WHITEPAPER

Soft Retrofitting

Putting Lipstick on an Old Machine

2 WHITEPAPER SOFT RETROFITTING – PUTTING LIPSTICK ON AN OLD MACHINE

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Retrofitting refers to the addition of new technology or features to older systems, for example:

Ś power plant retrofit, improving power plant efficiency / increasing output / reducing emissions,

Ś home energy retrofit, the improving of existing buildings with energy efficiency equipment,

Ś seismic retrofit, the process of strengthening older buildings in order to make them earthquake-resistant,

Ś naval vessels often undergo retrofitting in dry dock to incorporate new technologies.

From dictionary

ret·ro·fit | retrō�fit |

Verb (retrofits, retrofitting, retrofitted) [with object]

Add (a component or accessory) to something that did not have it when manufactured: drivers who retrofit catalysts to older cars.

Provide (something) with a component or accessory not fitted during manufacture: buses have been retrofitted with easy-access features.

What is Retrofitting

About the author

Uroš Mesarič KunstSenior Lead Engineer with 20+ years of experience in areas such as telecommunications, billing, and CRM systems. He worked on various projects at Comtrade, including building security systems for Slovenian public administration, content management systems, geographical information systems, and advanced content search solutions, to name a few. He was active on Eclipse IoT working group, diligently contributing as committer on Kapua project. He is committed to software and tries to keep up with the emerging technologies, helping our customers to embrace them.

3 WHITEPAPER SOFT RETROFITTING – PUTTING LIPSTICK ON AN OLD MACHINE

Retrofitting in Manufacturing Industry

Retrofitting in manufacturing industry means improving efficiency of the existing equipment. In other words, relatively old equipment is updated with the new parts, or in our case, software components, that bring added value to the existing machinery. In the past, retrofitting itself was all about changing physical parts of the machinery. However, starting with Industry 4.0 initiative, more companies are realizing the potential of software in the process of increasing equipment efficiency. For example:

All these add new value to the machines and manufacturing processes.

Machines that are not very old, might need a simple, mechanically independent upgrade.

Sometimes it helps to draw - and we at Comtrade draw a lot, when it comes to retrofitting. Beforehand, a simple mind-map is demonstrated. It analyses the issue, and foremost, recognizes if there is an issue, at all.

Machine learning

and artificial intelligence

Data gathering Dashboarding

Predictive maintenance

Virtual machine

assistance

4 WHITEPAPER SOFT RETROFITTING – PUTTING LIPSTICK ON AN OLD MACHINE

((

Engineers

New Equipment

ManufacturingCompanies

HiTech Software Providers

Equipment Vendors

Old Equipment

Build

Give

Sell

Own

New Offer

Own

Help

Buy

Ideas

SOLUTIONSProfit

Expenses

Figure 1: Mind-map that we at Comtrade use when we discuss retrofitting with our customers

5 WHITEPAPER SOFT RETROFITTING – PUTTING LIPSTICK ON AN OLD MACHINE

Manufacturing companies have an existing ecosystem, with the equipment vendors that sell and maintain their equipment. This union stands from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. It is extremely important, since without this equilibrium the complete industry would not exist.However, software is evolving and trying to infiltrate into this twofold equilibrium. We call this Industry 4.0. But, what does that mean? Why do we need all this expensive software? Mostly to make our lives easier, while making more money. It is that simple. There are a lot of environmental benefits and sustainability initiatives, but if we are

honest - those come second. Personally, I would put them first, but better second than not at all.This means that by using software advantages, we can lower expenses and raise profit. Great, but how? It is not easily done without the knowledge and experience. It is not enough to install the latest machine learning software, and see how it will learn, evolve, and solve all our problems.What is needed are knowledgeable and passionate engineers – the artists of software. Those are the people that share ideas and drive solutions that help manufacturing companies to succeed.

Suggested “cake” recipe has the following ingredients:

Ś Manufacturing company,

Ś Equipment manufacturer,

Ś Modern software technologies,

Ś Knowledgeable software and mechanical engineers.

If one of the ingredients is left out, our “cake” will be incomplete.Software engineering expertise is a new ingredient that makes this “cake” even more appetizing.

6 WHITEPAPER SOFT RETROFITTING – PUTTING LIPSTICK ON AN OLD MACHINE

Choosing an Approach

Approach to software retrofitting does not differ much from mechanical. First of all, the problem needs to be identified. If there is no problem, maybe we didn’t try hard enough.

Once the problem is identified, we have to decide on its type, which greatly influences the approach to its solution:

To illustrate, imagine a machine that is using old and inefficient electric motor. This is an efficiency problem, and its solution requires replacement of that motor with a better one.

But, how do we know that the motor is inefficient? Determining this might be as simple as doing the elementary measurement or comparing motor specifications. When appropriate, motor is replaced. However, there are situations that are not so trivial. In this situations, analytical software and modern measuring techniques come to play.

Sometimes, it is necessary to equip existing, maybe even old equipment, with the additional temporary sensorics. This helps us identify the

problem and start solving it. The indicated approach requires, so called, temporary retrofitting, to identify the weak spots of the existing equipment.

The main difference between mechanical equipment and software is that the mechanical equipment is hard to modify and upgrade. Things are changing a lot, and doing retrofitting of a machine that is two to five years old, makes little to no sense. Some machines are in the development for more than five years, and those might get outdated before they come into production. These examples are the key target for software-based retrofitting.

Mechanical issue or inefficiency

Problem requires software related

approach

7 WHITEPAPER SOFT RETROFITTING – PUTTING LIPSTICK ON AN OLD MACHINE

Basic Steps

What are the basic steps for an effective problem-solving approach? These steps can be identified, planned, and solved per each use case, individually.

Identify the Problem

As mentioned before, problem has to be identified first. From there on, it requires a collaboration between the machine owner and the analyst that can understand and analyse the problem. This is the most important step. Wrongly identified problem might lead to fixing something that does not bring the needed solution, or even solving a problem that doesn’t exist.

For instance, we start measuring the temperature of the electric motor and identify that the temperature rises. We assume that this causes motor failure. Yet, we do not know that it is perfectly ok for its temperature to rise, since that is how it was designed. We might invest into a new motor or add the additional cooling. This will not solve the actual problem of a motor malfunction. The problem might be in overloading the motor by not following its operational instructions.

It cannot be emphasized enough how important the identification part is.

Functional Analysis

After the problem or added functionality is identified, it has to be documented on a level of a

use case or user story. In this way, all parties in the process of solution-building fully understand the problem. This includes clear understanding of:

Ś Business case,

Ś Solution-involved machines,

Ś Communication protocols,

Ś Technologies used,

Ś Software architecture,

Ś User experience.

Machine Capabilities

Identification of machine possibilities is mandatory.

Ś What data is collected on machines and how?

Ś What sensorics are available on machine?

Ś How is this data shared?

Ś Is there a command-and-control interface available on machine?

8 WHITEPAPER SOFT RETROFITTING – PUTTING LIPSTICK ON AN OLD MACHINE

Implementing Software Communication

The whole process is increasingly similar to the software development than to mechanical engineering process. Process of implementation is slightly different when it comes to interfacing mechanical equipment/machinery.

It’s important to identify protocols that are used in connecting to machines. Possible options are:

Ś OPC-US client / server,

Ś Profibus as protocol,

Ś Profinet as industrial network,

Ś CAN BUS,

Ś Ethernet,

Ś M-Bus,

Ś Different non-industrial wireless protocols (WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.).

Integrating Existing Software

Each machine contains control software, provided by the manufacturer. Some of them runs on PLC/controller, that is directly communicating with machine hardware and sensors. There is also software that runs on top of those controllers, controlling the whole infrastructure – managing software for manufacturing plant floor.This software and possible integration points have to be identified. Once that happens, those interfaces should be studied. They are, in many cases, standardized and easy to reuse, but in other cases, they are proprietary and might even be impossible to interface with.

In many cases regarding manufacturing, this might require that engineers, who work on the integration, have training with the company that provides this controlling software and environments. Examples of such companies are: Siemens, Schneider Electric, ABB, Rockwell Automation, to name just a few well known. There are also SCADA systems, that provide another point of integration. Those also require specific knowledge and skilful engineers.

Testing

Testing is an important part of the mechanical and software development process. In the case of retrofitting even more, as it involves a basic equipment and all retrofitted parts, including hardware and software. Basic functionality of a machine is well-tested, after the machine is produced. Machine has its basic functionality and limitations that are enforced. Using machines in different configurations, might bring different limitations, and those need to be tested, too. This might include integration and system tests.In the case of retrofitting machine control with software components, additional testing needs to be provided. This is a hybrid testing machine with software. It requires special consideration, as software is more flexible and there are more test cases that need to be covered.

9 WHITEPAPER SOFT RETROFITTING – PUTTING LIPSTICK ON AN OLD MACHINE

List of Questions

Wrap Up

The project initiation phase comes with a lot of basic questions. Comtrade can help you with making a list of them for your company, as well as your specific retrofitting problem. Contact us and we can provide you with a basic list of questions, along with the guidance to get you started on your retrofitting adventure.

Why should you undertake software retrofitting at all, and how? Retrofitting certainly improves the old equipment efficiency, while also opening the new possibilities that are driving Industry 4.0. Software retrofitting is usually cheaper and less invasive than a hardware one, and can bring savings, without long machine downtime. However, for software retrofitting you need a different engineer profile. Namely, those are

engineers with a very specific knowledge, especially in technologies like IoT, Virtual and Augmented Reality, and Machine Learning.

So, build a team, explore the weak spots, and find a solution in software, not only in hardware improvements.

Comtrade T: +49 711 22254 233E: info.de@comtrade.com

industry.comtradedigital.com

Creating Value Through Partnership

Comtrade Digital Services provides strategic software engineering services and solutions. For

30 years, we have enabled companies from various industries to innovate faster and transform

digitally, using agile development methodologies, innovative technology, and business acumen.

30 2K+ 18years of

experienceemployees worldwide

offices worldwide