My aim is to be at the forefront of Smart Industry.
You have probably heard of Smart Industry, Industry 4.0 or even Industry 5.0 that is already entering the field of industry.
Let me help you getting your production process ready for the future.
My aim is to find and create what you need, in a way you may not even know existed, developed within a time you did not think possible.
Architecting (SQL) databases, web applications, creating messaging services, writing robust PLC code; these are just a few of my list of various expertise.
Whether you need a software for the cloud, edge, web, PLC, a trainer for you technical or operational staff, programmer for connecting it all, I am your solution.
Broad experience in creating functional designs for all kind of applications like:
Web, database, desktop, PLC, PCS 7, scada, interfaces, Azure cloud.
While writing a functional design, the techniques and needed (custom) functions are already outlined and well thought-out by me.
This ensures that the engineering can be done quick and first time right.
Having done many commissionings and troubleshooting a wide variety of equipment (hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical and drives) has given me the experience to get any project completed swiftly.
Experience in many industries like:
Experienced in creating custom trainings and conducting trainings for either your operators or technical service, IT or OT staff.
At a customer site routes had to be set up and registered for their suction system.
The automation system had to know which assets were used.
I created a web application which was displayed on a Windows CE handheld.
With the handheld device, barcodes on the route elements could be scanned and the route was registered into the process automation system. Once a route was confirmed, the product transfer order could be started.
Techniques
Defining protocols for the UDP messages coming from the German build crane PLC and TCP/IP message to a container storage management system.
Delivery consisted of an IPC running a service for receiving, translating and sending the container movement messages.
Because of excellent establishment of the functioning and protocols with both the German crane builder and the Dutch software system company, commissioning was done in half a day and the system ran error-free since.
Techniques
Truck drivers needed to register before entering the site with their truck.
In a week time at the customer, I created a multi-language software application on the spot. Truck drivers could pass their driver card through a card reader and register for what order they came and with which truck and trailer.
The application used SOAP to communicate over a WCF link in a secure way with a server, running a Windows service that I created as well.
This service interacted through TCP messages with an access management system, and through XML files with the operations automation system (WinCC).
The registration applications and server service ran without ever having issues after the implementation.
Fun fact: the customer was so impressed by the achievement and result that they named my service the "NoachSuperApp".
Techniques
The customer desired to have their orders displayed and arranged on a timeline, and have the ability to drag-and-drop them, to simplify planning.
While a group of managers and customer contacts had a meeting session to discuss what the new functionality should look like, at the same time I implemented a calendar plug-in in their web application on our test system and set it up to create a time line showing their orders.
After the meeting was finished, I showed my creation. The look on everybody's faces was priceless.
What they had just thought up, I had already created !
Techniques
A customer had issues with an ABB robot arm. It did not properly detect a strip on a roll of steel. As a result it ended sticking the labels on the wrong spot.
The ABB technician could not improve the behavior. I got asked if I could have a look at it.
Within a week I had it up from 60% to >98% correct detection by creating a special search loop in the ABB (Rapid) code, thus overcoming some limitations of the sensor which caused the missed detections.
Techniques
For a customer that uses reach stackers to move containers around, the desire was to register each container movement automatically in their container management system.
I created a functional design and set up a pilot project. With an external expert we installed a Septentrio GPS positioning system on one of the reach stackers.
With the results of a weeks of data logging, it was proven that the system was within the needed couple of centimeters accuracy (even with the harsh environment of stacked steel containers) for determining the exact compartment and level the container was taken from or put down.
Techniques
At a loading dock, the customer needed a system for guaranteed correct positioning of the trucks. This was needed to enable loading and unloading by a crane.
I researched the option of a 3D laser system for this purpose. This was not implemented at the end because of changes in the customer process.
Techniques
At multiple sites of a multinational in the food sector, I was lead engineer on upgrading the PCS 7 installation (going from v8 to v9).
This meant leading the German integrator to produce the correct result, steering the customer (global) IT service for correct installation of the Siemens PCS 7 software, implementation and testing, and go-live in a weekend.
Techniques
For multiple customers I created and provided training for a varied audience of technicians, breakdown engineers, system managers, operators.
This could be at their own site or back at the office, using a test environment.
For the biggest training (two weeks, 24 poeple), with subjects being PCS 7, WinCC, drive and Safety, I was lead in setting up the training environment, creating documentation and providing most of the training.
Techniques
For a project where Simatic Batch would have been overkill, but using standard PCS 7 and WinCC options like User Archives was insufficient, I created a custom application.
This was a .Net DLL that seamlessly integrated in a PCS 7 faceplate.
At first I designed the MS SQL database. After all tables, relations, constraints and primary keys had been designed, the user interface and functionality was programmed fairly quick.
The database was made redundant using database replication and extra programmed logic to automatically switch over with the active WinCC Master server.
Before I was asked to create a solution, other attempts had been made but failed miserably.
This had led to an angry and unsatisfied customer. The solution I created made the customer lyrically happy.
Techniques
On behalf of the Dutch crane solutions company EPMC, I worked for several months onboard of the Allseas ship the Pioneering Spirit to optimize the cranes (one of the largest ships in the world).
Being delivered with unfinished and badly working software, there was a huge challenge to get these cranes to the needed quality standards and have them approved and certified by Deloitte.
At the end of the first order of three months work, the customer decided to prolong the hiring period to 8 months.
This was (according to the staff of EPMC) not in the last place because of a last minute excellent quick but extensive incident analysis by me.
The incident was with a crane that had not been optimized yet and took place just hours before my departure.
Finding the root cause nearly made me miss my ferry but got rewarded by a happy customer and an extended project.
Besides changing software, recommendations were done for some hardware changes like new joysticks to better suit the operator needs, configuring the Vacon drives to master slave operation and torque control for smoother movement and lower power consumption, and correcting the electrical drawings by going through all IO and checking the wiring.
Other achievement was the creation of a smart oil heating regulation by using PWM. This prevented the need for mechanical changes because of a poor design of the oil container.
Techniques
A customer in the steel industry needed T&T for their 100+ transport belts with selectable routes and different sources and destinations.
There is no off the shelf tracking and tracing (PLC) software for solids. The nearest thing is Siemens Route Control which only supports tracing liquids.
Over a period of three years time, I created a highly efficient object oriented PLC program which tracks and traces solids that are being transported over kilometers of transport belts.
Even multiple product flows that end up on the same belt are separately registered in the T&T data.
The storage bunkers, fields and ships, that are product sources and destinations, have their own functions with visualization.
In WinCC, I created VBS code for automatically generating the many dynamic visual objects.
All storage fields, bunkers, ships, transport belts, excavators and cranes were clearly represented with product and status on large screens in the control room.
Later on, other objects were added to the system, seamlessly connecting to the T&T core functions, like mobile transport belts and dust prevention sprayers.
Because of the highly object oriented base and helper functions, adding different equipment to the T&T eco system was easy.
Because OPC was too slow for transferring the amount of T&T data that was generated, a TCP/IP messaging system was developed, sending over 80 million JSON formatted messages a year to the level 3 system.
Using TCP/IP messages in JSON format eliminated the need for an OPC server/client machine. A simple .Net service can receive and parse these messages directly into an SQL database.
The communication system has been made redundant so not a single T&T message gets lost even when the redundant PLC or level 3 servers make a master/slave switchover.
A later addition to the project was reprogramming their automatic control system for ship unloading, which then also became part of the T&T system.
Whereas the operators had to control multiple settings throughout the day in the old system, like telling the system what product was transported, they did not have to touch the system for multiple days in a row after the new software was implemented.
Even maximum flow is automatically adjusted to the capacity of the weakest link in the route, taking into account both weight and volume limit.
Techniques
For a customer within the edible oils industry, multiple cascaded PID loops needed tuning. The tricky parts were heat-recovery circuits which meant that multiple heating loops interfered with each other.
In-depth analysis of the interactions of the loops were made. Performance and issues were made visual with trends.
After tuning, the results were demonstrated by comparing the old with the new trends of similar situations.
Huge improvements could be seen in speed and accuracy.
In addition, a cost reduction could be calculated to know the saving that have been achieved.
On another project, a split range PID loop had to be changed. The way it was set-up, it could not be tuned properly. When going from one range to the other, the reaction time was too slow, causing a big turbine to shut down because the trip level was reached.
Historical trend data of both controls was used as input for a process simulator.
The split range automation was converted into two separate PID controllers. I created a custom switch block for controlling which loop was active.
The new control was tested against the 'trained' process simulator. After implementing and testing, we were happy to see that we got the same results as in simulation, and no more trips of the turbine.
Customer benefits of PID tuning can be enormous:
Techniques
Send me a message or request by filling in the form, or just send an e-mail to Info@SmartIndustry.Engineering or call the phone number you see below.
