MechChem Africa December 2017

Rockwell Automation Fair 2017 Bringing the Connected Enterprise to life Rockwell Automation held its annual Automation Fair in Houston, Texas, on November 15 and 16, preceeded by the Automation Perspectives press event on November 14. Peter Middleton attends and conducts executive interviews with Thomas Donato (left), Rachael Conrad and Scott Lapcewich, who highlight the company’s exciting IIoT and Connected Enterprise innovations.

W ith over 150 exhibits of the world’s most advanced au- tomation solutions and more than 110 forums, hands-on labs and technical sessions delivered by ex- perts from all over the world, the Rockwell Automation fair concentrates automation innovations and specialists to the n th degree. It is remarkable that this level of expertise resides in one company and its chosen devel- opment partners. The solutions presented, however, are at very high levels of sophistication, so it is easy for a cynic to come to the conclusion that they therefore must also be too expensive and complex, and not rugged enough for de- ployment on harsh mines, process plants and manufacturing sites in Africa. This notionwas dispelledonday one ofmy trip,however,duringtwosuccessiveexecutive interviews. Inthefirstofthese,RachaelConrad,region- al vice-president for Sales in North America

was talking about Rockwell Automation’s ‘pilot-to-project’ approach to implementing Connected Enterprise solutions. She cited a successstoryinvolvingMetsomobilecrushers operating in southern Africa. “Many organisations are already mak- ing The Connected Enterprise a reality. But where do they begin? Most start small, using pilots or trials to determine proof of concept, and show return on invest- ment, later scaling up to full adoption,” Conrad explains. She asserts that Rockwell Automationdoesnotleavecustomersontheir ownduring thisprocess. “Our implementation support services include all of the technical, application, remotemonitoring andnetwork- ing support necessary to integrateandupdate customer facilities.” Following consultation with Metso in Finland, Rockwell Automationwas able tode- liveraglobalindustrialConnectedEnterprise/ Internet of Things platform that connects, monitors, and performs analytics forMetso’s

equipment andservices, resulting in improved efficiency and profitability for its mining and aggregates customers. The pilot digital solution securely collects and stores data from Metso crushers and, using predictive analytics and preventive maintenance, facilitates remote asset moni- toring by Metso and its customers. Built on the Rockwell Automation FactoryTalk Cloud platform powered by Microsoft Azure, the condition and performance of crushers working inAfrica are analysed fromRockwell Automation’s premises inWisconsin, USA. Mining is under cost pressure and for Metso’s aggregate customers, access to real- time data enables higher uptime, faster and safer shutdowns, and ultimately more ton- nage processed at lower cost. The Metso project was again highlighted during my second executive interview on the subject of Analytics by Scott Lapcewich, vice- president and general manager for Customer Support and Maintenance.

Connected Enterprise solutions for the oil and gas industry on show at the Rockwell Automation Fair 2017 in Houston, Texas.

28 ¦ MechChem Africa • December 2017