A Greenfield OT Experience
Building a large greenfield (new plant) and implementing OT innovation is a thrilling business and a great opportunity for a manufacturer. However, it’s important to take the right approach to get buy in and not loose people over the time it takes to complete the project. After establishing that you’ve found the right integration partner for the job, the next step is to take the opportunity to select particular OT functions to get the full value towards your upcoming product. Let’s begin by going through the Avanceon approach to OT for greenfields.
The OT Project Approach
A key component for a successful greenfield implementation is generating comprehensive Functional Design Specifications (FDS) for each area of the future plant. This includes the strategy for controlling the individual Programmable Logic Controllers and manage the various process and packaging areas of the plant. A best practice is for the FDS to have all the steps, actions, and expectations of the systems carefully laid out in a table format for an easy presentation to the customer. The FDS includes which devices are involved in specific operations, how they will be configured and programmed, along with which phases and control modules are used in each action. For a full facility, these detailed documents are typically over 500 pages long. The purpose is to be informative, concise, and detract from any surprises along the way.
Once the documents have been drawn up, the next best practice is to go through an Agile Development process. This is where one adds iterative detail to the design with the purpose of producing a foundation for the PLC, HMI, and batch systems. As the foundations are built, we schedule regular Sprint Reviews for collaboration with the stakeholders to ensure everyone is on the same page. This step helps alleviate the risk of operators and key personnel not understanding and embracing the system’s functions and layouts during the go live phase.
Another consideration as you implement the new designs is to allow the customer to use the new systems as a foundation for further expansion and standards down the road. The premise is that this effort is not limited to developing one site, rather allows the programs to be applied in future additional facilities. Additional focus and time are required to ensure all information is shared and would continue to be shared in the future along with any issues or enhancements as they appear in the standards lifecycle.
By the end of the creation of the facility’s design, there is an emphasis on methodical testing of all functionality. The purpose is to ensure accuracy of the development and gain operational buy in and manage the impact of the new people and new system. A key part of the testing is to demonstrate each stage of the process to the customers. Here the customer is welcome to make corrections and/or suggest enhancements to the overall process. The testing phase consists of a simulated PreFAT and FAT and continues through the field installation via IO Checkout, Dry Checkout, with any deviations notated in a detailed punchlist that includes a record of the device status, issues, and resolutions.
By the end of the creation of the facility’s design, there is an emphasis on methodical testing of all functionality. The purpose is to ensure accuracy of the development and gain operational buy in and manage the impact of the new people and new system. A key part of the testing is to demonstrate each stage of the process to the customers. Here the customer is welcome to make corrections and/or suggest enhancements to the overall process. The testing phase consists of a simulated PreFAT and FAT and continues through the field installation via IO Checkout, Dry Checkout, with any deviations notated in a detailed punchlist that includes a record of the device status, issues, and resolutions.
After going through testing and commissioning (and often executed in parallel), we move onto training operators, maintenance, and engineers. A final key point of the approach is a strong focus on troubleshooting and leaving the customers with detailed training material packets, accessible online. We also include a 24×7 hotline to call if a need arises. Now that you understand the Avanceon approach to handling a greenfield OT, let’s discuss which special features you can bring to the table.
Specialized OT Functions
The value of a greenfield is that you have the opportunity to engage new technology and approaches to the use of the new tech for business return. As mentioned in the approach section, one consideration is to consider the opportunity to use new standards for all the devices, control, and HMI layouts you have developed for the greenfield. Standards are specifically designed to reduce the development time and the testing efficiency. An important technology approach is to reinvent and reimagine the HMI layout for ease of use and keep it consistent throughout the plant. A simple and clean approach is desired and is a great opportunity to include the use of high performance and situational awareness concepts to further draw the operators eyes to pertinent information and arising issues. Lastly, each HMI application has a hierarchical screen layout broken down into area overview, operation screens, unit screens, and lastly, a device and phase control. Another use of new technology is tightly integrating the Batch software and the PLC Phase Manager in a consistent and easy to troubleshoot approach. To accomplish this, the Modular Phase is leveraged to ensure simplistically by having a single function and linking only the relevant devices per phase. This approach in the design does not require PLC changes to make a sequence of operations tweaked in a recipe. Further enhancements is the concept of integrating automatic batch queuing in which the program lists the number of pallets required for the final number of products and produces to that total batch target. Overall it is recommended to implement a Historian to gather each batch and process the parameter for carefully review via reporting. Last, but not least, take the opportunity to leverage the IT tech in the OT world. This means having multiple dual monitor HMI stations throughout the plant with mobile HMI access via iPads and IT approved telephone devices.
Another intriguing aspect of a greenfield implementation is the MES interface. When implementing from scratch it is easy to preserve key plant functions and data in a single place for MES consumption. Functions like OEE, quality, product, traceability, and the overall workflow are easily integrated when the ground up approach is taken. This is accomplishable by implementing the MES interface with the control system, SCADA, and the Process Historian. Thereby key data points, statuses, and calculations are exposed for the consumption of the various MES modules. By having an intimate understanding of the process control functions, the MES is better able to understand the required data points needed by MES and how to provide them with the correct context for the MES application. A best practice to accomplish the interface efficiency is to develop, an MES Functional Specification to manage and track the incoming data then define the needed routines and calculations within the PLC.
Final Thoughts
Greenfield plant development is a large undertaking with significant potential to capitalize on the best that today’s technology can offer. In order to make the most of the opportunity the project approach you take matters, and a pillar of that approach is communication and engagement with the key project and plant team members. With a little planning and a good integration partner you can leverage the best OT technology for control, batch, SCADA, and MES. Those small investments in the project execution and technology approach will reap dividends in efficiency and operational use for the life of the facility.
Intrigued? Consider going even deeper with our technical case study: The Ins and Outs of OT Innovation in a New Plant.