Factory and Process Control

Trusted Process Control and Automation Solutions from Experts in Measurement Control

Factory and process automation solutions ensure the uninterrupted, consistent production of many different products—from volatile chemicals and materials to soda and frozen pizza—often while operating within complex and harsh environments.

Analog Devices is a proven leader in process control and automation technology and has helped customers capitalize on the benefits of precision, size, and power optimization. ADI enables process managers and engineers to run operations with more accurate, higher functionality automation equipment to maximize quality and increase differentiation of end output, while increasing profitability and prioritizing safety—all while enhancing sustainability through minimal use of raw materials, energy, and residual waste.

Factory and Process Control: Top 5 Benefits

Increase Automation, Reduce Human Intervention

With correct equipment, sensors, data, and connectivity solutions, even the most complex processes can be controlled/optimized from a central location.

Functional Safety and Intrinsic Safety Priority

Process environments are potential hazards, with substances being manipulated or combined. Accurate and correct operation is critical for plant and worker safety.

Performance and Measurement Accuracy Matters

Even the smallest change can yield drastic differences in the end-product. Temperature, flow, pressure, and many other factors must be carefully and consistently controlled and communicated for optimal results.

Long Reach Ethernet Connectivity

Ethernet connectivity is now possible from instruments connected using 1 km of single, twisted pair cable. New communication technologies like the IEEE 802.3cg standard for 10BASE-T1L is enabling this and resulting in increased control and diagnostics in the field.

Software Configurable System to Increase Plant Flexibility

New software configurable technology for I/O units is enabling increased system configurability through the development of multipurpose, reusable, I/O modules. This allows the use of a single platform control system with common interfaces that can be commissioned quickly to enable different end functions.

Illustration of interconnected buildings using Wireless HART, 4-20mA Looms, Gb Industrial Ethernet, 4-20mA (+Hart) and 10Base T1L (+Power) for connectivity

ADI Process Control Technologies

ADI has the proven solutions needed to ensure high quality production outputs, whether controlling ingredient proportions, measuring temperature and pressure of materials or determining how well constituent ingredients are mixed.

Automation is a key part of all factory and process environments and Analog Devices is playing an integral part in enabling the transition to a digitally connected manufacturing environment. Manufacturing lines can now work faster and more accurately than ever before with an increased ability to customize production flows.

Thanks to ADI’s leading sensing and precision measurement technology, manufacturers can assemble objects more accurately and safely move these objects and their constituent parts around the factory floor. The vast array of machines working in tandem across the factory—from robots to HMI’s to vision systems—is enabled by our leading connectivity solutions, where real-time communication is critical to output quality. The combination of ADI’s sensing, measurement, isolation, and connectivity solutions is improving system flexibility, optimizing output, and ultimately increasing productivity. ADI will play an even greater role ensuring companies are prepared for these transformative times.

Here are a few industries where you’ll find ADI’s process control solutions:

Petrochemical - Oil and gas processing plant

Petrochemical - Oil and gas industry

Food and Beverage processing plant

Food and Beverage

BioPharma processing plant

BioPharma

Image of Large Paper Roll

Pulp and Paper

Image of large Electric Generator

Power Generation

Man inspecting water quality at water treatment facility

Water Treatment facilities

Software Configurable I/O

ADI’s new SWIO (software configurable inputs and outputs) products enable flexible control systems to be designed with reconfigurable module channels quickly, easily, and remotely without requiring extensive re-wiring. This drastically increases speed of implementation, flexibility, and the ability to make changes without significant cost and downtime—compared to the costly, labor-intensive manual configuration of traditional control systems with its complex arrays of channel modules, analog and digital signal converters, and individually wired inputs/outputs.

Explore ADI SWIO Solutions

Software Configurable I/O webpage image

The Future of Factory Automation

Agile Manufacturing

Manufacturers must respond faster to a customer’s unique needs with customized solutions, down to single-batch sizes. Production lines must become more adaptable while deploying solutions that minimize downtime and maximize productivity.

Functional Safety

Functional safety is an essential element of the future factory, not just because it protects workers, but also because functional safety can enable higher reliability, more accurate diagnostics, and greater resilience. ADI is developing IC solutions that are certified for Functional Safety SIL standards.

TSN Revolution

Today, different manufacturing cells running different protocols cannot coexist and a solution must enable them to share the network in a way that guarantees their control traffic is not compromised. The answer lies in time sensitive networking (TSN), a vendor-neutral, real-time Ethernet standard based on IEEE 802.1 specification. TSN will facilitate the removal of automation islands currently in existence across manufacturing floors. ADI is the leader in new, TSN-enabled Industrial Ethernet solutions.

OT and IT Convergence

At the higher level, information technology (IT) or enterprise infrastructure must converge with the plant floor control network or OT (operating technology). Seamless connectivity through the various layers of the factory’s OT network to end node sensor or actuators (or other devices on the production line) will result in substantial productivity improvements and process optimization.

Illustration of smart factory floor using Analog I/O, Industrial Ethernet, Mesh Network, 5G for Industrial, IO-Link and 60GHz wifi for network connectivity
Several different types of technologies are required to fully automate a production line and this approach does not provide a comprehensive, integrated view of manufacturing that is needed to realize the benefits of Industry 4.0 and the digital factory.

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