Products4Automation (P4A) is
a specialist supplier of new and
innovative software and hardware
solutions to the UK market.
www.products4automation.co.uk
There are also two PCs and a number
of touchscreen HMI's on the system,
providing main and secondary control
stations. "The system now runs Movicon
SCADA software," says Daniel, "which
has been used successfully in many food
and beverage applications, as well as for
materials handling and in many other
industries."
Movicon provides constant real-time
production process information, collecting
data from multiple sensors on the
plant and processing it into high level
information. This allows Highland Grains to
efficiently manage its plant and processes
to meet customers changing needs.
Movicon is based on an XML technology
that offers an all-in-one development
environment for managing all HMI, SCADA
and statistical production data analysis
applications. This allowed Highland
and Coldcurve to minimise project
development times and also to achieve
a powerful, open, solution that is easy
to maintain and flexible so that it can
accommodate future developments.
Movicon also supports web services,
scalable vector graphics, OPC, SQL, ODBC,
and many other functions that allow
highly integrated information and control
systems to be developed, whether they be
large or small.
Paul Hurst of Products4Automation
offers an expert view on today's SCADA:
"Flexibility is one of the major needs in
modern automation. Plant operators
increasingly insist that their control
systems have the ability to easily adapt to
new demands."
Now, with the Scotch whisky industry
once again resurgent (it is worth about
£5bn to the UK economy and growing at
5% a year according to the 'Scotch Whisky
Association'), it is expecting to further
develop its site and facilities over the
coming years.
Movicon protects plant owners'
investments because it is able to satisfy all
automation application needs from field
control level (PLCs, HMIs, sensors etc) right
through to SCADA/MES and enterprise
management levels. Thus it can provide a
systems architecture that is as simple as
possible, containing initial set up costs and
allowing easy subsequent developments.
The simplicity of its control architecture
and flexibility of the Movicon software
should make this as straightforward and
efficient as possible.
"Movicon is a real-time flexible platform
with high levels of connectivity, capable
of adapting to all modern automation
application typologies, so is the only
software needed in the system," says Hurst.
Product ranges available from P4A include
the latest touch-screen HMI's and flat panel
PCs, SCADA software and plug-ins, a wide
range of SCADA enabled hardware, Alarm
plug-in software for large automation
systems, and a full range of Production
Intelligence software solutions.
Movicon includes a large number
of tools for easily creating powerful
visualisation and control projects and its
comprehensive connectivity capabilities
means simple integration with other,
related systems such as MES, ERP and the
web. This ability reduces initial project
costs and goes on to control total lifetime
operating costs. Highland Grains has been
successful over nearly forty years because
of its willingness to adapt to new and
changing demands.
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