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by Jeff Moad, MA Editorial Staff Posted on Sunday, August 26, 2007 3:00:00 AM Sign Up to receive Daily News Alerts in your E-mail Inbox    | Abstract: | Despite its promise for the plant floor, a lack of products supporting established standards, combined with the relative novelty of the technology, is forcing many manufacturers to take a cautious, incremental approach to deploying wireless networks. |
| Keywords: | 802.11 wireless standard, wireless networking, industrial wireless standards, wireless networks, 802.15.4, closed-loop control, device interoperability, Wireless HART, wireless protocol standards, ISA100, Secure Mobile Architecture |
With the cost of installing new wire for networking as high as $2,000 per foot in some older plants, it's easy to understand why many manufacturers believe it makes sense to invest in wireless networking technologies to tie together plant floor devices and systems. Still, the lack of products supporting established industrial wireless standards, combined with the relative novelty of the technology in plant environments, is forcing many manufacturers to take a cautious, incremental approach to deploying wireless networks. "We've deployed wireless technology in support of a few isolated applications, but mostly for device monitoring so far," says Ronald T. Morris, senior engineering associate at DuPont Chemical Solutions Enterprise, who spoke at a recent Wireless Summit conference sponsored by the ISA in Vancouver, B.C. "We've looked at wireless for some closed-loop control applications, but right now we're holding off." In fact, a recent survey of 500 manufacturing organizations, conducted in part by ISA members and released at the conference, indicated that the vast majority of manufacturers pursuing wireless networks are focusing on applications such as safety and waste/water monitoring and alerting, rather than control applications, said Richard Caro, president and CEO of CMC Associates, a consulting organization. [Click to continue] |
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