Predictive Maintenance Gets a Boost in China

A national open standard for device integration based on industry-leading FDT® 2.0 technology has been announced.

Efficient asset management routines are an essential component to any manufacturer’s success in producing uptime. A recent announcement from multiple industrial groups in China and the Field Device Tool (FDT) standards group should help manufacturers drive more efficient and better predictive processes in the country.

The FDT group promotes an open standard for industrial devices for better control and maintenance of field devices in many industries, such chemical, oil and gas and automotive. According to the standards group, FDT standardizes the communication and configuration interface between all field devices and host systems. FDT provides an open environment for accessing the devices’ most sophisticated features. Any device can be configured, operated, and maintained through the standardized user interface – regardless of supplier, type or communication protocol.

The China announcement includes FDT’s 2.0 technology for device integration, according to the FDT Group. Li Yueguang, vp of China Instrument Manufacturer Association (CIMA) says, “the technical advantages of FDT 2.0 in system integration and interconnection, and expressed hope that domestic enterprises in China would quickly integrate compliant solutions as part of their smart manufacturing strategies.”

The press release also says the technology employs a future-proof architecture based on Microsoft .NET technology, offers all the properties needed by modern software right up to web- and client/server-based systems (OPC UA architectures). The release of the GB/T 29618-2017 standard incorporating FDT 2.0 will better guide the integration and application of various field buses and devices, and help promote the widespread implementation of standards-based automation solutions.

A client/server based system with OPC UA or MQTT architectures is providing manufacturers the ability to manage legacy devices in the IIoT era. It’s no easy task to implement, but these types of agreement go a long way in optimizing older plants.

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