PLC and Process System Upgrades for Process and Production Facilities
As process system age, industrial control systems eventually become obsolete and unsupported by the manufacturer. This situation is the normal evolution of technology that affects us in many aspects of life. This fact is brought on by antiquated technology and the electronic industry’s IC chip demand. Also, as time goes by the number of minor players in the PLC market have been replaced by only a few major manufacturers mostly based on global location.
Benefits of PLC System Upgrades
The benefit of a PLC upgrade is to reduce the risk of an unscheduled lengthy and costly production shutdown. It should be considered that the change is not to simply pull out and replace an old PLC with a new one. The operating program in some cases will need to be transferred, converted, and recreated depending on the type and age of the PLC. In addition, this can affect the connection and coordination with other peripheral devices. The steps, timing, replacement, testing, and validation of a PLC change requires careful coordination.
When Is It Time to Modernize PLC System for Food & Beverage Production?
The time to replace a PLC is before it fails! If the risks of operating an older PLC are not dealt with appropriately, it can cause financial loss far greater than the cost of modernization.
Example of PLC System Modernization
Our customer is a leader in producing glass material containers. A key step in the bottle making process is to spray the molded and cooled glass bottles with a resin solution to help with label adhesion. The system that provides the resin solution is essential to the plant and must continuously run. The PLC running this operation was more than 30 years old. It was determined to be a potential risk and required upgrading to ensure continuous and reliable operation. Placer Process Systems partnered with our client to determine the high-risk system components that were in need of upgrading and develop a plan to perform the installation in the short available window.
Choosing the best PLC System Upgrade Contractor for your Food, Beverage, Milk, Dairy, Wine, or Beer production facility.
Placer Process expertise in the design, fabrication, and installation of process systems is the best choice for control system upgrades. We will do more than be a single source for control system hardware. We will do more than be a single source for PLC and HMI code conversion, upgrade, and testing. Placer Process will bring a whole solution
