ECAE system from Aucotec as hub also for control system engineering

The database-driven system platform Engineering Base (EB) of the Hanover-based software house Aucotec offers the process industry not only the basis of its complete hardware planning: The latest development now also enables you to specify the software building blocks required for each of the (actuator) tags. This unique consistency resulted in an exceptional saving of time of several weeks in a first pilot project.

The next step
Starting from the measurement tags and loads defined in the P&I diagram, initially the device technology is defined. Using the infrastructure of the plant developed in parallel, the cabling as well as the signal flow are projected up to the control system using an integrated planning process.

In cooperation with Holcim (Deutschland) AG, one of the leading building material manufacturers in Northern Germany and subsidiary of a globally operating group, an additional step towards integration has now been taken: For specifying the required software building blocks, Aucotec has created a wizard that enables the user to select standard modules from a list. Thanks to the basic expandability of the EB data model, additional attributes for parameterizing the modules have moreover been implemented. Even pure logic functions can be created in the plant hierarchy in addition to the measuring and control functions; these can also be provided with software building blocks in the same manner.

4 Weeks of labor saved
The definitions for the control system software thus integrated into the engineering are then handed over to the PCS7 projecting job via a specific export function. The update of the interconnections in PCS7 is automatic because the parameterization and group assignment have already been done in EB. The very first pilot project has already yielded a striking saving of time: The four-week period originally scheduled for the software development was substituted by about half a day of extra expenditure needed for the data input in Engineering Base. 
 

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