Upgrades to Industrial Control Systems (ICS) are one of the biggest investments a company can make.

Industry 4.0 offers many new capabilities for ICS which offer high value and ROI, but how can a manufacturer convert their control systems while maintaining uptime, ensuring security and minding cost? Let’s Understand.

When to Upgrade Industrial Control System?

When is the right time to upgrade? It comes down to several factors and greatly depends on a manufacturer’s desire to leverage new technologies as well as the funding they have available – though there are a variety of solutions available now to fit most budgets.

But the maturity of the equipment should be of concern, as should access to parts. As control systems age, there is a greater risk of failure and fatigue at the component level, which results in downtime.

Manufacturers may be hesitant to invest in new technology because they do not fully understand the risk. Leaders are reluctant to move data outside of their current setup.

But prolonged maintenance of control systems can only go so far until repairs get too complex and too costly to do. It raises the risk of longer downtime.

The availability of systems also prevents manufacturers from moving on to upgrades. For example, some companies can only afford one to two hours of scheduled downtime per year, and don’t want to have to run two systems at once in order to do an ICS changeout.

This means that while one part of a control system is down, another part can still be running – or the cloud can be used to upgrade certain components on the fly.

Ask us, because we know.

If you pay attention to how a control panel is laid out on the inside then you won’t have a nightmare if and when you have to troubleshoot it later. We always desire to have a clean and well-organized control panel on their shop floor. Let RTS tell you the points we take into consideration to ensure that you get the best industrial control panel. We have been doing this for more than 25 years and we take pride in doing it right!

There are certain aspects to consider while fabricating a control panel:

1. Design layout and component placement
2. Labeling
3. Panel size and spacing
4. Wireway design
5. Adherence to regulations
6. Area specification

Today, more than ever manufacturers have a difficult job of advancing production efficiencies and quality while keeping track of all the different stages of product development. Especially when we look at mass customization and the various product options consumers would like to have. Luckily, when it comes to different systems that ease the job of manufacturers worldwide, there isn't a shortage of options. Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software are two of the tools manufacturers rely on when it comes to streamlining their business processes and fulfilling consumers' appetite for unique products. The integration between MES and PLM has the potential to transform and modernize your business. And considering the fact that digital transformation in the manufacturing industry is important now more than ever, this seems to be the right time to delve into the matter more deeply. 

Whether you are looking to improve existing operations, achieve operational excellence or offer your consumers more product choices without increasing manufacturing costs, the good news is that you have many different options as you seek MES or PLM systems and vendors. But before you invest in these systems and try to integrate them into a powerful meaningful whole, let’s review some basic functions of both MES and PLM.

As SAP defines, Digital Transformation, is a fundamental rethinking of customer experience, business models and operations

Companies are using technologies at hand to come up with innovative ways to improve overall efficiency, deliver value to the customer and increase revenue. Mass customization, at a palatable consumer price point, being just one of the emerging capabilities organizations now have to impress the consumer and increase in revenue.

Digital Transformation is an achievable target but how do you go about it? Below we have outlined some of the considerations for you to deliberate over.