Automation & software

Automation solutions that go into operation — and stay there

We build the control system with PLC program, SCADA and commissioning developed together with the panel and the electrical design.

An automation solution has to pass two tests. At commissioning, the program must handle real signal levels, timing and sequence logic correctly when connected to physical sensors, actuators and panel — not only in simulation. In operation, a technician must be able to read the state of any function block, trace a signal from sensor to action and understand a fault without going through the whole code. We program for both: a structured build-up in function blocks, consistent tag and signal naming, and alarms with instructions for action rather than a raw fault code.

The programmers work together with the design engineers and the switchboard workshop. I/O lists, signal types and interfaces to machines and existing plant are clarified during design, and the control system is tested against the physical panel before it is delivered.

Advice is part of the job. The control concept, the division between PLC, HMI and SCADA, and the component selection are settled together with you before programming starts. This is where CPU performance and I/O count are decided in relation to cycle time, which protocols — Profinet, Modbus or OPC UA — tie PLC, HMI and higher-level systems together, and whether the SCADA architecture should be local or client/server. Those choices stay fixed for the rest of the project. An undersized CPU or a wrong choice of protocol is typically only discovered at commissioning, where it is expensive to correct.

The SCADA and HMI part is built around the operator's workflows. Screens follow the physical layout of the plant, and the alarm list is prioritised by consequence. Every alarm includes the component, the probable cause and the first checkpoint — not just a tag name or a fault number.

Modification of existing control systems starts with a review of the program, I/O lists and documentation. We define what can be reused, what has to be rewritten, and how the changeover can be carried out with the shortest possible downtime — planned together with your production.

You are welcome to take part in the factory acceptance test (FAT). The functions are gone through point by point according to the test plan, and the results are documented in the test report before the control system leaves the workshop.

We deliver automation solutions to industrial and manufacturing companies and to machine builders: new automation plants, extensions, machine control systems and modification of existing control systems.

If the automation plant has to be integrated with existing equipment, we clarify the interfaces first. We define which signals are exchanged, which protocols are spoken, and who owns which part of the control system. The scope boundary is written into the delivery agreement, so responsibility is unambiguous — even when several suppliers work on the same plant.

Automation with us is not an isolated discipline. The programmers work closely with the design engineers and the switchboard workshop. I/O addresses and tag names in the program are set according to the panel's terminal lists and labelling from the first version, so nothing has to be mapped or renamed when the control system is connected to the physical panel.

If you need changes after the plant is in operation, we already know the code, the documentation and the panel. Troubleshooting and extensions start from something we built ourselves — not an unfamiliar code base that first has to be read through.

Programming can stand as a defined task on its own, or we can take responsibility for control system, panel and commissioning as a whole. You choose where the line is drawn — in either case the software is designed together with the panel and the rest of the plant.