Application Engineering and Maintenance with zenon

When they’re developing an application, engineers may run into a number of complex challenges. These challenges can lead to errors and extend development time, increasing costs. Some common causes of application engineering challenges include:

• HMI/SCADA knowledge: Once a system integrator creates a project, the end user may need to make modifications, carry out maintenance or implement minor expansions. If the user lacks high-level HMI/SCADA knowledge or an easy-to-use software that simplifies the development work, they may accidentally damage the project’s functionality.

• Differing standards: Coordinating with multiple system integrators can prove difficult unless common standards are defined. An effective application engineering tool like zenon makes setting those standards easy.

• Having too many tools: System integrators face pressure to master tools for production data acquisition, alarm management, archiving, performance optimization, maintenance management and more. Managing multiple tools can be complicated and lead to solutions for different customers becoming increasingly similar.

• Limiting hardware conditions: When you’re launching a project or performing maintenance on-site, access to a convenient hardware environment may be limited. For example, engineers may have to multitask from a single laptop instead of a multi-monitor desktop. To work efficiently, engineers need the ability to run projects on modest setups.

• Compatibility with legacy and heterogeneous systems: For brownfield plants needing an upgrade, converting older projects into modern applications can be a challenge if the chosen software is not compatible with their legacy projects. Likewise, without proper connectivity, integrating equipment and systems in a heterogeneous production landscape might not be an easy task.

Plant maintenance and application engineering challenges shouldn’t keep you from using custom projects and increasing production efficiency. Improving plant maintenance with industrial automation is possible with the zenon Software Platform.

Some of the features that allow zenon to assist you with application engineering and maintenance include:

• Simple and error-free project creation: zenon allows users to create complex projects without writing code simply by setting the parameters. Global projects with object orientation and automatic project configuration capabilities, such as ready-to-use wizards, mean you can create projects quickly while minimizing the chance of error. This all-in-one solution is deigned to be as user-friendly, efficient and simple as possible.

• Maximum flexibility and scalability: With zenon, multiple engineers can work across projects easily. You can transport projects to any PC in your network and start and stop Runtime remotely for maximum flexibility and convenience. The modular design in zenon allows you to choose the engineering functions just for your applications. More than 300 drivers we develop in-house secure the highest level of connectivity. Should a special protocol be missing, we can quickly provide you with a replacement driver that is of top quality and performance. The zenon Editor also comes with free Add-In service that let you easily interface with external hardware and databases. For example, it can constantly monitor the engineering tasks and remind you of missing steps that need to be executed. From single machine operation to unlimited-tag process control, you can start small and expand your project later with zenon.

• Security features and available redundancy: Seamless and circular redundancy help keep your system secure and prevent interruptions, data loss and downtime in the event of a failure. Our patented redundancy system enables you to significantly improve network reliability and requires less than half of the hardware needed for conventional redundancy. With zenon, all changes made in the Editor are synchronized instantly with the Runtime while the system is still running.

• Smart user and project management: The role-based user administration lets you define the level of access in zenon Editor and Runtime for any user and ensures critical operations are carried out by authorized users only. With 128 different access levels available, zenon fully protects your projects from data loss or unauthorized access.,. While only an administrator can create new users, unblock users and deactivate users, you can add as many users as desired zenon also allows multiple engineers to check out portions of a project and simultaneously work on specific areas, where only they can make changes. These changes are then synchronized across all engineering machines.

• Low total cost of ownership: zenon provides a fully integrated engineering environment where you create, maintain and expand your applications throughout the life cycle. By automating routine tasks and eliminating errors, zenon saves your maintenance time and improves operational efficiency. It comes with all the features you need to create a functional SCADA runtime out of the box. You do not need to add separate components like historian servers or alarm servers.