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Duffanator

Data Collection

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Hey all, We are going to be setting up a downtime tracking system at our plant soon and since we have mostly Mitsubishi PLC's it would make sense (maybe) to use other Mitsubishi products for this as well. Has anyone had any experience (good or bad) with any of Mitsubishi's "F@catory floor" stuff? Like OPC servers and their data collection systems? What are their pluses or minuses? What all can they do as far as data collection and downtime tracking?

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You should look into their EMES solution. It's a easy way to send/receive data directly into/from a Database. There is already a forum open about it. Edited by Gambit

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If you only have (or want to log) Mitsubishi Q-systems you can get away with the more simple "MES" module instead of the "eMES"...

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I looked into that stuff and the other thread and it sounds like it's something I could use. Everything I've read so far though only shows being able to communicate with Q-series PLCs though. I thought I read in another post that with the MESInterface IT module that it had Rockwell drivers for talking with AB PLC's and also had the ability to communicate with other Mitsubishi PLC's such as A-series. This would be ideal since some of our equipment has A-series, FX PLCS as well as Allen Bradley SLC 500 and Control Logix processors. If that module could do all of that then I'm definatly going to try that out. But none of the information I find on the MEAU site indicates that this is possible. What's the deal?

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"eMES" = "MES Interface IT" And the eMES module functions like an OPC server with drivers to Rockwell++++

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Our company has done a lot of datalogging/downtime tracking over the years, and I would recommend taking a look at FactorySQL. It has been the best solution I have seen myself by far. It's free to try and they have some training videos on their site to help you get started. I'm not that familiar with Mitsubishi products, but usually hardware vendor solutions are not as robust when dealing with plant-wide applications (unless all your hardware is from that vendor). I would recommend a vendor-neutral solution using opc. Most quality opc servers should be able to connect to all your hardware. --HandledException PS Stay away from Factory Talk Transaction Manager (formerly RSSQL)

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Mitsubishi eMES is as hardware-independant as you can get it. It's a hardware OPC server with drivers to AB, Rockwell, Siemens +++++++ In addition, it can write/read data directly to most SQL databases. This is all the functionality you will ever need. In addition it has a lot of other features.... This is actually better than a PC based system since you remove one link in the chain when collecting data. The module has a memory in case the sql server goes down and then automaticly updates the database when it is online again.

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After taking a quick gander, it looks to be pretty limiting in my opinion. It only supports Oracle, MSSQL Server, and Wonderware databases. Can only run SELECT, UPDATE, and INSERT statements (no stored procedures). I couldn't find if it supports custom queries, but it looks like it supports only basic operators and a few aggregate functions. I can see how it could simplify a system, but I guess I have just been burned too many times by niche, proprietary solutions like this. I prefer to use widely-available, open technologies whenever possible. That way, when things change and evolve you aren't locked into something which physically can't do what you need. To each their own though! Take care. --HandledException

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You were looking at the "MES" module and not the "eMES" module. The MES is very simplified, and also only supports collecting data from Mitsubishi Q-Systems..... Take a look at the eMES (MES Interface IT).

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Hey kaare_t, Have you yourself used one of these modules? The more I read about it the more confused I get. I was assuming that you would just have one of these modules in a central location somewhere and it would be able to connect to multiple PLC and gather whatever information I want it to (if you have the correct licenses that is). But in the paperwork for the CPU (Q12DCCPU) it says that it can't connect directly to other PLC CPU's through ethernet, only CC-link or serial. I can't believe that is the case, that wouldn't make any sense at all. You don't need a module at every PLC do you? That would be rediculous. I'm having our local Mitsubishi Rep come in and explain what this thing can do but he can't come until the 12th of October and I kind of want to get an idea of what I'm going to use before then. Thanks!

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You can connect via ethernet to other PLC's. However you will need an ethernetcard in your system Q configuration(QJ71E71-*) MES_Interface_IT_Brochure.rar Edited by Gambit

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I have tested the "simple" MES module and that one works great for Mitsubishi Q-Systems. As Gambit says, you'll need 1 MES module, and Ethernet (or CC-Link) on the other stations. That's the "simple" module. Regarding the more advanced eMES (MES Interface IT / Q12DCCPU) it can also use drivers for various other vendors like Rockwell, AB, Siemens ++++. You'll only need one module, which collects data from all the other stations (Mitubishi or others) via Ethernet (or CC-Link for Mitsubishi). I haven't had the possibility to test this module yet, I have simply got some information from our Mitsubishi supplier so I cannot "quarantee" anything, but from what I've read it seems like this is all true. If you connect the module to a system from another vendor, you're supposed to automaticly have access to any possible tag/variable and this is supposed to be an easy graphical selection (seems to good to be true....)! The eMES also has some more advanced capabilities regarding the database handling, and also supports several more database systems than the "simple" MES module, but I haven't had the possibility to investigate this any further. I would go as far as to say that if you have ethernet in your stations (with mixed vendors), the only module you'll ever need is the eMES. Edited by kaare_t

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for SYSTEM Q Datalogger module.It's low cost solution Edited by KAZAH

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Mitsubishi came in yesterday to go over the MES InterfaceIT module and it does look awesome. They are coming back later to set up a test database and connect to one of our machines to do a live demo of it. I will make an update after that but from what I've seen already it looks like a very good solution. I was very impressed with it.

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Great! Let us know how it all goes, and your impression of the system!

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There is a gateway called the ETH-1000 (http://iccdesigns.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=ICC&Product_Code=eth1000) that can communicate with AB PLC's (Control Logix and SLC 5000) and FX PLCs (via FX3U ENET) all simultaneously. I can't say for certain if it can talk to an A-series controller. It really depends if there was an Ethernet interface for the A-series as the ETH-1000 communicates MELSEC ("MC protocol") over Ethernet with Mitsubishi controllers. Edited by fyicc

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