2020 Q2 Technology Update

Joe Driver and Chris Kuhlmann, Champion’s Corporate Application Engineers, held their 2020 Q2 Technical Update presentation this summer. Topics included:

  • Trends in Automation (1:22)
    • Migrating compute power to edge and to cloud
    • Acceptance of cloud services
    • Standardization and enforced consistency of data structures
    • AI and Machine Learning
    • Security
  • Rockwell Automation (5:10)
    • PlantPAx 5.0 and Process Controllers – July 2020
    • PlantPAx Tools
    • Libraries
    • FactoryTalk Innovation Suite
    • 5094 Flex 5000 I/O
  • 8×8 vs. Teams vs. ShareFile (16:50)
    • 8×8 Teams integration coming soon
    • Use Teams as collaboration tool
    • Use ShareFile to send files with sensitive information to customers
  • Training Initiative (24:42)
    • Training content being developed
    • Submit training requests to Joe and Chris
  • Experience Profile (28:30)
    • Update your profile at least once a quarter!
    • You need to be connected to the network / VPN
  • Partner Information (34:40)
    • Rockwell
      • Rockwell licensing changes – use the same serial number / key each year
      • At least 2 engineers must hold PlantPAx certification
    • Siemens
      • Must be certified in PCS-7 every 2 years (by completing PCS-7 project)
      • Licenses being expanded
      • SI partners can access Siemens training material
  • Demo System Update (39:05)
    • Schneider Modicon Demo Panel complete
    • Next: Rockwell CompactLogix

If you weren’t able to attend or if you want a refresher on the content, check out the full presentation!

Corporate Application Engineering Technology Update

Joe Driver and Chris Kuhlmann, Champion’s Corporate Application Engineers, traveled to each region to give a technology update presentation about Champion’s ongoing projects, new vendors, and the company’s new Operational Technology (OT) and Cybersecurity offerings.

During the presentation, Driver and Kuhlmann discussed Champion’s effort to standardize our hardware and software offerings and network design solutions by developing minimum requirements and documentation standards (2:50). On the cybersecurity front, Kuhlmann discussed Champion’s cybersecurity offerings, including assessments, design, and maintenance of industrial control networks. They also touched upon Champion’s internal cybersecurity protocols (5:04).

Joe discussed Champion’s new partnerships with several organizations and the unique benefits that our company receives from each one (14:10).

Joe mentioned that he is working on a partnership with VMWare as well.

Other topics included:

  • Experience Profile (38:04)
  • Engineering Demo Systems (40:00)
  • Software Updates (47:53)
  • Project Virtualization (52:12)

If you weren’t able to attend or if you want a refresher on the content, check out the full presentation!

Remote I/O – When To Use It

Process automation systems are continually evolving and improving.  Advancements in technology provide more opportunities to adapt the automation system to best fit a facility’s operation.  Remote I/O (RIO) is one of the biggest game changers over the past decade.

History

During the early years of distributed control systems (DCS), communication limitations were a primary factor that drove a centralized control building approach to automation system design.  Architectures for centralized process control were field devices wired to field mounted junction boxes.  These junction boxes contained multi-pair home-run cabling routed to a computer building via cable tray networks.  The home-run cables were wired to marshalling racks on the walls of computer buildings.  Combinations of single-pair and multi-pair cables connected the marshalling racks to the appropriate DCS I/O module.  Computer buildings had multiple rows of free-standing enclosures bayed together as one large system.  As processes were expanded, new junction boxes, home-run cables, marshalling racks and bayed enclosures were added.  Over time, cable trays exceeded code capacity and new tray networks were added.  Some manufacturers developed media converters to take their proprietary communication protocols from copper to fiber.  While this provided an avenue for remote I/O capabilities, most facilities maintained their centralized infrastructure.

During the mid-1990s, control system manufacturers began adopting the IEC 61131 standard for programming process controllers.  This, in conjunction with newer communication protocols (i.e. Ethernet), birthed a blend of DCS and PLC technology into hybrid control systems.  The stage was set for departing from the centralized architecture to one that is truly distributed.  This is where the power of remote I/O came into play.

 

Benefits

For considerably less investment than cable tray and home-run cables, fiber can be installed, and field junction boxes replaced with RIO.

Additional benefits:

  • Fiber presents an opportunity for improved system availability because it can be routed via multiple paths to provide redundant communication. Whereas home-run cables installed in a tray create a single point of failure for multiple devices.
    Real world examples include:
    • A cherry picker boom snagging a cable tray and damaging contained cabling.
    • A flash fire in a process unit scorching multiple cables on the bottom of a full cable tray causing days of down time for multiple units while splicing the cables back together.
  • Fiber reduces the effects of radio frequency interference (RFI) that are often present with home-run cabling.
  • Fiber can be used for long distance communication as well as numerous other network architectures.
  • RIO closer to the field devices aids technicians when troubleshooting. There is no longer a need for a second tech in the central computer building lifting wires when trying to ring-out a loop in the field.

Execution

For facilities migrating from a centralized legacy automation system, remote I/O provides phased migration opportunities.  New RIO enclosures can be installed next to existing field junction boxes. The communication network to the RIO can be fully functional, jumper wires can be pulled between the junction box and RIO enclosure with the RIO ends prewired and the junction box ends ready to wire at time of cutover.  Cutovers can be accomplished quicker than a “rip and replace” of the DCS in the computer building.  Champion has success stories of having both systems running in parallel and performing a manual cutover one loop at a time with the overall process still in operation (i.e. hot cutover).

Another option for legacy upgrades is to replace the internals of the field junction boxes with RIO mounted on a replacement backplate.  During a planned outage the field wiring is pulled back and rewired to the new field-mounted I/O. It is not as smooth as the hot cutover, but still significantly reduces downtime and reduces enclosures in the field.

 

Considerations

Remote I/O provides many benefits.  However, there are a few things to consider to ensure it’s the most viable solution for a site.

  • Does the existing system have infrastructure to accommodate the expansion? Unless the long-term plan is to migrate away from the legacy system, it will be more cost effective to expand the existing automation system if the infrastructure can support it.
  • Frequency of access? If the area is classified as hazardous the RIO will need to be located outside of the area and have intrinsic safety (IS) barriers.  If the RIO is installed in the classified area, an appropriate level of purging will be required.  For example, a Class 1 Div 1 area will require an X-Purge.  Opening an enclosure with an X-Purge will remove power from the RIO.  This may not be an acceptable design for a 24/7/365 operation.  Therefore, maintenance will have their hands somewhat tied for troubleshooting.


Scott Thompson
Automation Manager – Sabine Region

 

Champion Technical Community Toolbox
(Sep 2016)

 

Technical Community Takes the Next Step Forward

In 2014, Champion established a Technical Community team with local representatives from each office.  In the two years since the initiative began, the team’s focus has been to capture and develop reusable project content and tools for the entire Champion Automation Community.  Development of the Company Toolbox is a key component of our Strategy Map and helps our company to become a market leader in our industry.

This effort has been led on a part-time basis by several representatives who have utilized the skills of Co-Ops and Automation Engineers when they had available time to work on the Toolbox.  With this strategy, we have captured and developed powerful tools that have been used on a number of projects.  The Leadership team has been very excited about the impact the Technical Community has made on the company, and its progress has highlighted the importance of both investing more into this initiative and also making sure that every office can benefit from the Technical Community’s work, even if their local representative is not available.

About four years ago, Champion established the Application Engineer role as part of Champion’s automation career path as the next step up from a Technical AE3 position.  The role was primarily created for use at the Business Unit level, and the original goals were to: 1) Lead and execute highly-technical projects for the local business units; 2) Build re-usable tools; 3) Advise the team as a product expert; and 4) Support company-wide initiatives as necessary.

While the Business Unit Application Engineer is still a key component of the career path for Automation Engineers, we are excited to announce that we have approved a separate Application Engineer position to support our company-wide Toolbox and other technical initiatives. The person who fills this position will have a similar role but a different primary focus, which will be to: 1) Lead company-wide initiatives and promotion of best practices; and 2) Support Critical projects for all business units. This position can be based at any of our Business Units and will report to Ken Hackler, our VP of Operations.

Below are the ongoing activities and initial objectives for the role:

Ongoing activities:

  • Leads the Technical Community Team
  • Leads company-wide development and implementation of re-use requirements
  • Researches, understands, promotes, and trains on new technologies and platforms
  • Performs Technical Lead role on critical projects (technical quality assurance/control and reviews)
  • Leads reuse and implementation strategies for CSIA Best Practices of System Development Lifecycle

Initial objectives (New projects and goals will be established on an annual basis):

  • Develop the requirements and implement a VMWare strategy across the company for automation platforms
  • Develop and put in place a procedure to manage and track licenses, including versions for all manufacturers across the company
  • Develop and put in place a procedure to track centralized tools (ex. HART communicator, Network Analyzer, IR Camera, Digital Scope, etc.)
If you are interested in this position or would like more information about the role, please contact Ken Hackler (Ken.Hackler@champtechnology.com).

Champion Technical Community Toolbox
(Aug 2016)

RSLogix 5000 Bulk Function Block Generation Tool

David Molley, Automation Engineer from Baton Rouge Automation, developed an Excel-based tool that will allow engineers to bulk build function block routines for ControlLogix-based projects.

The RSLogix 5000 Bulk Function Block Generation Tool allows engineers to use an L5x export file of function block routines from existing controller programs (including tag names and parameters), and use the tool to create multiple duplicate copies. For the duplicates, engineers can specify new tag names and parameters, which can then be exported back to an L5x (xml import / export file) to be imported back to RSLogix 5000 and used in routines.

Figure 1. RSLogix 5000 Bulk Function Block Generation Tool Interface

Engineers can use this tool in DCS migrations to ControlLogix or any migration where existing logic controllers that use RSLogix 5000 must be duplicated. For example, in a project where engineers are migrating thousands of sheets of similar logic, the logic would only have to be created in RSLogix once and then duplicated with the tool. While this process would normally take days to complete manually, the tool would complete the task in minutes.

Advantages of using this tool include:

  • Excel-based: Engineers can copy tag and I/O databases into the tool and it will replicate the code. Each replication will feature engineer-specified tag names and parameters.
  • Time saver: Reduce configuration and logic migration time by at least 25%, but potentially much more

This tool is located on SharePoint: Champion Home > Departments > Engineering > Tools > A-B Bulk Function Block Generation Utility.

If you have suggestions for improvements to the utility or run into any bugs, contact Joe Driver (Joe.Driver@champtechnology.com). Additionally, if you have developed any utilities, procedures, or reference material that you use that can help others in their project work, be sure to send an alert to Joe Driver.

Champion Technical Community Toolbox
(Apr 2016)

In this month’s Tech Community Article, we’re highlighting a few new tools for Champions to use:
  • RSLogix 5000 Setpoint Checker
  • Subject Matter Expert Directory
  • Acronis Backup Procedure

RSLogix 5000 Setpoint Checker Tool
The technical community group has released an RSLogix 5000 setpoint checker utility. This utility will scan an export of tags from an RSLogix 5000 program, connect to a PLC, retrieve the live values for specified tags, and save the values. After a project, hardware change, or any massive PLC modifications, the tool can reconnect to the PLC and compare the live setpoint values and reconcile discrepancies if desired.

Figure 1. RSLogix 5000 Setpoint Checker Interface

You can find this tool on SharePoint in the Engineering > Tools & Utilities page. Or click this link to download a copy.

Subject Matter Expert Directory
In order to leverage expertise across all offices, we’ve created a subject matter expert (SME) directory with a list of engineers who can be contacted to help answer questions or offer solutions/explanations to items related to their subject. We’ve included contacts for Allen-Bradley, DeltaV, Honeywell, Foxboro, Siemens, Prosoft Modbus, Stratix, Motor Control, and others.

This directory should be useful for project managers to locate resources to help their projects run smoother and for project engineers who may be looking for someone with more extensive knowledge in an area to help alleviate any roadblocks in their projects. Using cross-company SMEs will also help facilitate communication among our offices.

Currently the list is in excel on the Engineering site, which can be accessed at the following link SME Directory, the list will be added as a SharePoint List for easier access after the final format is determined.

If you have any suggestions for additional subjects or SMEs to include in the directory, please email Joe Driver with suggestions.

Acronis Backup Procedure & Best Practices
Backing up your system hardware is important to make sure your data is protected in the event of a hardware failure. The most efficient method of doing this is using disk imaging software such as Acronis. With this software, you can create a Hard Drive backup at set intervals and do a full restore to a new drive that will be bootable and identical to your system. The tech community group has created a document detailing the Acronis backup procedure and best practices.

You can find this document on SharePoint in the Engineering > Procedures page. Or follow this link to download a copy.

All of these items can be found on the engineering SharePoint site. Let us know if you find any areas of improvement! If there are any utilities, procedures, or reference material that you use that can help others in their project work, be sure to send those recommendations to Joe Driver (Joe.Driver@champtechnology.com).

Champion Technical Community Toolbox
(Dec 2015)

Champion’s Engineering Procedures Library on SharePoint contains self-paced training modules designed to enhance automation engineers’ technical skills development. The Engineering Procedures Library is a dedicated repository for:

  • General Guidelines
  • Best Practices
  • “How To” Guides
  • Training Documents
  • Self-Paced Labs

GE PAC RX3i and Rockwell RSLogix 5000 training modules, which have recently been uploaded, help engineers with PLC experience expand their skillsets with these applications. While those particular training documents are aimed toward engineers who have automation experience, be on the lookout for the Technical Community to publish an “Introduction to Automation” document aimed at new hires as a guide to basic programming/terminology/best practices, complete with a centralized directory for finding information on standards and other training materials.

Take a look at the contents currently available:

The engineering procedures website can be found at the following URL: https://sps.champtechnology.com/departments/eng/Procedures/Forms/AllItems.aspx

Once you use the training guide, self-paced lab, or “How To” document, please provide your feedback to Joe Driver (Joe.Driver@champtechnology.com) and Ken Hackler (Ken.Hackler@champtechnology.com) so that we can make continuous improvements to these resources.

Champion Technical Community Toolbox
(Oct 2015)

 

Project Execution Methodology Documents

Champion’s project execution methodology, which includes controlling, initiating, planning, executing, and closing, heavily relies on the planning stage. During this stage, the team will develop project plans, will define the total scope of a project using a Functional Requirements Specification (FRS), and write testing procedures (to name a few activities) so that the team and the customer have a roadmap of the entire project and aren’t blind sided by the unknown. In short, we develop these documents as an effort to make sure all of our projects have customer buy-in from the outset, are planned before they’re executed, and (hopefully) go off without a hitch, resulting in an amazing project execution, one aspect of our business that makes our customers repeat customers for years to come.

But have you ever found yourself trying to figure out what these documents are, what they look like, and how to write one? Don’t worry, we’ve got your back.

Did you know that you can find examples of project documents on the PM site on SharePoint? The site shows varying examples of

 Project Plans
 FRS Documents
 FAT Procedures
 SAT Procedures
 Hardware Specifications
 Kickoff Meeting Agendas
 HMI Submittals
 Project Delivery Documents
 Panel Build Handoffs
 Project Quality Plans

If you’re stuck on where to start or need some sample content, browse through some of them to get an idea of what they look like and what to include. We even have blank templates for you to use!

If you’re a pro at developing Project Plans or HMI Submittals or any other project document, we want YOUR samples. One of the tenants of the Collaborative Way is helping each other as best as possible. By submitting your documents to the Project Documents Examples portal on SharePoint, you’ll get to share your work with everyone else in the company and help them to deliver better, higher quality planning, which leads to better executed projects. It’s a win for everyone all around.

Submitting documents

It’s easy to share samples of your project documents:

1: Follow this link.

2: Click         .

3: Click Browse.

4: Find and upload your document using Windows Explorer.

5: Click OK.

6: Fill in the properties and write a description of the content. (Perhaps include a description of the content found inside the document or a description of the project itself.)

7: Click      .

Champion Technical Community Toolbox
(Sep 2015)

 

DeltaV Landing Module Tool

Murad Chowdhury, a Co-op in Baton Rouge, created an Excel-based DeltaV Landing Module Tool that will automatically create a DeltaV format import file (.fhx) from a list of tags and registers, generating the landing module.

Figure 1. DeltaV Landing Module Tool Screen Capture

When integrating devices to a DeltaV system, it is common practice to utilize a “landing module,” a control module that is dedicated as a centralized location for all register data. Landing modules reduce licensing overhead and provide an efficient way to distribute data to other control modules. However, they are usually created by hand, which leaves room for making mistakes and spending more time managing the landing module than necessary.

The DeltaV Landing Module Tool, instead, provides an automated way to generate the landing module and allows tag editing, specifying the size and spacing of each tag in Control Studio, and importing and exporting .fhx files. In short, this utility features customization options for the tags and will generate multiple modules in different areas from the same list for better organization. It will save engineers time during development and will ensure the accuracy (to a degree) of the register data.

The DeltaV Landing Module Tool and its instruction document can be downloaded from the engineering SharePoint site at the following link: https://sps.champtechnology.com/departments/eng/Tools/Forms/AllItems.aspx

Any ideas or utilities/tools which may be useful on a future project that you would like to share can be emailed to Joe Driver (Joe.Driver@ChampTechnology.com).

Please continue to contribute to the Technical Community Toolbox on SharePoint, and offer your support and input to help us move forward with this important endeavor.

Champion Technical Community Toolbox
(May 2015)

 

RSLogix 5000 Add-On Instruction Library

Donald Zoricak from the Baton Rouge office created a library of commonly needed add-on instructions that can be used in RSLogix 5000 for both CompactLogix and ControlLogix PLCs that are not included in Rockwell’s default instruction set. These functions are useful for a wide variety of applications involving communication checks between devices, first out logic, or voting logic between multiple Boolean inputs:

Trigger an output based on a settable number of inputs being triggered. This add-on is used in shutdown logic for voting based trips or monitoring multiple conditions to trigger sequence steps.

Check communication status between two devices. This logic is used to monitor a Boolean (heartbeat based) or an integer value (clock based) to determine if the value has changed in a configurable amount of time. This value is typically linked to a value that is programmed to change being read frequently from a remote device through a communication link.

Determine the first Boolean input to trigger out of a set and latch the value until it is reset. This logic is useful in situations where multiple alarms or shutdown conditions can occur simultaneously. All signals can be monitored by this block to determine the first condition for troubleshooting and finding root causes.

Timer based add-on instructions. These instructions include a Heartbeat generator which pairs well with the communication check instructions, a pulse timer which allows the programmer to configure a pulse on-time and off-time for a Boolean output, and timer converter instructions.

These instructions are not just limited to the cases illustrated above and can be used and various other ways. Past projects have required similar functionality, but now we have a concise and proven way to implement these functions into future projects without repeating what already has been done.

The RSLogix 5000 Add-On Instruction Library can be found on the SharePoint engineering site under templates or by clicking the following link.

Thanks, Don, for your contribution!

If you have created any utilities (not just related to programming), email Joe Driver to have it uploaded to SharePoint and it may be featured in a future spotlight.

Please continue to contribute to the Technical Community Toolbox on SharePoint, and offer your support and input to Joe as he helps us move forward with this important endeavor.

Champion Technical Community Toolbox
(Apr 2015)

 

JOE DRIVER
Baton Rouge Office
Automation Engineer III
Champion for 8 years

Champion’s First Technical Community Lead, Joe Driver

Leveraging the Technical Community Toolbox is an essential element of the Learning and Growth Perspective section of our Champion Strategy Map. Reusable templates, standards, tools, and training allow us to avoid reinventing the wheel, better understand and use our systems, and have access to valuable resources that help us provide the best possible services to our customers.

To further our efforts of expanding the Technical Community Toolbox, Champion has created a 6-12 month rotating position for a Technical Community Lead. Joe Driver will serve as our first Technical Community Lead. Joe has been part of the Champion team for over eight years and has extensive experience across various PLC, DCS, and HMI/SCADA platforms.

As Technical Community Lead, Joe will continue his engineering activities at the Baton Rouge office but will be assigned 4-5 days per month to work across all Champion offices and build up our toolbox. In this role, Joe will collaborate with other Technical Community representatives as well as engineers company-wide. His responsibilities will include reaching out to Technical Community representatives and engineers from all offices regarding content for the toolbox. Joe will chart out the overall direction of the toolbox and identify reuse and development opportunities. He will also lead Champion engineers and co-ops in the development of new templates, standards, tools, and training.

Please continue to contribute to the Technical Community Toolbox on SharePoint, and offer your support and input to Joe as he helps us move forward with this important endeavor.

Champion Technical Community Toolbox
(Mar 2015)

 

As discussed in the previous issue of our newsletter, Champion makes it a priority to maintain a high level of technical excellence. With this goal in mind, the Champion Technical Community released a “PLC Programming Best Practices” document to establish company-wide guidelines for PLC tag naming, commenting, program structure, and basic programming principles. These best practices will not only promote consistency throughout the Champion automation group but will also help quickly familiarize new employees with our PLC programming guidelines. In addition to these general programming guidelines, the Champion Technical Community is considering developing programming guidelines for commonly used platforms such as Allen-Bradley/Rockwell, Siemens, and GE.

The Champion Technical Community utilized feedback from their respective offices along with established professional standards (such as ISA standards) to collaborate and create the “Champion PLC Programming Best Practices” document. Please download this document and reference it for future projects, CS-20-PLC-Programming-Best-Practices-0.

As a reminder, please continue to contribute to the Technical Community Toolbox on SharePoint. Contact the appropriate Technical Community representative with any questions or input for the Toolbox.

Below is a list of Champion’s Technical Community representatives:

Rocky Mountain
Avram Neal
Houston Automation
Dan Ward
Lake Charles
Scott Thompson
Baton Rouge (for DCS)
Joe Driver
Baton Rouge (other than DCS)
Greg Hopkins
New Orleans
Nickolas Kidder

Champion Technical Community Toolbox
(Feb 2015)

At Champion, we continually strive to provide innovative solutions to our customers by maintaining a high level of technical excellence. As an experienced systems integrator, it is important that we not only have qualified team members but also consistently present accurate solutions that are trusted by customers.

Champion’s Toolbox on SharePoint is essential to capturing tools and technical solutions that may be leveraged company-wide. The Engineering Toolbox may be accessed via the link below.

https://sps.champtechnology.com/departments/eng/Templates/Forms/Collection%20List.aspx

By not reinventing the wheel each time a challenge is presented, we can together promote efficiency and provide detailed and correct solutions for the highest customer value.

A great example of a Toolbox item is the OPC Connection VB template. The template will open a connection to any local or remote OPC server and read or write data. A template user must simply fill in the OPC server name and tag names for the code to work.

All Champion employees are encouraged to utilize and contribute to the Toolbox on SharePoint. Examples of reuse content include platform-specific templates, Excel tools, and general information on various types of equipment and work environments. Each office has a technical community representative that can assist with identifying reuse content appropriate for the Toolbox and uploading approved items on to the SharePoint Engineering site.

Below is a list of Champion’s technical community representatives:

Rocky Mountain
Avram Neal
Houston Automation
Dan Ward
Lake Charles
Scott Thompson
Baton Rouge (for DCS)
Joe Driver
Baton Rouge (other than DCS)
Greg Hopkins
New Orleans
Nickolas Kidder

Please reference the Champion Department Sites document (CR-80-Champion-Department-Site-0) for additional information regarding interaction with the SharePoint Engineering site.