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When instrument and computer companies search for new markets, their mouths begin to water once their collective gaze wanders to the process industries. While large, continuous-flow processes may already be in high-technology harness, many companies making extensive use of batch production have yet to avail themselves of the efficiencies inherent in advanced supervisory control and computer-integrated manufacturing.
It's therefore not surprising that technology suppliers are introducing a remarkable number of new systems for batch control, a mode of production associated with some of the United States' most successful industries, including food, pharmaceuticals, plastics and specialty chemicals. As you'll see, this year's instrument Society of America (ISA) show in Houston will continue where last year's left off, with more innovation and more opportunities for tapping into the promise of automation.
At ISA '91, in Anaheim, Calif., you couldn't miss all the new hardware and software for batch processing. For the distributed control system (DCS) platform alone, software introductions included ABC Batch from Rosemount, Eden Prarie, Minn.; Batch 300 from ABB Process Automation, Rochester, N.Y.; TDC3000 Batch from Honeywell, Phoenix; ad Enhanced Batch Recipe Management from Johnson Yokogawa, Newnan, Ga.
In addition, programmable controllers (PLCs) and supervisory control systems, used in conjunction with PLCs, were widely touted as alternatives to DCSs for batch control. To trumpet its interest in process industries, Allen-Bradley, Highland Heights, Ohio, the largest American PLC company, had a near full-scale batching operation installed right on the show floor.
IBM, Hewlett-Packard (HP), and Ligital Equipment Corp. (DEC) each had process industry programs that included suites of products. Third-party software companies associated with one or more of the computer companies also got in the act with manufacturing resources planning (MRP II) systems dedicated to process industries and manufacturing execution systems (MES) for management of batch processes.
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The batch mode of production has been targeted for automation for both technology and market reasons. Richard Ciammaichella is a senior applications engineer with The RoviSys Co., Cleveland, a systems integrator. He's had extensive process industry experience as an integrator and with a major instrumentation company.
Asked what's different about batch processing, Ciammaichella says, "Batch processing has been uniquely under-automated. There are many good solutions for continuous processing and there's sequential control for discrete-manufacturing assembly lines....