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by Jeff Moad, MA Editorial Staff   | Abstract: | Manufacturers believe wireless networks can help them reduce production costs and improve plant flexibility. Before widely deploying the technology, however, they want to know: Is wireless reliable enough for the plant floor? |
| Keywords: | is wireless reliable enough for the plant floor, is wireless feasible for manufacturing, is wireless feasible |
 It's not hard to understand why many manufacturers are champing at the bit to deploy wireless networks in their plants. Freed from the need to run expensive and inflexible physical wires, manufacturers deploying wireless networks, many believe, will be able to deploy more sensors, dramatically increasing their visibility into plant operations. Moreover, wireless offers the ability to easily reconfigure and move production operations without the need to rewire.
But such potential benefits, compelling as they are, don't mean manufacturers are willing to cut wireless technology any slack in the reliability department. Before they start deploying wireless networks in their plants — and particularly before they begin using the technology for critical control applications — manufacturers want assurances that wireless networks can deliver data as reliably and accurately as wired networks or even point-to-point connections.
"They need to know they can trust the data coming over these networks," says Bob Karschnia, vice president of technology at Emerson Process Management. "They need wireless to be 99.9% reliable."
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