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4 Effective Ways on Achieving Successful Skid Integration in Batching Operations

4 Effective Ways on Achieving Successful Skid Integration in Batching Operations Part 3, batching operations, engineering blog, integration, skid integration

Four major guidelines for having a successful skid integration when it comes to batching operations 

The integration of the kid equipment in OEM in the overall batch management system will be requiring a clear and specified level of coordination. This coordination should come between the salve and master (DCS or SCADA) systems. The simplistic command set the slave system that does not give the provision for visual representation of the whole system. Once everything is working perfectly fine, a simple command from the master to the slave system is already sufficient to make everything work. However, there is an exemption to this rule. Once the exception condition is bound to happen, it is going to be very hard to determine or troubleshoot without the need to go out to the equipment’s HMI. This is the local human-machine interface to identify the issue. 

With this in mind, this kind of interference can increase the batch cycle time, can lessen the equipment utilization and it can decrease the overall efficiency of the operations. The only solution to this dilemma is to combine a slave OEM system inside the overall master processing system by following these four simple guidelines: 

Distribute the operating modes 

Standard operating states should be followed 

Identify the status feedback definition 

Have communications standardized 

The only thing that can solve this problem is to have tow different pieces of the equipment synchronized by identifying the agreed methodological set of interactions. The flexible batch solution should have an isolation happening between different set of functions. 

1. Distribute the operating modes 

The different operating modes of the remote equipment is a little bit complicated because the boundaries are not well defined. Should an operator implement changes to the local equipment once the controlled variables have been given instructions remotely coming from an overall recipe? Is the recipe will go to the “hold” state when a specified operating status is bound to change? These are the sample few questions that has to be considered when remote systems are to be integrated. The operating philosophy and interface should over rule. This happens between the master and the salve system and should be identified to continually give a uniformed interface between two different systems. 

2. Standard operating states should be followed 

Standard operating states should be followed to enable a mechanism to handle the hardest part of a batch. With this in mind, this is the exception condition. This is identified as a mechanism behavior that exists in the outside of the usual normal or desired behavior of the system process. The critical elements of the batch production includes the handling, processing, and recovering from these types of systematic operations.  

4 Effective Ways on Achieving Successful Skid Integration in Batching Operations Part 3

  1. Engineers Should Define the Status Feedback

Status feedback is part of many things, but it is an essential part of operations to make it more efficient and is between two systems. The information structured for status feedback is constructed for different modes, error in conditions, and operating states as well. The representation of a status feedback presented through standard modes and states are popular among all equipment but there is one catch. Every error in conditions should be specific to each equipment. The information specific to the equipment will better provide the engineers of a better view for the error in the condition of the machine. The information transmitted from a machine can also help the engineers prevent any further damage of the equipment and this will help them utilize it even better. This will contribute to overall efficiency of the whole operating system.

2. Status Feedbacks help in the standardization of communication status

The communication between different systems are attainable in a very good and efficient manner by using the single integer value designations in status feedback. The communication that are happening can be very simple and just by using one word as a command. The word is transmitted to the slave system and this in return gives them a status that comes from the slave system. In addition to this, there should be additional parameters or variables in the system that needs to be written and programmed to the programmable logic controller (PLC) that can result to the overall recipe setting in the main system of the status feedback. Having a good standard on different communication types of remote or 3rd party equipment makes the system feedback more controllable. Because this can be easily maintained and extended over the life-cycle. The different development of several communication standards for remote interfaces should be designed wide enough to be able to fit into different application types, but specific enough to show and display value.

The final solution

The different integration of slave or remote systems can be quite challenging for many engineers. However, the standardization of its’ interfaces can make this process easy to manage. The last two of the four guidelines discussed in this article are clearly set by the ISA 288.01 standards. The status feedback and the communication packaging between different systems can have meaning to cover all the 3rd party solutions. The common interface design between systems can have a unison design that can make the coordination more efficient across several systems. Which makes it to be more easy to maintain and easier to expand. The different integration of these kind of systems (slave or remote systems) is hard for many engineers. With this in mind, the interface’s standardization can make this process easier to manage.

Lastly, the common interface solutions should be well documented in a design that is deliverable. The design should be standardized by the User Requirement Specification (URS) to OEM to meet manufacturing standards. In this way the programming of the remote system is ensured to meet expected quality standards.