Reducing losses in the energy chain

ABB ABB drives are designed to run your motors based on your processes current demands. Watch this video to see how they reduce losses in the energy chain.

Increasing Operational Agility with Industrial Automation

We have all heard the phrase "Work smarter, not harder" and have received tips like time management, bundling tasks, don't focus on the totality of a "to do list", etc... Truth is, hard work and smart work is not mutually exclusive and fortunately, with industrial automation, there are systems, tools, and products that enable operators the agility to spot opportunities for greater flexibility, speed, and workforce responsiveness.

      We focus on a few solutions that increase operational agility by:

• Putting together systems to gather, share, and change processes quickly

• A retrofit solution to save labor, energy, and cost while improving quality, accuracy, and precision

• Managing data to spot opportunities and prompt troubleshooting

• Resources for customization when standards don't work

Happy New Year,
Jane Mohr

Increasing responsiveness with real-time information 

Wonderware MES /Performance

Today's operations requires greater visibility, a reduction of product costs, and improvement of product quality. Wonderware MES offers solutions to help operators to recognize how their processes impact the business with key performance metrics. 72% of surveyed MES customers improved equipment uptime by 5-10% or more with MES Software.*
Manage both production and performance by:

• Reducing lead times

• Shortening Time to Market

• Cost Cutting

• Exceeding Customer Expectations

• Streamlining processes

• Managing the global operation

Learn More

*Source: TechValidate. TVID:757-8B3-C2E

Retrofit helps operators modernize without the high cost 

ABB Drives and Controls

Operational agility often includes the ability to find solutions for simple and easy modernization. Being able to upgrade without having to go through a huge installation process can: 

• Optimize the budget

• Decreasing maintenance cost

• Increase of productivity

• Reduce production downtime

• Extend the life of existing equipment

With the ABB DCS800 retrofitters can provide up-to-date technology at a fraction of the cost of replacing the entire system. With its special features, the DCS800 makes installation and configuration simple  by allowing you to customize the application to your needs.   

Learn more about the DCS800 special features

Quick troubleshooting to increase operational dexterity

Moxa

Last month we discussed how MXstudio suite delivers easy management, mass configuration, smart visualization, and quick trouble shooting in developing best practices in Network Management. Two software features in this management suite helps operational agility by providing data for quick troubleshooting. The MXview studio offers:  

• Auto discovery of network devices and physical connections

• Event playback

• Color-coded VLAN/IGMP groups and other visualization network data

The N-Snap Industrial Network Snapshot tool:

• Takes network snapshots

• Compares network and device data, and highlights the differences

Learn More

 Unprecedented Flexibility:

The new BL67 Ethernet Gateway 

Turck

  Turck's BL67 offers an easy-to-deploy industrial  Ethernet solution. Though it combines the multiprotocol technology (one device - for three Ethernet protocols), it only allows one Ethernet master to control outputs while input is still available to the other protocols.  The BL67 provides unprecedented flexibility -already concealed, you can add more I/O without having to purchase a new, larger enclosure. The BL67 is ideal for harsh environments where conditions may not be conducive to traditional I/O.
Learn More

Even a slight reduction in speed can produce substantial energy savings

Coupling a motor with an ABB variable speed drive can lower energy consumption, reduce wear and

tear, and give the user greater precision over an application through control of the motor's speed rotation. Variable Speed Drives are often used with many different machines in manufacturing like pumps, ventilators, compressors, and belt conveyors. When a low capacity is needed, the Variable Speed Drive lowers the machine speed to save energy and drives down the cost of production. 

After all, the greenest energy is the energy that is saved and not used at all which results in a reduction to the bottom line and gives your organization a competitive advantage.

 ACS880 series, all compatible industrial drives, are easily adaptable and provide comprehensive and efficient process control that simplifies operations through intuitive control panels and advanced settings.
Learn how Fiskeby Board AB saved energy up to 80% with ACS880 drives.  
Read Case Study

Configuring the Horner XL4 for Ethernet communications with ABB VFD's

Multiple VFD installations can be enhanced with a centrally located HMI/Controller for display, alarming, and control of the remote drives. The following outlines the configuration for Ethernet communications of the new Horner XL4 OCS All-in-One controller to ABB VFD's.

First install and configure the correct Ethernet Fieldbus Adapter Module for the ABB drive you want to communicate with. ACS350/355 drives use the FENA-01 EthernetIP\Modbus TCP module. The ACS550 and ACS800 use the RETA-01 EthernetIP\Modbus TCP module. Set the Protocol, IP address, COMM PROFILE to ABB DRIVES, and configure the specific data you want to read and write to in the drive under Drive Parameter section 51. (See note)

Next, using CScape version 9.3, Service Pack 3 or newer, select Protocols under the Networking configuration in the Project Navigator and then choose "Modbus Tcp/Ip Client v3.05" for the Ethernet protocol.

Next select the Network button on the Protocol Config screen. In the Port configuration leave everything at default except change the Timeout from 10000 mSec to 1000 mSec. In the Update Scan configuration, also change the Reacquire Time from 1000000 mSec to 10000 mSec. These two settings should be kept short until communications with the drives has been established. Once configuration and programming is completed, the Timeout and Reacquire Time can be lengthened to optimize the communications.
Under the Status configuration, enter a register that will contain the status of the Ethernet communications. This is usually a register location outside your normal program registers. Notice that this is 4 Double Integers (DINT), so do not use any registers above this address for at least 8 registers. Once this is completed, select OK and return to the Protocol Config screen.

Now select the Devices button. This brings up the Device List. The Device List shows the devices that can be configured to communicate with. To add a device, select the Add button.

To Add a device enter the Name and IP address of the first drive to communicate with. Leave the Port at 502 and enable the Status monitoring if you want to monitor the status of communications to this device. Be sure to include another unused register for the status word for communications to this drive. Take note that this is also a DINT, so two register will be used for this status word. Under Device Options select “Modbus PLC 5-Digit Addressing” as the Device Type. Select OK and make sure the device you entered is now in the list of devices.

You can select Add and repeat the Device Config steps to add any additional drives you want to communicate with on the network. When done, select OK on the Device List and return to the Protocol Config screen. Then select the Scan List button. The Scan List shows you the polling configuration of the XL4 to each device you have configured.

Select Add to configure the Data Mapping between the XL4 and drive unit. First select the drive you want to map to in the Device Name. Then in the Device Register enter the Modbus start address of 40001. Next enter the number of words you want to read from the ABB Drive based on how many words you configured to read from and write to in the ABB drive. In the Local section enter the starting register you want to write the data to in the XL4. Make sure the Update Type is set to "Polled Read/Write" for continuous polling.

Now select OK to close the Data Mapping screen. Select Add to map any additional drives you want to communicate with. When done, select OK to close the Scan List screen, and OK to close the Protocol Config screen. This completes the configuration of communications to the ABB drives.
Once the project is downloaded to the XL4 it will continuously poll all the drives in the Scan List and place the data at the registers you designated for each drive. Display screens and logic can now be added to the Horner XL4 to display and control the remote ABB drives.
For additional information on the XL series of the Horner OCS line, contact your Logic, Inc. sales engineer. For a closer look at the new XL4, a 30 min. YouTube video can also be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLqg0Wx9sw4.
Note: For additional information on the ABB RETA and FENA modules you can contact our support department or an upcoming Tech Tip will discuss in detail the configuration of these interface modules for use with Modbus TCP/IP and Ethernet/IP communications.

Secret Modbus Port on ABB Drives

Modbus communication is available built in standard on the ACS550. It is also available on the ACS355 with the FMBA-01 module added. But did you know there is an additional Modbus port available under the keypad on both drives?

With the keypad removed, the RJ45 port can be wired up to an RS232 Modbus master. (This connection is used for monitoring only and not start/stop control)

You can wire up the RJ45 port according to this diagram:

Serial settings such as station ID, baud rate and parity can be found in the Parameters section of the manual under Group 52. Valid messages as well as error messages can also be found in this section.