General
Q: What industry (eg mining, food and beverage, automotive, etc) is the scada being applied in?
A: Mining.
Q: Describe the application briefly, giving a description of any existing control systems, any previous scada system that was in place etc. If relevant describe the switchover from the previous system.
A: The applications have been implemented in a number of different production plants within Richards Bay Minerals. The changeover from the legacy system to the new system was relatively seamless as we ran them in parallel, whilst operations staff was being trained and the new system commissioned. There are now several applications running concurrently. Cimplicity HMI was selected to replace several legacy VAX/Open VMS operator interface systems.
Q: Who did the system integration?
A: RBM's Project Department.
Q: Approximately how many man-hours did the integration take?
A: There are seven plants that have been converted, which took approximately 720 hours each.
Q: How is the after-sales support handled (eg remote-dial-up, e-mail, Internet access, etc)?
A: Support is Internet-based from the US. Service packs are downloaded and we have access to a Hotline Help Desk with 24-hour response.
Q: What sort of licensing agreement is used on this particular system? Does one licence cover all modules, or can the user only buy those modules that he wishes to use?
A: The user can purchase independent modules such as:
* Server.
* Development (not always required as a handy two-hour development licence is available with all systems and can be used for maintenance or development on any size system).
* Viewer (true client-application functionality resides on the server with no duplicated tags required).
* Webview and Thin Client (extremely easy to configure and run).
System architecture
Q: How many tag points / I/O does the installation have? Analog? Digital? Maximum possible?
A: RBM utilises the maximum number of physical I/O (35k) server licences. There are a number of plants where Cimplicity has been used to replace legacy systems; therefore, the I/O count varies between 1000 and 10 000 (analog and discretes).
Q: What operating system is the scada running on (eg Windows NT, Unix, etc)?
* Windows 2000 Server with terminal services.
* Windows 2000 Professional and Windows NT.
Q: What impressed you most about the architecture? Open standards, wide range of drivers, the ability to upgrade, etc? Please elaborate.
A: The Cimplicity HMI Workbench architecture is based around the concept of a one-stop shop for all configuration, development, communications protocols and security. An application is developed, backed up and transported from one project file. The workbench environment has a familiar Explorer-type look and feel about it. A Project Wizard simplifies initial project set-up by automatically detecting devices and configuring tags.
Q: Is the system integrated onto an intranet or the Internet? If so, does the configuration allow simple remote monitoring, or is it configured to allow full remote control? If not, what level of intranet/Internet control does the scada allow for future use?
A: The system is integrated into an intranet with full control, complete with alarming, reports, etc. This is extremely easy to configure, taking less than a minute for an entire project to be integrated into the intranet.
Q: What sort of redundancy is built into the system?
A: Cimplicity supports full redundancy. However, RBM has no need for this at the moment.
Graphics
Q: Describe the graphics development process - eg did you use standard library images, or did you have to draw images from scratch?
A: RBM used the standard library but also drew certain images from scratch.
Q: How would you describe the library of graphic images?
A: More than sufficient for our purposes.
Q: Did you use any 'special' images (eg embedded video clips, photographs, 3D images etc)?
A: It is our policy not to over-complicate mimics with video clips and special images. It is however possible, as with most other HMI systems, to utilise special graphics.
Compatibility
Q: Did you run the scada in conjunction with any third-party application software? Describe.
A: We use commercially developed OPC servers as well as in-house developed OPC servers for legacy systems. Integration with a ModelGen intelligent control system (from Crusader Systems) on the Mineral Separation plant has successfully been operating for over a year.
Q: Does the scada allow for the user to create scripts to perform specific tasks? Describe any specific scripts that were written for this project.
A: Extensive use of VBA is used for a number of purposes, namely acquiring data from InSQL or MS SQL servers and manipulating the data for specific reports.
Management reporting
Q: Is a trending and historical data reporting system included? Please elaborate.
A: We log the data to a MS SQL database for trending, which has a sub-second time stamp field.
Q: Is a management reporting system included in the package?
A: Yes.
Q: Is the system integrated into a manufacturing execution system?
A: Not yet.
Q: Is the scada system integrated into a management reporting or control system (eg SAP, Baan)?
A: Not yet.
Conclusion
Q: What impressed you the most about the system?
A: It is HMI developed.
Q: What was the predominant feature (or features) that made you decide to employ this scada, rather than another (ie ease of use, support from the vendor, upgrade path, redundancy features, etc)?
A:
* The Corporation GE Fanuc and its reputation in the industry.
* True client/server technology.
* Cost.
* Supports terminal services thin client technology.
* Cimplicity HMI.
© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved
printer friendly version