Dycore - Industrial communication, personal contact

The Oosterhout branch of flooring manufacturer Dycore was in need of an upgrade of the industrial network in the factory. Regular partner itsme called in specialist HMS Networks to supply a suitable solution with sufficient bandwidth and interference immunity in a dynamic environment. The cooperation went well for the three parties. “Also in technology, it's not always about what you know, but who you know who does know.”

Dycore produces precast concrete system floors for residential and commercial construction. The company, with branches in Breda, Lelystad and Oosterhout, is part of the CRH Group, an international supplier of building materials. The relationship between Dycore and itsme goes back decades; itsme supplies electrotechnical components, provides warehouse management for the technical department and carries out energy measurements and lighting projects. All under the contract between itsme and CRH.

More bandwidth and more stable signal

A recent project involved upgrading the industrial network at the Oosterhout plant, says Arnold Zwijgers. He owns JFZ Engineering, which supports industrial companies with their control and automation technology issues; Dycore is one of his clients. “More than ten years ago, they opted for a radio beam connection instead of a WLAN connection. That worked at a lower speed, but that was fine for remote I/O. However, with new machines and the new concrete mixer control, which required operators to work with tablets in the plant, more bandwidth and a more stable signal was needed. We needed a new solution for that. We put that question to itsme.”

“I agreed with itsme that we needed to bring in a specialist.”

The basis had to be Ethernet, explains Thijs Hanssen, technical sales engineer at itsme. “Wireless communication technology is developing in that direction. Just as we have wifi at home, there is also an industrial version. However, we had bad experiences with wifi installations supplied by parties who were too much of a generalist. Therefore, I dared to go to Dycore only with a specialist, and that was HMS Networks.” Swedish company HMS (Hardware Meets Software) provides industrial solutions for wireless communication between machines and with the cloud; it has a branch in the Netherlands.

It had everything to do with the complex environment in the factory, Zwijgers explains. “In a static warehouse, a Wi-Fi solution is fairly simple - after measuring in, the situation remains as it is. At Dycore, we have machines and cranes constantly moving through the factory and, recently, operators walking around with their tablets. So the layout is different every five minutes. Moreover, the facades and roofs of the factory hall are steel, which causes reflection of signals. I agreed with Thijs that we needed to bring in a specialist like HMS, for whom this is everyday work.”

Site survey

“We always like to start with a site survey,” says Ton van Beek, channel manager Benelux for HMS. “We measure in the space in question, make a floor plan, map obstacles and determine what building materials have been used. We enter that data into our program and then it comes out how many access points and antennas are needed to get good coverage for wireless.

That's the predictive site survey. For verification, we do another full site survey. With a test setup, we go through the entire factory floor meter by meter to see what the coverage is.” Says Zwijgers, “In our case, during that measurement, production was just running, to get a good picture.”

Such a survey also shows other Wi-Fi networks that are “visible,” Van Beek continues. Beforehand, Dycore reported that that would hardly be the case, Hanssen adds. “But the predictive measurement already showed that they did suffer from the neighbors and from an internal network of which they hardly knew the existence.” Zwijgers: “And indeed our own office network turned out to be visible in the factory as well. Because of cybersecurity, we have now ensured a strict separation between IT and OT, office automation and operational technology in the factory.” All factors to consider when developing the design for the factory network.

“The best choice is to implement everything wired wherever possible.”

HMS supplied the products for it via itsme from its Anybus line. This includes all components for an industrial network for wired and wireless communication using all common Ethernet and fieldbus protocols. Dycore's technical department handled the installation itself, including the cabling. Zwijgers: “We provided all access points in the factory with a fixed connection to our fiber backbone system. The best choice is still to do everything wired where possible. The machines are equipped with an antenna. With input from HMS, I did the configuration of all the equipment myself, such as setting channels and transmit power.” Van Beek: The site survey was done by an HMS technical specialist from Sweden, who was already here for another project. We have now trained someone internally for the Benelux to do the same, with support from our headquarters.”

Quick response

Meanwhile, the network is running flawlessly, reports Zwijgers. “There is now a stable base, with enough switches to allow for further expansion. At first there was a small hiccup with a machine that could not connect to the network. That was handled well by both partners. We got a quick response from the right specialist.” Hanssen: “Even in technology, it's not always about what you know, but whether you know someone who does. At itsme, we have a large network and can always find someone somewhere who can tackle a problem.”

In this way, the cooperation has pleased all parties. Van Beek: “With itsme we have had good contact for years, we know how to find each other quickly, but with Dycore this was our first contact. At the site survey we received good explanations and they showed us everything.” Hanssen concludes, “We supervised the project but left the technical support to the specialists. We were able to consult well between the three parties in Teams-meetings; there was no need for HMS to fly in specialists from Sweden for that.” Thanks to all networks.

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