April/May 2009 InStep Newsletter, Vol. 5, Issue 4

Contents:

InSource Solutions Employee Spotlight! Learn More About the People Dedicated to Serving You!

Introducing Bob Heil, ATC Consulting Solutions Architect!

Bob has been with InSource Solutions since August of 2007. He currently works out of our Charlotte, North Carolina office.

When asked why Bob liked working at InSource Solutions, he responded, “InSource allows me to bring my past experiences, my skills, and my passions all into focus, much like dialing in and adding light to a microscope. Each customer becomes the specimen under scrutiny, one at a time; and together with our other team members we all peer into the scope’s lenses, focus on the customers conditions, needs, expectations, and budget, and in a Hippocratic-Oath-like series of meetings, proposals, projects, and dialogs, help them move from the world of “As-is” to the Willy-Wonka-like world of what “can be.” Or, said another way, I truly enjoy what InSource employs me to do; Make a positive difference to each customer, based on the customers’ needs.”

Bob is originally from just south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He moved to the Greenville, South Carolina area when he was nine years old. Bob attended Clemson University and has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Electrical Engineering. Here are some more interesting facts about Bob:

Bob and his wife Cynthia met at Clemson University.
Bob and Cynthia have two children: Andrew (9) and Susan (almost 5).
He has stared in two television commercials for Scott brand paper products. The commercials were filmed New Zealand.
Both children are homeschooled by Cynthia—this means they are the proud parents of two children at the top of their class! It also means they’re at the bottom so there is much room for improvement.
When not traveling for work, Bob enjoys home remodeling—well actually the demolition part!

InSource Solutions is very happy to have Bob as part of our team!

Wonderware Releases New HMI Reports Product to Meet Demand for Quick and Easy Reporting

On April 6, Wonderware announced the addition of Wonderware HMI Reports to its offering of operations management software solutions. Wonderware HMI Reports is a simple reporting solution for use with Wonderware InTouch HMI and other plant and industrial data sources.

“Wonderware HMI Reports is a perfect complementary product to Wonderware InTouch HMI,” said Gary Nelson, Wonderware product marketing manager. “In today’s ‘do more with less’ world, our customers need to be able to take substantially less time and effort to create accurate and visually appealing reports. HMI Reports allows them to do this without programming skills or IT expertise.”

Wonderware HMI Reports enables customers to transform raw data from multiple data sources into usable information with custom reporting capabilities that can be created easily, quickly and inexpensively. The resulting reports can be made available to anyone, anywhere, anytime via e-mail, printed copies or a Web portal.

Wonderware HMI Reports significantly reduces report development time and simplifies report modifications by using simple integration tools for accessing data from InTouch, Wonderware Historian and other vendor HMI applications, as well as other data sourcing programs that support OPC, OLE DB and ODBC standards. As an intuitive and easy-to-use reporting solution requiring no IT or programming skills, HMI Reports can be configured through simple interfaces, menus, intelligent report objects and user-friendly dialog boxes.

HMI Reports also offers enhanced security and report generation features. The software provides integrated security measures that make it is easy to define who can access reports and who can create, modify or generate reports. These can be customized on a per-report basis to further enhance overall data security.

In addition, HMI Reports provides a user-friendly object library for data extraction of statistics, offers customizable report designs, and enables the user to view data in multiple formats such as tables, bars, pie charts and graphs. The software also features an intuitive graphical editor enabling reports to be created and saved as templates for future use.

To download a free trial of Wonderware HMI Reports, please click here. For more information on this new release or any other Wonderware product, please contact your Wonderware Southeast Account Executive or the marketing department at marketing@insourcess.com.

Ask the Infrastructure Experts - Lesia's I2 Q&A Corner

Why You Would Consider a Solid State Drive (Compact Flash) in Place of Your Hard Disk Drive?

With today’s ever changing technology and the drive to go green, a lot of people are getting confused about which feature of a computer really need to be considered when building their system. Everyone seems to be clear on knowing what a hard disk drive is and its value but what is a solid state drive or compact flash? Is it a better option in place of a hard disk drive?

Actually a solid state drive and a compact flash is the same thing it is just a matter of which interface they are using. There are 3 different connections: IDE, SATA and Compact Flash. A solid state drive emulates a hard disk drive but uses semiconductor memory rather than optical or magnetic memory like a hard disk drive; therefore, a solid state drive or compact flash has no moving parts, which leads to:

Reduced power consumption
Lower operational costs
Higher performance

Solid state storage or compact flash memory offers the potential to make systems more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. They are non-volatile, which means that no power is needed to maintain the information stored in the chip. These drives have a significantly better performance-to-power rating than traditional hard disk drives. And unlike traditional hard drives, solid state drives can shift to very low power modes quickly and return to full performance, without the penalty of delays associated with waiting for a disk to spin back up. This lower average power consumption reduces the demands on the end user to cool systems that use solid state technologies.

Talking about storage, the solid state drive or compact flash stores the operating performance of several hard disks into the same space as a single hard disk, providing an opportunity for more processing capability within an existing system.

Flash memory offers fast read access times (although not as fast as volatile DRAM memory used for main memory in PCs) and better kinetic shock resistance than hard disks. These characteristics explain the popularity of flash memory in portable devices. Another feature of flash memory is that when packaged in a "memory card," it is enormously durable, being able to withstand intense pressure, extremes of temperature, and even immersion in water.

The ideal application for a solid state drive would be a rugged area where the PC is in an enclosure where the temperature would exceed normal operating temperature range or where the unit is mobile or vulnerable to vibration.

To download a white paper about Industrial Flash storage, please click here. If you are considering placing your PC on the plant floor and would like more information please call or email Lesia Bell at 443.683.8031 or lbell@insourcess.com.

Don’t forget to submit your questions for next month! Submit your industrial infrastructure questions to Lesia’s Q&A Corner by phone 443.683.8031 or email lbell@insourcess.com.

Lesia Bell has been with InSource since February of 2007. To learn more about Lesia, click here and read her Employee Spotlight, originally published in the July Issue of InStep.

I2 Infrastructure, an InSource Solutions Business Unit, focuses on the specialized, rigorous application of standard commercial IT infrastructure technology to situations that have specific industrial requirements. The I2 Infrastructure team works with your Wonderware Southeast representative to complement Wonderware software solutions by offering products and services that keep your Wonderware software running continuously and efficiently.

ATC Consulting ReadytoGo Services

Two years ago, ATC Consulting reintroduced ReadyToGo services for various Wonderware and ACP Thin Manager products. ReadyToGo’s are designed to provide the right amount of training and services to get your software investment returning dividends immediately, offered at a fixed price. We’ve done thousands of installs in many different environments. And, our Tech Support team is who you will depend on after the software is up and running. Why not rely on our experience and know how to get you on your way as fast and reliably as possible?

Well, as we’ve been working with our clients we’ve learned a lot about how better to serve your needs and have listened to your input. Each ReadytoGo has been refined to better utilize your time and make sure the install is right. In some cases, we’ve been able to reduce cost by focusing on what we’ve found most important to you. And finally, we are ensuring that not only is the software in and running but that we’ve also worked with your staff to insure that you are prepared to go to the next step in leveraging the value of your investment.

For every engagement we:

Do the prep work – insuring you have everything in place prior to us coming on site from licensing and media to hardware to your network so we don’t waste any time

Install and configure – we’ll get is installed but more importantly insure that it is configured to how you are going to use it…including security

Align it to your needs – as time permits we will do as much as possible to apply the product to what you are trying to accomplish, helping you see what the software can do for you

Close the loop – finally, we’ll walk through next steps with you. We may have knocked out all you need and so we’ll make sure you know how to access our Tech Support team. And, if you have something in mind that involves some mentorship so you can develop an application or report, we’ll work out how to provide that. Or, if it’s a project you have in mind, we’ll work with your Account Executive to get you in touch with a certified System Integrator to help you build the complete solution.

So, if you are making an investment in System Platform (Industrial Application Server, Historian, Information Server), QI Analyst, or ACP Thin Manager think about how you are going to get the most out of them and how fast. Talk to your Wonderware Southeast Account Executive about ATC Consulting can do to get you the fastest results at the lowest cost!

For more information on ATC Consulting and their Ready-to-Go services, please click here, or contact your Wonderware Southeast Account Executive or the marketing department at marketing@insourcess.com.

Advantech Introduces Two New Industrial Power-over-Ethernet Switches

The Industrial Automation Group of Advantech has introduced two new PoE switches, the EKI-2525PA and EKI-2526PI, expanding its industrial Ethernet solutions. EKI-2525PA is a 5-port industrial PoE switch with 24/48 VDC power input designed for typical factory applications, and EKI-2526PI is a 6-port industrial PoE switch with a wide operating temperature range designed for harsh environment applications.

Most industrial PoE switches support 48VDC power input, however users will need to have a power adaptor ready for any field device usage. Advantech's 5-port EKI-2525PA PoE switch offers 24VDC power input that not only solves these power supply issues, but can still support PoE to connected devices.

EKI-2526PI is extremely rugged, and its additional Ethernet port allows users to setup a daisy chain topology, providing versatile network architectures for industrial applications. Furthermore, it's wide operating temperature (-40 ~ 75° C) allows it to operate reliably even in the most extreme environments.

For more information on these new Advantech PoE Switches or any other Advantech products, please contact your I2 Infrastructure Specialist or the marketing department at marketing@insourcess.com.

2009 ACP ThinManager Road Show!

ACP will hold free 1/2 day seminars—coming to a city near you! This could save your bottom line!

Date Location

August 17 Chattanooga, TN

August 18 Nashville, TN

August 19 Memphis, TN

August 20 Mobile, AL

August 21 Columbus, GA

September 14
Greenville, SC

September 15 Raleigh, NC

September 16 Hampton, VA

September 18 Aberdeen, MD

December 4 Fayetteville, AR

December 15 Jacksonville, FL

December 16 Miami, FL

December 17 Tampa, FL

For more information and to register for this event, please click here.

Wonderware Offering Free Water/Wastewater Webinar Series

Need Your Operating Efficiency to Flow More Smoothly? Let us show you how to translate technology into cost reducing solutions.

A Webinar Series for Water and Wastewater

Faced with keeping tighter control of operating costs and the ever escalating requirements for compliance and regulatory reporting, the water and wastewater business is among the most challenging in the best of times. In turbulent economic times, the challenges are more demanding and the solutions more sharply focused. Wonderware has joined with industry experts, solution providers and successful water and wastewater organizations to offer a series of timely discussions on critical industry issues aligned with strategies to create long term cost savings while improving operations, service and compliance.

Thursday, June 4, 2009 Integrating Critical Data for Greater Effectiveness in Water and Wastewater Operations
Presenter: Eduardo Ballina, Wonderware Industry Manager

Webinars will begin at 11 a.m. eastern time on the specified day. Go to www.wonderware.com/waterwebinars for more information and to register for this FREE webinar series.

What InSource Solutions Customers Are Saying...

Paul Handrahan of S&D Coffee Speaks about ATC Consulting

“Here at S&D Coffee, we were having problems with a legacy system that was hard to maintain, upgrade, and repair. We brought in the ATC Group to upgrade the plant to the new System Platform 3.0 and InTouch 10.0. They made the upgrade with no loss in production and with excellent professionalism. With the new system in place we have a system that is now stable and reliable. Our in plant personnel can now work and understand the system better than they had in the past. With the training and knowledge that ATC Group provided us, we are able to maintain and expand the system with only in plant resources as never before. The latest expansion of an additional roaster and storage was able to be done in minutes instead of days as in the past. Here at S&D we look forward to using the ATC Group in the future on more projects that we have scheduled.”

Neil Thomason of MW/MB LLC speaks about working with ATC on SPC data collection and reporting systems

“As our plant started up in 2005, we wanted to single source all our controls, statistics and data reporting systems. ATC and the InSource team worked closely with us to develop data collection and reporting systems utilizing the Wonderware platform and Microsoft formats. As our SPC and reporting needs have changed, they have enabled us to successfully develop projects to meet those needs.”

Bruce Armstrong of AGY in Aiken, SC speaks about implementing an MES Solution with ATC Consulting

“Recently, AGY successfully implemented a significant ME

S Solution using Wonderware, InSource' s ATC team and a third party System Integration firm. The ATC team provided expertise throughout the project lifecycle; working early with AGY on developing functional requirements, understanding Wonderware MES capability, architecture and licensing, providing training on Wonderware and Microsoft technology and consulting with our SI throughout the project.

Our users are thrilled with the information we are now delivering with this MES Solution.”

New Wonderware Software Patches and Device Integration Releases

Wonderware Application Server 3.1 Service Pack 1
Wonderware Industry Application for Packaging version 1.0 Patch 01
IntelaTrac Version 3.2 SP3
IntelaTrac PKS Version 3.2 SP3
Wonderware DAServer Runtime Components 3.0

Registered users can view and download this and other patchfix releases on the Wonderware eSupport
website at http://www.wonderware.com/support/web/secure/downloads/esdownload.asp.

New Wonderware Tech Alerts and Notes

Tech Alert 123 Industry Application for Packaging (IAP) Object Import is Incorrect When Wonderware Information Server is Installed AFTER Wonderware Application Server

Tech Note 580 Removing Rounds Scheduled to a Deleted Role
Tech Note 581 Removing IntelaTrac Web Reports Version 3.1.4 From a Windows Server Node
Tech Note 582 Recovering Database Storage Space After Upgrading to IntelaTrac 3.2
Tech Note 583 Adding Applications to Motorola (Symbol) AppCenter
Tech Note 584 iDockIt Configuration for the Motorola (Symbol) 9090 Mobile Device
Tech Note 585 Using the InTouch® Compact Log Viewer Utility
Tech Note 586 Configuring the Compact Panel MODBU Serial Driver to Communicate to a Modicon PLC
Tech Note 587 Monitoring Communication Between InTouch®, a DAServer and a PLC
Tech Note 588 Configuring the Compact Panel ABCIP Driver to Communicate to a ControlLogix PLC
Tech Note 589 Common Application Server Redundancy Causes and Triggers
Tech Note 592 Empowering Table Weaver Functionality
Tech Note 593 Converting InBatch Tags to AppServer Objects
Tech Note 594 Using Wonderware Information Server to Browse Galaxy Repository Information
Tech Note 595 Setting Up Wonderware Application Server to Receive Unsolicited Messaging From Allen Bradley Controllogix PLCs
Tech Note 596 Using the OwningObject Property with ArchestrA Graphics
Tech Note 597 Configuring the Operations & Performance Factory Connector for In-Proc OPC Server Connections
Tech Note 598 Repairing Missing Operations & Performance (Factelligence) Entries in the Wonderware Information Server (WIS) Panel
Tech Note 600 Using Online OPC Item Browsing in DASABCIP 4.0
Tech Note 601 HMI Reports: Creating a Historian (InSQL) Driver Configuration
Tech Note 602 Resolving Operations & Performance v3.5 DLL Reference Issues
Tech Note 603 Improving Report Generation Time for Performance 3.5
Tech Note 604 ActiveFactory Reporting Web Site Repeatedly Starts the ClientSoftwareDownload
Tech Note 605 Resolving the Black Screen Issue with Box PCs
Tech Note 606 IntelaTrac Integrations: Troubleshooting the PHD Integration

Registered users can view and download archived Tech Notes and Alerts from the Wonderware website at http://www.wonderware.com/support/web/secure/selfsupport/estechalerts.asp.

Upcoming Events

ACP ThinManager Road Show 2009! Visit ACP's Events Website for more information!

InSource Solutions Training Classes!

System Platform part 1-4 Day Course: May 12-15, Tampa, FL
InTouch HMI Fundamentals-4 Day Course: May 12-15, Richmond, VA
InTouch HMI Advanced-4 Day Course: June 2-5, Atlanta, GA

Check our Training Website for more information and to register for these courses!

Y-12 Suppliers Outreach Event

InSource Solutions will be exhibiting at the Y-12 Suppliers Outreach Event on June 4-5, 2009. For more information, please click here.

Date	Location
August 17	Chattanooga, TN
August 18	Nashville, TN
August 19	Memphis, TN
August 20	Mobile, AL
August 21	Columbus, GA
September 14	Greenville, SC
September 15	Raleigh, NC
September 16	Hampton, VA
September 18	Aberdeen, MD
December 4	Fayetteville, AR
December 15	Jacksonville, FL
December 16	Miami, FL
December 17	Tampa, FL