Paper leaves recorder makers in a Catch 22
19 Nov 2007
Digital, paperless data recorders have many advantages over their older, paper-based counterparts. Immediacy of data, far greater security and lower price are just three of them. So it would be expected that paper recorders would by now be close to reaching museum-piece status across the process industries.
This, it seems, is not the case. Suppliers of recorders are today trapped in a Catch 22 situation; developing advanced digital models, while still having to supply the traditional paper recorder and its components to many existing customers who are reluctant to move on to the latest technology.
Many participants in the pharmaceutical and food & beverage industries continue to cling to paper chart recorders, mainly because of a mix of natural conservatism and confusion over the 21CFR Part 11 regulations concerning the use of electronic recorders for data collection, particularly in the pharma sector. Also, there are existing customers that do not fully understand the new technology and opt for the comfort zone of paper charts.
Alan Hunt, product manager for ABB's recording and control products, believes that instrumentation products are receiving insufficient investment in the current economic climate, even though the latest instrumentation is vital for better quality, higher productivity and improved profitability. This attitude towards investment, he said, is forcing many companies to limp along with the recorders they've got, just replacing parts when necessary rather than buying complete systems.
Operators are used to looking at circular paper charts and that, according to Hunt, is why they are still beloved by certain sections of the food & beverage and pharmaceutical markets. An unhappy operator can make your life a misery, he says, so companies are being cautious about introducing new technology. For a combination of these reasons, circular charts still represent ABB's biggest volume seller worldwide, with the US the main consumer.
Yokogawa Europe concurs with the ABB view and will continue to manufacture traditional chart recorders as long as its customers want them. "Chart recorder business is still important in Europe," said Marco Bischoff, product manager network solution, although paperless products currently account for 60% of company sales.
Another manufacturer, Eurotherm reports an approximate 4:1 ratio of customers converting to secure digital recording with paperless recorders. The Invensys-owned company lists the water/wastewater, aerospace and heat treatment sectors as leading this drive, due, in part, to requirements for ease of use, security of data, audit capabilities, reliable low cost archiving and easy data search.
However, Christopher King, product manager, Eurotherm, also notes resistance in the pharmaceutical sector, which he links to hesitancy to change SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) and avoid cost-of-system validation.
This is despite the availablilty of FDA-compliant systems. Eurotherm, for instance, has two paperless models specifically designed for FDA-validated applications. They offer features such as signed operator comments, integrated audit trail, password element controls and an integral audit trail function that can be used to help meet CFR 21 Part II.
In Hunt's experience, the water utility market has led the way to paperless technology in the UK. Digital technology eliminates the need to collect data from paper chart recorders and makes it much simpler to meet the environmental reporting requirements and abstraction records demanded by the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate.
Yokogawa has been successful in the water market as well as the power, pharmaceutical, metals and ceramic sectors. In contrast, Bischoff says the OEM industry still has a tendency to go for the cheapest solutions, following the minimum specifications and where there is no requirement for programming or instrument configuration.
According to King at Eurotherm, many OEM customers have already moved from paper to electronic paperless recorders and parent group Invensys is in talks with many more. "The reduction of instruments in an OEM skid or panel (recording and visualisation in one unit) is attractive due to reduced cost and reduced 'real estate'," said King.
Instrumentation, believes ABB's Hunt, is something that should be discussed and planned more at a project's capital investment stage than it is at present. Failure to invest in instrumentation, he highlights, undoubtedly has caused companies many process problems. "To not understand what's going on in your process is very much like trying to drive blindfolded."
Legislation is expected to be the biggest driver of change to paperless recorders and other electronic forms of instrumentation. The inherent flexibility and extensive features incorporated in electronic data recorders better prepares and protects users against the effects that can arise from legislative changes, said Hunt.
Digital recorders seem to offer clear cost benefits over paper-based versions. According to ABB, its SM500F electronic data recorder has a payback time of just three years compared with a single pen recorder, which is likely to cost £200 a year in pens and paper alone. Security compared with paper is also much better and fewer mechanical parts mean less maintenance.
More importantly, perhaps, the digital format means there is no ambiguity with the recorded figures, it is far easier to retrieve data and in regulated industries there is no need to store paper charts for anything up to 20 years. But there are far greater benefits from the adoption of electronic technology.
There is significantly greater scope for easy and more accurate data analysis, and data is easy to share between personnel: operator, production manager, quality manager, customer, etc. Also, advanced networking and communication technologies offer simple integration with other computerised system, such as SCADA.
Yokogawa has recently launched two new paperless recorders that feature a greatly increased number of input channels and more memory than earlier models. The MV1000 has 24 channels and the MV2000 has 48 channels — though this can be extended up to 348 channels when used together with an external unit.
The portable units offer integrated display, recording, and communications functions, and can continuously record on-site changes in temperature, voltage, current, flow and pressure. Target markets include R&D laboratories in industries and fields such as electricity, electronics, semiconductors, and alternative energy.
Invensys' new Foxboro 6100 Series digital recorders, meanwhile, offer input capability to communicate with up to 32 slave devices, providing up to 176 inputs. The slave devices can be used for data acquisition for variable process data, including pressure, flow, temperature, conductivity and electro-chemical analysis such as pH.
This, it seems, is not the case. Suppliers of recorders are today trapped in a Catch 22 situation; developing advanced digital models, while still having to supply the traditional paper recorder and its components to many existing customers who are reluctant to move on to the latest technology.
Many participants in the pharmaceutical and food & beverage industries continue to cling to paper chart recorders, mainly because of a mix of natural conservatism and confusion over the 21CFR Part 11 regulations concerning the use of electronic recorders for data collection, particularly in the pharma sector. Also, there are existing customers that do not fully understand the new technology and opt for the comfort zone of paper charts.
Alan Hunt, product manager for ABB's recording and control products, believes that instrumentation products are receiving insufficient investment in the current economic climate, even though the latest instrumentation is vital for better quality, higher productivity and improved profitability. This attitude towards investment, he said, is forcing many companies to limp along with the recorders they've got, just replacing parts when necessary rather than buying complete systems.
Operators are used to looking at circular paper charts and that, according to Hunt, is why they are still beloved by certain sections of the food & beverage and pharmaceutical markets. An unhappy operator can make your life a misery, he says, so companies are being cautious about introducing new technology. For a combination of these reasons, circular charts still represent ABB's biggest volume seller worldwide, with the US the main consumer.
Yokogawa Europe concurs with the ABB view and will continue to manufacture traditional chart recorders as long as its customers want them. "Chart recorder business is still important in Europe," said Marco Bischoff, product manager network solution, although paperless products currently account for 60% of company sales.
Another manufacturer, Eurotherm reports an approximate 4:1 ratio of customers converting to secure digital recording with paperless recorders. The Invensys-owned company lists the water/wastewater, aerospace and heat treatment sectors as leading this drive, due, in part, to requirements for ease of use, security of data, audit capabilities, reliable low cost archiving and easy data search.
However, Christopher King, product manager, Eurotherm, also notes resistance in the pharmaceutical sector, which he links to hesitancy to change SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) and avoid cost-of-system validation.
This is despite the availablilty of FDA-compliant systems. Eurotherm, for instance, has two paperless models specifically designed for FDA-validated applications. They offer features such as signed operator comments, integrated audit trail, password element controls and an integral audit trail function that can be used to help meet CFR 21 Part II.
In Hunt's experience, the water utility market has led the way to paperless technology in the UK. Digital technology eliminates the need to collect data from paper chart recorders and makes it much simpler to meet the environmental reporting requirements and abstraction records demanded by the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate.
Yokogawa has been successful in the water market as well as the power, pharmaceutical, metals and ceramic sectors. In contrast, Bischoff says the OEM industry still has a tendency to go for the cheapest solutions, following the minimum specifications and where there is no requirement for programming or instrument configuration.
According to King at Eurotherm, many OEM customers have already moved from paper to electronic paperless recorders and parent group Invensys is in talks with many more. "The reduction of instruments in an OEM skid or panel (recording and visualisation in one unit) is attractive due to reduced cost and reduced 'real estate'," said King.
Instrumentation, believes ABB's Hunt, is something that should be discussed and planned more at a project's capital investment stage than it is at present. Failure to invest in instrumentation, he highlights, undoubtedly has caused companies many process problems. "To not understand what's going on in your process is very much like trying to drive blindfolded."
Legislation is expected to be the biggest driver of change to paperless recorders and other electronic forms of instrumentation. The inherent flexibility and extensive features incorporated in electronic data recorders better prepares and protects users against the effects that can arise from legislative changes, said Hunt.
Digital recorders seem to offer clear cost benefits over paper-based versions. According to ABB, its SM500F electronic data recorder has a payback time of just three years compared with a single pen recorder, which is likely to cost £200 a year in pens and paper alone. Security compared with paper is also much better and fewer mechanical parts mean less maintenance.
More importantly, perhaps, the digital format means there is no ambiguity with the recorded figures, it is far easier to retrieve data and in regulated industries there is no need to store paper charts for anything up to 20 years. But there are far greater benefits from the adoption of electronic technology.
There is significantly greater scope for easy and more accurate data analysis, and data is easy to share between personnel: operator, production manager, quality manager, customer, etc. Also, advanced networking and communication technologies offer simple integration with other computerised system, such as SCADA.
Yokogawa has recently launched two new paperless recorders that feature a greatly increased number of input channels and more memory than earlier models. The MV1000 has 24 channels and the MV2000 has 48 channels — though this can be extended up to 348 channels when used together with an external unit.
The portable units offer integrated display, recording, and communications functions, and can continuously record on-site changes in temperature, voltage, current, flow and pressure. Target markets include R&D laboratories in industries and fields such as electricity, electronics, semiconductors, and alternative energy.
Invensys' new Foxboro 6100 Series digital recorders, meanwhile, offer input capability to communicate with up to 32 slave devices, providing up to 176 inputs. The slave devices can be used for data acquisition for variable process data, including pressure, flow, temperature, conductivity and electro-chemical analysis such as pH.
