Performance You Can Rely On:
. Increased productivity
. More efficient machine performance
. Reduced downtime

Compatibility and Connectivity:
. Easy integration and migration from proprietary PLC I/O networks
. Real-time, enterprise-wide transfer of control data
. Simple, common approach to communication and networking

Whatever network you currently use, you can integrate OpenControl and flowchart-based applications with your system. Support for the most popular I/O systems, including the next generation of intelligent I/O device networks, affords easy migration from proprietary PLCs.

To capture and interact with real-world information, OpenControl provides superior connectivity, speed, and flexibility. Fluid interaction among control, network, and office applications through a common database makes real-time plant floor data available throughout your entire enterprise. It also smooths information flow from remote locations to the plant floor.

Flowcharting and Ladder — the Best of Both Worlds

Nematron invented the Visual Flowcharting Language® (VFL) for machine control (patent #4,852,047). Our customers have found flowcharting to be a natural, timesaving approach to logic control programming that can be understood by anyone, whether your background is electrical, mechanical, or IT. Machine and process designers in particular benefit because they can actually program in a familiar and intuitive language that system and control engineers also understand. Diagnostics are especially well suited to flowcharts, allowing you to provide thorough, accurate, and timely information to operators and maintenance personnel.

Nematron’s Visual Flowchart Editor includes countless features for intuitive ease-of-use, including auto-block sizing, automatic line connection, right-click menus, and more.

Nematron software also includes a Relay Ladder Logic editor for those who appreciate the benefits of PC-based control but have legacy systems that are too expensive to redesign. The user can freely mix ladder diagrams and flowcharts within a single system for maximum flexibility.

Faster Cycles, More Output:
. Easier review of machine program
. Program development errors reduced

A PLC solves all of its programmed ladder logic in every scan. OpenControls context-based logic solves only for the current control sequence, cutting cycle time and boosting output dramatically. Built-in visual diagnostics pinpoint a failed tool or part before it affects production.

20% Higher Throughput:
. Virtually eliminate ladder diagrams sequencing complexity
. Easier to maintain on-line program modifications

A Big Three auto manufacturer replaced a PLC-based system with a flow-chart-based system, using the existing I/O, on one of four transmission dial machines. With its faster scan times and built-in diagnostics, the flow-chart-based system consistently produced 20% more transmissions than the three mechanically equivalent PLC-based machines.

Faster Development :
. Intuitive flowchart programming
. Utilitze tools such as Microsoft Excel in development
. Simplified program development
. Development cycles reduced by 50%
. Windows-standard user interface

OpenControl Monitor

The OpenControl Monitor significantly reduces the startup time typically associated with debugging and running ladder logic-based systems. It supports on-line changes, so you can test logic adjustments quickly and easily before deciding to keep them or discard them. OpenControl Monitor allows you to perform machine diagnostics with single-step block execution or break-point control to review code in cycle, step-by-step.

With flowchart programming, RapidPak Corporation simplified their machines and reduced overall development costs by 30 percent.

RapidPak's customers are enthusiastic about downtime reductions, easier maintenance, more intuitive operation, and increased throughput. And RapidPak's Divisional Sales Manager, Ed Schultz, reported: "Our main goal was to simplify. Flowcharting proved to be very simple and intuitive for our engineers to pick up."