s a instrumentation and control: scada review 2015 siemens

S A Instrumentation and Control: Scada Review 2015

2015 Copyright Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd – www.technews.co.za All rights reserved

Siemens

End-user details Name: Ian Nell

Designation: Control and Instrumentation Manager

Company: Kamoto Copper Company SARL

Phone: +243 (0)970 016 846

E-mail: [email protected]

SI details Name: Alan Taylor

Designation: Technical Director

Company: New Africa Control (NAC) Engineering

Phone: +27 (0)11 445 2000


Product details Product name and version: WinCC V7.0 SP3 + Step 7 V5.5

Vendor: Siemens

Phone: +27 (0)11 652 2000


URL: http://www.siemens.com/wincc

Application details Location: Kolwezi, Katanga Province, DRC

Industry: Mining and metallurgy

Date project started: 2012-01

Date project completed: 2014-12

Application: Minerals processing

Server OS: Windows Server 2003

Client OS: Windows 7

Application statistics Tag count: 760 718 tags over five redundant server pairs

Updates per day: Approx. 3 684 800 000

Disk space for one day’s updates: Approx. 110GB

Physical I/O count: 7100 Digital Inputs

1530 Digital Outputs

3470 Analog Inputs

980 Analog Outputs

All on Siemens ET200M remote I/O racks

Front ends: 15 * Siemens S7-400 PLCs with S7-417 CPUs

12 * Siemens S7-200 via EM277 modules

4 * Siemens S7-300 via CP343 modules

1912 * Profibus I/O devices (Intelligent starters, VSDs, belt



scales, density transmitters and dosing pumps from

Siemens and other manufacturers)

Licences: 2 * WinCC Configuration RC262144 512 archive tags

4 * WinCC Runtime RT262144 512 archive tags

1 * WinCC Configuration RC153600 512 archive tags






10 * Simatic WinCC/Server

5 * Simatic WinCC/Redundancy

4 * Simatic WinCC/Archive 30 000 archive tags

6* Simatic WinCC/Archive 5000 archive tags

3 * WinCC Runtime Client RT128 tags

1 * WinCC WebNavigator 25 client

1 * WinCC DataMonitor 25 client

5 * Simatic Step 7 Professional 2010

Scada configuration man-hours: Approx.4000 initial development man-hours

Figure 1: System architecture



End–user responses

General

Q: Briefly describe the application including information on any pre-existing control system.

The mine produces copper and cobalt as the final product. Crushing, milling, flotation, roasting, leaching,

thickening and electro winning processes are used to extract the final products.

Various mine plant areas and sections were controlled by different vendor-supplied turnkey packages with

differing control system equipment, programming and visualisation standards making them difficult to operate

and maintain, resulting in extended down times and operational inefficiencies. The mine was also expanding,

adding more areas and sections.

Existing S7-400 Siemens PLC systems in the milling and roasting sections were chosen as the basis for a new

uniform control system. Although both of these systems were already commissioned and producing, they were

based on different software standards, causing extended downtimes for maintenance personnel. A choice was

made to rewrite and re-commission these systems during a shutdown, and have them all running on a uniform

control and visualisation software standard. Other vendor supplied systems were incorporated by replacing their

standalone controllers with remote I/O racks and merging their HMIs into the WinCC SCADA.

Q: What was the primary motivation for the project?

Plant expansion and the need for control system rationalisation into a centralised plant-wide control and

visualisation system.

Q: What were the main goals established for the project?

1. Implement a centralised control and visualisation system architecture, replacing the several "scattered"

human machine interfaces each of which required dedicated trained operators.

2. Improve plant availability through implementing a uniformed control system and having more diagnostic

information available to operator before the technician is called.

3. Implement single source downtime reason and production recording.

Q: In the procurement decision making process what were the primary considerations that influenced the

product selection?

The on-site SI’s proven standards and track record.

The SI proposed an upgrade with minimal risk.

Some required licences already existed on site.

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?

Scope creep reduction:

Updated and current control philosophies were provided to the SI.

Proven/running software formed the basis for development.

A turnkey/fixed price contract model was adopted.

Risk mitigation:



Backup and restore procedures of the running software were established and proven before applying the new

software.

Formal FAT with the new and old system running in simulation and in parallel was performed before

commissioning.

Licensing, maintenance & support

Q: What upgrade agreements are in place for this application?

None.

Q: How is after-sales support handled on this application?

On-site personnel are trained on an ad hoc basis / as required. Free training was provided in Johannesburg for the

local technicians and engineers. Support follow up training was and is provided annually. Service visits to site are

provided regularly by the SI.

Q: Do you have a documented process in place to manage, test and install OS and scada system software

patches?

No. These aspects managed by SI.

Integration, reporting and archiving

Q: Is the scada system integrated onto an intranet or the Internet?

Yes, via two redundant DataMonitor/WebNavigator servers and two redundant MS SQL database servers. The

DataMonitor package is used to e-mail Excel-based reports to metal accounting, production and maintenance

departments on a daily basis. It is also used to provide basic KPI / graphical overview screens to upper

management, and to provide production data from the several scada servers to the MS SQL database servers for

external applications. The WebNavigator package (which is a full view of the local scada in Internet Explorer) is

used by production managers for production and downtime monitoring. Maintenance technicians also connect to

these servers for faultfinding of equipment in the field (some of these technicians use tablets / cell phones in the

field connected via the mine's Wi-Fi network).

Q: Does the system include or interface with an expert system?

Interfacing to an existing mill feed expert system is planned.

Q: Does the system include any form of augmented cognition (AC) or augmented reality (AR)?

No.

Q: Is the system integrated with an MES / ERP or other management reporting or control system?

Yes, the DataMonitor / WebNavigator servers provide WinCC data from several WinCC servers to the separate MS

SQL database servers. Configuration of the requested data takes place via an Excel file. Variables configured in

this Excel sheet are then inserted into the MS SQL server databases at the times requested. These MS SQL

machines acts as a "post-box" where the data is used by the metal accounting department and by the dispatch /

product tracking provider. There is no direct connection from outside to the scada servers' databases. Since MS

SQL is used, the data is available for any application.

Q: Has any GIS (Geographic Information Systems) functionality been configured in the application?

No.



Q: Has any asset management functionality been configured in the application (for software assets, control

system assets or for plant assets)?

No.

Q: Do you run the scada in conjunction with any other third-party application software?

No.

Q: Does the application include data archiving / historian capabilities with an historical data reporting system?

Yes. Each WinCC server uses a MS SQL server to store all alarms and messages, tag variables and operator actions.

Maintenance, reliability and asset optimisation

Q: Have any production benchmarking tools been configured as part of the scada system?

The mine’s metal accounting package collects data continuously from the DataMonitor, keeping mine

management abreast of relevant production information. The DataMonitor servers also email daily Excel reports

to maintenance and production personnel. These reports include data like device tag name and device running

hours.

Q: What maintenance, reliability, asset optimisation and/or continuous improvement criteria were included in

the user requirements specification for this project?

None.

Mobile device support

Q: Are you currently using tablets, mobile phones or other smart mobile devices to interact with the scada

system?

Yes. Maintenance technicians use tablets in the plant areas to monitor when faultfinding instrumentation or

during the commissioning of new instruments. Mobile phones can also be used when out of the Wi-Fi reception /

plant area to view actual plant area statuses and production. Some of the operators use company laptops or

tablets for field operation when needed.

Q: Do you allow users to interface with the scada system via their own personal smart devices? (BYOD)

Yes. Read-only access is available, but only for certain plant areas and based on the security group settings of the

specific user.

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?

The SI offered proven standards and training free of charge, as part of the initial upgrade.

Redundancy and remote monitoring of the system were possible.

Maintenance staff were already familiar with the product and can now be utilised to assist on any of the plant

sections due the uniformity of software and hardware.

Operations and management required a centralised system to view plant and operation/production.



Q: What was the most significant change that you implemented in scada engineering practice / technology in

this project?

Using mobile devices such as Android phones to access the WebNavigator servers and have a view of the scada

system via a Citrix interface (plug-in) installed on one of the servers. Previously only Internet Explorer was

compatible with the web based sections. However, this feature is now available in the latest release of WinCC.

Q: What single operational feature most impresses you about the product now that it is in operation?

A similar look and feel throughout all plants. Navigation systems are identical on all scada servers and clients.

Multi server access is available from a single client; we use this functionality from our trend / meeting rooms to

access any server for e.g. trends throughout the mine. All devices that are controlled adhere to a specific standard

(look and feel). Fault finding and operation are made easier by the dynamism of the NAC software standards:

device interlocks are viewable from the scada, and drill down features enables one to locate a faulty device within

three clicks.

Q: What impresses you most about the architecture?

The ease of scalability of the system. The current system has expanded from a medium scada installation to a

large scada system architecture, without any major issues encountered. We have five redundant server pairs

running at the moment, with numerous clients.

The ease of access to plant data for users, external applications and systems. Any of the ten servers in total can be

accessed from any client that is configured as a multi-client, anywhere in the plant. Additionally, all data is

available from a single source via the WebNavigator interfaces to users or via the MS SQL database servers for

external applications and systems. Real-time accessing of the plant can be done outside the plant area from a

laptop, using MS Internet Explorer, a tablet or a mobile phone.



SI responses

Project details

Q: What tools were used to minimise the man-hours taken?

We used our internal PLC/scada rapid application development tool and the "AS to OS" object editor, which

synchronises PLC messages and variables/tags automatically with the WinCC SCADA system. There are also Excel

based tools available for e.g. bulk tag archive configuration.

Q: Do the operator interfaces on this project use multi-touch gestures?

No.

Q: What human factors were taken into consideration as principles or development standards in the HMI

design process?

The "Basic Process Control" and "Picture Tree Navigator" options of WinCC provided a high degree of uniformity

in navigational menus, screens and screen layers. Graphical screens are normally a representation of the Piping

and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs). In terms of the controlled device status colours (e.g. running, tripped,

interlocked) and pipe colours, the NAC standards allow for these to be dynamically changed in runtime to any

client's desired colour standards.

Q: For the graphics development process did you use standard library images, or did you have to draw images

from scratch?

Library images and objects from our project standards were mostly used, since these have been developed and

benchmarked internally for high speed response. Where needed, our project standards' images and objects are

modified to suit the application.

Q: How would you describe the library of graphic images?

Comprehensive and includes the industry standard symbol factory library.

Q: Did you use any ‘special’ images?

No.

Q: Did you use any video or multimedia technology in the application?

No.

Q: What alarm management standards or best practices were adopted in configuring the scada system alarms?

The standard built in alarm classes, groups and priorities of WinCC were used. Each alarm class can be displayed

with different fore- and background colours in the alarm view. Alarms from devices configured on e.g. a plant

display window are automatically "routed" through to be visible on the navigational menus. All device alarms are

configured, grouped and assigned priorities and classes from the PLC application.

Q: What structured processes were followed to determine expected performance under full load, and during

abnormal failure conditions?

In-office testing of all standard objects or devices and load testing of objects to determine CPU and RAM load with

maximum devices per page and update times of objects.



Q: What are the key physical communication layers and communication protocols employed in the system?

ISO-Ethernet over copper for scada to PLC communication and single mode fibre for longer distances to clients.

Q: What is the network speed and communications medium of the slowest link in this project’s scada network?

100Mbit/s over copper.

Q: What is the network speed and communications medium of the fastest link in this project’s scada network?

1Gbit/s over fibre for server-client and 1Gbit/s over copper for the redundancy link between server pairs.

Q: What levels of redundancy are incorporated in this scada application?

All servers are used as redundant I/O communication and archive servers, with the redundancy of the I/O server

and archive database performed on the server side. A dedicated Ethernet network/link exists between server

pairs for redundancy monitoring and to synchronise archive databases.

Q: What specific custom code or scada scripts were written for this project?

Most of the device status text and colours, displaying of interlocks and sequences, and animation were achieved

using C-scripting.

Project management

Q: What Project Management principles and/or methodologies did you as SI employ to mitigate risk and to

ensure the project came out on time and within budget?

N/A.

Security and data protection

Q: How have authentication, authorisation and role management been configured?

User security is incorporated within the WinCC application. We currently use operator, technician, engineer,

manager, and administrator groups. Additionally each user can be assigned rights for the control of devices as

required, as well as access to defined plants and areas.

Q: Does the design make provision for a DMZ and firewall segregation of process (scada) network and business

networks?

No. However, the scada server-client network is a standalone Ethernet network. Access to the client LAN is done

through the Database and DataMonitor servers. In these servers a separate network card is configured to isolate

the scada network from the client's LAN.

Q: What intrusion detection has been incorporated on the plant network(s) on which this scada system exists?

Response withheld for security reasons.

Q: Is the security model employed based on a standard?

No.

Q: In what ways is this project’s hardware architecture optimised for patch management and antivirus

management?

It is not.



Q: What configuration back-up and data archive backup methodologies have been adopted?

Each engineer makes a local backup of the project on the engineering station prior to changes as well as at the

end of a working day. A backup of this project is copied to a remote backup server on a frequent basis. Redundant

runtime servers are used for runtime backups.

Q: Did you use any integrated or third party configuration control system for the scada configuration during the

engineering of this application?

Yes, the PLC and scada configuration is done in an integrated manner through the Simatic Manager. This

application uses a shared database for the PLC and scada configuration data/projects as well as for synchronising

the PLC tags to the scada configuration database.


Q: In engineering this project, what steps were taken to address maintenance, reliability, asset optimisation

and/or continuous improvement aspects relating to this system and the plant monitored / controlled by this

system?

N/A.

SI conclusion

Q: What impresses you most about the architecture?

Its simple architectural scalability and the ease with which additional devices, plant areas or more scada clients

can be added. The system can easily be expanded as needs arise from a stand-alone to a redundant server

system. This also includes the addition of devices, plant areas or more scada clients. Navigational menus on the

clients are easily/automatically updated. Clients are referenced to a single project, and no separate client

configurations are needed for each client. Any changes are reflected right through from the PLC to the web based

interface (WebNavigator) by running of a few configuration tools.

Q: What impresses you the most about the engineering / configuration aspects of the product now that it is in

operation?

The efficient way in which tags are managed, added and synchronised and the availability of wizards to simplify

configuration. Once the connection between the PLC and scada system has been made, any additional tags are

synchronised automatically to the scada system. Adding new devices is simply done by copying an existing device

and linking it using a WinCC function (none of the separate objects for a device need to be manually linked).

Archives are easily added once the tags are available in the WinCC system. There are a few "wizards" which

simplify configuration.

Q: How would you rate the ease of use of the historical reporting system?

Very straightforward. Once the logging parameters (file size, archive size, backup of the archive) have been set up,

any tags can be selected for logging from a dropdown list. Bulk inserts is also available through an Excel-based

tool, or by selecting several tags from the dropdown list.



Vendor responses

Product Current version Subject project - used

Product version / Module versions WinCC 7.3 SE WinCC 7.0 SP3

Q: Vendor comments on product / modules?

WinCC is a scalable scada system with built-in historian functionality and optional web-based clients. It natively

supports Siemens’ communication protocols, OPC, Allen-Bradley, Mitsubishi and Modbus.

Operating systems / VMware Product response - supported Subject project - used

Operating systems – client side run-

time?

Windows 7

Windows 8.1

Windows Server 2008

Windows Server 2013

Windows 7

Operating systems – client side

configuration?

Windows 7

Windows 8.1

Windows 7

Operating systems – server side? Windows Server 2008

Windows Server 2012

Windows Server 2003

Browser based?

Client side with either full control or

view-only

Full control and view-only web

clients

Front end device communications

protocols

Siemens S7 and ISO, PROFIBUS,

OPC, Allen-Bradley, Modbus,

Mitsubishi

Siemens S7 via ISO (Ethernet)

Does the scada system rely on Java

plug-ins to exploit the full

functionality of its core and

additional modules?

No No

Q: Vendor comments on operating systems

WinCC runs on Windows, using C-Script for low level functionality and VB Script for higher level functionality. Both

scripting engines are also supported on Web-based clients.

Licensing, maintenance & support model

Q: What sort of licensing agreement options are offered?

Configuration and runtime packages are available in eight different sizes ranging from 128 to 260 000 tags.

Options include archive tags, WebNavigator, DataMonitor, PerformanceMonitor, SIMATIC Process Historian and

Information Server.

Q: Are licences sold outright or subject to periodic (e.g. annual) renewal?

A licence is a once-off purchase for a particular version.

Q: What upgrade agreements are offered?

Upgrade packages are sold per computer and include all standard WinCC options on that computer. Upgrade

packages can be purchased even for 20 year old systems at a fraction of the price of a new system, giving the

customer a very low Total Cost of Ownership. Updates and service packs are free of charge. An optional Software



Update Service is available and is valid per computer for 12 months providing WinCC and all standard WinCC

option updates, service packs and version upgrades for the period of validity.

Q: What after-sales offerings iro support and maintenance are available, and which technologies are used to

deliver them?

Support is provided both by Siemens and SIs. Siemens provides a telephone hotline at no cost to the customer.

Further support/analysis and on-site assistance are fee-based. The Siemens Customer Services department also

enters into Service Level Agreements for customers that require a higher level of support.

Q: Do you have a documented process in place to manage and test OS patches and to release scada system

software patches?

Yes. Standard procedures for OS updates are part of the WinCC manuals. Procedures for updates and service

packs are documented in the release notes of the relevant download and white papers explain the procedures

and methodologies to be implemented for antivirus packages.

Technology incorporated Product response Subject project

Product uses Web Services? No N/A

Cloud computing supported? No N/A

Virtualisation models supported?

WinCC supports VMware and

Virtual PC

For infrastructure type systems

VMware ESXi and MS HyperV can

be utilized

Not utilized

Multi-touch gestures supported by

OS + scada hardware + scada

software?

Yes, for swiping between screens,

pinching to zoom in and out of

mimics and two handed operations

Not utilized

Q: What new technology has been introduced into the product in the last 12 months?

The latest release of WinCC is based on MS SQL Server 2008 and supports installation on Windows 8.1 and MS

Server 2012. A new add-on, Performance Monitor, was introduced for calculation of OEE values, but also allows

user-defined KPI calculation. The tag, alarm and trend editors were changed to include Excel type editing features

and simple copying and pasting to and from a spreadsheet for faster engineering. The WebUX add-on was

introduced, providing a cost-efficient client for smartphones and tablets. WebUX clients are based on HTML5 and

SVG features available in most of the currently available smartphones and tablets; no installation on the client

device is required.

Integration and reporting

Q: What generic and/or product specific interfaces does the product have iro well-known MES packages?

WinCC can directly communicate with Siemens’ SIMATIC IT MES system. The included MS SQL Server is also

frequently used for table–based interfaces with MES and ERP systems. The SIMATIC PM Hosts module allows

direct interfacing with SAP. Further interfacing can be established via the included OPC DA or via the Connectivity

Module’s OPC HDA (Historical Data Access), OPC A&E (Alarms & Events), OPC UA and OLEdb interfaces.



Q: What native historical data reporting options are available?

WinCC includes a native reporting system with freely definable reports for tags, alarms and trends. The

DataMonitor module allows the utilization of Excel worksheets and e-mails for reporting. All WinCC installations

include a full MS SQL Server installation (not SQL Server Express Edition) and the SIMATIC Information Server

module allows predefined and custom reporting via MS Reporting Services.


Q: What maintenance, reliability, asset optimisation and/or continuous improvement related modules or

capabilities does the product incorporate?

All Siemens S7 system alarms, system information, network (PROFIBUS/PROFINET) and module diagnostics are

automatically sent to the WinCC event archiving system and are displayed in the event/alarm list to facilitate fault

finding and root cause analysis.

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?

Siemens methodology works from the process design (PLC) to the visualization (scada), with auto-generation of all

scada (WinCC) tags, alarms and trends from the process control model programmed into the PLC.

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?

WinCC does not generate PLC code. The PLC (process) variables and information translate into scada structures.

Q: What authentication, authorisation & role management models are available for the runtime environment?

These aspects can be managed internally by WinCC or based on Windows user management.

Unique selling proposition (USP)

Q: List the top five feature/benefit pairs that contribute to this product’s USP.

Feature Benefit

WinCC is a well-known and established scada

system

Wide choice of SI / contractor for project execution

and support

Integration of WinCC into SIMATIC Manager (S7

PLC engineering software)

Auto-generation of tags, alarms and trends resulting

in faster and more accurate engineering and

elimination of scada tag lists

Full MS SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition included

with every installation of WinCC

Facilitates conversion of data into information for

optimization and differentiation

WinCC is highly scalable

No need to change to a different system for larger

plants. WinCC handles up to 18 redundant server

pairs with 32 clients per server pair with up to 150

view-only clients via DataMonitor



Cost-effective licence and upgrade model

Lower Total Cost of Ownership. All WinCC clients

are licensed with the lowest cost RT client licence,

even when connected to 18 redundant server pairs

each serving up to 256 000 tags. Licence upgrade

costs, per scada computer, are fixed irrespective the

tag count and include all the standard WinCC option

packages (archiving, recipes, DataMonitor,

WebNavigator, Performance Monitor, Connectivity

Pack, Server licence, etc.)

s a instrumentation and control: scada review 2015 siemens

Documents