Wonderware Southern Africa

Transcription

1 Wonderware Southern Africa End-user details Name: Designation: Company: Jacques Jansen Automation Solution Analyst Exxaro Grootegeluk Coal Mine Phone: +27 (0) SI details Name: System integration performed as joint operation between end-user and vendor Product details Product name and version: InTouch and System Platform Vendor: Wonderware Southern Africa Phone: +27 (0) URL: Application details Location: Exxaro Grootegeluk Coal Mine, Ellisras, Limpopo Province, South Africa Industry: Mining Date project started: Date project completed: Application: Monitoring the health of the Wonderware industrial automation system and its hardware platform Application statistics Tag count: Updates per day: Disk space: Galaxy Repository database is maintained at < 900MB and is flushed every 5 minutes Physical I/O count: Assets monitored by Sentinel Services: 2 * Wonderware Historian Servers 3 * Galaxy Repositories 15 * Wonderware Application Servers 1 * InTouch Terminal Server

2 Licences: see section: Licensing, maintenance & support model Figure 1: System architecture End user responses General Q: Briefly describe the application including information on any pre-existing control system. The implementation of Wonderware Sentinel Services included installing agents at significant nodes of the pre-existing HMI/scada system. Q: What was the primary motivation for the project? To ensure optimal system health, performance and system availability of the existing Wonderware infrastructure on site.

3 Q: What were the main goals established for the project? To pro-actively monitor and automatically notify end-users of potential system malfunctions. To detect server issues before they cause major downtime. To improve and optimise the scada system availability. To incorporate additional expert resources for scada system management. Q: In the procurement decision making process what were the primary considerations that influenced the product selection? Ease of use, support from the vendor and upgrade path. Q: What Project Management principles and/or methodologies did you employ as end-user to mitigate risk, ensuring the project came out on time and within budget? Formalised change control with close interaction between end-user and vendor. Licensing, maintenance & support Q: What upgrade agreements are in place for this application? Upgrades are included in the monthly support of Wonderware Sentinel Services. Q: How is after-sales support handled on this application? For Sentinel Services, daily feedback is given to the end-user, detailing alerts that have been received with possible solutions. A monthly feedback meeting is also held with the end-user giving feedback with regards to the month s alerts and to discuss possible process improvements to the monitored system (continuous improvement). Q: Do you have a documented process in place to manage, test and install OS and scada system software patches? Architecture, integration, reporting and archiving Q: Is the scada system integrated onto an intranet or the Internet? Sentinel Services provides scada system performance monitoring via the Internet.

4 Q: Does the system include or interface with an expert system? Editor s note: Sentinel Services certainly appears to have elements of expert system functionality within it. Q: Does the system include any form of augmented cognition (AC) or augmented reality (AR)? Q: Is the system integrated with an MES / ERP or other management reporting or control system? Q: Has any GIS (Geographic Information Systems) functionality been configured in the application? Q: Has any asset management functionality been configured in the application (for software assets, control system assets or for plant assets)? Wonderware Sentinel Services monitors the performance of the scada system assets and highlights deviations and anomalies in software and system behaviour as they occur. This continuous, proactive monitoring is done remotely by the vendor and means that issues or potential problems can be addressed before they affect production. If an unacceptable threshold is reached, an alarm is raised and Wonderware engineers are alerted before an issue develops. Remote connectivity is also designed to ensure that, if there is a problem, Wonderware experts can work with the end-user to make appropriate adjustments to correct the issue and return the system to normal operation quickly and easily. Q: Do you run the scada in conjunction with any other third-party application software? Q: Does the application include data archiving / historian capabilities with an historical data reporting system? The HMI/scada system uses Wonderware Historian for process control and information collation but the data archiving for Wonderware Sentinel Services occurs the vendor s premises.

5 Q: Have any production benchmarking tools been configured as part of the scada system? Yes. We keep records of resolved issues on a monthly basis. Between October 2013 and March 2014, Wonderware Sentinel Services helped to reduce monthly system issues from 468 to 50. Mobile device support Q: Are you currently using tablets, mobile phones or other smart mobile devices to interact with the scada system? Q: Do you allow users to interface with the scada system via their own personal smart devices? (BYOD) End-user conclusion Q: What was the predominant feature (or features) that made you decide to purchase this scada product over all others for this application? We already had a Wonderware-based system and so this was a natural next step but our decision was based on the level of support offered by the vendor and the upgrade path for existing and future assets. Q: What was the most significant change that you implemented in scada engineering practice / technology in this project? While our scada system monitors our production processes, there was little in place to monitor the health of the scada system. We needed expert, proactive monitoring of this key plant asset s health and performance. Q: What single operational feature most impresses you about the product now that it is in operation? The detection of server issues before they cause major downtime. Q: What impresses you most about the architecture? Scalability to cope with new projects.

6 SI Responses Editor s note: In view of the nature of this project, the respondents elected to not complete the SI Responses section.

7 Vendor responses Product Product version / Module versions Current version System Platform 2014 Sentinel Services Subject project - used System Platform 2012 R2 Sentinel Services Q: Vendor comments on product / modules? ArchestrA System Platform provides a common, efficient and centralised software infrastructure to develop, manage, control and maintain industrial applications. It enables integration of the entire enterprise, lowers engineering costs, easily scales as the business grows, enforces engineering and operating standards and improves control without costly system replacement. Wonderware InTouch helps identify and act on inefficiencies, non-optimised processes and process conditions in alarm, so that problems can be minimised and business performance optimised. InTouch graphics and faceplates provide context to data, enabling faster analysis and improved operator effectiveness. Distributed alarm displays provide a comprehensive summary of current alarms so that operators can minimise downtime and increase throughput. Operating systems / VMware Product response - Operating systems client side run-time? Operating systems client side configuration? Operating systems server side? Browser based? Front end device communications protocols Scada system relies on Java plug-ins? supported Windows 8 Windows Server 2012 Windows 8 Windows Server 2012 Windows Server 2012 Wonderware Information Server supports web browser access. InTouch Access Anywhere OPC.NET APIs OLEDB connectivity 3rd party.net controls Subject project - used Partial 3rd party.net controls OPC

8 Q: Vendor comments on operating systems The close relationship between Wonderware and Microsoft helps to ensure high-quality software coordinated with the Microsoft development roadmap, conceived to work on and thoroughly tested with Microsoft software. Licensing, maintenance & support model Q: What sort of licensing agreement options are offered? For Sentinel Services, licences are not sold to the end-user. The remote monitoring is sold as a service for a fixed period, which is currently 12 months. At the end of the period the service can be renewed. The service is priced according to the number of devices monitored. For Wonderware scada site infrastructure, licenses are based on the functionality or modules that are required for the specific solution. Q: Are licences sold outright or subject to periodic (e.g. annual) renewal? For Wonderware scada site infrastructure, licensing is a once-off purchase for a particular version. Q: What upgrade agreements are offered? Customer First is a comprehensive support network that allows for version upgrades for purchased modules. Customer First requires annual renewal in order to use the service. Q: What after-sales offerings iro support and maintenance are available, and which technologies are used to deliver them? The Customer First program is available in four tiers. Each tier includes support services for both hardware and software products with elements such as parts replacement, version upgrades, and technical support and access to a wide range of additional, optional services such as application support, on-site resources and value-added consulting. Invensys also offers advanced remote monitoring technology that enhances its ability to deliver higher availability and reliability of plant assets to customers.

9 Q: Do you have a documented process in place to manage and test OS patches and to release scada system software patches? Wonderware tests its products on platforms that are configured with all cumulative Microsoft updates. During the Wonderware software development and testing lifecycle, every attempt is made to ensure that the products work with the latest supported operating systems and updates available at that point in time. Wonderware s goal is to support Microsoft Security Updates within 15 business days of release. Any exceptions to this will be listed on the Wonderware Security Central Web page. Technology incorporated Product uses Web Services? Cloud computing supported? Virtualisation models supported? Multi-touch gestures supported by OS + scada hardware + scada software? Product response Some modules - Wonderware MES uses WCF Some modules - Smart Glance mobile reporting, Wonderware Historian and Workflow components VMware Vsphere 5 and Microsoft Hyper V Subject project Q: What new technology has been introduced into the product in the last 12 months? New animation capabilities. Situational Awareness technology. Content-aware script editor. Quick Script exception handling. XML import or export capability. Support for Windows 8, Windows Server 2012 and Windows 7 Embedded. HTML 5 support. InTouch Access Anywhere, the newest extension of InTouch, is based on HTML 5 technology and provides access to InTouch applications via HTML5-compliant web browsers. This extension enables visualisation, collaboration and execution at various levels of the organisation with zero

10 client installation and zero maintenance. InTouch Access Anywhere enables users to securely troubleshoot plant equipment from any location, on any device, at any time. Integration and reporting Q: What generic and/or product specific interfaces does the product have iro well-known MES packages? Wonderware Enterprise Integrator offers powerful site to enterprise integration capabilities for linking Wonderware Software or ArchestrA System Platform-based applications and additional third party software applications with enterprise systems including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Supply Chain Management (SCM) or Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS). The software facilitates the automatic exchange and transformation of production-related information. It helps to manage abnormal situations like interrupted connections or loss of data by automatic store and forward means and allows users to resend or adjust transactions, based on a full and detailed message history. Interface technologies supported include Web Services, File Drop, FTP, MSMQ, XML, HTTP, and SOAP, B2MML message definitions based upon ISA-S95 standards and message repository leveraging Microsoft SQL Server. Q: What native historical data reporting options are available? Wonderware Historian Client generates real-time and historical data charts and reports directly from the Wonderware Historian. Data can be viewed, analysed and consumed via a desktop application, web browsers or by external applications such as Microsoft Office, Wonderware s InTouch HMI or custom clients. Reports and data charts from Wonderware Historian Client can be integrated with information from other Wonderware applications and made available over the Web using Wonderware Information Server. PLC configuration and programming Q: What capabilities does the scada offer in terms of generation and/or management of PLC configuration files or PLC application code? Archestra System Platform has the capability of auto assigning PLC addresses to configured field inputs, keeping the functionality of maintaining the PLC tag database at the PLC level.

11 Security and data protection Q: If the scada system generates application files that are transferred to the PLC, how are PLC virus attacks prevented in this process?. Q: What authentication, authorisation & role management models are available for the runtime environment? A key component of the Wonderware software set is security. All user interaction with the system can be secured to ensure that only authorised personnel has access. All modules support Microsoft Active Directory. Users/Groups are mapped to functional roles. This provides single-sign-on capability where the same user name and password will be used to log onto all the different modules in the solution suite. The different functional roles associated with specific privileges are configured in the specific product modules. Unique selling proposition (USP) Q: List the top five feature/benefit pairs that contribute to this product s USP. Feature Facilitates enterprise integration at operational and business levels Scalability (up to 2 million I/O) Upgradeability (25-year track record) Enforced engineering and operating standards Integrated suite of solutions Benefit Same version of the truth at all levels means better decision making Build on and safeguard past investments Protection of past engineering efforts and IP Lower engineering costs and consistent operation Reduces risk, eliminates experimentation, results in faster implementation with reduced bespoke software requirement