redundant network topology. Both OEMs and process operations can also use the new FLEX 5000 I/O modules to improve productivity. Engineering time is reduced with simplified wiring and design. Installation is eased with a flexible archi- tecture that includes vertical and horizontal mounting and copper and fibre media op- tions. Hardware requirements can be mini- mised during installation because the mod- ules are designed to operate in extreme environments – from oilfields in the arctic cold to mines in the sweltering heat (-40 ˚C to 70 ˚C operating temperatures). During production, the modules can also reduce costly and unplanned

TÜV certified for use in safety applications up to SIL 3 and PLe, Cat. 4. The FLEX 5000 I/O family is designed for security to help companies protect their assets and their brand. The platform helps enable the secure convergence of industrial and enterprise systems when using an open, standard and IT-friendly Eth- ernet network. This is a result of deploying a defense-in-depth security strategy with firmware encryption, birth certificates and secure boot functionality. Enquiries: Christo Buys. Tel. +27 (0) 11 654 9700 or email cbuys@ra.rockwell.com

tems, Rockwell Automation Sub-Saharan Africa. “With Logix 5000 series technology, the FLEX 5000 I/O platform allows you to choose your I/O to meet your specific application needs. And it gives you intelligent con- trol to quickly respond to your process in a Connected Enter- prise.” A wide range of safety modules will be available for the FLEX 5000 I/O platform in a future release. Users will be able to meet their specific safe- ty needs with modules that are

Enterprise Management platform facilitates energy conservation

enables building owners to showcase their properties’ energy conservation and sustainability programs to the public. With the new Tenant Management feature, tenants can now track their energy consumption and cost and make online af- ter-hour requests. Building owners can compare and analyse the energy consumption and spend of each tenant, track trends and a see a summary of after-hour requests for each tenant. Using this information, a building owner can suggest corrective action to help tenants lower their energy costs. The Tenant Billing feature calculates true consumption of mul- tiple commodities (electricity, gas and water) and auto-generates bills. This assures tenants pay only for their energy consumption, rather than a flat rate based on square footage. Kiosk is a powerful, new, public-facing tool that enables build- ing owners to share a dynamic and interactive experience, high- lighting real-time energy reduction. It displays live data, including current energy and water usage, reductions in CO2 emissions and outdoor air conditions. It also informs users and visitors about their organisations’ environmental impact, LEED certification and ENERGY STAR goals. Enquiries: Neil Cameron.Tel. +27 (0) 11 921 7141

Johnson Controls has expanded the capabilities of its compre- hensive, analytical, cloud-based optimisation platform, Enterprise Management (EM), by introducing several new features. The new platform integrates with Johnson Controls Metasys Building Man- agement (BMS) solution as well a number of other BMS solutions, delivering enhanced functionality including data analysis across the enterprise, easy to interpret visualisations and further optimi- sation to reduce the cost of a company’s energy bill. Says Neil Cameron, Johnson Controls Area General Manager, Building Efficiency, “The Enterprise Management platform en- hances the capabilities of a BMS solution by analysing building data, enabling property owners and managers to improve perfor- mance, enhance fault finding, take corrective action and as a re- sult, reduce energy costs. It also allows companies to track their sustainability goals, something that is relevant to South African businesses with the imminent enforcement of the Carbon Foot- print Tax bill.” The tool is also ideal for property owners and managers that need to manage multiple tenants. The new Tenant Management enhancement gives tenants and building owners visibility into real energy consumption through personal dashboards, while Kiosk

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OCTOBER 2018

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