Electricity + Control August 2015

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Ethernet products for harsh
environments
Netshield South Africa has introduced a range of Industrial
Ethernet products, designed to assist industrial customers
where networking equipment is exposed to extreme elements
and environmental factors.
The use of Industrial Ethernet (IE) devices is specifically
required for businesses that require a more resilient solution
because of the environment in which their Ethernet network
runs. To this end, IE devices are fully equipped with rugged
connectors, and boast switches that can withstand extended
temperature, ideal for those in industrial environments as well
as automation or process control.
“South Africa has a large industrial focused industry where
we see factories, smelters, heat treatment plants, manufactur-
ing lines and even furnaces and packing plants,” states Inus
Dreckmeyr, chief executive officer at Netshield. “The compo-
nents used in the plant process areas of these companies, must
be able to function in environments where there are extreme
temperatures, humidity as well as vibrations that exceed the
ranges information technology equipment can usually work
under.
“The use of fibre Ethernet in these IE environments reduces
the problems usually associated with electrical noise and ena-
bles electrical isolation, which in turn helps prevent equipment
damage,” adds Dreckmeyr.
Enquiries:Tel. 012 841 0320 or email
Modernising and migrating Industrial
CommunicationTechnology
The number of communications protocols used in industrial automation
is staggering…and still growing.
No company can afford to re-engineer or rip out their existing pro-
cesses every time they add a new machine or want to collect data into
their existing network from some legacy device that is still working
well but not connected to the network.
Re-engineering is not the answer because no matter how careful you
are, there will be problems, interruptions and downtime. And downtime
does not pay the bills, cover the payroll or produce any profits. What
you need is a plan that will allow you to layer new data communications
technology over the top of what you already have.
Then you can gradually migrate your existing equipment and devices
into your network, providing you with the ability to collect new kinds
of data that will increase your profit margin.You can start your phased
migration by deciding and prioritising what data you really need to
collect or measure for your specific operation.
Once you have this list you can begin your phased migration.There
are numerous protocol gateways on the market today that will allow
you to quickly (and cost-effectively) integrate a new machine into your
network or collect data from a legacy device.
These gateways act as translators from one protocol to another.They
are relatively easy to install and once up and running, they allow your
controller to ‘talk to’ devices that speak a different protocol as seam-
lessly as if it were all one network.
Enquiries:Visit
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