Upgrade with No Productivity Loss – the New Path to PLC Modernization

 If it ain’t broke – DO fix it.

Today we’re going to talk about modernization. In a recent presentation, Darrell Halterman, senior product manager, PLC controls products, Emerson, discussed the fact that in industrial markets, when a technology has been working well for years, it’s tempting to simply let it be. After all, there are always more important things to worry about. But the fact is that by standing pat, industrial manufacturers can be missing out on technological advances that could save time, money and maintenance, and allow far greater efficiency. One such example is users still relying on old generation PLCs such as the popular Series 90-70 and 90-30 – formerly GE and now Emerson.

Why would you want to modernize your PLCs? For the same reason you would upgrade your truck or your computer. To take advantage of the many improvements that have occurred over twenty years. In the case of PLCs, here are a few of these new benefits available with the new PACSystems RX3i:

  • Scalability: from small and micro applications with a few I/O to large redundant systems with up to 32K I/O per controller
  • Modern Fieldbus Standards: IEC61131 programming with the latest fieldbus connectivity options at both PLC and HMI/SCADA level
  • High-speed, Deterministic Control: Base scan rate <1ms, coordinated multi-axis motion, fully deterministic control

You might say, all those benefits are great, but they don’t outweigh the lost productivity and total chaos of a shutdown and upgrade. You’ve just addressed the heart of the matter, because, while other PLC manufacturers can migrate, the new Emerson PACSystems RX3i is literally designed to allow easy, efficient, cost-effective migration as a standard feature.

With new Emerson PLC systems, you can swap out an old Series 90-70 rack in 10 minutes, and switch over an entire plant in a matter of hours with no shutdown. This is not your typical modernization program. Emerson executes with a unique, multi-stage process that works on your timetable with no loss of productivity.

Take, for example, a major South American oil producer’s FPSO unit. The big problem was that they couldn’t bring the rig back to shore without a full retrofit. Emerson’s solution was hot modernization of their old Series 90-70 redundant controllers to new PACSystems RX3i controllers. They upgraded the remote I/O one panel at a time. The results were a fully modernized control solution with no controls obsolescence, and increased system extensibility with a fiber optic ethernet backbone installation all achieved with no lost production and no system downtime.

A water and wastewater authority was using an obsolete Series 90-70 control system. They had a limited amount of waste lagoon storage and were frequently exceeding the available outage time, resulting in overflows and EPA fines. Emerson’s solution was pre-conversion of the obsolete controllers to new PACSystems RX3i controllers. I/O conversion racks were used to avoid moving field terminations. Each rack was switched in 10 minutes and the entire plant was converted with one three-hour outage. With controller application execution speeds at four times the old controllers, they have had no lagoon overflows or EPA reportables.

 In a final example, a major automotive manufacturer had over 600 obsolete Series 90-30 controllers operating in each plant, with limited outages and limited maintenance staff. They needed a modernization program that wouldn’t interfere with production. The first full system upgrade was planned for a three-day weekend outage and involved 150 variable frequency drives and 32 GENIUS I/O nodes. To the customer’s amazement, the entire upgrade to RX3i controllers and PROFINET remote I/O took just six hours. Results were so encouraging that the team devised a strategy to update Series 90-30 controllers to RX3i over lunch breaks, freeing longer outages for other maintenance activities.

As these examples so clearly show, not only have PLCs greatly improved, but so has the entire modernization process. If you’re still stuck in costly shutdown routines, it’s time to switch to updates over lunch.

How could you benefit from the new approach to PLC modernization?

11 Replies

  • There are a large number of 90-30 series, 90-70 series and Versamax systems in China. They connect through Genius. We are guiding customers to upgrade and want to bring customers to the new PAC3I and Profinet platforms, but Versamax's Profinet communication module (IC200PNS001\002) is larger than Genius (IC200GBI001), and we can't change it in the original installation space. At the same time, Profinet consumes more power, especially PNS002. The original module can't drive the battery without changing IO. Any good suggestions?
  • In reply to Jack.Zhang:

    Profinet is the best solution only as you say the versamax profinet NIU is very big!, in the past there was a plan to build a single slot Profibus NIU only this never happend. the next best thing is to use an Ethernet NIU using then the Modbus RTU protocol.
  • In reply to Jack.Zhang:

    One idea is to migrate the Series 90-30 PLC and it’s Genius Bus Controllers to an RX3i Controller and PROFINET Controller (PNC), then using a PROFINET IO-Proxy Device to bridge the PROFINET Network to the Genius Bus, leaving the Genius I/O Drops intact until a cost/space effective PNS Module is available.

    You could use the Genius IO-Proxy Device to connect the PROINET LAN to the Genius I/O Network using the Genius Communications Gateway – IC695GCG001. Depending on the I/O network architectures, it may be possible to replace several GBCs in a Series 90-30 rack with a single PNC in a corresponding RX3i rack.
  • In reply to Leo Mennen:

    A few years ago, I heard that there is a PROFINET communication module that plans a versamax single slot, and it will reduce some communication speeds to reduce the use of power, but I have not seen it now.
    Profibus NIU? Is it IC200PBI001?
  • In reply to Michael Richards:

    For Genius I / O, it still needs to be replaced in the future, so the current size problem is still there. The installation space in many cabinets in China is very compact, and we can't predict that PNS will be much bigger than GBI. Only when the technology is better, the optimized module will be introduced. But I believe that the future is still Profinet.
  • In reply to Jack.Zhang:

    IC200PBI001 is profibus
  • In reply to Jack.Zhang:

    To replace genius blocks have a look at RSTi-EP, it is flexable and compact plus you can step up to profinet.
  • In reply to Jack.Zhang:

    Jack, I think we can all agree that Profinet is the way of the future. Consider however, that the Versamax GBI is still an active product. There are no concrete plans for it to be discontinued as far as I know. The best approach is to replace the controllers to pacsystems now. Use the GCG as Mike mentions above for an interface to the existing Genius. Concentrate on the CPU's for now and deal with the I/O second. This lowers downtime and minimizes risk. After the CPU's have been updated you can deal with each I/O panel one at a time. Again, shorter downtime windows and lower risk.

  • In reply to Mats Andersson:

    Thanks Andersson .
    This is the best way to do it now. What we know is that the GBI has indicated "discontinued" when ordering the product (but can still buy it now).
    Regards,
  • In reply to Leo Mennen:

    Thanks for your advice. For EP, we apply them more to machines. For large-scale application scenarios such as steel and coal preparation, customers are still more likely to choose Versamax. Upgrading does not require rewiring the IO, which is an advantage for us, which will greatly reduce downtime.
    Regards,
  • In reply to Jack.Zhang:

    There is the IC695CEP001 and IC694CEE001 that can take one IC695/4 and one IC694 module respectively. These can fit in the same space as a Genius I/O block but re-wiring is required.

    VersaMax remains active including the Genius GBI adapter, so you can modrnise the controller and add a Genius Communicaitons Gateway (GCG, IC695GCG001) and keep the current VersaMax I/O, including redundant controllers and dual bus if used.