A third of all our enquiries are associated with PLC upgrades.
In general we find the PLC upgrade falls into two categories;
- The old PLC is damaged/obsolete so therefore needs replacing with a new PLC.
- The customer wants to increase the capacity of the machine and wants to add bits to make the machine more versatile.
Both cases are also true for touchscreens, as these are even more vulnerable than the PLC’s.
An example of where One Stop Automation has upgraded a system for both obsolescence and improving versatility was for an industrial bakery with an ingredients control system. The system batched a number of wet and dry ingredients to two mixers to make dough. Working alongside the mechanical and electrical engineers, we were asked to upgrade and update the system.
The PLC platform was a Mitsubishi A Series modular PLC, which is now obsolete, but by the time we had finished, we had:
- Updated the PLC to Q series, a current Mitsubishi system;
- Built and connected in a new flour silo adding an extra 40 tons of flour capacity to the system;
- Upgraded one Mitsubishi HMI and added another to the system;
- Added a SCADA system onto the system;
- Added a PLC network called CC link onto the original system to allow future expansion and versatility for the future.
All this was achieved with no loss of planned production.
A fantastic challenge and successfully completed.
The client went on to be one of the main food producers supplying the London 2012 Olympics on behalf of their customer.
