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Many companies are now beginning to see the obvious benefits inherent in the Thin Client model. And as good an idea as a Thin Client is in an office environment, it is an even better idea on the plant floor. But one of the Thin Client's biggest advantages, their ease of configuration and set-up, makes them very much a commodity item. And it begs the question - if I can replace a Thin Client by simply plugging in a new one (without any data loss because all the applications are running on the server) why can't I just use office grade Thin Clients and replace them when they fail?
Obviously the answer is that you could - people are doing it now. But it turns out that, as many have discovered, putting office grade equipment into a factory is often not a cost saving move.
Computer based hardware that was designed with the office customer in mind exactly meets the needs of that environment. No manufacturer is willing to make a product more expensive than it has to be, and in the cutthroat world of commercial computer equipment pricing you can be assured that you get what you pay for. The commercial equipment maker has not gone to any lengths to shield his equipment from high levels of electrical noise typically found in factories, nor is he concerned with making a unit that is more rugged to withstand high levels of vibration often found on a manufacturing line. Add that to the difficulties of operating in a particulate filled atmosphere (or, even more challenging, an explosive atmosphere) and you will have a very hard time finding any commercial grade Thin Client that is at home in the plant.
When it comes to temperature, office equipment will be toast at temperatures commonly found in a factory. And putting commercial equipment of any kind into a panel is just asking for trouble. Temperatures and electrical noise found inside most cabinets on the factory floor will fail most office Thin Clients within a day or so, if they work at all. Mounting is another challenge. While commercial equipment was meant to sit on a desk, industrial Thin Clients are right at home bolted to a sub-plate, and have the EMF protection and cooling capability to keep them operating for years without a failure.
Usually the equipment being installed is for the purpose of providing a user interface to manufacturing equipment. It is less common to find CRT monitors installed in a factory, as Plant Managers see the advantages of using an LCD combined with a Touch Screen. The displays are very bright and flat, and take up much less space inside a cabinet. And now it is common to find industrial Thin Clients with LCD flat panel displays and Touch Screens build in. This means that there is now one manufacturer responsible for all of the hardware needed for the user interface, and no more guessing about interconnection between components - just plug in Ethernet and power, and the unit is online.
Redundancy and reliability are features not terribly important to the commercial Thin Client vendor. Problems with the clients within the office may cause a few letters to go out late, or a few bills to be paid tomorrow instead of today, but in a factory lost time is critical. Just having a manufacturing line down for 30 minutes or so can mean thousands of dollars in lost revenue, and is not something that a Plant Manager takes lightly. Therefore it is important to get a piece of equipment that you can install and forget, just like a PLC.
Industrial Thin Clients can also take advantage of ACP's ThinManager software, which includes the ability to designate multiple servers that can host each client. If a server fails, each client has the 'intelligence' to recognize the demise of its primary server and switch (without any operator intervention) to the next designated backup server that is online. This entire process can happen in less than 10 seconds, causing only a short interval when the operator is not able to see the current status of the line.
A true Industrial Thin Client (without a display) can be bought right now for as little as $650, and that price is on the way down. An office grade Thin Client that has the same features and similar performance is pushing $500. And in units where the Touch Screen has been made an integral part of the industrial Thin Client, price is even less of an issue. Industrial Thin Client companies will be showing fully functional Thin Client products early next year that have a price just slightly more expensive than the Touch Screen alone. This will be possible because companies are starting to design equipment that takes advantage of the very small amount of computing power needed to operate a Thin Client, sharing common elements between the LCD display and the client (such as the power supply).
But even if the initial cost was more than a few hundred dollars, the main justification for a Thin Client system is the tremendous long term cost savings, or TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). These savings are made possible because there is no end-user upkeep with any of the installed Thin Clients. The customer simply maintains the server, and all of the Thin Clients follow suit without intervention. Having to replace failed office grade Thin Clients every month or so would greatly eat into the potential long term cost savings. Not to mention the fact that two office grade Thin Clients will cost more than a single comparable industrial grade Thin Client in hardware cost alone.
If you are willing to accept potential huge costs over the next several years just to save a few dollars on the front end of the project, then take a chance with office equipment on the factory floor. But if you want the same reliability that you demand from the rest of your plant, then make the wise choice and install equipment in the factory that was made for the factory. You can deal with the exact same companies that you now work with. This allows you to put hardened equipment on your floor manufactured by a company that understands your market and the needs of equipment that will be used 24 hours everyday in harsh environments.
For more information on ACP Industrial Thin Client computers, please visit our web site at http://www.thinmanager.com
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