Control System Migration

Control migrations are a staggering undertaking that can make or break the productivity of your plant. Reduce risk and stress in the migration process by working with EPIC. We’ve been doing control migrations for over twenty years.

We know what needs to be done to make your migration process as smooth as possible. As a platform independent integrator, we provide an honest assessment of all possible solutions to select the best one for your plant.

Our focus is on minimizing downtime during the changeover and maximizing your return on investment for years to come. Migrations are not just an upgrade from an obsolete control systems; they are opportunity to take advantage of modern technologies to leap ahead of your competition. During a control migration, EPIC will help you:

• Identify opportunities for greater system flexibility and reliability
• Integrate any new technologies, (ex. vision systems for automated QA checks)
• Justifiy ROI
• Develop a complete project plan and present to management
• Optimize your automation strategy
• Collect data and map your current system
• Manage any mechanical, eletrical and civil site upgrades
• Maximize operating up-time during the transition
• Complete and total system checkout and training

Case Examples: Control System Migration

PLC5 Migrated to Controllogix System with Automated Reject Station

An outdated PLC5 control system needed to be upgraded to Controllogix. In addition, the client wanted to add an automated vision system to reject bad product off the packaging line. EPIC converted the PLC5 I/O, replaced the processors and established communication to a Honeywell DCS System with Controllogix.

The migration was carefully planned to minimize downtime. System testing and simulation were completed before the conversion. After the upgrade was successfully completed, EPIC remained on-site to train maintenance technicians in the new ControlLogix system.

Key Features: ControlLogix 5000 platform upgrade from PLC5, Honeywell DCS Integration, High-speed camera and reject station integration

Chemical Plant Migrates International Plant to PCS7 Control Platform

A large chemical facility needed to migrate to PCS7 quickly. The facility had over 100,000 feet of cable and a large Profibus I/O network. A team of 11 programmers worked to upgrade 30 control panels and translate from German to English.

The multi-stage polymer making facility included complicated automated making and packaging processes. A comprehensive plan including elevation drawings, general arrangements, and control schematics was created an implemented by the multi-lingual team for a smooth control system migration.

Key Features: PCS7 migtration, Profibus network, customized client toolkit

Testimonials

“There have been several recent projects where EPIC personnel have demonstrated exceptional automation technical expertise, ownership, and commitment that have resulted in outstanding production results.  These include a complete new processing and batching operation involving instrumentation, PLC control and HMI implementation as well as a project to upgrade and replace a large PLC and HMI based legacy control system.  The projects have started up successfully with virtually no issues and very satisfied production personnel.”

– Rich K., Project Manager | Henkel

“Our team at Solutia called on the engineers at EPIC Systems, Inc. to write PLC programming and beef up the equipment for our Skydrol packaging lines. The service we’d previously received from another system integrator was sub-standard and not robust enough to meet our manufacturing objectives. However, the new control system configured and implemented by EPIC’s engineers met or exceeded all of our expectations for success. We got what we needed and we continue to have success with the packaging system as a result of working with EPIC.”

– Greg Kanteres, Director of Corporate Engineering | Solutia