Subject: [NEXTEL-1] The road to a wireless network

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 14 Dec 2002 16:57:24 -0500

The road to a wireless network
Source: Works Management
Publication date: 2002-11-01
Arrival time: 2002-12-13

The benefit of a fully integrated wireless data network within a factory is
easy to see. But this type of system usually has to go in stage by stage,
with payback calculated and justified at each iteration. How is this being
done? Stephen Pritchard reports

look at any busy shopping street and it is easy to see how wireless
communications are shaping the world. Where once there were queues for
phone boxes, now almost everyone seems to be on a mobile.

But so far the wireless communications revolution has not made as much of
a mark on manufacturing. There are wireless systems in warehouses, and
there are maintenance crews equipped with wireless data terminals.
However, most communications between manufacturing systems still rely
on conventional wired links.

Just as mobiles offer self-evident advantages over a call box, it is not hard to
see the benefits of wireless technologies in a manufacturing context.
Wireless communications gives system designers greater flexibility over the
positioning of monitoring and tracking equipment, as they no longer need to
be near a physical data port. It is cheaper and easier to add extra data
collection points, as there is no need for extra wiring.

Wireless can undertake tasks that are simply beyond the reach of wireline
technology. This embraces collecting real-time data from a fork truck or
pick-and-pack robot; monitoring the progress of parts or equipment using
RFID (radio frequency identification) tags; and feeding information to fitters,
service engineers and supply chain specialists as they move about the
plant.

Just as there is more than one justification for adopting wireless technology,
there are several barriers too. The most obvious is cost. Wireless
technology has been available for some 20 years, but the proprietary
systems were expensive, and hard to integrate with other systems.

"Companies have been using wireless technologies for years for applications
such as data collection," says Bill Swanton, VP and research fellow at AMR
Research. "We have mostly seen it in areas where there is a huge
productivity or ergonomic benefit, such as in warehouses. There it is
priceless, but the trend has been to install narrowly functional systems."

Expanding specialist wireless systems - especially those based around
proprietary radio technologies - to work beyond the warehouse can be
prohibitively expensive. And because of the range of differing, incompatible
systems it is hard to integrate the data they supply with other enterprise
software applications. But the emergence of standards-based systems for
wireless networks is changing the way manufacturers and technology
suppliers view wireless. The now almost universal 802.11 lb (WiFi) standard
and to a lesser extent, GPRS mobile, are both improving capabilities and
cutting costs.

The 802.11 lb standard offers plug and play wireless networking at a cost
that is moving closer and closer to that of wired LANs (local area networks).
A wireless LAN card for a laptop computer costs under $100 (retail), with a
base station costing around $150. Prices of ruggedised, industrial-strength
base stations are also falling.

If companies consider the cost of running network cables across a plant,
wireless becomes financially attractive. The widespread adoption of WiFi for
consumer electronics, home networking and offices also gives
manufacturers a degree of insurance for the future. With so many WiFi
systems out there, any future development is very likely to be compatible
with 802.11 b.

"The data communications industry is investing heavily in moving away from
proprietary standards and towards 802.11 b," says Raf Jezierski,
international manager for mobile applications at Psion Teklogix, whose
systems are widely used in warehousing. "We were a company using
proprietary standards but now we are using 802.11 lb. And any new
standards will be designed to supplement, not replace it, for example by
adding greater security. The standard was designed for forward
compatibility."

The speed of 802.llb links - currently 11 Mbps (megabits per second) - is
unlikely to be a barrier for applications such as production control,
warehousing or supply chain management. And the consensus seems to be
that, except where factors such as hazardous environments prevent it, most
businesses could justify wireless networks for new manufacturing sites.

But payback is much harder to calculate for an existing plant where there is
already a wired network infrastructure. "Manufacturers have not adopted
wireless as quickly as we expected, and that is because they have other
priorities," says David Tudor, industrial sector consultant at Oracle UK. "To
keep down the cost of putting in systems, they put in the standard
infrastructure. Mobile data capture will be done afterwards."

In practice, this means that companies that have bought wireless-
compatible enterprise software might not be using it to its full advantage. "It
can be hard to show the benefits of wireless applications," says Tudor.

In a manufacturing firm, the first people to adopt wireless technologies are
often in the field maintenance force. The savings from reducing trips to the
depot, and cutting data entry from paper forms, are easy to calculate so it is
easier to justify the investment. Next to adopt wireless is often the sales
force and general management.

Installing wireless networking in the office is a quick and relatively cheap
way to connect staff who work mostly on laptops; it is also a good way to
connect up meeting rooms or informal areas. And equipping staff who travel
with wireless LAN cards enables them to use the growing range of public
access WiFi points in locations such as stations, airports and motorway
services.

Once IT departments accept the idea of wireless networking, it is often the
first choice for any subsequent additions to the network or for upgrades.
"Unless it is a major corporation, or it is done as part of a major system
installation, it can be difficult to go back and put in a whole wireless
system," says Oracle's David Tudor. Instead, a departmental rollout is more
likely to win support of the board. In this case, it is all the more important to
ensure that systems comply to industry standards, as much of the
cost-saving benefits of wireless communications will be lost if
manufacturing, finance and purchasing systems cannot talk to each other.
As well as using standard hardware, this means adopting open software
standards, such as PEE and XML.

There's a further consideration. "Introducing real-time data collection can
increase the information you have about your supply chain by 30 to 40 per
cent," cautions Nigel Ford of SAP. "The ability to manage that data is key.
The data collection process needs to be closely integrated with business
intelligence solutions, and systems that can cope with high levels of data.
Manufacturers also need to ensure they are dealing with suppliers that are
stable, and work in standards such as XML and J2EE."

Despite the barriers, the manufacturers that have embraced wireless
networks are reporting benefits. Early adopters are industries such as
aerospace and automotive. "In aerospace, there is a lot of documentation,"
says AMR's Swanton. "If you are wiring the avionics in an cockpit, it's a real
advantage to be able to load all that information into a computer in real time.
We are also seeing significant take-up in high-tech."

But these are sectors where production methods and supply chains are
already highly optimised, forcing companies to look to leadingedge
technologies for further efficiencies. "In general, wireless connections for
manufacturing will only come when the technology is pervasive," says
Swanton. "If the infrastructure goes in for other business purposes,
manufacturing will be able to make use of it."

Until then, a step-by-step approach is the best way to prove the
technology`s worth.

Left: wireless networking at IBM's East Fishkill microelectronics plant
(see box item)

More details

AMR Research 151

Oracle 152

Psion Teklogix 153

SAP 154

Wafers without wires

Wireless access to the local area network is a key part of the IT
infrastructure at IBM's flagship microelectronics manufacturing facility in
East Fishkill, New York State.

The plant, designed to make microprocessors using new, 12-inch wafer
technology, is being fitted out, with full production expected in 2003. As a
result, staff from both IBM and its suppliers are moving between areas on
the production floor and offices, so wireless LAN technology offers major
productivity advantages.

However, IBM engineers plan to continue to use the wireless LAN once full
production starts. The 12-inch wafer manufacturing process is highly
automated and the wafers travel around the plant in sealed units, known as
FOUPs. As there is almost no exposure of wafers to the factory floor
environment, workers can wear 'relaxed' rather than full clean room clothing.

The result is that IBM employees waste less time moving between the plant
floor and the rest of the building. If technical staff need information about part
of the process or the machinery they can access it there and then from a
portable computer, rather than having to rely on cumbersome paper
documentation.

Copyright Findlay Publications Limited Nov 2002
http://cnniw.yellowbrix.com/pages/cnniw/Story.nsp?story_id=35129581&ID=cnniw&scategory=Telecommunications%3AWireless&

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