Machine Builder (OEM) Solutions

What Matters

Standards Matter

Machine builders and manufacturers are both battling to maintain a competitive edge in the market.While the end goal is the same, the two have distinct areas of concentration. OEMs want to manage the cost of engineering time and build scalable machines to address changing functional specifications. Meanwhile, manufacturers want equipment that easily ties to upstream and downstream operations, and operates with limited engineering resources.

Using Programming Standards to Align OEM and End-User Goals

Industry programming standards play an important role in helping both OEMs and end users achieve their goals. By providing a common, efficient framework that addresses every phase of the automation life cycle, programming standards help end users speed installation and startup as well as reduce the total cost of ownership.

Modular programming standards give OEMs a basic framework for development, and create an environment where programmers can reuse definitions, structures and lines of code. This structured, reusable model applies proven software objects from machine to machine, accelerating program development and providing design consistency when multiple programmers are involved during machine design.

Leveraging modular programming standards allow machine designers to spend less time coding and more time adding value to their machine solutions. This is particularly important considering program development typically is the most time-consuming, costly, and riskiest stage of machine design. Overall, shorter design time translates into lower engineering costs, faster time to market, and higher margins.

When it comes time to install the machine, common design practices help streamline the installation process, especially for multi-plant installations. Maintenance and troubleshooting tasks also are easier since operators and technicians are familiar with the code modules.

As industry programming standards continue to evolve to keep pace with advancements in automation technology, these standards play an important role in helping OEMs and end users meet performance and efficiency goals. Building machines and processes on a common technology framework offers more people access to the underlying systems. It also allows automation to evolve in an orderly fashion as new devices and software become available.

Product and Services Highlights

Rockwell Automation offers a wide range of tools to help OEMs bring commonality to technology. They include:

Modular Programming
Modular programming encompasses code structuring, tag naming conventions, state model implementation, HMI practices and more. The Rockwell Automation Foundations of Modular Programming (FOMP) document details how to implement the ISA standards in Rockwell Software applications. It also documents best programming practices that can help improve programming efficiency and consistency.
Connected Components Building Blocks
The Rockwell Automation Connected Components program helps OEMs meet end-user demands for sophisticated, low-cost control on standalone machines. The Connected Components program is built around a core of Allen-Bradley® MicroLogix™ programmable logic controller (PLC), Allen-Bradley PowerFlex® drives, and the newly developed Allen-Bradley PanelView™ Component human-machine interface (HMI). The Connected Components Building Blocks (CCBB) make it quicker and easier to implement common control tasks as part of the machine design. These Building Blocks include prewritten software code for the PLC that can be modified to help meet the precise needs of a given machine. In addition, prewritten HMI programs ease operator interface setup and preconfigured drive-parameter files make it easier to implement speed-control tasks.
Accelerator Toolkits
Accelerator toolkits provide easy-to-use system design, programming, and diagnostic tools to assist in the rapid development and deployment of systems using Rockwell Automation Integrated Architecture™ solutions.
- Safety Accelerator Toolkit — The Safety Accelerator Toolkit provides easier-to-use tools and templates designed to help machine builders reduce cost and speed development of their safety systems using the Allen-Bradley GuardLogix® controller, Allen-Bradley Guard I/O™ modules, and other safety devices. The toolkit includes a risk assessment and system design guide, hardware selection guide, CAD drawings, safety logic routines, and operator status and diagnostic faceplates.
- PowerFlex Accelerator Toolkit — The Kinetix® Accelerator Toolkit provides a range of tools and standard design templates to help machine builders streamline the design, programming and installation of an integrated motion control system. The expanded and enhanced DVD now provides additional time- and moneysaving benefits with the addition of Motion Control tools and templates for use with the CompactLogix L2x and L3x families. By using the Add-On-Instructions (AOI) feature with DeviceNet, the Auto Device Replacement (ADR) functionality, the PanelView Plus HMI and the Indexing Ultra3000 servo drives, Rockwell Automation offers a servo solution for price-sensitive, lower cost machines.
- Kinetix Accelerator Toolkit — The Kinetix® Accelerator Toolkit provides a range of tools and standard design templates to help machine builders streamline the design, programming and installation of an integrated motion control system. A key feature is its ability to accommodate a wide range of Allen-Bradley control system hardware, including PanelView operator interfaces and Logix controllers.
Rockwell Software® RSLogix 5000™ v.17 Programming Software
Rockwell Automation introduced the latest version of its Integrated Architecture production control and information system with more than 30 new capabilities for end users and machine builders. New capabilities for machine builders include the introduction of the Allen-Bradley CompactLogix™ L23 programmable automation controllers (PAC), designed to provide the capabilities of the Integrated Architecture system in a small, compact package. Offering three I/O and communication configurations to help meet machine builder needs, the new controllers can be expanded using Allen-Bradley 1769 Compact I/O™ modules. Multilingual project documentation with language switching is also available with this release. Ideal for users with the same applications running at international locations, the improvement helps reduce engineering costs by allowing customers to globally deploy a single project file with user documentation in multiple languages.