That’s when Morley began to think outside the box, literally. The PLC received device information from the field, solved the logic, and then energized the outputs to produce the desired effect, which generally meant performing repetitive tasks in a reliable and durable manner. Bottom line? With the trend toward flexibility, many of the applications in the process industries share requirements traditionally thought to be exclusive to either DCS or PLC. A DCS will be able to take advantage of all the aspects of an automated system, from the machines and sensors to the controllers and computers. In addition, today's DCS hardware is not as expensive as it was a couple of decades ago and is less difficult to implement. It has great computational capabilities. He wondered if he could create an automated programmable controller that could handle his clients’ everyday jobs. A PLC can become a “sub-system” of a DCS when the application calls f… This kind of predictive analysis is particularly important for obsolete part replacement and avoiding costly downtime. 5. DCS was originally developed for analogue control. PLC-A could process the ice cream batch. In a nutshell, a PLC or programmable logic controller is a ruggedized computer used for automating processes. Redundancy. After finding financial support, Morley’s new enterprise, Modicon, was created. It is also no longer as cumbersome either - modern DCS hardware resembles a PLC in size. ... DCS stands for Distributed Control System and PLC stands for Programmable Logic Controller. This is why DCS is now used in smaller applications, whereby it is not spread across the whole plant, but rather a complex subsection that needs reliable control. Mark Proctor is managing director of industrial spares supplier EU Automation. In her free time, Anderson is a RealPars video instructor. In her lengthy career, Anderson has worked in a wide variety of industries, and with all of the top PLC systems, as well as the top names inHMI/SCADA. One of the first and simplest advantages is reliability. Systems can be shut down for maintenance, troubleshooting or upgrades without damage to equipment or significant downtime costs. DCS stands for Distributed Control System. It provides interface to connect thousands of sensors across wide region for various monitoring and controlling operations. A connected PLC system can have nearly the same security and robustness as a DCS, while a single PLC is a single point of failure, so you wouldn’t want to control an entire plant with a single PLC. Here again the DCS has an advantage over a PLC. Whereas in a DCS, asset management software provides alerts of what might break before it does, so a fitting substitution can be made. Game on. The company name stuck through a couple of acquisitions, then morphed into what is now Schneider Electric. Mark Proctor is managing director of industrial spares supplier, FREE Subscription to Engineering magazines. PLCs are designed to meet the needs of applications that require scan rates of ten milliseconds or less. This is why DCS is now used in smaller applications, whereby it is not spread across the whole plant, but rather a complex subsection that needs reliable control. That interface may do something like handling the manual and automatic operation of a valve. A few thousand I/O points can be handled by a PLC whereas DCS can handle many thousands of I/O points and accommodate new equipment, process enhancements, and data integration. Benefits of DCS for Hybrid Industries versus Conventional PLC Approach: Your questions answered Webcast presenters Jerry Espy, Frank Prendergast, and Jerry Bartlemay answered questions about topics such as cybersecurity risk, the emergency of the … Function block programming saved a lot of time and redundant programming. Tag: advantages of dcs over plc. Yet another advantage of the DCS is installation cost savings. There is no monitoring devices in PLC like DCS. The idea of using a PLC-based system rather than a DCS has become a philosophical and technical debate in the industry. When the batch is complete, PLC-A communicates with PLC-B that the process was complete, and PLC-B then launches the freezing process. Take the ice cream sandwich example. Also beneficial was that the DCS had function block programming. 3. On the other hand, engineers expect a DCS to offer an out-of-the-box control system with features such as - historian, sophisticated alarms and logic from pre-existing function blocks. What's the main difference between DCS & PLC? PLCs are fast, no doubt about it. Your DCS is your captain. A DCS takes much longer to process data, … 1. One needs to weigh the system costs and the advantages/disadvantages to make the best decision for the situation at hand. “The ability to employ a single, hybrid control strategy that combines the benefits of both DCS and PLC/HMI control is a huge advantage for a company today, enabling them to run completely different processes from the same controller environment,” Ryan said. a DCS and a PLC were well defined. I hope all the above questions wont bother you much. 2. Some uses of IPCs include OEM machines and skids and other small projects where space is limited. You can reach her at: mondi.anderson@gmail.com, or email the RealPars team at: hello@realpars.com. Today, we will dive into some of the advantages of PLCs. Another advantage is the onboard monitoring and control system. 4. It has shorter training time required. In those early days of automation, there was a clear spilt between DCS and PLC systems, with both types being designed for their specific tasks. DCS was originally developed for analogue control. Bayt.com is the leading job site in the Middle East and North Africa, connecting job seekers with employers looking to hire. Function block programming, if you aren’t familiar with it, is a section or several lines of code behind a single interface. PLC VS DCS . Modicon was now in business, big time. crossed that line and put a PLC with HMI in charge of a con-tinuous process control application. A Programmable logic controller(PLC) is simply a special purpose computing device designed for use in industrial control systems and other systems where the reliability of the system is high. This is because a DCS normally has built-in redundancy, ensuring a higher level of system insurance. Future of the DCS/PLC . DCS can be preferred when advanced process control is required and contain a large facility that’s spread out over a wide geographic area with thousands of I/O points. The proposals didn’t exactly meet Morley’s creative nature—they were so similar and repetitive that, being the antsy type, he eventually grew bored. The DCS may still offer some advantages when it comes to redundancy and hot swap capability, but new PLCs can offer that today, too.” Dolan considers the PLC to be a less expensive solution to a given application than DCS. You can see that with today’s technologies, a wide and robust PLC system could do virtually the same thing that the DCS can do. With open source communications, fiber optics, Ethernet and the like, many PLCs can now communicate with each other and behave as autonomous PLCs that communicate over the network to other autonomous controllers. The speed of logic execution is another key differentiator between DCS and PLC. Lean more about: PLC vs Relay system. The big change in DCS over the past 20 years is its move from proprietary hardware to the personal computer (PC) and standard LAN technologies. The entire tag base is right there, already created for the process control, and available to use on the monitoring and control screens. Figure 2. Another major benefit of the DCS was the integrated monitoring and control system similar to today’s SCADA systems. On the other hand, PLCs evolved from solid state relays and, as opposed to DCS, were used where process restarts were not a major concern, but processing speed was important. An advantage of the DCS is installation costs. As a utility player, PLCs are highly customisable. Speaking of advantages, today’s PLC systems offer nearly the same ones as the DCS, excluding the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). As good fortune would have it, during the design phase of Morley’s creation, an executive at GM presented a request for a solid state controller that would make plants more reliable and durable, one that could also replace the hardwired and unreliable relay systems that were pervasive in manufacturing. PLCs have a simpler architecture, as is evident from the diagrams above. A DCS or distributed control system is similar to a PLC in that it has rugged computer controllers, however, the DCS contains multiple autonomous controllers that are distributed throughout a system, also used for automating processes. They were initially developed to replace hardwired relays, sequences and timers used in the manufacturing process by the automation industry, but today they have scaled and are being used by all kind of manufacturing processes including robot based lines. In most small to medium size applications a single processor (though this is changing now too) has immediate access to all data and I/O and processes it as required. A DCS today is just as functionally and cost-effective as a PLC in fast logic sequential tasks. All upgrades are made online while the system runs continuously. Interestingly, this debate over the virtues of DCS vs. PLC has been ongoing since these two architectures came into existence 40 years ago. Important Issues . Following are the benefits or advantages of SCADA: The system provide facility to store large amount of data. Mondi Anderson works as a Controls Engineer at Metawater USA, a global company focused on water treatment technologies, equipment and engineering. The reduced hardware and software requirements reduces cost. Most plant floor technicians are familiar with ladder logic programming however, DCS programmers and technicians typically need more specialized experience in database functions, as well as IT-related networking knowledge. PLC-Easy provides a lean-tested framework where functionality for every type of process and industry, as well as MES supporting functionality/data, can be easily created, added and modified by using basic programming skills. A DCS or distributed control system is similar to a PLC in that it has rugged computer controllers, however, the DCS contains multiple autonomous controllers that are distributed throughout a system, also used for automating processes. These days, there is probably no single factory in the word that … They have standard libraries and routines built in, but also have the capability to be specially programmed using custom code from scratch. This advantage occurs because of the autonomous controller can be located in close proximity to the process versus pulling long runs of I/O wire across a plant. Traditionally, a DCS system was expensive, large, complex to implement and only seen as a control solution for continuous or complex batch process industries. Fig. However, DCSs do not need to be this quick because they control systems rather than individual devices. It is also no longer as cumbersome either - modern DCS hardware resembles a PLC in size. A DCS combines one or more PLCs with an HMI, and allows the integrator to build both together. One advantage of IPCs is that it is often possible to run the HMI application on the same machine as the automation program and decrease cost. This change has brought about a certain level of technological convergence between PLCs and DCSs that defies traditional ideas of the two. DCS is advanced version of PLC and DCS works in real time frame while PLC not. By Mondi Anderson, Controls Engineer at Metawater USA and Automation Instructor at RealPars. This makes it easier to implement and maintain. PLC (especially Compact PLC) has a lower cost associated with it as compared to the other automation technology. The programming of the PLCs was primarily in ladder logic, a format very similar to a schematic. He shared it with his team who enthusiastically embraced the design. This is another myth. Demonstrating advantages ABB was able to offer CEE some examples to demonstrate how savings can be realised by using today’s DCS workflow, when compared with a PLC/HMI (SCADA) system. This is all about the Programmable Logic Controller aka PLC. The plant would have a production line for the ice cream, and one of the autonomous controllers would process the batch of ice cream. Every day, thousands of new job vacancies are listed on the award-winning platform from the region's top employers. Benefits or advantages of SCADA. However, consumers willing to adopt automated robotics applications in their manufacturing processes still need to understand their differences. This advantage occurs because of the location of the autonomous controller to the process can be close in vicinity versus pulling long runs of I/O wire across a plant. By Mondi Anderson, Controls Engineer at Metawater USA and Automation Instructor at RealPars In a nutshell, a PLC or programmable logic controller is a ruggedized computer used for automating processes. 3. Yet another controller might process the cookie batch, while another might supervise the baking process. For example, take the server halls of data centres: these types of control systems are often seen as hybrids of both DCS and PLC. However, the latest generations of PLCs are increasingly capable of delivering simple to complex proportional integral derivative (PID) control. 2 (original print article) gives a Venn-diagrammatic picture of the situation, which is still changing as PLC and DCS vendors adapt to "soft" PLC technology and "smart" bus-connected field devices. The PLC is cost effective from 0 to a few thousand I/O points. PLCs are designed to meet the needs of applications that require scan rates of ten milliseconds or less. 3.How can we say that PCS7 is a DCS ( as many customers stillhave some hesitation to accept PCS7 as DCS)??? At Bedford, Morley and his friend wrote proposal after proposal, mostly for local tool firms hoping to evolve into the new solid state manufacturing arena with the help of small computers. The DCS’ onboard monitoring and control system is also a plus. The DCS was really good at autonomously controlling single or multiple processes. 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