ENGINEERS FIGHT OFF TERROISTS AND EXTORTIONISTS A small enterprising British company is trailblazing a lead for its multi-billion dollar American principal, by developing an innovative new product that combines industrial automation with high security biometric operator recognition capabilities. Continued tightening and enforcement of worldwide FDA Regulation 21CFR11, is intended to render virtually impossible food, pharmaceuticals or other product being tampered with during manufacture, and to provide absolute security of the traceability records. Corruption of the production processes and recipe ingredients can occur accidentally by an authorised person, or as an act of malice, in an attempt to extort money from the manufacturer, or even as a terrorist outrage. This will require that manufacturing and processing sites secure their production facilities by one or more means. The conventional approach would be to use policing methods with layers of security for the entire site, the storage and production areas, the production line itself and dispatch. All staff would have to be vetted, as would suppliers, raw materials etc. The effects of this approach can be experienced at any European airport, where it can take passengers several hours to progress through the security checks for a 30 minute flight. The on-cost to the consumer can only be imagined! DESIGN PROCESS However Andy Markgraf of AJM Automation Ltd in Derbyshire has come up with a different approach: secure the control system from everyone except registered operators. For this access points to the control system are fitted with biometric recognition systems such as fingerprint monitors AJM is the UK distributor of the PowerStation touchscreen machine monitors or HMIs made by CTC Parker Hannifin Automation in the USA. Andy has customised their latest model, the PX15 PowerStation, so that it can run with CTC's InteractX and, for biometric security, DataTrak software from Ultima Control Systems' in Leicester. He has also redesigned the housing for use in arduous and hygienic environments. Ultima is also an approved System Integrator for InteractX and is working closely with AJM on this project to be able to offer an "Out of the Box" 21CFR11 compliant package. "Parker are very impressed with our approach, so are being very supportive to us," says Andy. "They are looking to adopt our design into their mainstream catalogue, which will pole vault us into massive global market opportunities. With their supply and technology infrastructure, we can reach and support users anywhere in the world." The design is based on the standard PX15 PowerStation workstation, but is presented with a stainless steel front bezel to meet hygiene standards for food, pharmaceutical, petrochem and other demanding environments. The fingerprint recognition system built into the front for ease of access and use. There is scope for dual authentication procedures, e.g. fingerprint and PIN number or password. OPERATION "To use the workstation an operator must place his finger on the identification pad, where a digital code is instantly created which represents the complete and unique fingerprint. This is compared to codes in the electronic memory and if a match is found access is provided to the control system." explains Andy. "If no match is found, access is denied and an alarm protocol can also be enacted." Accepted fingerprints need not give everybody full access. Because prints are unique, people can easily be classified in to one of several levels of access, from local monitoring, through some capacity to make changes, to full control. PowerStations are high performance yet easy to use touchscreen HMIs (human machine interface). The product family offers a range of workstations from a small simple display to a full capability PC with 18" touchscreen. They come bundled with Interact or InteractX software, the former being for simpler duties, the latter offering advanced features and functions normally associated with high- cost SCADA and similar programmes. Their modular construction allows specification to precisely match exact application needs and minimise system overhead, while a removable Flash memory simplifies data storage, information transfer and programme updates. Interact and InteractX provide advanced HMI graphics, but their modular architecture removes all the systems redundancy normally associated with Windows based-systems so that speed and reliability are secure while system integration costs are contained. The PowerStation designers gave special attention to simplifying the users' development process, primarily by using familiar front-ends. For example the use of toolbins and icons, like those in popular office and home software, make it easy to move from one function to another without confusing dialogue messages. BIOMETRIC The biometric system is based on Ultima Control Systems' DataTrak software, which provides 21 CFR Part 11 compliant interface. The latest Win32 version of DataTrak is designed around Authentec's USB fingerprint sensor, and uses their recognition engine. DataTrak can now operate in three distinct modes. In 'Standard' mode the system simply requires username and password. In 'Biometric Identify' mode an operator needs to place their registered finger on the sensor and DataTrak will identify them and allow them access to the operation they requested. In 'Biometric Confirmation' mode the operator places their finger on the sensor; DataTrak identifies them and then prompts them for their password. DataTrak can be used under Visual C++, Visual Basic or VBA. It takes care of all the basic functionality requirements of 21CFR11 including operator logon, local security policies, audit trails, batch reports and event logs. Users can be allocated up to four security levels (Operator, Supervisor, Engineer and Administrator) and local security policies include password length, password expiration, logon expiration, user lockout etc. For validation, audit trails, event logs, alarm logs, test logs, batch reports etc can be stored in local or networked files and/or in a SQL2000 or Oracle database. Report printing, archive and restore functionality, screen configuration etc are all built in features. ENDS Further Information: Andy Markgraf, AJM Automation, 8 Welland Road, Hilton, Derby DE65 5GZ Tel: +44 1283 734388 Fax: +44 1283 734788