S
a
i
a
®
P
C
D
T
e
c
h
n
o
l
o
g
y
Controls News 13
14
Service personnel should not have to bother with this template!
Main theme: Lean automation |
Technology
Lean technology
The life cycle of automation technology = equipment cycle
Product care phase
>10 years
Service phase
> 5 years
18
years < life cycle Saia®PCD control device < 25 years
Next generation is range-compatible
Implementa-
tion phase
3–5
years
Transition
phase
Lean automation: the same life cycle for
automation technology and equipment.
Once the technology is installed, no further work
should be needed for the rest of the life cycle (Fit and
Forget) – but if anything is required it can always be
done at low cost (No risk, No limits).
Control and automation electronics should have the
same life cycle as the system technology. They must
always be adaptable and expandable at any time in
the life cycle. Therefore they should be modular and
of PLC quality.
The compatibility and free portability of equipment/
machine software is assured for an entire product
generation of 18–25 years. This only works if you are
the exclusive developer of the engineering software
and make consistent use of «interpreted code». This
requires more hardware resources, but ensures the
portability of user software over several controller
generations.
Of greater interest than dry theory are two real-world
examples from the process industry and the large
building that houses the University Hospital in Am-
sterdam:
A process plant used in industrial cheese produc-
tion worked for over 20 years without a hitch. After
flooding due to bad weather, the Saia® PCD returned
to normal operation, but corrosion of bus connec-
tors started to cause a number of failures. Saia® PCD
controllers with several thousand real I/Os had to be
replaced with devices from the latest generation.
Thanks to compatibility between device genera-
tions, the replacement work could even be carried
out during operation, without stopping production,
and with minimal investment costs. For a detailed
description of the «Bustaffa» project and customer
feedback, see webcode en1312b.
Even in the University Hospital in Amsterdam,
15-
year-old equipment was modernized without
the need to start from scratch. The project descrip-
tion with customer feedback is available online here:
web code en1312c
These examples from practice show that Saia® PCD
technology is absolutely «lean» in the context of
the life cycle. The complete modularity of the hard-
ware and its virtualization vis a vis application soft-
ware pay dividends to the customer by ensuring less
stress, bother and cost.
Lectures on the topics of «lean» and «lean automa-
tion» from the building automation and sustainabil-
ity forum 2011 are available at: web code en1312d
Lean technology:
service
One of the key aims of lean automation is to provide
automation solutions that require half the number
of qualified service personnel despite the higher de-
gree of automation. How is this done?
It is an advantage if existing ethernet network con-
nections do not need to be opened or changed to
carry out service and analysis work. It means that
service personnel do not need any special network
knowledge (IP, DHCP, etc.).
Life cycle inspection of
Saia®PCD control devices.
Maximum profitability
through investment and
know-how even outside the
automation world.
Y
o
u
r
i
n
s
t
a
l
l
a
t
i
o
n
