Rockwell Automation's Jason Wright (left) and Kris Dornan gave PSUG attendees a sneak peek at the new capabilities to expect in PlantPAx release 4.5.
Digital transformation in process operations requires seamless and secure connectivity between plant-floor devices and the enterprise. The PlantPAx distributed control system (DCS) from Rockwell Automation has long helped make this connectivity possible through its alignment with plant-wide automation technology and use of open communication standards.
Process users, partners and OEMs learned more today about the new capabilities to be included in PlantPAx release 4.5—scheduled for release in July 2018—at the opening session of the 2017 Process Solutions User Group (PSUG) meeting. The event runs through Tuesday at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston prior to the start of the company’s Automation Fair event.
“During 2018, new innovations to the PlantPAx DCS will help users create smarter, more secure, robust and productive operations,” said Jim Winter, director, Global Process Business, Rockwell Automation. “The next release of our PlantPAx DCS will again leverage valuable input from process users and align with preferred industry standards to deliver increased value to the process industries. These innovations help companies leverage their DCS to more easily capture benefits from plant-wide integration in The Connected Enterprise.”
Jason Wright, PlantPAx business manager, and Kris Dornan, PlantPAx business development manager, together walked PSUG attendees through key features of the new release organized around the themes of smart, productive and protected.
Smart, in the sense that many new capabilities are intended to enhance configuration and operations efficiency. “We giving you more tools to allow you to add more value, more quickly,” said Dornan.
Enhancements in the smarter column include PlantPAx server consolidation, a virtualization solution that for smaller installations (fewer than 1,000 I/O), allows the four essential servers of a PlantPAx installation to run on a single physical server. Standard control panels were also introduced that come fully outfitted with everything but I/O modules in as little as four weeks. Want them configured with I/O of your choice? They’re only six weeks away.
And new integration tools for switchgear and other intelligent electrical devices allow users to roll electrical control and monitoring system (ECMS) functionality into the DCS, “reducing the total cost of system ownership,” Wright said. Other smart capabilities on tap includes simpler management tools for redundant system servers, DTM support of EtherNet/IP field instrumentation, and an improvements to the system’s function block diagram editor that streamline development and improve the overall design experience.
Operations productivity
Productivity enhancements bundled with release 4.5 aren’t just for system designers but will help operations and maintenance personnel, too. ControlFlash Plus, for example, will allow easier firmware management for users’ full range of Rockwell Automation devices. “Users can set and share favorites, browse and update firmware with far fewer clicks,” Wright explained. New network management and system health historization tools substantially streamline these activities while simplifying troubleshooting.
For operators, the next release will also feature updated human machine interface (HMI) and trending tools to help increase productivity and improve effectiveness. This includes an enhanced Library of Process Objects to better align with industry display design standards. For example, operators will be able to view alarms superimposed on process variable trends or against process events to make it easier to find correlations and troubleshoot the root cause of process upsets.
Improved operator mobility, too, is a key aspect of release 4.5. Related enhancements include improved ThinManager integration; updated FactoryTalk Batch View, which includes a device-responsive user interface and facilitates event acknowledgement outside the control room; and mobile alarming and display capabilities that allow operators to “respond where they are,” Dornan said. “It’s all about delivering information where you need to go.”
Protected, the final theme of system enhancements on tap with PlantPAx 4.5, is about helping users secure operations, reduce unplanned downtime and improve system availability. These include built-in support for Parallel Redundancy Protocol (PRP), an industry standard for redundant Ethernet, enabling more secure controller and I/O communications. The release also includes area-based security management, to control mobile operator privileges based on physical location.
Finally, Dornan and Wright previewed new predictive maintenance services coming early in 2018 that feature the use of cloud-based analytics and Rockwell Automation expertise to help PlantPAx users to further increase productivity, maximize uptime and optimize production. While not technically part of the PlantPAx DCS, such services do allow users to focus on their core competencies—whether that be brewing beer or purifying biopharmaceuticals. Or, as Rockwell Automation’s Kris Dornan concluded, to “use our technologies and services for things you don’t want to worry about.”
