February 2009 InStep Newsletter

To download a PDF version of this month's newsletter, please click here.

Contents:

InSource Solutions Employee Spotlight! Learn More About the People Dedicated to Serving You!

Introducing Phillip Brown, I2 Infrastructure Specialist!

Phillip has been with InSource since March of 2007. He has lots of expertise, having been in the industrial hardware and software industry since 1990. As an I2 Infrastructure Specialist, he is part of the I2 Infrastructure team, working to deliver the power of industry standard office IT infrastructure to your mission critical, highly specialized, and rigorous industrial environment. He says the thing he enjoys most about working for InSource Solutions is that the employees are like family and the customer is the most important part of the business.

Phillip is from originally from Charlotte, North Carolina and continues to reside there. Here are some interesting facts you may not know about Phillip:

He attended NC State University
Phillip has a love for music. He spent some time as a working musician, before starting here at InSource.
He enjoys hunting through pawn shops in search of bargains on musical instruments.
He is the Contemporary Music Director for Kimball Lutheran Church
He has performed in the pit orchestra for the Charlotte Summer Theater for 25 years (and counting)
His lovely wife Sheila is a Spanish teacher at the North Mecklenburg High School, the largest high school in North Carolina.
His son Forrest was married last year in December.
In 2001, Phillip was adopted by a cat named “Lil’ Girl” and Phillip’s primary job function is now to feed the cat and be ready to let her in or out at her whim. (At least that’s the cat’s opinion!)
Phillip started renovations on his home in 2002. Doing most of the work himself, the job kept growing—a porch turned into a deck, which then led to an addition. The remodeling is almost finished! And, after 7 years, we’re looking forward to the Open House Party!

InSource Solutions is proud to have Phillip as part of our team!

InSource Solutions Infrastructure Webstore - NOW LIVE!

Introducing the InSource Solutions I2 Infrastructure eCommerce site!

We’re making it easy for you! Whether you are an existing customer, or someone new to doing business with InSource, we want to make researching and obtaining infrastructure products easy for you!

Introducing the new InSource Solutions I2 Infrastructure eCommerce site…
You can now research and purchase infrastructure products online by visiting our secure shopping site at http://store.insourcess.com or by visiting our homepage at www.insourcess.com and clicking on the link to the store.

As you know, I2 Infrastructure delivers the power of industry standard office IT infrastructure to your mission critical, highly specialized, and rigorous industrial environment. Now you can find those products with just a few clicks of your mouse! You may be surprised at the vast array of products and information you will find… Visit the store today to see for yourself!

Here is a sampling of what you will find!

Wonderware Releases System Platform 3.1 and InTouch 10.1 HMI Software - Enhancing SCADA, Scalability, and User Productivity

On February 17th, Wonderware announced the release of Wonderware System Platform 3.1 and InTouch 10.1, featuring distributed SCADA, scalability and user productivity enhancements to the Wonderware core software platform and flagship visualization HMI offerings.

"Wonderware System Platform 3.1 and InTouch 10.1 together deliver the software functionality needed today by users in the geographically distributed SCADA application space," said Keith Jones, marketing program manager for Wonderware HMI/SCADA products.

Wonderware System Platform 3.1 now offers significant benefits for users needing highly distributed, networked software solutions. In addition to scalability from 250 to an excess of 1 million I/O points, highly distributed applications can be optimized for peak performance over networks ranging in various sizes and speeds. New configuration options also are available, making Wonderware System Platform software even easier for users to engineer pilot projects and roll out applications across multiple locations. In addition to the major product functionality updates, Wonderware System Platform 3.1 extends the flexibility and configurability of the Wonderware Historian, offering more options to optimize storage for analysis of information from historical data.

InTouch 10.1 builds on the award-winning InTouch 10.0 software and delivers on increased operations productivity, with new features that have been most requested by customers. New .NET controls provide highly flexible trending and alarm management capabilities. Enhancements in internationalization enable a single application to be created, and then reused by personnel in locales around the globe.

"In spite of a turbulent global economy, initiatives such as sustainability are continuing to drive investment in software-based performance and productivity improvement solutions across many infrastructure operations such as water and wastewater, facilities, transportation and power distribution," said Craig Resnick, research director at ARC Advisory Group. "These performance and productivity solutions, such as those built on the Wonderware System Platform 3.1 and InTouch 10.1, provide the return-on-investment and return-on-asset justification required by infrastructure operations, proven out by improvements to key performance indicators (KPIs) such as overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and energy consumption monitoring that is visualized on HMI software-based digital dashboards configured with InTouch software."

Users are taking advantage of Wonderware System Platform to update the functionality of their existing plants, integrating and extending the life of legacy systems without the need to expensively re-engineer subsystems which are proven and operational. The open, industry standards-based ArchestrA technology inside the Wonderware System Platform and InTouch HMI software deliver the flexibility and extensibility needed by customers to address their strategies for lean operational excellence.

For more information on these new Wonderware releases or any other Wonderware product, please contact your Wonderware Southeast Account Executive or the marketing department at marketing@insourcess.com.

Ask the Infrastructure Experts - Lesia's I2 Infrastructure Q&A Corner

“The manufacturing and industrial environment is faced with specific application requirements for protecting electronic equipment to ensure the maximum life of the protected equipment. These specific requirements prompted the question of, “What are NEMA and IP Ratings?”

NEMA short for, National Electrical Manufacturers Association and IP short for, Ingress Protection are the ratings that indicate the degrees of protection from foreign agents and water. NEMA is the US rating and IP is the European rating. The reason we use both ratings is that many manufactures have plants located in the US as well as Europe. These ratings are important because they define what environments the particular electronic equipment may be subjected to on a continuous or intermittent basis.

There are many NEMA ratings but the most common ones for the application of touch panel computers in our industry are NEMA 1, NEMA 4, NEMA 4X and NEMA 12. Their degrees of protection are as follows:

NEMA 1 – Enclosures constructed for indoor use to provide a degree of protection to personnel against incidental contact with the enclosed equipment and to provide a degree of protection against falling dirt.

NEMA 4 – Enclosures constructed for either indoor or outdoor use to provide a degree of protection to personnel against incidental contact with the enclosed equipment; to provide a degree of protection against falling dirt, rain, sleet, snow, windblown dust, splashing water, and hose-directed water; and that will be undamaged by the external formation of ice on the enclosure.

NEMA 4X – Enclosures constructed for either indoor or outdoor use to provide a degree of protection to personnel against incidental contact with the enclosed equipment; to provide a degree of protection against falling dirt, rain, sleet, snow, windblown dust, splashing water, and hose-directed water; and that will be undamaged by the external formation of ice and corrosion on the enclosure.

NEMA 12 – Enclosures constructed (without knockouts) for indoor use to provide a degree of protection to personnel against incidental contact with the enclosed equipment; to provide a degree of protection against falling dirt; against circulating dust, lint, fibers, and against dripping and light splashing of liquids.

For IP ratings again there are several but the two most significant rating for our industry are, IP 65 and IP 67. Their degrees of protection are:

IP 65 – Protection against falling dirt and light splashing
Totally protected against dust and against low pressure jets if water from all directions - limited ingress permitted

IP 67 – Protection against water penetration
Totally protected against dust and the effects of temporary immersion between 15cm and 1m; duration of test 30 minutes. Bezel material can vary.

I2 Infrastructure, a business unit of InSource Solutions, offers many enclosures to fit your specific needs. We are experienced in helping you define the best solution for your environment and are always here to answer your questions. If you would like more information on NEMA and IP ratings, please feel free to contact you I2 Infrastructure Specialist or me by phone at 443.683.8031 and by email at lbell@insourcess.com.

Don’t forget to submit your questions for next month! Submit your industrial infrastructure questions to Lesia’s Q&A Corner by phone 443.683.8031 or email lbell@insourcess.com.

Lesia Bell has been with InSource since February of 2007. To learn more about Lesia, click here and read her Employee Spotlight, originally published in the July Issue of InStep.

I2 Infrastructure, an InSource Solutions Business Unit, focuses on the specialized, rigorous application of standard commercial IT infrastructure technology to situations that have specific industrial requirements. The I2 Infrastructure team works with your Wonderware Southeast representative to complement Wonderware software solutions by offering products and services that keep your Wonderware software running continuously and efficiently.

BradCommunications Introduces NEW PCI Express Cards for Industrial Connectivity

High-Performance PC Communication for Ethernet, Serial, and Profibus

Molex has introduced a new line of BradCommunications PC Communication cards for PCI Express bus. These interface cards connect a PC to Ethernet, Serial, and Profibus networks with support to over 30 protocols. Each card has its own processor, which ensures stable, uninterrupted, and high-performance communication even when the computer capacity is operating at peak load. For example, when running SCADA or monitoring programs.

For use in the latest PCs, the BradCommunications cards are equipped with current PCI Express Bus x1 technology. The user interfaces have been designed to be functionally compatible with the respective predecessor using PCI/PCI Universal bus. This facilitates integration in existing application and thus protects the investment of the user.

With an Ethernet 10/100Mbps port and secondary port configurable either as Serial or Profibus, the cards can combine two separate networks through a single PCI Express slot.

The card is also packaged with a complete Windows software suite (configuration console, diagnostic tools, library DLL, and OPC Server) that reduces time and effort during network configuration and commissioning.

Main Features:

RoHS compliant
User-friendly engineering tools
"All-in-One" - All protocols included in the package
On-board processor eliminates data bottle necks, ensuring delivery of time-critical information
Certified with over 50 major SCADA/HMI packages
OPC Server and Wonderware SuiteLink/DAserver
Development library (Microsoft, Delphi, National Instruments VI, etc)

For more information on these new BradCommunications PCI Express cards or any other Molex product, please contact your I2 Infrastructure Specialist or the marketing department at marketing@insourcess.com.

ACP Key Block Module

The Key Block module traps certain keystrokes and prevents them from being sent to the terminal server for processing.

The key combinations to be blocked can be configured by in the Module Properties. Not only can all the standard control combinations be blocked, but it can be configured to block any <CNTL> or <ALT> key combination.

Unlike most Windows utilities that you may have tried, this module works every single time. That is because other programs try to block keystrokes, while ThinManager is able to stop the keys before they are ever sent to the Terminal Server. Once a given key sequence has been blocked it is not possible for it to break out and reach the application.

The Key Block module is one of a large number of modules that are included with every version of ThinManager - but it has to be added to the Thin Client before it can be configured.

For more information on any ACP solution, please contact your I2 Infrastructure Specialist or the marketing department at marketing@insourcess.com.

Bring the Internet into your Plant with ACP Thin Client Technology

Plant Floor Computers with Internet Access

Just the thought is scary - and with good reason. No need to detail here the dangers and security risks that lurk every corner of the Internet. But using Thin Client technology and ACP's MultiSession it is easy to provide the good while keeping out the bad.

Insulate the Internet

Most companies have a computer or two that are allowed on the Internet. These computers can be isolated from the company network with firewalls. The problem is that to use the Internet employees have to physically visit one of these machines.

Many ThinManager users are now setting up a Terminal Server that is only used to provide access to the Internet. They then install ACP's MultiSession module on any Thin Client in the plant, and allow that client to start a session on this Internet machine. There is no browser running on the Thin Client - instead it is simply displaying an image of the browser screens being generated by the browser running on the Terminal Server. MultiSession allows this image to be presented full screen or in a window on the client. While it may be displayed on the same screen as an HMI, ERP or Time and Attendance program the sessions are completely independent. If there is some type of security breech it is limited to the Terminal Server that is running the browser and does not get out into your plant.
You can also use ThinManager to limit Internet access to certain hours of the day, or even certain hours per user. You can also limit which users have access at all. This is especially vital in manufacturing if you need to allow certain operators access to Internet resources from the plant floor during certain times of the day.

So, you can have it all! ThinManager with MultiSession allows Internet access from any Thin Client in your plant without causing you to compromise your security or operations.

For more information on ACP ThinManager with MultiSession, please contact your I2 Infrastructure Specialist or the marketing department at marketing@insourcess.com.

New Wonderware Tech Alerts and Notes

Tech Note 566: Ensuring Accurate and Consistent Deployment of Custom Script Function Libraries
Tech Note 567: Using InBatch History Archiving Operations
Tech Note 568: How Wonderware Application Server Manages DLLs and aaSLIB Imports
Tech Note 569: Using Merge Modules
Tech Note 570: Rebuilding a Corrupted InTouch® Managed Application for InTouch versions 10.0 SP2 (for versions later than InTouch 10.0 SP2)

Registered users can view and download archived Tech Notes and Alerts from the Wonderware website at http://www.wonderware.com/support/web/secure/selfsupport/estechalerts.asp.

New Wonderware Patch Fixes and Device Integration Releases

Wonderware DAServer Runtime Components Upgrade 2.0 Service Pack 2
Wonderware DAServer Common Components
Wonderware ABTCP DAServer 1.5 Service Pack 1
Wonderware ABTCP DAServer 1.1 Service Pack 2
MBTCP DAServer 1.5 Service Pack 1
KepServer for Wonderware Version 4.3
InTouch Compact Edition 10.0 SP1
IndustrialSQL Server 9.0 Patch 02

Registered users can view and download this and other patchfix releases on the Wonderware eSupport
website at http://www.wonderware.com/support/web/secure/downloads/esdownload.asp.

Upcoming Events

Coming Soon! InSource Solutions and Wonderware Road Shows!

A Wonderware Innovation Road Show -- Coming to a location near you.
Today's industrial and manufacturing environments are under unprecedented pressure to accomplish a growing list of initiatives with fewer resources. Now, more than ever, those running operations need the ability to derive greater value from all their assets in order to contribute to greater efficiency and overall cost reduction. InSource Solutions is bringing to you a series of one day seminars to help you in your quest to get more from your equipment, your personnel, and your existing Wonderware assets.

Mark you calendars with these “can’t miss” seminars!

Tentative Schedule:

April 28th: Richmond, VA
April 28th: Orlando, FL

April 30th: Charlotte, NC
April 30th: Pensacola, FL

May 5th: Atlanta, GA
May 5th: Fayetteville, AR

More information to come!

AM Expo—Advanced Manufacturing Exposition & Conference

Come see us at this Exposition and Conference!

InSource Solutions be exhibiting with Strongarm in Booth 1716.
March 11-12, 2009
Charlotte Conference Center
Charlotte, North Carolina

Reduce Costs and Improve Your Profit Margins

FIND new equipment, technology, and materials to lower costs, reduce waste, and increase efficiencies. You'll see the latest in: adhesives/dispensing equipment, assembly systems, custom automation, control software/hardware, end-of-line packaging equipment, materials handling and conveyors, motion control, robotics, sensors…and much more!

COMPARE suppliers to obtain better options and improved services. These suppliers are ready to help save you money right now, and offer years of experience in every market segment including: aerospace, automotive, electronics, household appliances, industrial products, instrumentation, medical equipment, office equipment, telecommunications, and more.

IDENTIFY new, more cost-effective process methods to help improve product and business performance margins.

EVALUATE additional products at these co-located events: SouthPack, Plant Engineering South, Green Manufacturing Expo, Design & Manufacturing South, the PLASTEC South Pavilion, PTX South|Powder and Bulk Solids Southeast and MetalTec — all under one roof!

To register for this event, please click here.

16th Annual International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering Life Sciences Technology Show

Come see us at this Conference!

InSource Solutions will be at Table 028.
April 1, 2009
RBC Center
Raleigh, North Carolina

The 16th Annual ISPE CASA Life Sciences Technology Show offers numerous compelling topics ranging from compliance, regulatory guideline updates, supply chain management, utilities, automation, pharmaceutical project planning, and project management.

Key Speakers: Industry experts on the most current industry issues, trends and guidelines.

Exhibits: Up to 160 top equipment and service providers will be exhibiting.

Door Prizes: Lots of door prizes to be given away!

Networking: Bring plenty of business cards for a full day of networking opportunities in addition to a Networking Reception from 5:00pm-7:00pm

All Educational Seminars and Exhibits throughout the day are FREE to attend. Registration is required.

To view the agenda for this event, please click here. To register for this event, click here.