ABB WebWare offers peace-of-mind with remote monitoring and control

Citation

(2003), "ABB WebWare offers peace-of-mind with remote monitoring and control", Industrial Robot, Vol. 30 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2003.04930aaf.002

ABB WebWare offers peace-of-mind with remote monitoring and control

ABB WebWare offers peace-of-mind with remote monitoring and control

Keywords: Production management, Internet, Robots, ABB

ABB’s Industrial IT range offers WebWare as three-in-one solution

ABB, the global power and automation technology group, has designed a software solution to work with ABB robots which enables the remote monitoring and control of production processes while performing a range of production management tasks.

WebWare, part of ABB’s Industrial IT range, is a comprehensive software platform enabling local and remote monitoring and control of plant-wide production data, statistics and diagnostic information using a standard internet browser. WebWare also incorporates Interlink™, an embedded technology that manages communication with all connected ABB robot controllers (Plate 2).

Case study one

An ABB customer, sorting more than 3,000 packages a day with three ABB robots, was looking for a way to track system throughput, reject rates and output by destination and utilisation.

Plate 2 The solution for this major truck manufacturer was programmed back-up to reduce time from 8 hours to 32 minutes

One aspect of WebWare is its production monitoring capabilities which allows production data to be presented in a series of dynamic web pages. This simple yet powerful approach gives authorised users local and remote access to live production data through a familiar web format. Direct database support allows users to automate the capture of production data so that custom reports can then be linked to the process data for live, browser-based reporting.

The solution for the ABB customer was for the existing cell Human Machine Interface (HMI) application to be modified to transmit data to a local WebWare server giving custom availability, fault and throughput reports which have been developed for real-time tracking over the corporate intranet. Significant benefits have been realised in production management where all three robot cells are now reporting to one server. Real-time data collection and reporting provides visibility of the system operation and the software can be used to establish benchmarks, reduce errors, improve utilisation and minimise idle resources.

Case study two

A major truck manufacturer was looking for a solution to reduce its system backup time of its vital and valuable data and the burden of record-keeping.

WebWare offers plant-wide file management allowing the performance of unattended, scheduled backups whilst safeguarding critical part-programs and tracking program changes. Once production files are safely archived they can be restored to the robot controller from the web browser. In addition, program files can be downloaded directly to a PC for off-line program maintenance.

The solution for the truck manufacturer was to install ABB’s WebWare to automate network back-up and the storage of robot programs and parameter files. Plant-floor program changes are now automatically captured and off-line program maintenance is supported.

The customer has seen the direct labour-saving benefits of installing WebWare – now with fully automated back-up, time taken has been reduced from 8 h to just 32 min.

Case study three

A regional system integrator has also secured a project on the strength of introducing WebWare to one of its existing customers. The regional system integrator had suggested a duplicate manufacturing robot cell to its customer and the new cell was to be installed at a distant manufacturing location. The problem was, however, that the customer was unsure of the regional system integrator’s ability to support the remote installation.

WebWare offers remote diagnostics by continuously monitoring connected robots, collecting data and logging diagnostic information. The data is readily available to local and remote users even if the production system is down, thereby permitting centralised support of distributed installations.

The project was secured by the system integrator installing WebWare to satisfy the support needs of the end-user. WebWare has enabled the system integrator to provide remote system support whilst reducing support costs with no unnecessary field trips and no arguments over who will pay for the support.

WebWare, from ABB’s Industrial IT range, is the three-in-one software solution offering sophisticated production monitoring, extensive file management and failsafe remote diagnostics which results in clear customer benefits.

For further information, please contact: David Marshall, ABB, Auriga House, Precedent Drive, Rooksley, Milton Keynes MK13 8PQ, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 1908 350300; Fax: +44 (0) 1908 350301; E-mail: david.marshall@gb.abb.com