[EN] Press kit IAS
-
Upload
itris-automation-square -
Category
Engineering
-
view
395 -
download
1
Transcript of [EN] Press kit IAS
Press Kit
2013
PRESS CONTACT:
Pauline VETTIER Marketing officer
[email protected] Tel. +33 (0)4 76 23 43 20
Itris Automation Square
2, Square Roger Genin 38000 Grenoble
France Tel: 04 76 23 43 20
Fax: 04 76 23 43 21
Press Kit 2013 - 2 -
SUMMARY
I – The Itris Automation Square company ....................................................................3
1- Identity ..................................................................................................................................3
2- Introduction of the company, Itris Automation Square .............................................4
a. Itris Automation Square : An editor of innovative software ................................................ 4
b. Outlook and objectives .............................................................................................................. 4
II – Market and Technology .............................................................................................6
1- Introducing PLCs ................................................................................................................6
2- An innovative technological approach ..........................................................................6
III – Range of tools offered by Itris Automation Square ............................................8
1- PLC Checker ........................................................................................................................8
2 - PLC Converter .......................................................................................................................9
3 - PLC DocGen ........................................................................................................................ 10
IV – Appendices ...............................................................................................................11
1- Press releases ................................................................................................................... 11
a) Itris Automation Square joins the CSIA: The professional Control System Integrators
Association ......................................................................................................................................... 11
b) Itris Automation Square recruits Mr Sangmin Lee as its Director of International
Business Development ..................................................................................................................... 12
2- Clients references ............................................................................................................ 13
3- Client testimonials............................................................................................................ 14
4- Biography of Managers in Itris Automation Square .................................................. 15
a. Éric Pierrel, CEO ........................................................................................................................ 15
b. Denis Chalon, Technical Director ........................................................................................... 15
Press Kit 2013 - 3 -
I – The Itris Automation Square company
1- Identity
Name Itris Automation Square
Date of Creation February 2008
Localisation Headquarters:
2, Square Roger Genin
38000 Grenoble - France
Managers Éric PIERREL, President and CEO
Denis CHALON, Technical Director
Governance Itris Automation Square is a simplified joint stock company under
French Law.
It is owned by its managers and employees, and by a minority of
business angels.
Key Figures Social capital : 180 K€
2012 turnover : 539 K€
Activity Software editor: tools for the development and the improvement of
PLC programs quality.
Company size On December 31st, 2012 : 11 employees
Services Itris Square Automation provides solutions for the conversion,
verification and documentation of PLC programs.
Marketed as Software-as-a-Service, its tools can improve the
quality of programs and reduce the costs of development, testing
and maintenance.
These tools are based on innovative technologies and a team
renowned for its specialist skills in software engineering, and
extensive experience in the field of automation.
Clients references Itris Automation Square solutions have been adopted by industry
leaders such as Compagnie Nationale du Rhône, Clemessy,
Schneider Electric, DNV, Ineo, EDF, Snecma, Tetra Pak, GDF
Suez, DCNS, Actemium, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Spie, Sanofi
Pasteur, Areva…
Website http://www.automationsquare.com/
Press Kit 2013 - 4 -
2- Introduction of the company, Itris Automation Square
a. Itris Automation Square : An innovative software editor
What do car assembly lines, elevator machineries, hydroelectric dams, bottling lines,
continuous casters and ventilation of indoor parking have in common? All these industrial
and commercial installations are controlled by PLCs. Itris Automation Square, a French
company based in Grenoble, was created in 2008 to provide tools for PLC programming.
Behind the creation of Itris Automation Square was the will to continue to industrialize a
technology developed by the previous company (“Itris”) during the 2000s: GLIPS, a
technological environment independent from platforms and specific PLC language
providers. The emergence of this technology has been permitted by a double competence
from the R&D team: automation and software engineering. The purpose of this
combination of skills was to bring to the field of automation the power of development
methods used in related sectors, such as real-time computing.
The R&D team has orchestrated the development of several software tools, used by all
automation engineers. These innovative and unique solutions for automatic translation of
PLC code, for documentation and quality measurement were very well received. Indeed, the
market quickly perceived them as strong differentiators in the development and conversion of
PLC programs. Productivity, quality and responsiveness have quickly become the
trademark of IAS.
b. Outlook and objectives
Itris Square Automation focuses on industrialization and production of software engineering
technology, which is part of its DNA. In recent years, R&D efforts have led to the emergence
of tools that always meet the market’s needs: IAS solutions have been packaged in the
form of three key tools (detailed page 8-10). In parallel, the marketing approach allowed to
rethink its offer, to identify the most suitable business model for the market, and to establish
a wide network of local, national and international partners.
Specifically, the business model chosen by IAS is "Software as a Service" (SaaS). In this
software distribution model, software publishers host services for their clients, who will then
use them via the Internet. Thus, IAS’ customers do not pay for owning the software but to
use it. It is not necessary to invest to benefit from the contributions of new technologies. In
addition, the total cost (Total Cost of Ownership) is greatly reduced because there is no new
version to install, no fleet management license etc. Finally, the client simply estimates the
actual cost of the service.
Press Kit 2013 - 5 -
The objective of IAS is to meet the coming challenges that have to do with increasingly
sophisticated PLC programs, with respect to three criteria: cost control of the entire
software life cycle, taking into account existing facilities (since many automation projects fall
under renovation or extension of facilities) and maintaining or improving the quality of these
programs.
This objective is valid worldwide and in all areas of applications. Indeed, the solutions offered
by IAS support the leading PLCs in the market (Schneider Electric, Rockwell Automation,
Siemens ...) and are, by nature, solutions independent from the business context.
To achieve these objectives, IAS is based on:
An undeniable technological advance in the field of software engineering applied to
the development of PLC programs,
A team with solid experience in the technical and commercial development of
software tools,
A deep knowledge of the target markets and the needs of automation engineers,
A market awaiting solutions to overcome the limitations of current development
methods,
Sustainable partnerships with industry leader clients and with key technology players,
such as PLC manufacturers.
The tools aim to serve the market, covering increasingly important ranges of PLCs and
increasing the analytical capacities of tools. These changes are mainly the result of
collaborative R&D projects (such as FUI, “Fonds Unique Interministériel” or “Unique
Interministerial Fund”). In addition, IAS wants to continue to integrate its tools with other
software in the field of automation, such as workshops manufacturers, system design tools,
dashboards and quality management version tools.
Finally, IAS continues to be rooted in its technology and R&D ecosystem. At local and
national levels, IAS’ involvement in the clusters Minalogic, Grilog and EDEN allows the
company to participate to R&D projects that increase the technology value of its offer, and
allow for better visibility.
Internationally, Itris Automation Square has been a member of the CSIA since 2012
("Control System Integrators Association"), a global professional organization based in
Wisconsin (USA). The CSIA has over 400 control systems integrator companies and
suppliers of automated software tools
Press Kit 2013 - 6 -
II – Market and Technology
1- Introducing PLCs
PLCs control processes, or combinations of processes, by sending commands in the form of
electrical signals in response to input data. They are used in various industries such as
manufacturing, chemicals, transport or production and distribution of energy. Operations
controlled by PLCs can vary widely in complexity, from simple control panel to a fully
automated production system.
PLC programming takes place in a context of high requirements for quality and reliability,
related to economic and human security. Indeed, a "bug" in a PLC programs can have
serious consequences ranging from stopping production to losses of human lives. PLC
programs are becoming more complex and the problem of reducing costs is omnipresent.
Unfortunately, the current criteria for measuring quality are often inadequate. Conventional
methods of programming cannot solve this problem. In fact, they are still composed of many
manual tasks, prohibiting systematic verification. In addition, each PLC manufacturer is
associated with a development language and environment of its own. All these issues do not
facilitate the production of quality codes at reasonable cost, whereas the industries that use
PLCs operate in a very competitive environment.
The innovative approach of Itris Automation Square solves these problems by
proposing new solutions to produce programs of better quality that are
reusable, while reducing development and maintenance costs.
2- An innovative technological approach
The current development tools used have seen only few innovations in the field of software
engineering to create applications that are secure, reusable and easily maintainable. These
limitations come from the languages used to program PLC, which are proprietary and
incompatible. The goal of the GLIPS technology - which serves as a hub for all tools developed
by IAS, is to go beyond the limitations of these languages.
Figure 1: Programmable Logic Controllers of Omron, Siemens and Schneider Electric brand
Press Kit 2013 - 7 -
To address the challenges encountered while programming PLCs, Itris Automation Square
offers a new and innovative technological approach. GLIPS by Itris Automation Square is
based on a technological platform that is independent from the PLC types and
programming languages.
GLIPS technology has been designed to meet precise specifications, such as reducing and
controlling the costs of developing and maintaining command and control software, while
taking into account all aspects of the life cycle.
Figure 2: GLIPS technology, a central element in IAS offer
One of the main benefits of this approach is the consideration of existing technology assets.
Indeed, to benefit from the power of the GLIPS technology, it is not necessary to rewrite or
remodel programs: they are automatically imported in this format.
Around this technology platform, Itris Automation Square has developed tools that meet
market needs for renovation of automated installations and PLC code quality. These tools
enable the translation of code from a type of PLC to another, and the compliance of a
program to coding and design rules.
Press Kit 2013 - 8 -
III – Range of tools offered by Itris Automation Square
Itris Automation Square offers three main tools that aim at improving the quality of PLC
programs and reduce their cost of development and maintenance:
PLC Checker: automatically analyses PLC programs and exhaustively validates their
compliance with sets of coding rules.
PLC Converter: automatically translates a PLC program to a new PLC.
PLC DocGen: automatically generates a dataflow oriented view of a PLC program
(from inputs towards outputs) represented by equations and flowcharts.
1- PLC Checker
PLC Checker automatically analyzes PLC programs and comprehensively verifies their
compliance with generic rules and – if needed, rules specific to an industry or a given
process.
PLC Checker also provides an online collaborative environment that allows contractors to
follow the progress of the development of their programs.
Using PLC Checker replaces manual compliance checks, which took considerable time and
did not provide the level of quality required. With PLC Checker, it is now possible to adopt
systematic coding standards and thus ensure consistency between programs while ensuring
a certain robustness and readability of the application.
PLC Checker makes it possible to resolve the current dilemma: having a high level of quality
requirement and spending a lot of time and money on it, or having little time (or money) and
having to settle for minimum quality requirements.
Figure 3: Screenshot of PLC Checker - Example of rules
Press Kit 2013 - 9 -
In customer/supplier relationships, PLC Checker allows to define the quality requirements to
be achieved. PLC Checker also helps to define code reviews (fully automated in a static
analysis) to achieve the right to verify compliance with these requirements. When using PLC
Checker, integrators gain credibility by demonstrating the quality of their programs through
the most innovative solutions on the market. Industrial PLC users benefit from automated
programs that are more easily maintainable and can objectively measure the quality of their
programs.
In addition, PLC Checker is also useful in a normative context (FDA, IEC 61511 ...), to
demonstrate proper compliance with quality processes, especially when using coding rules is
required.
2 - PLC Converter
Maintaining old PLCs is often impossible: hardware becomes obsolete, old PLC parts are
difficult to find and human resource become scarce. Migrating PLCs is thus necessary to
ensure the durability of industrial facilities. Also, new generations of PLCs bring more
features and better performances to support evolving processes.
Unfortunately, new generations of PLCs also often come with new programming languages,
which are incompatible with previous generations of PLCs. As a consequence, programs
used in old PLCs also become obsolete, even if the process controlled by the PLC remains
the same. Thus, it is often necessary to rewrite completely the application or to invest
in many hours of manual translation of the program.
To address this issue, Itris Automation Square created PLC Converter, a tool that allows
automatic translation of PLC programs. Thanks to its tool’s capability to understand the
semantics of PLC applications, Itris Automation Square generates a very high quality code,
with the same behavior as the previous application. PLC Converter provides identical
functionality, and reliability is very important. Validation of the translated code is then less
expensive and it is easy to compare the performance of old and new systems. Downtime of
the system related to the commissioning of the new program is greatly reduced.
The datasheet on PLC Checker is available to read and download on our SlideShare account.
Press Kit 2013 - 10 -
3 - PLC DocGen
During its whole lifecycle, a typical PLC program will be read and modified by many
contributors: development and commissioning teams, maintenance and modernization
technicians, engineers, project managers... All will have to quickly and easily understand a
program they often didn’t develop themselves, especially if they start a new job from some
legacy code.
Being efficient when modifying some unknown and sophisticated code is always a challenge.
Writing documentation manually is also tedious and error-prone.
PLC DocGen brings greater consistency in the format of the documentation and the
repetitive dimension of writing.
PLC DocGen automatically generates a dataflow oriented view of a PLC program (from
inputs towards outputs) represented by equations and flowcharts, thus abstracting the actual
sequential execution of the program. This view is a perfect intermediate formalism between
specifications and the code itself.
PLC DocGen is available for programs for the following PLC: April Orphée, SMC, TSX Serie7
and Unity (Premium, Quantum and M340) marketed by Schneider Electric, as well as the
PLCs Step5 and Step7 and marketed by Siemens.
Figure 4: Example of documentation generated by the tool PLC DocGen
Press Kit 2013 - 11 -
IV – Appendices
1- Press releases
a) Itris Automation Square joins the CSIA: The professional
Control System Integrators Association
Grenoble, France, July 30th, 2012 - Itris Automation Square, creator of innovative
solutions for the development of PLC programs, is now a member of the CSIA (Control
System Integrators Association).
The “Control System Integrators Association” (www.controlsys.org) is a professional and
global association based in Wisconsin (USA). It gathers over 400 control systems integrator
companies and suppliers of automated software tools. Its activities include certification,
organizing events and establishing best practices, which are published in professional
guides.
Since 1994, CSIA seeks to advance business practices of control system integration, by:
Bringing successful system integration to the marketplace by creating recognition and demand for CSIA certified members,
Improving system integration best practices and performance, Providing a forum to share industry expertise and create networking
opportunities.
By joining the CSIA, Itris Automation Square aims to develop its network with integrators,
especially in the U.S., and benefit from the support of an expert organization to facilitate the
distribution of its tools. Indeed, system integrators are in the best position to offer services
around Itris Automation Square’s tools, especially on program quality-related issues.
Éric Pierrel, General Manager of Itris Automation Square, explains: "We are very pleased to
have joined the CSIA, and are confident regarding the opportunities that will arise on the
North American market. Besides, during the second quarter 2012 and for the first time, we
have carried out a program conversion for a U.S. integrator, based in Florida".
Press Kit 2013 - 12 -
b) Itris Automation Square recruits Mr Sangmin Lee as its Director of International Business Development
Grenoble - France, October 11th, 2012 - Itris Automation Square (IAS), provider of
innovative solutions for the development of PLC programs, announces the
recruitment of a new team member.
Itris Automation Square is pleased to announce the recruitment of Mr. Sangmin Lee, as its
Director of International Business Development.
Mr. Lee joined the team in Q2 2012 and is specifically in charge of
developing business opportunities on the North America and
APAC markets.
This hiring is part of the business actions that aim at strengthening the
international development of the company. It will also reinforce the
current team with a senior member, who has extensive work experience
in international environments.
Mr. Lee has 15+ years of international business management experience, having held
key management positions at software and high-tech companies, such as Samsung
Electronics, LexisNexis, and RealNetworks.
Mr. Lee holds an MS in Computer Science from George Washington University (US) and
received a BA degree in Chinese language and literature from Choon Ang University
(Korea). Mr. Lee speaks English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese and French. He is a Korean
native and resides in Grenoble with his French wife and daughter.
Éric Pierrel, General Manager of Itris Automation Square, explains: "The arrival of Sangmin
Lee is very important for Itris Automation Square, as developing international market access
is key to our company. We especially see a strong interest in APAC and North America for
PLC Checker, our static analyser for PLC programs, and expect both these markets to fuel
our growth in the coming years".
Mr Lee can be contacted directly at: [email protected].
Press Kit 2013 - 13 -
2- Clients references
Itris Automation Square’ solutions have been adopted by industry leaders, such as:
Press Kit 2013 - 14 -
3- Client testimonials
Mr Laurent MAUGUY Automation Standards Manager
PSA Peugeot Citroën
M. Pascal POTHIER
New Construction Project Manager Herakles (groupe Safran)
Today at PSA, the systematic use of PLC Checker is part of a comprehensive approach to
improve quality and maintainability of control systems […] The verification time is considerably shorter: our subcontractors and our engineers have fewer
discussions to reach consistent programs.
We use PLC Checker on PLCs that we replace when renovating production units. It has allowed us to take a “picture” of the quality of the programs, before and after replacement […]. PLC Checker allows us to measure software quality. We had been requiring software quality for a long time, but we had so far little means of
control over it.
Press Kit 2013 - 15 -
4- Biography of Managers at Itris Automation Square
a. Éric Pierrel, President and CEO
Eric graduated from Grenoble Ecole de Management (GEM) in 2001, and
has since specialized in management of technology and innovation. He
began his career as an Operational Marketing Officer at PolySpace
Technologies, a software company in the field of embedded systems. He
then supported the business growth of the start-up in a highly international
context, and held various managerial positions in marketing and
administrative fields.
Following the acquisition of PolySpace Technologies by The MathWorks in 2007, he
participated in the merger of the two companies. He then joined Itris Automation Square
(IAS) in 2008, a software company in the field of programmable logic controllers. He served
as Marketing Director and Chief Financial Officer. Eric has been at the head of IAS since
March 2011 and currently holds the position of President and CEO.
Involved in several networks to develop the IT industry in Grenoble, Eric is also a member of
the Board of Directors of Minalogic (global competitiveness cluster) and an active member of
the Grilog association (GRenoble Isère LOGiciel), which brings together stakeholders in the
software industry in Grenoble. He is also the President of the Alumni Association of Grenoble
Ecole de Management.
b. Denis Chalon, Technical Director
Denis graduated from the ENSIMAG Grenoble (National School of
Computer Science and Applied Mathematics of Grenoble) in 1996. He
began his career at Hewlett Packard in Grenoble in the PC division of the
company, where he was responsible for software bricks card networks in
connection with the international suppliers of the company. He then joined
the renowned HP Labs, in which he filed for six patents and several
publications.
Denis has been a R&D Engineer at Itris since 2003. He participated in the development of
the GLIPS technology, which serves as the foundation for the company’s products. Since
2010, following the takeover of Itris by Itris Automation Square, Denis manages the technical
team and organizes brick production technology.
In addition, Denis is also responsible for the technical evaluation of collaborative projects
within Minalogic. He contributes actively to debates and discussions on free software and
intellectual property issues of the software.