John Browett, general manager, CC Link Partner Association (CLPA) Europe, looks at Time-Sensitive Networking.
Time-Sensitive Networking has made a significant impact in the industrial Ethernet world. It represents a key enabling technology for the digitalization of manufacturing, by introducing the capability to build converged network architectures. This delivers two main benefits. The first is the ability to significantly reduce the cost of network infrastructure by being able to combine multiple types of network traffic onto a single network. Compare this to existing systems where separate networks are used to handle different functions. For example, I/O is a separate network from safety, which is separate from motion control, TCP/IP traffic and so on. This increases costs, slows time to market, makes maintenance more difficult and reduces process transparency. TSN allows all these shortcomings to be addressed with one network architecture.
The second benefit is the ability to offer greater bandwidth. One of the effects of digitalization is that companies following this trend soon find themselves facing a metaphorical “explosion” of data from the shop floor. Previous systems typically used 100Mbit Ethernet bandwidth. A consensus is rapidly emerging that this is no longer sufficient to deal with this tidal wave of data, where even relatively simple sensors now produce a wealth of diagnostic data alongside their main function, allowing improved process management. As a result, manufacturing is moving towards the use of gigabit Ethernet to provide bigger “pipes” through which this increased volume of data can flow to all parts of the enterprise. When combined with TSN, this is providing an effective path towards the digital future and the benefits that can be obtained.
So, who is using it? Open gigabit TSN network technology was first introduced to the market at the end of 2018. Since that time, the number of vendors providing solutions using it has grown steadily as end user adoption has grown. Today, there are close to 200 different global manufacturing companies who have adopted TSN in their operations. These span a wide variety of industries, such as automotive, semiconductor, consumer electronics, food and beverage and consumer packaged goods. The region where this trend started was Asia, such as the Japanese and Korean markets. As a result of these end users having a global presence, their use of TSN has now become a worldwide trend, as it gains a presence in their overseas operations.
Of course, adoption by end users also means that machine builders are also following suit to fulfil these requirements. This in turn has led device makers to market TSN-compatible products to address this demand. As a result, there are specific examples in the European market of TSN being used by machine builders to address specific industry needs. A particular instance is that of the Polish machine builder, Keller, which manufactures large-scale modular printing machines that are widely used in a variety of industries such as CPG, automotive and white goods.
TSN has enabled Keller to build large, complex printing systems that feature dozens of axes of motion control. It has also given them the option to include further systems in future iterations of the machine, such as vision systems for quality control, sharing the same network. Keller depended on the high-performance TSN solution provided by Mitsubishi Electric to achieve systems that routinely produce 3,000 units per hour, with plans for greater capacity in the future. This solution was enabled by the open industrial Ethernet technology of CC-Link IE TSN, the world’s first open industrial Ethernet to offer a unique solution of TSN combined with gigabit bandwidth. CC-Link IE TSN was developed by the CC-Link Partner Association and continues to be the world’s leading open industrial Ethernet technology supporting the digitalisation of manufacturing.