A Global manufacturer of Consumer Products required a significant expansion of its plant wide control system networks. With an increased number of devices and accelerating volume of data that needed to be transferred, the company’s proprietary Allen-Bradley Data Highway control network could no longer support the plant’s needs. The consumer products company asked McEnery Automation to provide engineering, design and specification for modifications and improvements to allow these networks to handle its increased requirements.

The e-Solution

Many PLCs were rerouted from the Data Highway onto the Ethernet LAN, which was also reconfigured and significantly expanded. Our engineers selected the location for new Ethernet hubs installed in several buildings throughout the plant. We also performed distance calculations and specified hardware components including hubs, routers, transceivers and various cable types including fiber optics. The Ethernet LAN connected approximately 15 Allen-Bradley PLCs and 30 PCs running Windows NT Workstation and Windows NT Server to further integrate the company’s enterprise.

The Results

We successfully implemented the network modifications to help our client achieve its goals. Control system networks were enhanced with increased stability and capacity required for plant expansion and increasingly complex control software applications.

Our e-Solutions built a partnership. We serve as the primary point of technical support for these networks. And we offer the expertise needed to ensure a smooth transition during software upgrades, hardware changes, and installation and configuration of new PCs running Windows NT Server, Windows NT Workstation, SQLServer, Windows 95 and Windows 98. We continue to provide integrated solutions that drive process control systems while providing a wealth of information to drive the business side of the company’s manufacturing operations.

 
©2001 McEnery Automation