Tags: obsolescence, Windows XP, serial communication, Ethernet, MOXA connectors, supervision
We are frequently called on to work on obsolete equipment and are asked to automate certain steps in the production process. Achieving this in situations where the degree of machine obsolescence is already very high makes it difficult to integrate the old and new technologies and they do not always work together quickly and effectively. One of our customers in the metalworking sector asked us to do just that: to modernise an entire production line without altering a process that was considered fully functional and reliable.
Creation of innovation plans, agreeing the various steps directly with the customer.
Solution
To meet this challenge, DT Software fielded all the experience gained over more than 15 years of work on the ground. We first analysed the process and all the elements involved, whether machinery, people or vehicles. Nothing was left to chance and we also mapped the various interactions between the different parts. Lasting several weeks, this process served to highlight the strengths of the structure, but above all the critical points that immediately became clear. These consisted in the supervision programme (hosted on a PC with Windows XP and an old disk with damaged sectors) and the communication systems between this PC and the various line PLCs, entrusted to obsolete serial connections using components that had been out of production for several years. In order to re-establish a safe and functional situation, numerous simulations were carried out to virtualise and replicate the supervisor until the best setting was found and all the serial connections were replaced by transferring all communications to an Ethernet line using MOXA converters.
Result
Although the modernisation process could have appeared long and costly, DT Software managed to present the customer with a roadmap of the change, with all the improvements to be tackled diluted in a timeframe considered sustainable by the customer. But that was not all. All project milestones were carefully documented, showing the relationship between the action and the improvements obtained through that action. The result was a highly detailed project that allowed the customer to make informed choices regarding the steps to be taken and relative timing. Thanks to the simulations carried out in the DT Software laboratories, the solutions were put into production in two days with only one day of production downtime.
