FEBRUARY 2020 | PROCESS & CONTROL38

FEATURE I&C DATA MIGRATION

/ PROCESS&CONTROL

records throughout Europe and reduce thenumber of I&C device specification formsused from around 250 originally to about60. The unified basis for these devicespecifications is now eCl@ss Advanced.This standard, which is cross-sectoral andcompliant with ISO and IEC standards, isideally suited to describe process data andis unrivaled at present – at least inEurope (Fig. 4). Ralph Rösberg, managingpartner of Rösberg Engineering GmbH,said: “To my knowledge ProDOK NG is theonly I&C-CAE system now on the marketthat comprehensively supports thisfuture-oriented standard for the processindustry. Yet in our view significant partsof Industry 4.0 can only be realised if thedevices used in plants can also beconsistently described in a standardisedway. Thus eCl@ss Advanced will beindispensable to enterprises in themedium term if they want to build andoperate plants that are future-proof.” TheEurope-wide reduction of the master datatogether with the unified use of eCl@ssAdvanced provides more clarity andfacilitates location-wide and cross-location comparisons and analyses for I&Cplanners, plant operators and productionworkers.Of course, access by many different

users in the individual plants at thevarious locations require basic regulationsregarding data and information protectionto be observed. For this purpose the BASFGroup operates a central administrationsystem for access to all its IT systems.Both the I&C-CAE system ProDOK NG andthe as-built documentation systemLiveDOK NG are connected to this centralsystem.Trouble-free I&C data migration in

production plantsThe migration in Europe was carried out

gradually over two years. It was importantnot to let it interfere with operatingprocesses, so to achieve this a unifiedmigration plan and realistic timeschedules were drawn up for all BASF’sproduction plants in Europe. Afterexhaustive testing of the whole migrationprocess at selected pilot plants, it wasimplemented successively. Each weekendthe data of about 20 plants at a timewere transferred: to do this, at the end ofthe week the plant operators blockedaccess to the databases of the old systemgeneration ProDOK 9.5, started theautomatic checking of the databasecontents for consistency and integrity,performed any corrections, and stored thepre-checked data contents in a standard

For 30 years, the BASF Group has beenusing the I&C-CAE system ProDOK by

Rösberg for the planning and operationalsupport of its production plants. Useracceptance in day-to-day work is high,but there is also a new demand for theinclusion of innovative applications. Forthis reason BASF decided to switch to thenew system generation ProDOK NG. Thisinvolved a Europe-wide migration of theI&C data of about 300 plants withapproximately 1.3 million loops atlocations as far apart as Antwerp, Basel,Ludwigshafen, Schwarzheide andTarragona. Without disturbing day-to-day operating processes, within two yearsthe historically-grown, partlyheterogeneous data formats were broughtup to a unified international standard(eCl@ss Advanced) so as to enableanalysis and the use of applications onboth a plant-wide and a cross-locationalbasis. ‘Spring Clean’ for documentationDuring the switchover it was also

planned to check up on the existing data.Where had unnecessary data anddocuments accumulated? Where was thedata inconsistent? Where were therereports, forms and documents withalmost identical content but differentlyformulated? Where were links that werenow inaccurate or irrelevant? In aconsulting process, the experts fromRösberg gave BASF intensive support inanswering these decisive questions. Thusnot only did they deliver their I&C-CAEsystem ProDOK NG – they also supportedthe migration process throughout, frombeginning to end. Here it proved a bigadvantage that Rösberg’s employees arecontinually planning and supporting newplants and the modernisation of existingplants. They understand the planning

processes represented by the softwareand are familiar from their ownexperience with the typical challenges.Before transferring database contentsthey were first checked for dataconsistency and integrity by adaptedProDOK standard tools, without changingthe engineering technology. Anydiscrepancies were then removed semi-automatically before migration. Evenwithout migration, this would have been auseful step in itself.Standardisation and future securityThe migration involved all the big BASF

locations in Europe. Over the years variousdifferent data formats were used there. Insome cases, several differentdocumentation standards were even inuse at the same location. The migrationwas taken as an opportunity toconsolidate the individual master data

INVESTMENT PROTECTION AND ABASIS FOR INNOVATIVE APPLICATIONS

Fig. 2 a & b: The I&C-CAE system supports theplanning anddocumentation of largeprocess plants (a). TheI&C plant documentationcan be visualised on aPC or mobile device (b).(Copyright: Rösberg)

Fig.1 a & b: At the BASFlocation of Ludwigshafenalone, around 200 plantswere migrated fromProDOK to ProDOK NG(Copyright: BASF)

BASF has switched tothe new systemgeneration ProDOK NGfrom Rösberg

PC-FEB20-PG38-39.1_Layout 1 17/02/2020 11:32 Page 38

PROCESS & CONTROL | FEBRUARY 2020 39

I&C DATA MIGRATION FEATURE

/ PROCESS&CONTROL

format. These were then made availableto Rösberg by remote access. Then, eachFriday evening, the IT specialists loadedthe data packages onto high-performanceservers. There, they were automaticallymigrated and compared with thepredefined standard format for theresults, any discrepancies that occurredwere analysed and semi-automaticallycorrected. Additional support by BASFpersonnel was not required for this. Oneach Monday morning the migrateddatabases were then installed by BASF onnew central database servers. Theemployees in production and technicalunits at the BASF locations, who had beentrained beforehand, were able to startworking with the new system straightaway. Of course, Rösberg had prepared afallback plan in case at any point themigration did not run smoothly over theweekend – but they never had to use it. The external costs of Rösberg for the

Europe-wide migration project weremanageable. Expressed in terms of theindividual loops in the 300 or soproduction plants, they worked out atapproximately half a euro per loop.The benefits for users in production

and technical unitsThe cost and effort of the migration is

demonstrably worthwhile – as evidencedby the many advantages of the unifieddatabases for the whole of Europe thatwere created during the migration. The new system architecture of ProDOK

NG now fulfills the current requirements ofBASF’s IT for a centralised server, ITinstallations as unified as possible andEurope-wide accesses compliant withgeneral information protection regulations.This makes it possible to conduct analysesand integrate new applications both on a

plant-wide and a cross-locational basis.The unified datapool based on standardslike eCl@ss Advanced also helps avoid‘uncontrolled growth’ in future, thusminimising the necessary maintenanceeffort in the long term. Thanks to the standardisation of reports

and forms in ProDOK NG it is largelyirrelevant which big location withinEurope employees are assigned to – theywill quickly find their way around the I&Cplant documentation there. Thus

personnel can be deployed more flexibly,and the same flexibility extends tocontract partners, further simplifying theoutsourcing of individual work steps. Thisalso applies to all work with I&Cdocumentation based on the webapplication LiveDOK.web, which can beused independently of the operatingsystem on all the usual mobile devices onthe market.Asset management also benefits from

this. For the first time, information can becalled up at the touch of a button aboutwhich technical components/devices areinstalled in which plants throughout thewhole of Europe. This is advantageous, forinstance, if there are faults relating to aspecific device, as well as in failureanalyses and the preparation of DCSmigrations. As equipment suppliers arerequired in future to deliver device data ineCl@ss Advanced format, these devicespecifications can be directly integratedinto the I&C-CAE system, making the as-built documentation even better.The switch to an I&C-CAE system is

definitely worthwhileCompanies who have not yet acquired a

modern I&C-CAE system can also benefitfrom all these advantages. In this waythey can avoid the problems that crop upin everyday work again and again withoutan efficient I&C planning anddocumentation tool. In such casesinconsistent documentation, as typicallyproduced with the use of Office tools forplanning, is a standard point of criticismwith audits by customers, supervisoryauthorities and internal revisionmanagement. In the worst case, if safetyproblems occur in the plant and it needsto be demonstrated that all relevantregulations have been observed, reliabledocumentation can be extremelyimportant for an enterprise.

ABOUT RÖSBERG ENGINEERING...Rösberg Engineering GmbH, founded in Karlsruhe in 1962, offers tailored automation solutions created byaround 100 employees working at five locations in Germany and China, for internationally activeenterprises in the process industry.

Today RÖSBERG is an internationally successful solution provider for automation technology andinnovative software applications. Its scope includes basic and detailed engineering for the automation ofprocess and production plants as well as the configuration, delivery and commissioning of distributedcontrol systems. The enterprise also has extensive project planning and user experience in theimplementation of safety-related controls, is an expert in functional safety, and offers sector-specificsoftware solutions in the area of information technology. The I&C-CAE system ProDOK has enjoyedinternational success for more than 30 years now. Under the name of Plant Solutions the new systemgeneration ProDOK NG, the digital plant documentation system LiveDOK NG – with the app LiveDOK.web –and the Plant Assist Manager (PAM) support production plants over the whole life cycle, from planning,construction, commissioning, modernisation and expansion, through to decommissioning.

ABOUT BASF...BASF creates chemistry for a sustainable future, combiningeconomic success with environmental protection and socialresponsibility. The approximately 122,000 employees in theBASF Group work on contributing to the success of itscustomers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in theworld. The portfolio is organized into six segments: Chemicals,Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition& Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated global salesof around €63 billion in 2018. www.basf.com

Rösberg Engineering www.roesberg.comwww.LiveDOK.com

Fig. 4 a & b: eCl@ssAdvanced is an ISO- andIEC-compliant, cross-sectoral standard ideallysuited to describe thetechnical data ofdevices. It is unrivaled atpresent, at least inEurope. (a). In future,suppliers of equipmentto BASF will have tosupply the data for theirdevices in eCl@ssAdvanced format. Thiswill further improve theas-built documentation(b). (Copyright:Rösberg)

Fig. 3: The use of ProDOK ensures security ofinvestment. For decades the software has beenupwardly compatible and future-safe(Copyright: Rösberg)

PC-FEB20-PG38-39.1_Layout 1 17/02/2020 11:32 Page 39