Control system migration minimises shutdown

A Siemens Automation and Drives product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Mar 21, 2008

The PCS7 control system has migration platforms built in, and allows intelligent alarm handling techniques to be developed in a cost-effective way.

Siemens A and D has collaborated with world-leading agribusiness, Syngenta, to develop and implement a migration strategy from the company's legacy DCS systems to Siemens' Simatic PCS7.

Syngenta is a market leader in crop protection and is committed to sustainable agriculture through innovative research and technology.

With sales topping US $8.1 billion in 2006, it is vital that Syngenta can rely on every element of its production process across all of the 96 countries in which it operates.

With the obsolescence of an existing DCS system at Syngenta's Huddersfield plant threatening essential infrastructure, it was time to migrate the old platform to a modern, more flexible system.

Having already completed one successful project with Siemens A and D, engineers at Syngenta were confident that Siemens would be able to ensure the legacy Kent K90 control system was migrated efficiently and guarantee that the new system was both correctly implemented and tested.

Throughout the migration project, control engineers from both Siemens and Syngenta worked closely together to ensure the successful migration of the old platform and also to minimise any potential shutdown of the plant to avoid major disruption to Syngenta's production schedule.

"To continue to support our existing DCS system would have been very expensive and, therefore, we opted for a full system replacement", explains Mick Pearson, Process Control and Information Systems Group, Syngenta Huddersfield.

"Having worked with Siemens in the past, and given the company's track record of reliable products and first-class support, we felt confident that the team would be able to work with our engineers to ensure the project was both a success and completed on deadline".

Before implementing the migration, Siemens and Syngenta worked up a sequence of examples and prototypes before ordering any replacement parts to ensure that the system would be seamlessly integrated.

This was then developed into a workable strategy, which saw Siemens supply all parts of the new system, including hardware, system software and application software and to also provide the technical backup and support following implementation.

With a wealth of experience in system migration which offer a step-by-step approach, Siemens was well placed to help Syngenta.

Siemens DCS platform PCS7 has migration platforms built in, the latest version of which reaffirms the company's commitment to achieving operational excellence in the areas of production uptime, reduced maintenance costs, improved plant security and enhanced plant flexibility for customers.

Offering enhanced alarm management, PCS7 also addresses a key challenge for customers, namely presenting a manageable amount of information to operators.

The enhancements in the new system mean that intelligent alarm handling techniques can be developed in a cost-effective way.

Furthermore, the system is intuitive enough to be continually improved by the end user as process knowledge evolves.

On the same theme of maximising uptime, Version 7 includes an innovative redundant ring topology for Profibus PA.

The benefits of PCS7 were quickly apparent to Syngenta, offering a wealth of features and benefits including, increased system stability, remote support, improved plant visualisation.

Another major benefit for Syngenta was the fact that a full production schedule was achieved immediately after the standard four week annual plant shutdown when the migration took place.

"The project was success mainly because of the hand-on help and advice we received from Siemens during the migration", concludes Pearson.

"Siemens' technical expertise and superb product offering was invaluable throughout and ensured that we did not have to disrupt production or staff at all".

Building on the success of the migration project, Syngenta is currently in the middle of a third project with Siemens and has further projects planned for the future.