Process control takes to the Net Process control takes to the Net by Greg Paula, Associate Editor Manufacturers are beginning to use the Internet as the communications medium for accessing instrumentation and control applications from anywhere in the world. The Internet is serving as a communications medium for a much wider variety of applications than its founders ever predicted, such as accessing a manufacturing facility's data from a remote location. Foxboro Controls Inc. in Foxboro, Mass., has made its Dynamic Performance Monitor software package Internet-ready. The Dynamic Performance Monitor takes data from instruments throughout the plant, performs mathematical and statistical calculations, and translates the results into terms that a manager can readily use, such as financial information.
Information security is accomplished mostly by requiring passwords to access various screens.
Foxboro is also working on making document-management software ready for the Internet. A Web browser is useful even for short distances, since it is becoming the standard display interface for a variety of information applications. Web browsers are platform-independent, and many users are already familiar with the Web format. Browsers also offer fast start-up, and running one takes few computing resources and little administration. Microsoft Corp. has made Internet capability an integral part of its distributed component object model.