The use of realtime control software, such as Wonderware's InControl, is starting to replace PLCs except in the most localised, high-speed, mission-critical applications. This approach gives considerable levels of flexibility while integrating realtime shopfloor data with mainstream IT initiatives.
Realtime data acquisition systems have largely lived in their own confined world; so different is their environment from that of standard data processing. This has caused breaks in vital information pipelines that should, in reality, be no different at the shopfloor as at the boardroom level. But all that's changing. The soft PLC approach is making real-time information available to IT as well as production, maintenance and other key applications. It does so by using standard networking technologies thereby extending the company's uniform architecture right down to the 'engine room' level.
"We have done numerous installations in South Africa and in Zimbabwe using Wonderware's InControl that range from 4000 to 10 000 I/O points at each site with great success," says Ralph Häuselmann, Manager of the Automation and Electronics Department at Buhler. "Not only is the implementation easier and faster than with standard PLCs but the soft PLC approach also gives us the flexibility we need to easily deal with change such as the addition of new machinery. Flexibility and ease of implementation also allows us to improve and optimise processes. In one feed mill, through the elimination of bottlenecks, InControl helped us increase production time by more than 50 hours per month while significantly reducing power consumption through the sequential start-up of the plant and lowering maintenance costs through the elimination of unplanned shutdowns.
"Soft PLCs are also highly cost-effective for our customers. On an average installation, costs can be two-thirds or even half that of the conventional approach. Other cost advantages include never having to replace outdated PLC hardware with newer generation equipment or to pay maintenance charges on that hardware.
"A major advantage of the soft PLC approach, however, is the integration with the company's IT initiatives through standard Ethernet protocols. This opens up a completely new world of possibilities by enlisting the resources of knowledgeable information and computer professionals who have the infrastructure to care for valuable information and the ability to make it available to those applications that need it. This bottoms-up approach means that these same applications can have direct access to the realtime realities of the company's manufacturing or production processes."
"The soft PLC concept is another key component in unifying companies," says Mike le Plastrier, MD of Futuristix-Wonderware. "Quite apart from the cost-effectiveness and convenience of the approach, it is helping bridge the traditional gap that exists between the realtime world of scada and production planning, condition-based maintenance and even financial systems. By doing so, it will contribute to far greater visibility and control of the entire supply chain."
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