Rockwell Automation Factory Talk Vantage Point Related Questions :

1 What are heterogeneous Systems in manufacturing plant?

Answer
2 What are the real time data sources for FactoryTalk VantagePoint?
Answer
3 What are the optional connectors available for virtually all manufacturing systems in FT VP?
Answer Connectors can be configured to access data from:
· Factory Talk Live Data Sources (Logix controllers, PLC, SLC, etc.)
· Factory Talk Historian
· Factory Talk Alarm & Events History
· 3rd Party Real-time Sources (through Factory Talk Live Data-OPC DA connector)
· 3rd Party Historian Sources (through OPC HDA, Industrial SQL Server, GE Proficy Historian,
OSI PI)
· Database Connectors ( including SQL Server, Oracle, OLEDB, ODBC)
4 What is OPC DA connectivity to access real-time data sources (Non-Rockwell Components-
PLCs)?
Answer OPC DA stands for OPC Data Access. It is an OPC Foundation specification that defines how
real-time data can be transferred between a data source and a data sink (for example: a
PLC and an HMI) without either of them having to know each other’s native protocol.

5 What is OPC HDA connectivity to access real-time data sources (Non-Rockwell Components-
Historians)?
Answer
Note : FactoryTalk connectors install automatically and access Factory Talk ® Directory services to
locate sources of data
Note : The wizards present you with the data and map the User Defined Tag (UDT) and System
Defined Tag (SDT) structures into the model
6 What is UDT (User Defined Tag)?
Answer
7 What is SDT (System Defined Tag)?
Answer
8 What are Control loop reports?
Answer
9 What are Device and equipment reports?
Answer
Note : You can use each pre-configured report as is, or as an example to follow for creating your
own.
10 What is content viewer Portal in FT VP?
Answer
11 What is Extraordinary transactional data management?
Answer
Note : FactoryTalk VantagePoint LE makes it easier to handle changes to your data sources. As
you add new components and systems to your existing operations, simply connect the new
data sources and re-synchronize the model.
Note : You do not need to change the reports themselves, so you can easily accommodate
changes to your mix of equipment and systems. VantagePoint is object oriented and all
components are reusable.
 12 What are reporting components in the industry?
Answer
13 What is an ad-hoc report & analysis?
Answer
14 What is stack traces?
Answer
15 What is data object in FT VP?
Answer
Note : Factory Talk VantagePoint incorporates two of the most versatile and powerful trending
and plotting applications in the world.
Note : As with plotting, simply drag the single value or entire object onto the Microsoft Excel
spreadsheet and Factory Talk VantagePoint will configure the report for you.
16 What are concurrent licenses?
Answer
17 What is navigation tree FTVP?
Answer The navigation tree is how a user navigates the Unified Production Model (UPM). It
represents the content that a User is permitted to see.The navigation tree can include
equipment, folders, and reports or any item that is accessible within Factory Talk Vantage
Point.
18 What is network Card ?
Note : In environments where control networks have been separated from business networks the
Server will require a network card attached to each network.
Note : Upgrade to the Enterprise Edition :
 Upgrading the license to unlock advanced server functionality
 Obtaining and invoking advanced connectors for global databases and enterprise
systems
 Extending the number of users through named and/or concurrent licenses, as
needed
 Attach to the larger set of data sources and extend the Factory Talk VantagePoint
model to accommodate the expanded scope of the project.
19
Note : Native connectivity for third-party historians, such as:
 Wonderware® Industrial SQL Server
 GE Profcy™ Historian
 OSI soft® PI System™
Note : All OEE and downtime data is displayed in real time, empowering managers to respond to
real-world situations as they are happening today, not last week.
Real-time management communication between the enterprise and plant floor helps
facilities accomplish continuous improvement.
After OEE is calculated, tracking it over time and making changes that result in increased
equipment effectiveness is the next step.
Note : Factory Talk Live Data Sources (Logix controllers, PLC, SLC, etc.)
Factory Talk Historian
Factory Talk Alarm & Events History
3rd Party Real-time Sources (through FactoryTalk Live Data-OPC DA connector)
3rd Party Historian Sources (through OPC HDA, IndustrialSQL Server, GE Proficy Historian,
OSI PI)
 Note : Improvement initiatives are often seen as an expense instead of an investment. To have
an effective Energy Management program, you need to establish a baseline by measuring
your energy usage over time to understand why you are using it and to determine how
your energy consumption is contributing to your overall cost (e.g. Peak Demand).

Useful Words for Presentation and Explanation

heterogeneous multiple data industry web-based timely decisions inevitable bad
sources standard reporting news syndrome
package
proprietary user common labor single decision support third-party
interfaces architecture intensive information system historian
management
real-time data Native critical decisions one version of separate data not stale
sources connectivity the truth warehouse warehoused or
secondhand data
not stale stuffing it preconfigured creating your report drag-and-drop
warehoused or into Microsoft® web reports, own elements are
secondhand data Excel trends and reusable
spreadsheets dashboards
publish it with Informative & data-on-demand time-series data Extraordinary extensive
just one click appealing management transactional application
graphics with live updates data power
management
bottom line Single Access reporting global enterprise concurrent
Point for All components databases systems licenses
System Data
larger set of data Relevant, timely navigation tree actionable data Meaningful
sources and consistent data/information
3 FACTORS THAT DEFINE OEE
Track Equipment Availability, Equipment Performance
& Production Quality
Equipment efficiency is not simply the ratio of machine run time and scheduled time. Look at the
situation of a manufacturing line or process running at half speed with zero downtime. This is
truly only 50% efficient. Or, what if 10% of the product being produced does not meet your
minimum quality and must be reworked. This equates to 90% efficiency, which does not take in
account the effort to rework or losses of raw material.

There are three factors, all represented as a percentage, taken into consideration for the final
OEE result:

OEE Availability

OEE Availability is the ratio between the actual run time and the scheduled run time. The
scheduled run time does not include breaks, lunches and other pre-arranged time a production
line or process may be down.

Example:
If a line is scheduled for one 8 hour shift with two 15 minute breaks and one 30 minute lunch,
then the scheduled time is 7 hours. Determined from 8 hours – 15 minute break – 15 minute
break – 30 minute lunch. If during the production run there are 25 downtime events totaling to 45
minutes of downtime, then the runtime is 6 hours and 15 minute. Derived from 7 hours of
scheduled time – 45 minutes. The OEE Availability is 89% and is calculated by 6 hours 15
minutes divided by 7 hours.

OEE Performance
OEE Performance is the ratio between the actual number of units produced and the number of
unit that theoretically can be produced and is based on the standard rate. The standard rate is rate
the equipment is designed for.

Example:
If a work cell is designed to produce 10 units per minute we can calculate the theoretical
production it can produce. Taking the 6 hours and 15 minutes of actual run time for the above
example, a total of 3750 units can be produced. Calculated by taking 6 hours and 15 minutes
which is 375 minutes times 10. If the actual number of units produced is 3000, then the OEE
Performance is 80% calculated by 3000 / 3750.

OEE Quality

OEE Quality is the ratio between good units produced and the total units that were stated.

Example:
Taking the number of units produced from above of 3000, if 200 units were rejected at the
quality inspection station, then 2,800 good units are produced. The OEE Quality is 93%
calculated from 2,800 divided by 3,000.

The Final OEE Calculation = Availability X Performance X Quality

Example:
Using all the numbers from above, 89% x 80% x 93% = 66%. This may seam like a low number
but it is important to kept in mind that the OEE is not to be compared to 100%. The OEE result
from this production run is compared to other production runs. Sepasoft’s OEE Downtime
Module allows much more that just comparing OEE results between production runs i.e,
comparing OEE results between operators, viscosity, mechanics, products, raw material vendors
and any user defined factor you can think of.

TRACKING DOWNTIME
Increase Machine Up Time With Downtime Analysis
Increase Machine Up Time With Downtime Analysis
Track downtime to see where to focus efforts to improve availability of manufacturing
equipment. Think of it this way, if your production line typically runs at 69% OEE availability,
what actions do you take to increase it? Tracking downtime is the key.
Downtime tracking will identify the production cell (machine or process) that is preventing your
production line from producing product efficiently.

Automatic Downtime Tracking

Get real-time downtime information with the OEE Downtime Module. Downtime tracking can
be done manually, but history has shown that manually-collected downtime information is not
accurate and usually is too old to be used effectively. Downtime software can automatically
collect reasons for downtime, and compile it for quick and easy viewing.

Track Downtime Manually

The module supports both automatic and manual collection of downtime reasons, and a
combination of both.

Monitoring all downtime reasons automatically is the ideal solution – in a perfect world. But in
the real world, can be difficult or just not practical cost-wise to detect downtime reasons
automatically. For this reason it is important for downtime tracking software to support both
automatic reason detection with a manual override.

For example:
if an operator presses the stop button because they see a bottle laying on its side
feeding into a filler, then the only automatic reason that can be detected is
“operator press stop button”. Now the operator should be able to override the
reason with more specific information.
Downtime Analysis

Visually identify and drill down to the top downtime causes that affect your operating efficiency
with the OEE Downtime Module.
Once the period of time that production cells were not producing product and the associated
reasons are recorded, reviewing the downtime analysis summary of the reasons will identify
where effort should be focused to improve efficiency.

MANUFACTURING SCHEDULING
Coordinate Multiple Schedules To Improve OEE
Coordinate Multiple Schedules To Improve OEE

Scheduling software comes built-in with the OEE Downtime Module because of the value it
brings in helping operation managers improve production efficiency. Access current schedules,
including production scheduling, maintenance scheduling, and more.

Coordinate Multiple Schedules

Scheduling software can be used to help improve coordination between departments. Multiple
schedules must come together when scheduling production. If one item is not in unison with the
rest, then production line efficiencies will drop. If raw material is not at the line when the line is
ready to start production, then line production is waiting. Even if this is just 10 minutes, it
negatively reduces the production line efficiency.

Real-Time Scheduling Updates

Instantly distribute schedule changes to all departments through the OEE Downtime Module’s
scheduling feature. The system provides current schedule information and change notification to
all associated departments.
Monitor Production Schedule Progress

The OEE Downtime Module ties multiple departments together, and provides the tools to track
required, scheduled, produced and remaining production information. Stay ahead of schedule by
monitoring production progress status alongside production schedules.

Gain Competitive Advantage

Production schedules can change-sometimes at the last minute-making it difficult get updates
delivered to the right people in a timely manner. Loss of efficiency, and in turn loss of profits, is
the end result. Instead, use the OEE Downtime Modules’s real-time scheduling software to equip
your facility to effectively handle last-minute changes-and rejoice that you’ll be another step
ahead of your competitors.