PLC MIGRATION and ControlSystem Upgrades

If you are running end of life equipment, as reliable hardware becomes increasingly difficult to obtain, maintenance budgets creep ever upwards and the skill sets required to support and modify legacy equipment become ever more rare, we understand the need to migrate to up-to-date platforms.

If you were to draw a graph of the rate of failure of all electrical equipment against time then you will always get what is called the “bath tub curve” because it is shaped like the cross section of a bath.

From the graph you would see that the rate of failure of new products is relatively high as the products “burn in”. The rate then drops to a low level where high reliability is the norm. After a period of some years the rate of failure starts to climb, and quite soon the rate of failure of a legacy control system type increases significantly. The net result is that the control system that has been running your process reliably for the past several years is running increasingly on borrowed time, and to compound things, when it does fail getting the system to run again will be difficult and almost certainly time consuming – probably at the worst time for production!

 Our engineers have provided smooth and efficient migrations with minimal downtime. Projects range from large multiple PLC systems with phased implementation, through to small single PLC machine controllers. Migrations can utilize conversion tools for simple and cost effective solutions, while more complex systems will require at least some software engineering input. 

While in an ideal world migration should be thoroughly planned we accept that legacy equipment can and does fail unexpectedly. Should catastrophe strike, contact us and we will do all we can to expedite a recovery. 

Modern Control Solutions have proven experience in migration of obsolete PLC based control systems to the latest platforms. A key part of our skill is in not only upgrading PLC hardware and software but also SCADA/HMI and communication networks where applicable.

 The process starts with our honest, detailed assessment of your existing control system, performed by experienced engineers not salesmen. This will look at availability of spares, impact of lost production, potential support costs, connectivity and the possibility of future expansion.

We then work with you to produce a plan for a migration path that will:-

-  Be as cost effective as possible

-  Minimize production downtime

-  Provide a supportable documented system

Having reversed engineered and upgraded many control systems; Modern Control Solutions is well placed to help you restore your system with modern, supportable automation equipment.

 Please email or phone us using the Contact page and we will arrange for a specialist to contact you and discuss your specific application.