Product category:
Plantwide control
News Release from: Digi International | Subject: Digi One IA device servers
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 01 May 2003
Device servers put legacy PLCs on
Ethernet
Osram Sylvania is using Digi One IA device servers to connect the PLCs that control its air compressors to its facility CiTect Scada systems in a cost effective way.
Osram Sylvania, the second-largest lighting and materials business in the world, needed to connect Allen-Bradley SLC50/3 PLCs, which control the company's air compressors, to its facility CiTect Scada systems in a cost effective way The company was looking for a solution that would use Ethernet, and maintain multiple redundant server operation
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 4 Nov 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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It looked to Digi to help solve the problem, and chose to use Digi One IA device servers to link the PLCs to the Scada software.
Osram Sylvania worked with the distributor, Industrial Communication Technologies to implement the software and assist in obtaining the system industrial protocol settings.
Once the protocols were known, the company used Digi's web-based configuration to change the settings in the Digi One IAs that were installed in the PLC cabinet.
The end result was a seamless integration of legacy devices at a low cost.
With the compressed air system PLCs connected to the CiTect Scada package via the Digi One IAs, Osram Sylvania can now remotely view and control all the air compressor system's parameters, including compressor run order and operating hours, plant air pressure and setpoints.
Besides creating redundant control stations, the CiTect Scada system graphs all of the analogue data for analysis, including air usage and pressure trends, and alerts personnel when problems occur.
Now all Osram Sylvania non-Ethernet devices can be connected to today's Scada systems via Ethernet.
"The DigiOne IA was extremely cost-effective compared to the competition.
We were able to get a great solution to solve our problems without breaking the bank", said Erik P Warner, Senior Engineer, Osram Sylvania.
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