The Leading Edge: Technologies to Watch in 2010

Threading the Lines

Whether the problem is fire, power outage or equipment breakdown, one of the toughest challenges for large companies is directing vital information to the correct individual as quickly as possible.

One rapidly advancing technology is the concept of unified communications (UC), which embeds multiple forms of communications into the flow of everyday business activities — from office to facility floor — and develops applications that automatically send relevant data directly to phones or software on PCs.

If, for example, there were an alarm when no one was in the facility, a UC system would figure out to whom it should send the alarm notification, being able to determine his or her availability instantly, and using whatever communications channel the staffer picks. The system could send a text message to that individual or embed a video of the equipment just before it failed.

Automaker BMW uses UC systems extensively in project development, linking members of its research laboratories, design centers and manufacturing sites. UC is also being applied to its supply chains, enabling smoother operations, while increasing visibility and response.

“This is an extremely exciting technology in communications,” says Rockwell Automation's Chand. “What it does is enable us to automate how we transmit information.”

Justifying the Leap

When Procter & Gamble considers implementing new technologies, there had better be a convincing reason.

According to Jon McLaughlin, who serves as section head for upstream technology development at Procter & Gamble, the focus is largely on processing at higher speeds with fewer errors and as cost effectively as possible.

To produce products, such as diapers, dish soap and eyeliner, faster and with greater accuracy, McLaughlin closely watches the development of high-torque and low-weight actuators with tighter performance control.

Actuators, used frequently throughout industrial facilities, require large footprints and connections to heavy hydraulic and pneumatic lines. That may be about to change, as electric motors have begun to close the gap on hydraulic actuators, opening new possibilities in manufacturing and distribution.

“Once they get more efficient and cheaper, you can see electric motors replace those other types of motors in all sorts of systems, such as conveyors, pick-and-place robots and doors that open and shut,” says Sam Tolkoff, director of platform systems for technology developer QinetiQ. “What that enables is smaller systems that don't have to rely on hydraulics and pneumatics to do what you want. If all you have to do is plug it in, that starts to get a whole lot of people's attention.”

Forecast: Partly Cloudy

While the Internet and network-connected devices are anything but novel, the ability to snatch data anywhere off the Web — so-called cloud computing — has started to catch on with consumers and businesses in a more meaningful way. Does it hold a future in industrial automation? That depends on who you ask.

Cloud computing, in short, enables a company to tap into raw computing power, storage, software applications and data from massive data centers over the Internet. Customers pay only for the computing resources they need, when they need them. Using the cloud allows businesses to avoid building their own data centers and buying servers and disks.

“You suddenly have companies that are offering software services in manufacturing,” says Ian Finley, an analyst for AMR Research. “Companies like Plex Systems offer a set of different tools that might focus on inventory and financials, ones for supply chain management or ones for manufacturing that delve into quality management, production scheduling and shop-floor control.”