System Documentation Migration from Legacy to Modern

Manufacturing Intelligence

A producer of industrial minerals in Vermont with locations all over the world asked Hallam-ICS to migrate a legacy Access Database to a modern Web Application. The automation team has been using an Access Database to document the inputs/outputs (I/O) by Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) and card spread in different locations of the plant. The Access Database was first developed in the early 2000s. The team added features to it but also broke other existing ones.

The information saved in the database included:

• PLC, rack, and card descriptions
• Points and tags
• Location

The automation team asked Hallam-ICS to develop a modern Web Application to save the data into an SQL Database, keep it compatible with the existing SCADA application and add new features to it. The new application allowed the creation of rack and card templates to simplify the data entry and reduce the mistakes. Hallam-ICS developed a solution with ASP.Net and a redesigned SQL Server database to support future needs.

The historical data was imported into the new application to reduce the work for the automation team. Hallam-ICS continued to add features to the solution, the current application helps the team to define and document accurately the I/O by PLC, rack, and card. The user can also now find the information for the fol- lowing questions:

• How many cards have the same part number?
• Which device is using this IP Address?
• How many ports are used on each switch?
• Where is this tag configured?
• How many I/O total?

With this new solution, the data can be reported in many ways.