We’re Moving

This blog is moving. I set it up on WordPress until our Web site was updated and we had a blogging tool. You can find us now here. The RSS feed is here. Thanks, and catch us on the new site. –Gary Mintchell

Open Source ERP

Open source, where users contribute back to the community in exchange for obtaining free software, has come to manufacturing. xTuple has released xTuple ERP 3.1 open source ERP system. Among the key new features is a Kitting function to allow distributors to more efficiently sell collections of items, as well as a Multi-Company Financial Consolidation feature which allows companies or groups of companies to report on a single consolidated financial statement.

“While the roots of xTuple ERP are in manufacturing, we’ve seen enormous interest from distribution and retail businesses,” said Ned Lilly, president and chief executive officer of xTuple. “Working with our growing community of users, we continue to broaden the functional scope of the world’s most advanced open source ERP system – while maintaining the simplicity and ease-of-use for which we’re known worldwide.”

The new Sales Order Kitting function enables users to sell kit items on a sales order that automatically explodes to include shippable line item components. The kit components are printed on the sales order pick list, issued to stock and shipped, all accomplished without an intermediary work order. The Sales Order Kitting functionality is available in all editions of xTuple ERP, including the totally free PostBooks Edition.

Other enhancements featured in xTuple ERP 3.1 include:

• Multi-Company Financial Consolidation, which allows users with a multi-company chart of accounts implemented on separate databases to report on a single, consolidated financial statement. The xTuple Financial Reporting Engine synchronizes trial balances across these databases, while child databases maintain company-specific trial balance data and the parent database receives copies of the data from each child.
• Average Costing, perfect for distributors and light manufacturers requiring a streamlined, low-maintenance solution which does not require periodic cost recalculations as does the standard costing system.
• Sales Order Reservations by Location, which expands the existing Sales Reservations functionality available in xTuple ERP to be able to reserve quantities at the location level and print these location allocations on a pick list, reducing the possibility of conflict where items are stored in multiple locations in a warehouse but there is more demand than supply in any one location at a given time.

xTuple ERP PostBooks Edition is the company’s entry-level offering, available completely free and open source, and suitable for small businesses of all kinds. It includes full financials; customer relationship management (CRM); sales and purchasing; financial and ad-hoc reporting; and lightweight inventory, manufacturing and distribution. xTuple ERP Standard Edition is a midrange commercially-licensed offering, which adds advanced inventory control, warehousing, and other features to the core package. It is a good option for distributors, retailers, light manufacturers, and anyone else who would prefer commercially licensed software. The OpenMFG Edition is the premium commercial offering, and is recommended for manufacturing companies in both discrete and batch process production; make to order, make to stock, or mixed-mode; even job shops and engineer-to-order.

The PostBooks Edition is available free of charge under the open source Common Public Attribution License (CPAL), and is consistently ranked among the top ten projects on the SourceForge open source download portal. The Standard and OpenMFG Editions are available under xTuple’s innovative hybrid license, whereby customers and partners have full access to the application source code, and any enhancements made to the product flow back to xTuple for review, quality testing, and possible incorporation into the baseline product.

All xTuple ERP products run equally well on Mac, Windows, and Linux computers, and are fully internationalized with multi-currency, support for multiple tax structures, and multilingual translation packs maintained by the global open-source community. The company also sponsors public discussion forums, a documentation wiki, blogs, and the community issue/bug tracker.

Spread Spectrum Radio for RTU

Internet Protocol and spread spectrum radios come together for remote terminal applications. Semaphore, a Nashua, N.H. subsidiary of Singapore-based CSE Global has introduced an integral, spread spectrum radio option for its T-BOX LT compact remote terminal unit(RTU)and SCADA system. The product is said to be ideal for decentralized applications where its push and Web technologies enable high performance, economical implementation and operation.  The spread spectrum radio cost effectively extends license-free communications to T-BOX LT applications in areas lacking cellular or land line telephone coverage.

The T-BOX product family is said to be the first Internet Protocol (IP)-based telemetry solution that enables complete integration of SCADA, control, and communications functionality in one rugged package. The LT model is cost effective for installations requiring up to 32 I/O points. The product family incorporates full Web server technology with SMS reporting and remote control to provide real-time access through a standard Web browser. Operators can receive alarms and communicate with their sites remotely using a mobile device such as a cell phone, laptop or PDA.  Automatic alarm escalation allows key maintenance personnel to receive any unacknowledged alarms.

-Gary Mintchell

M2M Solution

Online Development Selects Kepware for M2M Gateway Product

Kepware Technologies announced August 25 that it was selected as a strategic provider of communications for Online Development Inc. and its development of a new Machine to Machine (M2M) communications gateway. The gateway will have a form factor for use with an Rockwell Automation’s Allen Bradley ControlLogix controller and also as a standalone solution for use between other third party automation controllers.
Online Development is a developer of add-on and private labeled modules for Allen Bradley automation solutions. Its next generation of intelligent modules is targeted at enabling the Allen Bradley ControlLogix platform to communicate with other automation equipment in a high performance and reliable M2M configuration. A partnership with Kepware is making this possible through the licensing of Kepware’s KEPServerEX and LinkMaster products. This new product is currently under development and will be available in the fall.

In addition to licensing Kepware products, Online Development has joined the “Connected with Kepware” Vendor Protocol program and has developed specialized backplane communications between an Allen Bradley ControlLogix processor and its co-processor solution to enable a reliable and high performance integration. The stand alone configurations will enable the delivery of Gateway communication solutions, allowing M2M connectivity between thousands of different devices via over 100 communications protocols encompassing both Serial and Ethernet communications.

“Kepware offers an exceptional range of communications options, second to none,” explains Ron Monday, President of Online Development Inc.  “This offering will enable Rockwell Automation ControlLogix users to reliably tie their control systems to third party solutions. In the stand alone module configuration, we can support the integration of various protocols simultaneously, for example, the connectivity of data between GE Fanuc, Rockwell, Siemens, Mitsubishi, Omron and dozens of other vendor offerings.”

The interesting thing about this, aside from Kepware continuing to build its considerable communications business, is the subtle redefinition of the term M2M. I was originally introduced to the term by Opto 22 and Nokia where it was essentially an RTU type of application using cellular as the broadband. I began to wonder why just stop with cellular as the broadband years ago. The original transcription was Machine to Mobile. Then it became Machine to Machine. Then theorists posited that the technology could be used by OEMs to monitor their machines on customers’ factory floors either for service and support or for information related to product development.

This technology enables real-time communication of controller to controller. In other words, it could be a real-time controller network, according to Roy Kok, vice president of sales and marketing for Kepware. This greatly expands the notion of M2M–and its usefulness. This is especially true where an end user may have machines with controllers from a variety of suppliers.

Opto 22 Wiring

For anyone who has had to wire control panels, you know that it can be tedious, time-consuming and open to error. Companies have been developing wiring aids for some time. Opto 22 has entered the fray and developed and introduced a family of mounting and wiring accessory for its control and input/output systems. Snap Tex includes a wide variety of terminal extender cables, breakout boards, wiring harnesses, DIN-rail kits, jumper straps, rack adapters, and other mounting and wiring components.

The first products in the new line are Snap Tex cables, six feet (1.8 m) long jacketed, pre-wired cables that provide neat, bundled connections from analog and digital I/O modules to field devices, terminal strips, and breakout boards. Snap Tex cables snap neatly into the tops of Snap I/O modules and terminate with color-coded flying leads, pre-stripped and tipped, ready for wiring.

Three versions of Snap Tex cables are available, varying based on the internal bus connections required by the application. Customers have a choice of cables with even-numbered terminals commoned (Snap-Tex-CBE6), odd-numbered terminals commoned (SNAP-TEX-CBO6), or with wiring straight through (Snap-Tex-CBS6).

Next in the Snap Tex product family are several new breakout boards. The Snap-Tex-32 is a simple 32-channel breakout board with straight-through connections, designed primarily for use with the aforementioned Snap Tex cables and Snap analog or digital I/O modules.

The Snap-Tex-FB16-H and Snap-Tex-FB16-L breakout boards offer 16-channel terminations and provide a fuse and a fuse-blown indicator for each channel. With the use of an external power supply, these breakout boards also bus power to loads. The Snap-Tex-F16-H facilitates 120-240 volts, and the Snap-Tex-F16-L works with 12-24 volts. These breakout boards are used for digital inputs and outputs.

The Snap-Tex-MR10-16 and Snap-Tex-MR10-4 breakout boards are designed for high-current output switching. These boards feature mechanical relays that switch up to 10 amps per channel, expanding the switching ability of standard Snap I/O modules by 13 times. These boards include on/off indicators for each channel, and each can be wired as normally closed or normally open.

Rounding out the new Snap Tex line is an assortment of wiring harnesses (used for connecting field devices to high-density Snap I/O modules), jumper connection straps (used with digital I/O modules), DIN-rail mounting kits, module removal tools, and other accessories. Moving these previously available accessories under the Snap Tex line will help customers find the right parts for all of their wiring and installation needs.

“Our new Snap Tex product line serves as yet another example of our product research and development division responding to the stated needs of our customers,” says Mark Engman, Opto 22 President and CEO.  “Many of our customers have expressed a desire for quicker, easier ways to mount and wire their I/O. Ultimately, Snap Tex, like all of our other product lines, is meant to provide the components, tools, and methods customers need to get their projects done faster, simpler, and in the manner they’re most comfortable with.”