Automation Fair Press Room

Machine Builders Declare It's No Longer Just About the Machine

Performance is in the eye of the beholder

A panel of international OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), who spoke this month at a global forum of industry trade editors and analysts the 18th annual Automation Fair, reported they have seen firsthand the signs of an economic recovery and increased interest from their customers.

"Our customers have become alive again. During the first of year there was talk about projects, but with no timeline, but during the third quarter customers started to become more affirmative," said C.P. Fang, vice president of Crown Machinery Company, a leading coating and converting equipment manufacturer in Taiwan. "There is good indication of a turnaround."

"The need is in front of us. It's time for creativity," added Carlos Hernandez, automation business director, SYCSA Silos Y Camiones, whose core business is the bulk material conveying process. For Roman Kaiser, president of Grenzebach Automation, creativity came during the downturn. Kaiser's customer segments include the gas and building materials industries.

"The economic situation gave us a chance to think about doing things in new ways. We are working on new markets and thinking about new systems," Kaiser said.

One new way of thinking, the panelists mentioned, was how they define machine builder performance and how that definition has evolved beyond performance aspects including throughput and runtime.

"You can't forget machine performance is what brings you to the table and gives you an opportunity to play. But we look at a couple of different aspects particularly market acceptance, technical capability and reliability, service and support, sourcing and lead time, and total cost of ownership," said Andy Pringle, engineering leader, Paper Converting Machine Company (PCMC). "What I've learned over the years from a business perspective is you have to look at machine performance as holding market value so the customer wants to invest in it."

Fang said his customers look for productivity, machine reliability, longevity, ease of use and efficiency, while Kaiser said machine performance is not always a technical measurement. "Measuring performance is always what the customer needs and wants," he said.

Michael Sweet, manager of corporate controls for First Solar, agreed machine performance includes all of those factors but also, "how well the machine plays with others." Sweet said this issue is similar to "islands of automation" challenges manufacturers face.

"Vendors (OEMs) create this as well for an end users. Their equipment is an island onto itself," Sweet explained. "OEMs are the glue that brings all these pieces together. We have to try to come up with an architecture that brings the machines together."

For many OEMs, Rockwell Automation's Integrated Architecture is that "glue." At Grenzebach Automation, Kaiser said a standard control platform provides "intelligence for the future," which will save time on design, commissioning and training. SYSCA Silos Y Camiones' Hernandez has found it "very easy" to retrieve process information and share that data, including any-time access to historical information, through Ethernet to customers or ERP systems. The benefit, he said, is that information helps guarantee the quality of the product.

The Integrated Architecture provides Crown Machinery with a common platform to support the company's rapid global expansion. The Architecture provides, "functionality, flexibility and scalability," Fang explained. "It allows us bring older controllers together in same infrastructure. We can develop systems faster and modify it in timely mater as customer demands change."

Of the panelists, PCMC has the most experience with Integrated Architecture. "If you don't have an integrated architecture, you get the code of arms. It's not my screen; it's not my controller. You spend a lot of time trying to resolve issues that are easy to solve but technically difficult to find," Pringle noted. "(Rockwell Automation's) Integrated Architecture allows you to focus on holistic process of the machines and look at the total cost of doing business."