SCADA/HMI


Scada review 2012: Siemens

June 2012 SCADA/HMI

End-user details

N/A


SI details

Name: Erie Pretorius

Designation: Director/owner

Company: Process Dynamics

Phone: +27 (0)11 394 5412

E-mail: [email protected]


Product details

Product name and version: WinCC V7.0 SP3


Vendor: Siemens

Phone: +27 (0)11 652 2000

E-mail: [email protected]

URL: www.siemens.com


Application details

Location: Wadeville, Gauteng

Industry: Food & Beverage

Application: Manufacturing

Server OS: N/A

Client OS: N/A


Application statistics

Tag count: 1000

Updates per day: 6 912 000

Front ends: 400 I/O across 3 remote I/O drops from one SIEMENS PLC S7-300 controller

Licences: WinCC V7.0 Runtime


End–user responses

General

Q: Briefly describe the application including information on any pre-existing control system.

Scada for a new juice manufacturing plant for Coca-Cola, Wadeville.

Q: What was the primary motivation for the project?

To support a new manufacturing plant.

Q: What were the main goals established for the project?

N/A.


Licensing, maintenance & support

Q: What upgrade agreements are in place for this application?

None.

Q: How is the after-sales support handled on this particular application?

N/A.


System architecture

Q: Is the scada system integrated onto an intranet or the Internet? If so, what level of remote monitoring and control is configured?

No. It is standalone.

System architecture
System architecture

Q: Do you run the scada in conjunction with any third-party application software (Other than MES)?

No.


Management reporting and integration

Q: Does the application include data archiving/historian capabilities with an historical data reporting system?

Yes. It uses WinCC archiving which is based on MS SQL.

Q: Is the system integrated with an MES/ERP or other management reporting or control system? (e.g. Baan, SAP, SYSPRO…)

No.

Q: Have any production benchmarking tools been configured as part of the scada system?

No.

Q: Has any asset management functionality been configured in the application (for software assets, control system assets or for plant assets)?

No.

Q: Are you currently using tablet PCs or mobile phones to interact with the scada system?

No.


End-user conclusion

Q: In the procurement decision making process was the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) considered? If so, what were the primary TCO considerations that influenced the product selection?

N/A.

Q: What was the predominant feature (or features) that made you decide to purchase this scada product over all others for this application?

Support.

Q: What single feature most impresses you about the product now that it is in operation?

The integration with SIEMENS S7 PLC.

Q: What impresses you most about the architecture?

It is based on open standards and has standard drivers built in to the base system even for third-party systems.


SI Responses

Project details

Q: Approximately how many man-hours did the scada configuration take?

96 man-hours.

Q: What human factors were taken into consideration in the HMI design process?

None.

Q: For the graphics development process did you use standard library images, or did you have to draw images from scratch?

Standard library.

Q: How would you describe the library of graphic images?

Comprehensive.

Q: Did you use any ‘special’ images (e.g. photographs, 3D images, specialised dashboards, etc.)?

N/A.

Q: Did you use any video or multimedia technology used in the application?

No.

Q: What alarm management standards or best practices were adopted in configuring the scada system?

N/A.

Q: What structured processes were followed to determine expected performance under full load, and during abnormal failure conditions?

N/A.

Q: What are the key physical communication layers and communication protocols employed in the system?

Ethernet, Profibus and AS-i bus.

Q: What levels of redundancy are incorporated in this scada application?

None.

Q: What specific custom code or scada scripts were written for this project?

N/A.


Security and data protection

Q: How have authentication, authorisation and role management been configured?

Standard Windows based authorisation system is incorporated into the base system.

Q: Does the design make provision for a DMZ and firewall segregation of process (scada) network and business networks?

N/A.

Q: What intrusion detection has been incorporated on the plant network(s) on which this scada system exists?

N/A.

Q: What configuration backup and data archive backup methodologies have been adopted?

N/A.

Q: Did you use any integrated or third-party con-figuration control system for the scada configuration during the engineering of this application?

No.


SI conclusion

Q: How would you rate the ease of use of the historical reporting system?

Very easy to configure.

Q: What impresses you the most about the engineering/configuration aspects of the product now that it is in operation?

Ease of integration and ease of use.

Q: What impresses you most about the architecture?

It can scale from a stand-alone system to a multi server client application with ease.


Vendor responses

Product


Operating systems/VMware


Licensing, maintenance & support model

Q: What sort of licensing agreement options are offered?

The base system includes Archiving. Add-ons and options are separate (e.g. Energy Management suite).

Q: Are licences sold outright or subject to periodic (e.g. annual) renewal?

Sold outright.

Q: What upgrade agreements are offered?

Patches and Service Pack are free and version changes are paid. An annual software update service, which includes all upgrades and version changes for a calendar year, can be purchased. The support policy is that the current version and one version back will be supported.

Q: What after-sales offerings iro support and maintenance are available, and which technologies are used to deliver them?

Service support is done via SIs or Siemens’s own support base.


Technology incorporated


Management reporting and integration

Q: What native historical data reporting options are available?

MS Reporting Services are included as part of MS SQL.

Q: What product specific interface does the product have iro well-known MES packages?

Interfaces are available for most known MES systems such as SAP.


PLC configuration and programming

Q: What capabilities does the scada offer in terms of generation and/or management of PLC configuration files or PLC application code?

WinCC integrates fully with Simatic Manager (Step 7 for the Siemens PLC). Tags are directly available and alarming is automatically generated during compile.


Security and data protection

Q: If the scada system generates application files that are transferred to the PLC, how are Stuxnet style PLC virus attacks prevented?

The scada system does not generate application files, only Simatic Manager does that. Stuxnet was a very specific virus for a very specific application. Preventative measures have been taken to prevent future problems.

Q: What authentication, authorisation & role management models are available for the runtime environment?

Incorporated in the application based on the Windows Authentication system.


Unique selling proposition (USP)

Q: List the top five feature/benefit pairs that contribute to this product’s USP.

* Archiving system built in – No need for a separate archiving module.

* Integration into Step 7 – Alarming automatically generated.

* Fully integrated PLC and scada from one vendor – Embodies advanced features such as enhanced diagnostics.



Credit(s)



Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page

Further reading:

Bringing physical AI to the factory floor by deploying humanoids in industrial operations
Siemens South Africa Motion Control & Drives
Siemens and Humanoid have marked a landmark milestone in the journey to bring physical AI from vision to industrial reality. Humanoid’s humanoid robothas been successfully tested in operations at Siemens’ electronics factory in Germany, performing autonomous logistics tasks.

Read more...
Siemens ecosystem strengthens data and AI integration
Siemens South Africa IT in Manufacturing
Siemens has announced significant expansions to its Industrial Edge ecosystem, accelerating data and AI integration and releasing enhanced cybersecurity functionalities. These enable a seamless integration of IT and OT environments, optimise processes and reduce operational disruptions.

Read more...
When SCADA meets the cloud
Omniflex Remote Monitoring Specialists SCADA/HMI
Engineers are faced with the challenge of unifying legacy SCADA systems with modern, IoT-based data platforms. The trouble is, when hardware from multiple manufacturers and generations are all used in the same system, compatibility becomes an issue

Read more...
Siemens manages shipbuilding process for HD Hyundai
Siemens South Africa IT in Manufacturing
Siemens has been selected by HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering as a preferred partner to establish an integrated platform to manage the entire shipbuilding process as a single data flow to help ensure consistency across all its global shipyard facilities.

Read more...
Adroit Technologies strengthens Sasol Synfuels operations with digitalisation
Adroit Technologies SCADA/HMI
Adroit Technologies has reinforced its position as a trusted digitalisation partner to the petrochemical and mining sectors through its longstanding collaboration with Sasol Synfuels.

Read more...
AI-powered on-premises analytics for industrial drives
Siemens South Africa Motion Control & Drives
Siemens is introducing a new on-premises analytics solution for industrial drive systems. The software enables users to evaluate drive data entirely within their own infrastructure and meet stringent data-sovereignty requirements.

Read more...
Adroit Technologies champions sustainable, scalable industrialisation across Africa
Adroit Technologies SCADA/HMI
Adroit Technologies has reaffirmed its commitment to accelerating Africa’s industrial growth through resilient, affordable and future-ready digital solutions for utilities, manufacturing and process industries.

Read more...
Sustainable aviation fuel
Siemens South Africa IT in Manufacturing
Siemens and the cleantech company CAPHENIA have entered a partnership to scale the production of sustainable aviation fuel.

Read more...
Unearthing AI’s real value in African mining
Siemens South Africa IT in Manufacturing
At Mining Indaba 2026, where miners and technology innovators explored how partnerships are turning AI’s potential into meaningful operational impact. For Siemens, the answer begins with a clear-eyed view of what AI can and cannot do, and a commitment to deploying it where it matters most - keeping people safe.

Read more...
Siemens drives next-generation vehicle development
Siemens South Africa IT in Manufacturing
The Siemens PAVE360 Automotive technology is a new category of digital twin software that is pre-integrated and designed as an off-the-shelf offering to address the escalating complexity of automotive hardware and software integration.

Read more...









While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.




© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved