By Dave Halon, Omron European Distribution Manager
The last 25 years has seen the pace of technological change rise dramatically in industry. A quarter of a century ago, industry was just starting the process of adopting computing power, in what is now termed as the third industrial revolution. Now, that technology has been almost fully incorporated into manufacturing processes and we have reached the start of the next industrial revolution, which is being driven by information. Never has technology moved as quickly as it has over the last 25 years.
Omron saw the opportunities that this industry disruption would bring, and decided that 1991 was the ideal time to open a location in the UK. Previously the company serviced the whole of Europe from its headquarters in the Netherlands, which was established in 1974. The company then supported its UK customers through distributors instead of being involved directly.
The firm specialised in sensing and safety components, as well as the general electrical components that made up the vast majority of panel builds at the time. PLCs had been around for some time, but in general, they were too large, complex and expensive for all but the most demanding installations, such as those found in the oil and gas sectors. Omron had recognised the potential to penetrate the UK market with its own PLC’s and drives, which led to the establishment of Omron Electronics UK Ltd, 25 years ago.
Even though the ladder logic language used to program PLCs was based on the wiring diagrams that electrical engineers used to wire relays in panels, PLCs still needed highly skilled experts to write the programs. The programming devices used to input the ladder logic were very primitive by today’s standards, and generally only had a small screen, allowing the programmer to only see a few lines of code at a time. Getting engineers up to speed required extensive training and support, which Omron could now offer on a direct basis to allow customers to realise their automated control requirements. At the time, programming experts were thin on the ground, so setting up the support network to help customers adopt PLCs was a very expensive undertaking.
Of course, history has proved Omron correct in its determination to push complex products as PLCs and drives have displaced almost all of the huge relay cabinets that were prevalent throughout the industry 25 years ago. Each new generation of computerised products like PLCs and drives is more powerful, cheaper and easier to integrate, driving the adoption of the technologies throughout different industries.
Even though PLC control has replaced relays in the majority of applications in the control industry, the market for relays remains huge. Omron was founded as a manufacturer of relays and timers in the Omuro region of Kyoto in 1933, and the company is still a major supplier of relays throughout the world. It employs 3,500 staff globally, on the design, manufacture, and supply of relays alone.
Today’s relays are much more diverse in design and found in many niche applications – from tiny solid state relays that are found on printed circuit boards, to larger DIN rail mounted and standalone relays. In general, today’s relays are smaller, faster and more reliable than similar relay types found in control cabinets 25 years ago. A good example of how some relays have shrunk is Omron’s G2R relay range, which originally had products that measured 3 inches (76mm) wide at launch. Now, relays in the range are under a tenth of that size at 6mm wide. On the other hand, some relays have barely changed – Omron’s MY4 range is a prime example of this type of relay. This range is around 25 years old, and it is only a change in the faceplate’s colour and the addition of a test switch that that differentiates the old from the new.
The changes in products have not just come for relays. The PLCs and drives that persuaded Omron to base in the UK originally have also seen some very considerable changes. When people think of Ohm’s Laws, it is generally in the context of home computing, but the law also holds true for industrial computing. The PLCs available today have computing power that is orders of magnitude more than those found 25 years ago. That extra power enables more precise control through faster processing. More complex functions can also be undertaken, which has enabled another revolution, allowing industrial robots to become much more prevalent in manufacturing.
The extra power and memory available has also seen a change in the way PLCs are programmed. Although ladder logic is still used in some cases, PLCs can be programmed in much more modern and easier ways, usually on a modern high resolution PC screen instead of the original small LCD displays of the past. High level computing languages like C are often used. Tasks can be more easily broken down into functional blocks, which can then be put together into full applications. In some cases, a mixture of two, or even all three of these methods can be used in the same application. This ease of program development over the years has probably been as vital to the adoption of PLCs as the drop in cost. And the costs have dropped almost as quickly as performance has increased. A basic PLC 25 years ago would have cost many thousands of pounds. Today, a basic but powerful compact PLC can be bought for around £100.
Another major way that the PLC has changed is that it is now much more flexible. 25 years ago, you would have chosen the PLC that was closest to your requirements from a range of PLCs with similar specifications. Today, you can purchase a base PLC that has the computing power required, and then add different modules, such as a web server or for extra inputs and outputs, to give the full feature set required for the application. A modular approach like this makes it easier to accommodate future expansions. In some instances, the PLC is being incorporated into other devices, leaving no need for a standalone PLC. An example of this type of product is Omron’s NYP, which provides an HMI with an integrated Industrial PC.
It’s not just components that are changing. The panels themselves have evolved over the last 25 years. Back in the early 1990s, Panels were huge grey monoliths that usually run from the floor to the ceiling, and banks of them could take up full walls of the control room. Each control panel would have rows and rows of switches, buttons, indicators and meters. These days, panels have changed to be much smaller and are usually placed closer to the machine that they control. The rows of switches and dials are now almost completely gone, replaced by a single HMI LCD panel, with sometimes a few discrete buttons. These smaller panels were one of the main drivers for the miniaturisation of components. Higher efficiency operation has also helped enable this trend by cutting out the amount of thermal waste emitted by the components.
Finally, the most dramatic change is the market and customers themselves. 25 years ago, the world was nowhere near as connected as it is now. Companies used to make products from the ground up in one factory. Now there could be several factories making a product that was designed somewhere else entirely. No matter where a customer is manufacturing, it expects the same level of service, support and availability of components. This has meant that support staff must be proficient, not just in technology, but also in the different domains where the technology may be used. In 1991, complex components were only used in a few industries. Now, they are used in every industry, for almost every application.
The next 25 years will see if this rate of innovation is sustainable. It’s starting to look as if it is likely – just as we are currently getting used to using touchscreen HMIs, new technology is becoming available to allow us to use phones or tablets to monitor and control processes, wherever we are in the world.
The end objective of the fourth industrial revolution will see factories almost acting autonomously and reacting to real time changes in the wider operational environment. Omron has already shown the potential of the Smart Factory with a recent demonstration that uses three intelligent robots to input, sort and output a process autonomously after the initial order is input. If this pace of change keeps up, today’s technology will look as alien as huge blinking cabinets filled with relays are to us now. The only thing that is certain over that time, is that Omron will be at the center of that innovation, as well as remaining here in the UK to support the best of British business.
