Siemens automation engineering, from specification to handover

We write the functional design specification (FDS) or functional control specification (FCS) before any software is built, on your own template where you have one. Your engineers review and approve it, and the acceptance tests are written against it.

• Control philosophy, sequences, interlocks and alarms
• Cause-and-effect matrices and interlock schedules
• I/O lists and network designs
• Operator screens and faceplates

SIMATIC PCS 7 configuration in CFC and SFC, built on the Advanced Process Library (APL) or the classic PCS 7 library to match your plant standard, and PLC software in STEP 7 and TIA Portal.

• Process tag types and control-module templates
• S7-300, S7-400, S7-410 H, S7-1200 and S7-1500, in LAD, FBD, SCL and STL
• WinCC for PCS 7, WinCC V7 and WinCC in TIA Portal: pictures, faceplates, block icons and overview displays
• ET 200M on PROFIBUS and ET 200SP HA on PROFINET
• SIMOCODE pro motor management and SIMATIC PDM

Siemens is our main platform, but the engineering does not change with the brand: specification, I/O, interlocks, sequences, alarms and testing. We work on the other platforms found on plants, and we pick up new ones quickly.

• AVEVA: InTouch HMI, System Platform, AVEVA Edge (InTouch Machine Edition), Plant SCADA (Citect) and Historian
• PLCs: Rockwell Automation (Studio 5000, ControlLogix and CompactLogix), Schneider Electric Modicon, ABB, Omron, Mitsubishi, Beckhoff and CODESYS
• SCADA and HMI: Ignition, FactoryTalk View, iFIX, Adroit, Geo SCADA and Delta HMIs
• Protocols: Modbus TCP and RTU, EtherNet/IP, OPC UA and OPC DA

Since 2013 we have engineered the control systems for process equipment on ferroalloy, graphite, cobalt, alumina, chemical and biomass plants, from the control philosophy to commissioning.

• Flash, rotary and spray dryers
• Calciners, kilns and hot gas generators
• Fluid-bed pilot and production plants
• S7-300, S7-400 and S7-1200 with STEP 7 and TIA Portal, and AVEVA Edge (Wonderware InTouch Machine Edition) HMIs

On a running plant we plan the upgrade around the process: what can change while it runs, what needs a shutdown, and how to switch over in phases.

• PCS 7 version upgrades on running plants
• Migration from the classic PCS 7 library to APL, with a block-by-block analysis of what maps directly and what needs rework
• Faceplate and WinCC picture updates for the new library
• PROFINET backbones and I/O renewal
• Phased switchovers

Many plants run PCS 7 projects that several contractors built over many years, with little documentation left. We analyse the offline project with our own tools, trace the logic chart by chart, and document what the plant actually runs.

• A record of every block type in the project, including contractor blocks with no vendor documentation
• Functional control specifications written from the running project
• Logic traces through CFC charts
• Review findings and punch lists before an upgrade

Support for the systems that keep a plant running, whoever built them.

• PROFIBUS network audits
• MCC upgrades with SIMOCODE pro, and Anybus and ProSoft gateways to protection relays, power meters and drives
• Interlock and trip audits
• Breakdown support, system health checks and backups

The factory acceptance test (FAT) proves the software against the approved specification before it goes to site. The site acceptance test (SAT) proves it again on the plant.

Commissioning and start-up on site, training and operator manuals, and support after handover. We also give EC&I support to client engineering teams.

Every document carries a number, a revision and a status, from Draft for comment to As built. Revisions are lettered while a document is in review and numbered once it is approved, and every issue goes out with a transmittal.