Is industry ready for the circular economy?

EU Automation has published an industry guide for manufacturers interested in making their production method more sustainable by contributing to the circular economy. The guide can be downloaded, free of charge, from EU Automation's website, under the Industry Guides section.

The circular economy focuses on keeping resources at their highest utility and value at all times. As well as minimising waste and energy losses, it also improves the environmental impact of manufacturing and reduces the risk of obsolescence.

A report published by ABN AMRO and Circle Economy argues that the automotive industry is in a unique position to use circular economy principles to implement new strategies and collaboration across the entire value chain. EU Automation believes there is similar potential for other industries. In its latest one page guide, the industrial automation spares supplier has compiled a series of relevant resources for companies taking their first steps towards a circular economy model.

The concept of the circular economy was first raised by two British environmental economists, David Pearce and Kerry Turner. They suggested that a traditional open-ended economy had no built-in tendency to recycle and that, if the economy was to continue as it was, the environment would become a waste reservoir.

Pearce and Turner formulated the circular economy as an alternative to the traditional linear economy model of make-use-dispose.

"There is a lot of support for businesses wanting to follow a circular economy business model, if they know where to look," explained Jonathan Wilkins, marketing director of EU Automation. "The UK trade body for automation, control, instrumentation and laboratory technology, GAMBICA offers support for manufacturers who want to comply. Furthermore, the European Commission recently established the Ecodesign Directive which ensures manufacturers of energy-using products reduce energy consumption and the environmental impact of products at the design stage."

@euautomation #PAuto @StoneJunctionPR

Energy efficiency in pneumatics!

Festo has published Energy efficiency@Festo, a new guide which details a number of ways that plant managers can improve efficiency in their pneumatic production processes by up to 60%.

Energy efficiency@Festo

The guide provides detailed information about efficient technologies, that will ensure machines and systems consume fewer resources and less energy. Reducing CO2 emissions as well as operating costs leads to an increase in the sustainability of production processes and therefore a company’s overall productivity.

“Environmental consciousness, corporate responsibility and the balance sheet are all key drivers for increasing energy efficiency,” says Steve Sands, product manager at Festo. “In this guide we focus on advising plant managers on how they can implement measures to reduce energy wastage, with in-depth statistics and details about compressed air technology.”

The top five tips to saving the most energy are:

1. Using energy saving circuits, for example Festo’s OVEM closed loop vacuum generators monitor vacuum levels and only expend air when required, typical savings are 60%
2. Correctly sizing drives and tubing – reducing to the next smaller piston diameter can decrease energy consumption by approximately 35%
3. Reducing switching line tube lengths – savings up to 25% can be achieved
4. Isolating circuits in standby or shutdown modes – eliminating flow of air in systems at a standstill can provide savings of 20%
5. Reducing the weight and friction of moving elements has a major affect particularly on multi-axis systems where initial over-sizing becomes compounded – up to 18% energy saving can be realised.

The guide may be downloaded free from the website.

@FestoAG #PAuto 

WMS supplier selection guide

A new Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) supplier selection guide has been launched by ARC Advisory Group. The guide, in combination with supporting ARC data on the WMS marketplace, a strategic report on the WMS Business Case, and consultant support, will allow companies going through a WMS supplier selection process to make quicker and better decisions.

ARC Return on Investment (ROI) research has demonstrated that WMS solutions often provide the single best solution for reducing the costs associated with distribution while simultaneously improving service. In fact, a WMS can serve as a platform for further savings that would be difficult to achieve without having this solution in place.

Part of the success of a WMS in driving cost savings and service improvements is based upon the maturity of this technology. In theory, this maturity should make supplier selection easier. In practice, WMS solutions exist on a complexity continuum spanning low cost solutions with limits on the depth of functionality provided, to highly functional, much higher cost solutions. Further, different suppliers have developed special domain expertise in specific industries. The potential business benefits and associated payback periods reflect these facts.

ARC STAR – Supplier Selection Service guides users through a step-by-step process selecting and evaluating suppliers and their products against specific application and industry requirements. The process guides the user through the project and team definition, reviewing and editing ARC-provided selection criteria and supplier questions, weighing selection criteria, developing a supplier Request for Information (RFI) list, evaluating supplier responses, and developing a final ranking of RFI results. ARC STAR then fully documents the process and results for management review and approval. ARC STAR helps ensure inclusive, fact-based, impartial supplier evaluations and selections, free of the user bias issues that typically hamper these activities. In addition, ARC estimates that ARC STAR can reduce the cost and effort of a supplier selection process by well over 50 percent.

The selection guide was authored by Steve Banker. Steve has been covering the WMS market, WMS solutions, and WMS suppliers for over 15 years. Steve is one of the best known figures in the field of supply chain management and warehouse management has been a particular focus for him.

New guidelines for fieldbus

Document describes standard industry practices for implementing FOUNDATION technology

The Fieldbus Foundation has released a major revision to its AG-181 System Engineering Guidelines. AG-181 is a comprehensive guide that includes best practices and recommendations for a complete FOUNDATION fieldbus installation, from engineering and design through commissioning, startup, operations, and maintenance. The guide includes recommendations on topics from selecting cable to wiring installation, grounding, implementing plant asset management systems, and best practices for project management.

The new edition of AG-181 has been reformatted and reorganized to make it easier to read and access information. Some content has been rewritten to include more up-to-date information. This includes sections covering the Fieldbus Intrinsically Safe Concept (FISCO) fieldbus design rules, cable length, surge protection and segment scheduling. A section on the use of existing wiring has also been added.

According to Larry O'Brien, global marketing manager for the Fieldbus Foundation, the FOUNDATION fieldbus System Engineering Guidelines is "one of the automation industry's best-kept secrets" that belongs in the library of almost every process control engineer. It is a highly valuable resource for the growing number of end users, system integrators and engineering firms involved in the implementation of FOUNDATION fieldbus.

"One of the things we try to do at the Fieldbus Foundation is put information into the hands of those who need it around the world. We want people to become proficient in the use of our technology, from engineering and design to installation, maintenance, and operations," said O’Brien. "Our System Engineering Guidelines document contains the distilled wisdom of many of the world's leading fieldbus technology experts, from those in the engineering and construction world to end users, systems integrators, educators, and suppliers. It offers many good pointers on how to do your fieldbus project right the first time, and is an essential part of the toolbox of any FOUNDATION fieldbus professional. If you already have the older version, the latest update will look more streamlined and contains several new sections, as well as rewrites of old sections."

The FOUNDATION fieldbus System Engineering Guidelines is separated into 11 sections, each covering different aspects of the fieldbus project lifecycle. Specific topics include: General Considerations, Fieldbus Definitions, Fieldbus Project Requirements, Host System Requirements, Software Configuration, Field Device Requirements, Segment Components, Network/Segment Design Guidelines, Site Installation Guidelines, Acceptance Testing, and Documentation Requirements. It is available on their Technical References Page.

O'Brien indicated that the FOUNDATION fieldbus System Engineering Guidelines provides accurate and current fieldbus information in a vendor-neutral format, and is revised periodically to reflect changes to FOUNDATION technology. He said, "There is no better guide to implementing FOUNDATION fieldbus available today."