IS³ – Industry Software Solutions and Support, a business within Digital Industries (Pty) Ltd, announced that they have become the first AVEVA Select partner in the EMEA region, making them the only authorised distributor for AVEVA products in Southern Africa. This also enables IS³ to provide AVEVA’s full portfolio of comprehensive, global leading industrial software in the Southern African region in addition to being an authorised AVEVA Select Partner.

The AVEVA Select partnership has accelerated the value that IS³ can provide, empowering their customers and partners to optimise engineering, operations, and asset performance. A common digital thread across all enterprise pillars is enabling a new level of performance intelligence using bedrock technologies from artificial intelligence, IIOT, big data to the cloud and hybrid solutions.

The specialised engineering suite (inclusive of the entire project life cycle) assists customers in efficiently delivering capital projects on time and within budget. The operations suite eliminates supply chain value leaks while improving operational efficiency and enhancing collaboration. The asset performance management suite empowers customers and partners to balance operating expenses and risk to optimise performance.

Conversion of DAS to OI Communication Drivers and Modernisation of 2014 R2 to 2020 R2 System Platform utilising Industrial Graphics (Converted from InTouch Smart Symbols and Graphics), Implemented on a Virtualised Environment in Conjunction with BARRICK IT and making use of Thin Manager and Industrial Thin Clients.

Background

IA Control Solutions entered into discussion with BARRICK Bulyanhulu Gold Mine during November/December 2020 regarding the modernisation of the Shaft System Platform SCADA application running on outdated stand-alone servers. Due to the outdated nature and stand-alone implementation of the System Platform servers and view clients it created an environment where the IT department was not able to effectively support these servers and view client PCs due to their stand-alone and isolated nature. The OT maintenance department was severely challenged to maintain these systems as responsible persons work on rotation basis and when on site are extremely busy.

Business Challenges

The existing OT Server infrastructure was also housed in a non-server friendly environment with no proper access control and protections. By implementing a virtualised environment, the server cluster would be housed within the IT infrastructure resolving this issue. Virtualisation also offered better disaster recovery and backups due to OS Systems, Base Software from System Platform and Galaxy application being maintained on Virtual Servers with redundancies build in.

Access to the Historian Database was not possible via IT Infrastructure to Barrick Management for reporting and analysis’s function. This was due to the OT networks being completely isolated and no access was available from IT systems.

The Solution

A System Integrator Partner was required to co-ordinate, implement, and support a solution where the IT Department could maintain the Server and View Client infrastructure while access to the Historian Database was possible to management and the OT department-maintained control of all OT systems. All of this had to be done in a safe, maintainable/supported and Security conscious manner. This would also be the first time that IT and OT systems would be integrated to this extend at Bulyanhulu Gold Mine and reaping the benefits from the various departments and System Integrator Partner joining their skills to provide a technical stable and future life of mine reliable SCADA System for the underground department.

The Success

The decision was made to Implement AVEVA System Platform on a virtualised environment and replace all view client PCs with Industrial Thin Clients and Thin manager Software. The InTouch HMI Application for System Platform will be redone where all smart symbols and InTouch graphics are converted to Industrial Graphics within the Galaxy. The legacy DAS Communication Drivers should be converted to currently supported OI communication drivers. Upon completion of the project the System Integrator partner should then maintain the System Platform application via a Service Level agreement.

The system design and proposal were finalised and approved during 2021 with implementation started early 2022 and going live in April 2022.

Conversion of DAS to OI Communication Drivers and Modernisation of 2014 R2 to 2020 R2 System Platform utilising Industrial Graphics (Converted from InTouch Smart Symbols and Graphics), Implemented on a Virtualised Environment in Conjunction with BARRICK IT and making use of Thin Manager and Industrial Thin Clients.

Background

IA Control Solutions entered into discussion with BARRICK Bulyanhulu Gold Mine during November/December 2020 regarding the modernisation of the Shaft System Platform SCADA application running on outdated stand-alone servers. Due to the outdated nature and stand-alone implementation of the System Platform servers and view clients it created an environment where the IT department was not able to effectively support these servers and view client PCs due to their stand-alone and isolated nature. The OT maintenance department was severely challenged to maintain these systems as responsible persons work on rotation basis and when on site are extremely busy.

Business Challenges

The existing OT Server infrastructure was also housed in a non-server friendly environment with no proper access control and protections. By implementing a virtualised environment, the server cluster would be housed within the IT infrastructure resolving this issue. Virtualisation also offered better disaster recovery and backups due to OS Systems, Base Software from System Platform and Galaxy application being maintained on Virtual Servers with redundancies build in.

Access to the Historian Database was not possible via IT Infrastructure to Barrick Management for reporting and analysis’s function. This was due to the OT networks being completely isolated and no access was available from IT systems.

The Solution

A System Integrator Partner was required to co-ordinate, implement, and support a solution where the IT Department could maintain the Server and View Client infrastructure while access to the Historian Database was possible to management and the OT department-maintained control of all OT systems. All of this had to be done in a safe, maintainable/supported and Security conscious manner. This would also be the first time that IT and OT systems would be integrated to this extend at Bulyanhulu Gold Mine and reaping the benefits from the various departments and System Integrator Partner joining their skills to provide a technical stable and future life of mine reliable SCADA System for the underground department.

The Success

The decision was made to Implement AVEVA System Platform on a virtualised environment and replace all view client PCs with Industrial Thin Clients and Thin manager Software. The InTouch HMI Application for System Platform will be redone where all smart symbols and InTouch graphics are converted to Industrial Graphics within the Galaxy. The legacy DAS Communication Drivers should be converted to currently supported OI communication drivers. Upon completion of the project the System Integrator partner should then maintain the System Platform application via a Service Level agreement.

The system design and proposal were finalised and approved during 2021 with implementation started early 2022 and going live in April 2022.

Advantages of the SCADA upgrade for Reckitt Benckiser
Consistency, safety and accuracy are extremely important factors for companies producing products in the Pharmaceutical industry. The upgraded SCADA system by AGE Technologies supported these factors by ensuring high plant availability and easy product traceability. It also allowed excellent flexibility in recipe procedure, provided enhanced batch application capabilities with the ArchestrA platform integration. Maximum utilisation of equipment was achieved for increased performance and productivity.
Consistent quality of products is now easier to achieve, and material management was improved. Management will benefit from running the plant from the Operator station and from the Lab Area. As required, the system also complies to FDA 21 CFR Part 11 Manufacturing standards.

The Results for Reckitt Benckiser Group
The facility can now enjoy the advantages of a high performing SCADA And Batching application. 24/7 Access to plant status and system diagnostics ensures problems are resolved easily, and downtime is kept at a minimum. The comprehensive electronic batch record and reporting capabilities ensure that relevant and accurate data is available to aid in decision-making, problem detecting and process monitoring.

Conversion of DAS to OI Communication Drivers and Modernisation of 2014 R2 to 2020 R2 System Platform utilising Industrial Graphics (Converted from InTouch Smart Symbols and Graphics), Implemented on a Virtualised Environment in Conjunction with BARRICK IT and making use of Thin Manager and Industrial Thin Clients.

Background

IA Control Solutions entered into discussion with BARRICK Bulyanhulu Gold Mine during November/December 2020 regarding the modernisation of the Shaft System Platform SCADA application running on outdated stand-alone servers. Due to the outdated nature and stand-alone implementation of the System Platform servers and view clients it created an environment where the IT department was not able to effectively support these servers and view client PCs due to their stand-alone and isolated nature. The OT maintenance department was severely challenged to maintain these systems as responsible persons work on rotation basis and when on site are extremely busy.

Business Challenges

The existing OT Server infrastructure was also housed in a non-server friendly environment with no proper access control and protections. By implementing a virtualised environment, the server cluster would be housed within the IT infrastructure resolving this issue. Virtualisation also offered better disaster recovery and backups due to OS Systems, Base Software from System Platform and Galaxy application being maintained on Virtual Servers with redundancies build in.

Access to the Historian Database was not possible via IT Infrastructure to Barrick Management for reporting and analysis’s function. This was due to the OT networks being completely isolated and no access was available from IT systems.

The Solution

A System Integrator Partner was required to co-ordinate, implement, and support a solution where the IT Department could maintain the Server and View Client infrastructure while access to the Historian Database was possible to management and the OT department-maintained control of all OT systems. All of this had to be done in a safe, maintainable/supported and Security conscious manner. This would also be the first time that IT and OT systems would be integrated to this extend at Bulyanhulu Gold Mine and reaping the benefits from the various departments and System Integrator Partner joining their skills to provide a technical stable and future life of mine reliable SCADA System for the underground department.

The Success

The decision was made to Implement AVEVA System Platform on a virtualised environment and replace all view client PCs with Industrial Thin Clients and Thin manager Software. The InTouch HMI Application for System Platform will be redone where all smart symbols and InTouch graphics are converted to Industrial Graphics within the Galaxy. The legacy DAS Communication Drivers should be converted to currently supported OI communication drivers. Upon completion of the project the System Integrator partner should then maintain the System Platform application via a Service Level agreement.

The system design and proposal were finalised and approved during 2021 with implementation started early 2022 and going live in April 2022.

Conversion of DAS to OI Communication Drivers and Modernisation of 2014 R2 to 2020 R2 System Platform utilising Industrial Graphics (Converted from InTouch Smart Symbols and Graphics), Implemented on a Virtualised Environment in Conjunction with BARRICK IT and making use of Thin Manager and Industrial Thin Clients.

Background

IA Control Solutions entered into discussion with BARRICK Bulyanhulu Gold Mine during November/December 2020 regarding the modernisation of the Shaft System Platform SCADA application running on outdated stand-alone servers. Due to the outdated nature and stand-alone implementation of the System Platform servers and view clients it created an environment where the IT department was not able to effectively support these servers and view client PCs due to their stand-alone and isolated nature. The OT maintenance department was severely challenged to maintain these systems as responsible persons work on rotation basis and when on site are extremely busy.

Business Challenges

The existing OT Server infrastructure was also housed in a non-server friendly environment with no proper access control and protections. By implementing a virtualised environment, the server cluster would be housed within the IT infrastructure resolving this issue. Virtualisation also offered better disaster recovery and backups due to OS Systems, Base Software from System Platform and Galaxy application being maintained on Virtual Servers with redundancies build in.

Access to the Historian Database was not possible via IT Infrastructure to Barrick Management for reporting and analysis’s function. This was due to the OT networks being completely isolated and no access was available from IT systems.

The Solution

A System Integrator Partner was required to co-ordinate, implement, and support a solution where the IT Department could maintain the Server and View Client infrastructure while access to the Historian Database was possible to management and the OT department-maintained control of all OT systems. All of this had to be done in a safe, maintainable/supported and Security conscious manner. This would also be the first time that IT and OT systems would be integrated to this extend at Bulyanhulu Gold Mine and reaping the benefits from the various departments and System Integrator Partner joining their skills to provide a technical stable and future life of mine reliable SCADA System for the underground department.

The Success

The decision was made to Implement AVEVA System Platform on a virtualised environment and replace all view client PCs with Industrial Thin Clients and Thin manager Software. The InTouch HMI Application for System Platform will be redone where all smart symbols and InTouch graphics are converted to Industrial Graphics within the Galaxy. The legacy DAS Communication Drivers should be converted to currently supported OI communication drivers. Upon completion of the project the System Integrator partner should then maintain the System Platform application via a Service Level agreement.

The system design and proposal were finalised and approved during 2021 with implementation started early 2022 and going live in April 2022.

Goals

• Expert, remote supervision of the mine’s industrial automation infrastructure
• Detection of system issues before they can cause major downtime
• Automatic notification of potential problems
• Maintain system health and performance
• Management of software updates and patches

Solutions and Products

• Sentinel Services
• System Platform
• Historian
• Information Server
• InTouch

Challenges

• Accepting the concept of remote system supervision without jeopardising security

Results

• 24/7/365 proactive system monitoring
• 82% reduction in monthly system issues
• Improved system availability
• Availability of expert resources
• System software is always current
• Maximised asset ROI
• Documented reasons for system improvement
• Peace of mind

Lephalale, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Apart from capable personnel at all levels, Exxaro’s extensive Grootegeluk coal mine relies on a large industrial automation infrastructure to look after and control its complex coal beneficiation processes. But who’s looking after that vital infrastructure?

Background

The complexity and sophistication of supervisory and control systems is growing at a steady rate to keep up with the need for production information and efficiency. At the same time, these systems need access to sensors and instrumentation through equally sophisticated PLCs so that they can log, measure and control events in real time. So we can say without exaggeration that industrial automation and industrial IT is not for the faint-hearted. In fact, a “data processing manager” of the latter half of last century would pale when considering what instrumentation engineers, production managers and others have to deal with today – because even he wouldn’t know what was going on.

That’s why it’s become vital to find people that could integrate production knowledge with system knowledge – such a person is Jacques Jansen, Solution Analyst, Automation, Exxaro Grootegeluk. He makes a point that, although they have a great knowledge of their industrial automation infrastructure (Exxaro implemented their systems with minimal assistance from system integrators), their expertise lies in coal beneficiation and not in the quirks of the latest operating system or monitoring scan overruns.

“One of the biggest problems we have in the automation environment has to do with changes,” says Jansen. “While everything seems to be operating well with a stable system, someone could have justifiably changed a system parameter whose effect isn’t immediately obvious but that eventually results in a problem over time. We don’t have the resources and skills on site to deal with such problems.”

Another change is the issue of system updates where IT personnel would update existing operating systems without regard as to what updates and patches were in place.

“All these changes would slow down the systems and even cause expensive downtime leaving the operators to ask for help,” says Jansen. “We’re looking to expand our operations in the Waterberg but with skills and resources becoming scarcer and technicians stretched to their limit looking after the plant, we decided to look for a proactive system monitoring tool that could detect issues before they cause downtime.”

Implementation
The implementation took place between January and February 2013 and included installing monitoring agents at each key node of the system. The first priority was to establish secure internet remote access through a dedicated port with only one-way traffic. Next on the agenda was a system assessment which included a system health audit followed by recommendations from IS³ and a stabilisation project.

“The system assessment revealed a number of issues such as excessive disc and CPU usage, scan overruns, exceeding best-practice thresholds and several other problems which first had to be addressed before routine monitoring could begin,” says Jansen. “Apart from the real-time alerts from the AVEVA software provided by IS³, we also meet once a month to go through an extensive report not only to discuss what happened but also to look at developments and recommendations as to where we should be heading. This is a very thorough report. We saw problems with the number of alarms operators were required to handle and we even detected an error in the configuration on a virtual machine that caused things to slow down unacceptably. These meetings help us to optimise the software life cycle, upgrade our roadmap for the future and review our alarming and security philosophies.”

Goals

• Expert, remote supervision of the mine’s industrial automation infrastructure
• Detection of system issues before they can cause major downtime
• Automatic notification of potential problems
• Maintain system health and performance
• Management of software updates and patches

Solutions and Products

• Sentinel Services
• System Platform
• Historian
• Information Server
• InTouch

Challenges

• Accepting the concept of remote system supervision without jeopardising security

Results

• 24/7/365 proactive system monitoring
• 82% reduction in monthly system issues
• Improved system availability
• Availability of expert resources
• System software is always current
• Maximised asset ROI
• Documented reasons for system improvement
• Peace of mind

Lephalale, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Apart from capable personnel at all levels, Exxaro’s extensive Grootegeluk coal mine relies on a large industrial automation infrastructure to look after and control its complex coal beneficiation processes. But who’s looking after that vital infrastructure?

Background

The complexity and sophistication of supervisory and control systems is growing at a steady rate to keep up with the need for production information and efficiency. At the same time, these systems need access to sensors and instrumentation through equally sophisticated PLCs so that they can log, measure and control events in real time. So we can say without exaggeration that industrial automation and industrial IT is not for the faint-hearted. In fact, a “data processing manager” of the latter half of last century would pale when considering what instrumentation engineers, production managers and others have to deal with today – because even he wouldn’t know what was going on.

That’s why it’s become vital to find people that could integrate production knowledge with system knowledge – such a person is Jacques Jansen, Solution Analyst, Automation, Exxaro Grootegeluk. He makes a point that, although they have a great knowledge of their industrial automation infrastructure (Exxaro implemented their systems with minimal assistance from system integrators), their expertise lies in coal beneficiation and not in the quirks of the latest operating system or monitoring scan overruns.

“One of the biggest problems we have in the automation environment has to do with changes,” says Jansen. “While everything seems to be operating well with a stable system, someone could have justifiably changed a system parameter whose effect isn’t immediately obvious but that eventually results in a problem over time. We don’t have the resources and skills on site to deal with such problems.”

Another change is the issue of system updates where IT personnel would update existing operating systems without regard as to what updates and patches were in place.

“All these changes would slow down the systems and even cause expensive downtime leaving the operators to ask for help,” says Jansen. “We’re looking to expand our operations in the Waterberg but with skills and resources becoming scarcer and technicians stretched to their limit looking after the plant, we decided to look for a proactive system monitoring tool that could detect issues before they cause downtime.”

Implementation
The implementation took place between January and February 2013 and included installing monitoring agents at each key node of the system. The first priority was to establish secure internet remote access through a dedicated port with only one-way traffic. Next on the agenda was a system assessment which included a system health audit followed by recommendations from IS³ and a stabilisation project.

“The system assessment revealed a number of issues such as excessive disc and CPU usage, scan overruns, exceeding best-practice thresholds and several other problems which first had to be addressed before routine monitoring could begin,” says Jansen. “Apart from the real-time alerts from the AVEVA software provided by IS³, we also meet once a month to go through an extensive report not only to discuss what happened but also to look at developments and recommendations as to where we should be heading. This is a very thorough report. We saw problems with the number of alarms operators were required to handle and we even detected an error in the configuration on a virtual machine that caused things to slow down unacceptably. These meetings help us to optimise the software life cycle, upgrade our roadmap for the future and review our alarming and security philosophies.”

Implementation

Exxaro selected AVEVA-endorsed system integrator Advansys (Pty) Ltd for the project because the company has manufacturing systems experts and, more to the point for this project, business intelligence specialists.

“AVEVA Intelligence provides a dimensioned data model. For example we can reference plant area, material, planned or actual production values and any number of other dimensions. It also has a CSV plug-in which we use to download the daily plan from the mine planning system. But most importantly, it has dashboard-based visual analytical tools which will help personnel design their own reporting dashboards.”

AVEVA Historian

AVEVA Historian is a high speed, high resolution (i.e. < 1 second) and high performance data logger and database that gathers data from sensors, meters and transmitters.

AVEVA Intelligence

AVEVA Intelligence is a “real-time” data warehousing solution (dimensions and measurements). It comprises two distinct components: the first is concerned with data collection and organisation into a dimensioned model and the second is an interactive visualisation and dashboarding tool.

“The Intelligence Analytics Client is essentially the authoring tool for dashboard visualisation. But it’s more than that; it’s a “Self-service” analytical tool that is so powerful that I believe everyone should have it on their desktop. Throw away spreadsheets and put this on your desktop – it’s incredible!” says Welton. “Visual analytics and dashboarding are extremely effective management tools because everyone is looking at the same version of the truth drawn from a single data warehouse. The interactive and visual nature of these dashboards significantly increases the speed and confidence of decision making. This functionality will be exploited in future by connecting AVEVA Intelligence to other data sources such as the AVEVA Performance solution provided by IS³.”

Reports

Reports can also be made available on mobile devices if required:

Benefits

• Greatly improved speed and confidence of near-real-time decision making
• Single version of the truth
• Replaced Excel as a reporting solution
• Independence and ease of use as users can configure their own reports and dashboards – solution is also now used outside of GMEP in most of the Grootegeluk plant
• Collation of data from multiple sources to provide a cohesive and contextual view of production
• “Back fill” capability leverages existing Historian data allowing back-tracking as far as needed
• Validation of all data and the ability to go back in time to correct invalid or missing manual or automatically-derived data

What’s next?  

The success of this project could mean that it will be expanded into the greater Grootegeluk plant. “It can possibly be used beyond production reporting in other areas such as finance or legal compliance with respect to safety and incident reporting,” says Welton. “Anything that is time-based and can be attached to a dimension inside AVEVA Intelligence can be reported with this system.” The next step is to consider Tier 2 which would entail replicating this solution at different mines and processing plants and being able to aggregate all or part of that information for head office to create a divisional reporting solution.

Goals

• Expert, remote supervision of the mine’s industrial automation infrastructure
• Detection of system issues before they can cause major downtime
• Automatic notification of potential problems
• Maintain system health and performance
• Management of software updates and patches

Solutions and Products

• Sentinel Services
• System Platform
• Historian
• Information Server
• InTouch

Challenges

• Accepting the concept of remote system supervision without jeopardising security

Results

• 24/7/365 proactive system monitoring
• 82% reduction in monthly system issues
• Improved system availability
• Availability of expert resources
• System software is always current
• Maximised asset ROI
• Documented reasons for system improvement
• Peace of mind

Lephalale, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Apart from capable personnel at all levels, Exxaro’s extensive Grootegeluk coal mine relies on a large industrial automation infrastructure to look after and control its complex coal beneficiation processes. But who’s looking after that vital infrastructure?

Goals

• Expert, remote supervision of the mine’s industrial automation infrastructure
• Detection of system issues before they can cause major downtime
• Automatic notification of potential problems
• Maintain system health and performance
• Management of software updates and patches

Solutions and Products

• Sentinel Services
• System Platform
• Historian
• Information Server
• InTouch

Challenges

• Accepting the concept of remote system supervision without jeopardising security

Results

• 24/7/365 proactive system monitoring
• 82% reduction in monthly system issues
• Improved system availability
• Availability of expert resources
• System software is always current
• Maximised asset ROI
• Documented reasons for system improvement
• Peace of mind

Lephalale, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Apart from capable personnel at all levels, Exxaro’s extensive Grootegeluk coal mine relies on a large industrial automation infrastructure to look after and control its complex coal beneficiation processes. But who’s looking after that vital infrastructure?

Background

The complexity and sophistication of supervisory and control systems is growing at a steady rate to keep up with the need for production information and efficiency. At the same time, these systems need access to sensors and instrumentation through equally sophisticated PLCs so that they can log, measure and control events in real time. So we can say without exaggeration that industrial automation and industrial IT is not for the faint-hearted. In fact, a “data processing manager” of the latter half of last century would pale when considering what instrumentation engineers, production managers and others have to deal with today – because even he wouldn’t know what was going on.

That’s why it’s become vital to find people that could integrate production knowledge with system knowledge – such a person is Jacques Jansen, Solution Analyst, Automation, Exxaro Grootegeluk. He makes a point that, although they have a great knowledge of their industrial automation infrastructure (Exxaro implemented their systems with minimal assistance from system integrators), their expertise lies in coal beneficiation and not in the quirks of the latest operating system or monitoring scan overruns.

“One of the biggest problems we have in the automation environment has to do with changes,” says Jansen. “While everything seems to be operating well with a stable system, someone could have justifiably changed a system parameter whose effect isn’t immediately obvious but that eventually results in a problem over time. We don’t have the resources and skills on site to deal with such problems.”

Another change is the issue of system updates where IT personnel would update existing operating systems without regard as to what updates and patches were in place.

“All these changes would slow down the systems and even cause expensive downtime leaving the operators to ask for help,” says Jansen. “We’re looking to expand our operations in the Waterberg but with skills and resources becoming scarcer and technicians stretched to their limit looking after the plant, we decided to look for a proactive system monitoring tool that could detect issues before they cause downtime.”

Implementation
The implementation took place between January and February 2013 and included installing monitoring agents at each key node of the system. The first priority was to establish secure internet remote access through a dedicated port with only one-way traffic. Next on the agenda was a system assessment which included a system health audit followed by recommendations from IS³ and a stabilisation project.

“The system assessment revealed a number of issues such as excessive disc and CPU usage, scan overruns, exceeding best-practice thresholds and several other problems which first had to be addressed before routine monitoring could begin,” says Jansen. “Apart from the real-time alerts from the AVEVA software provided by IS³, we also meet once a month to go through an extensive report not only to discuss what happened but also to look at developments and recommendations as to where we should be heading. This is a very thorough report. We saw problems with the number of alarms operators were required to handle and we even detected an error in the configuration on a virtual machine that caused things to slow down unacceptably. These meetings help us to optimise the software life cycle, upgrade our roadmap for the future and review our alarming and security philosophies.”