Integrate Control and Safety and Unlock Hidden Potential

Summary

Protecting people, work-in-progress and equipment

Machine designers and manufacturers have awesome responsibilities: keep operators safe and keep production flowing. Maintaining safety and productivity in increasingly automated environments is more challenging than ever. Machines now operate autonomously, humans work side-by-side with robots, and complex systems have a large number of safety-related I/O points

The growing use and complexity of automation is why so many of our customers are opting to integrate control and safety.

Supply chain gaps, social distancing and employee protection have accelerated industry-wide efforts to automate more and more production processes. Pervasive automation requires an even greater focus on safety for workers who interface with and control automated systems. The more complex the automation is, the more challenging the safety becomes.

Thanks to technological advances, however, companies can now integrate machine control and safety on one platform, transport control and safety over one network, and program both within one software environment.
Integrating control and safety onto the same network enables engineers to assess risk and define functional safety requirements early in the design process to achieve a higher level of safety and improve machine communication because equipment control and safety are handled in one programming environment. Controlling software to monitor each line component in real-time is now possible.

Instead of simple “go” or “no go” controls, operators have more sophisticated safety controls that allow them to respond to problems more intelligently. They can actually segment or separate discrete parts of the process.

For example, if one part of the process is having an issue, rather than shutting the whole machine down in an uncontrolled way, operators can bring the problem section to a stop with a predefined safe speed. This allows for quicker machine startup once the problem is fixed and reduces wear and tear on the mechanical system.
Operators can also adjust other sections of the process individually, commanding upstream and downstream machines to continue as normal, slow down, or idle to create or clear backlog.

This more granular control reduces the impact of a single-down machine on the overall process. In addition, since all components are on the same network, operators can easily pull detailed status/alarm data from devices. This data can be served up to the HMI, SCADA, BMS, or even an email to the maintenance team to further reduce downtime.

Of course, there will always be a place for traditional standalone e-stop and safety relay circuits. But in highly automated environments, integrated control and safety is the future of machine design. It keeps operators safe, which should always be the main concern. It also keeps machines safe. Machines that can run in a safe state, even during normal operation, can be protected from mechanical or electrical damage. This is no small thing.

Ongoing value beyond safety

In addition to preventing machines from being damaged or destroyed, integrated safety and control also:

• Reduces scrap: When safety is integrated, machines can be stopped in a controlled fashion and material can be held in place instead of scrapped.
• Saves floor space: When safety is integrated, companies can reduce hardware and wiring and free up valuable real estate on the warehouse floor.
• Streamlines engineering: With one platform, one network and one software environment, machine design is simplified, programming is faster and easier, commissioning time is shorter, training is streamlined and scaling safety is possible.

Integrating control and safety also increases overall productivity. Designing safety into machines improves machine uptime because there’s no need to power off and then power up the machine when it’s in a safe state, and troubleshooting because control and safety data travel on the same network and awareness of the entire system is enhanced and more advanced diagnostics are possible. Finally, management, because the same software is used for all and ongoing maintenance is significantly easier
 

Safety by design

When it comes to machine design, safety shouldn’t be an afterthought. It should not be something that is added once the production equipment is in place. Rather, comprehensive safety should be built into every component from the beginning to reduce risk upfront and avoid accidents and litigation later.

Smarter, connected components with improved processing power and advanced communication capabilities can create more intelligent systems that allow you to attain ongoing safety and productivity. What should a total safety solution include?

Look for an integrated safety controller that delivers functionally safe machines on one platform, over one network, using one software, while maintaining functional separation between control and safety. Even though there are independent controllers for process and safety control, both should sit on the same platform, share the same core components, be programmed with the same software, travel on the same network and communicate with each other through a shared high-speed data bus that is tightly synchronized and not affected by I/O and network traffic.

When the main process and safety functions are physically separated at the controller level but integrated at the network level, information can be shared for greater visibility and rapid problem resolution.

Built-in versus bolted-on

When safety is built-in up-front instead of bolted on after the fact, machines can be designed with safe operation as a foundation for streamlined implementation and enhanced safety on and around machines. Functional safety at the machine level can also tie into the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) network and allow for more intelligent, interactive and collaborative safety.

While the fully integrated approach can cost more than basic safety devices, the cost is offset by the higher installation and maintenance costs of basic safety components.