Tatsoft helped design, build and implement a new energy management system for Usiminas, Automation World reports.
The South American steel supplier was struggling to manage the energy system application at its Ipatinga, Brazil, plant because the human machine interface (HMI) software was no longer supported. The company wanted to update the user interface and system architecture, add operator stations to the network, and add hot standby redundancy, which would protect against downtime or missing data caused by a server failure.
Tatsoft replaced the old HMI with its FactoryStudio HMI-SCADA. The legacy system required 100,000 tags. FactoryStudio requires less than half that number of tags. The new system has 35 nodes distributed across the plant, enabling operators to monitor unit operations with remote clients. FactoryStudio is able to interface with Oracle and Microsoft SQL databases, where historical alarms, trends and process data are stored and managed.
If an operator does not resolve an active alarm within a specified amount of time or forgets to take a needed measure, FactoryStudio sends a warning to the operator.
To help ensure the correct operator is logged in, FactoryStudio provides automatic logout after an eight-hour shift.
In the legacy system, if the primary station had an unexpected shutdown, the third-party software stopped working. FactoryStudio, however, controls external components to provide greater stability.
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