Plant management software adapts to energy management

I’ve written here before about the
adaptability of plant management software to the challenges of
energy management. While the use of human machine interface
(HMI) software for monitoring building control or heating,
ventilation, & air conditioning (HVAC) systems isn’t exactly
new, it’s notable that HMI and plant software vendors are putting
more focus into prepackaging their software capabilities around
energy and facilities management. One vendor that’s increased its
efforts in this area is Wonderware.

Wonderware rose to prominence over a decade ago for its
Windows-based HMI and supervisory control software, which is used
to monitor and manage production equipment. During the 1990s, it
built an integrated suite of factory management applications
covering functions such as down time analysis, and portal-based
manufacturing intelligence. Its software has been used to manage
all sorts of equipment, not just plant-floor machinery, but now it
has introduced a solution called Industry Application for
Facilities Management aimed at more efficient management of
facility operations. The solution features a library of templates,
graphics, face plates and symbols for the development of facilities
management applications.

I recently interviewed John Bishop, Wonderware’s industry manager
for facility management solutions, about their efforts to adapt
Wonderware’s core capabilities to energy management. To underpin
its solution, he says, Wonderware is
working with partners such as Echelon and ConnexSoft. Echelon
offers a product called i.LON SmartServer which is a widely used
networking platform for the management of electronic devices.
ConnexSoft specializes in connectivity for facilities management
applications.

Bishop says the i.LON SmartServer is widely used to manage
lighting, security systems, HVAC and various other types of
equipment used in facilities and commercial campuses. The
ConnexSoft partnership focuses on integrating Echelon’s product
with Wonderware’s ArchestrA application infrastructure. The goal,
says Bishop, is to make it easier to integrate a broad range of
equipment and systems with Wonderware’s facilities management
software.

“What we are doing is taking these products and standards and
integrating them into our application framework,” says Bishop. “In
essence, devices common to facilities management will be engineered
into our framework without the need for special gateways or
routers.”

When it comes time to deploy software for facilities management,
says Bishop, the work with partners will allow for Wonderware’s
software to basically inherit data from Echelon’s networking
platform, thus cutting down the configuration time. It’s similar to
the same type of interoperability work Wonderware has done for
decades around drivers and protocols for plant-floor equipment.

By having a common software infrastructure for production, energy,
and facilities management, the hope is that manufacturers will be
able to better make real-time energy management decisions, such as
whether production schedules should be adjusted to save on energy
costs. Bishop says this fits in with what the industry is calling
the “demand/reponse” approach to energy management.

The technical hurdles for demand/response are being cleared,
contends Bishop, though it may take some time before end-user
companies adopt and are ready to exploit an integrated approach to
production, facilities, and energy management. For Wonderware’s
part, plugging into the community of devices managed by Echelon’s
gear, and coming out with its new Facilities Management app, can be
seen as underpinnings for an integrated approach. “Now the devices
in facilities management are easier to communicate with and get
data from,” Bishop says. “You also need to be able to turn that
data into information, give it context, and most importantly, take
action.”