Control system migration: surviving the 'perfect storm' to improve performance — Part 1

Industrial companies are faced with an increasingly competitive business environment. Manufacturers must find ways to produce quality products quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively. Experience has shown control system performance can have a huge impact on return on investment (ROI) throughout the life cycle of the plant.

When it comes to keeping automation technology up to date, proactive is the new normal. Companies that migrate to a newer, more effective control system gain a significant advantage over competitors that simply wait for assets to reach end of life. The ‘doing nothing’ option simply isn’t viable. Automation systems are no longer isolated and, with the high levels of integration of the diverse systems, there is a high likelihood of a technology mismatch within the automation infrastructure. A well-planned and executed migration strategy is now a must. A structured and organised approach to upgrades enhances the benefits of new technology, reduces risks and preserves valuable intellectual property.

Skills shortage versus new technology

In an uncertain global economy, every manufacturer is under growing pressure to reduce their costs while improving performance. An ageing and rapidly retiring skills base and the ever-increasing pace of technology development only compound this situation.

Studies indicate experienced and knowledgeable employees are leaving the industrial sector in large numbers. A report issued by Deloitte and Oracle¹ showed that among companies involved in skilled production, 51% reported labour shortages and predicted future resource issues as younger generations forego careers in manufacturing. Some observers believe the demand for expert personnel will exceed availability within the next 5–7 years.

Approaching retirements within the baby boomer workforce threaten the very operation of facilities that currently run on legacy control systems. Moreover, efforts to prepare new millennial-age employees to take over critical operational positions have had mixed success. There is a lack of interest from this new generation to learn and live with 30-year-old technology.

The emergence of new technology also places demands on companies involved in complicated businesses such as oil and gas refining, pulp and paper production, and mining and minerals extraction. Given the size, scope and complexity of modern engineered systems and their interactions, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to anticipate, diagnose and control serious abnormal events in a timely manner.

Business challenges on the horizon

There is little doubt that today’s experienced worker shortage and greater demand for energy savings, environmental protection and improved operational effectiveness create significant business challenges and require industrial organisations to look closely at different solutions for technology refresh and upgrades.

The problem of ‘technology churn’ has only exacerbated the hurdles faced by industrial facilities, placing heavy demands on managers who must adapt their skill sets to become like software companies and big data firms.

The convergence of people, parts and planning issues has created a perfect storm threatening potential disruptions in the industrial sector. Plant managers cannot afford a ‘wait and see’ attitude when it comes to ageing automation assets. The life cycle of electronic components is rapidly shrinking, and frequent updates of software and hardware are now required. It can also be difficult to find personnel qualified to troubleshoot and repair an older control system. As operators and engineers familiar with the existing platforms reach retirement age, outside support often becomes necessary.

In the automation world, legacy distributed control systems (DCSs) and their components are inching closer to their end-of-life point. These systems may no longer meet corporate objectives for enterprise-wide sharing of business information; nor can they enlist advanced control capabilities enabling increased throughput, lower costs and improved regulatory compliance.

In its 2015 report ‘Distributed Control Systems Worldwide Outlook’², the ARC Advisory Group stated: “Whether called ‘migration’, ‘evolution’, or ‘modernization’, transitioning to a more modern DCS presents end users with significant challenges. These range from the difficult task of justifying the automation investment in the first place, selecting a supplier, and implementing the solution, to providing a roadmap for the future. Most end users list migration as one of the key issues they face today. ARC has estimated that $65 billion worth of installed process automation systems in the world today are nearing the end of the useful lifecycle, which, in many cases, can exceed 25 years. Many of these systems — as much as $12 billion worth — are some of the original DCSs installed in the late 1970s.”

Poor process control with an outdated DCS may result in inadequate quality and excessive energy usage. When processes are controlled near set points, quality is maximised. Deviations from set points, particularly for extended periods of time, can directly impact quality in a negative way. Throughput can also be affected by performance.

Ironically, many manufacturers treat their business systems and email servers very differently to their process control systems. Companies make a concerted effort to keep IT infrastructure current, both in terms of hardware and software, and routinely engage in annual maintenance contracts and investments in cybersecurity technology. The same level of emphasis is not yet common in plant automation departments.

Failure to address looming automation obsolescence issues could lead to crucial assets being rendered inoperable if an ageing component should fail and no replacement is available. This is true of both factory- and third-party-sourced parts. Worse yet, spares obtained from auction sites over the internet may unknowingly introduce unexpected effects on critical systems. Financial loss or possible unsafe operating conditions from an unplanned outage could far exceed the replacement cost of a discontinued part. The economic risk or liabilities from neglecting these potential problems are way too high to ignore.

Anticipating the need for modernisation

A control system is the central component that determines the productivity and flexibility of a process industry plant. Old systems may still work well after 10, 20, 30 or even more years — but migration to a current automation solution not only minimises risk of failure, it also opens up a whole range of completely new possibilities.

With updated technology, for example, the remaining economic life of legacy control and safety equipment can often be extended by 30–50%. Replications of controller software and common displays may reduce the engineering effort for the control system expansion by up to 50%. Likewise, improved reliability with modernisation, better diagnostic features and the use of common network technology can enable significant maintenance cost reductions.

In most cases, there is a specific rationale for migrating or replacing an obsolete control system, as well as improving the security of the control network infrastructure. In general they include:

• End of service life — replacing equipment experiencing end-of-life issues due to corrosion or age
• Futureproofing system components — the need to lock in vendor support for base hardware and software
• New units or upgrades — adding or modernising a unit to ensure it is a viable long-term solution
• Loading issues — current systems nearing their performance capacities
• Amalgamation of operating consoles — improving operator performance in the central control room
• Cross-unit closed-loop control — the ability to tie together multiple control networks and systems for cross-controller control
• Cost reduction — reducing footprints and enhancing controller performance
• New value-added features — including improved alarm management, operator effectiveness and asset management solutions
• Co-existence with multiple vendors and applications — this may not be possible or easily done with older system components
• System security — isolating the human-machine interface (HMI) and controller level from viruses found in upper-level networks
• Process data at the desktop — providing a secure path for required data that allows improved decision-making at the business level, creating real operational agility.

It is important for control system end users to avoid a scenario whereby they remain in place by investing in certified recycled spare parts, then ‘drop off the face of the Earth’ at some point in the future due to end-of-life issues. The ‘do nothing’ approach carries sizeable risks. Rather, they should work with their automation supplier to cost-effectively migrate forward to mitigate issues involving the ageing workforce, support of multiple system types, maintenance costs for older systems, etc. At the end of the technology evolution cycle, the user will have paid for an automation solution that is both modern and state-of-the-art while maintaining predictable control of their capital budget.

Effective modernisation initiatives enable manufacturers and other industrial enterprises to realise the benefits of new technology in terms of improved plant safety, profitability and reliability. In addition, migration solutions can provide flexibility to plants to transition legacy equipment at their own pace.

A well-executed strategy to address technology obsolescence delivers significant operational and business benefits through seamless integration of new and existing plant automation assets. At the heart of this approach is multigeneration co-existence of control equipment. It enables tight integration with multiple generations of systems while retaining intellectual property in native graphics and advanced control applications. By incorporating existing data, events and operator messages into the control architecture, and establishing a common operator interface, the legacy system appears as an extension of the new automation solution.

In addition, a proprietary hot cutover technique enables the control system to be migrated while operations remain undisturbed. Legacy controllers can be replaced with newer versions on a live process while retaining wiring and cabinets.

Upgrade before operational issues arise

Industrial organisations must immediately do proper planning and budget allocation for control system upgrades in order to avoid resource scarcity. Leading global automation suppliers have data indicating hundreds of thousands of legacy DCS nodes and thousands of software licences will soon become obsolete or phased out.

It is clear that inaction on migration strategies is causing existing services to be underutilised and, by early in the next decade, a crossover will occur where demand for control system upgrades will outstrip the available qualified resources.

In Part 2

In Part 2 of this article, the process of incremental migration to reduce capital expenses is explained, as well as how outcome-based service programs optimise day-to-day support of control platforms and reduce total cost of ownership.

References

1. Yocum J 2011, Manufacturing faces crisis as skilled baby boomers retire, retrieved 3 March, 2016, from <http://www.masslive.com/business-news/index.ssf/2011/07/manufacturing_faces_crisis_as_skilled_ba.html>
2. Clayton D, Forbes H, O’Brien L, Miller P 2015, Distributed Control Systems Worldwide Outlook, ARC Advisory Group.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/Theerapong