As products age and give way to new technologies, the need arises to proactively plan and manage the transition from existing equipment to leading-edge products and technologies.

Automation components, software and systems represent major capital investments that are instrumental to the success of industrial operations. In the face of rapidly changing markets and technologies, the industrial enterprise must keep step to remain competitive.

Today’s contemporary automation systems offer unprecedented advancements in performance, flexibility and security, with the potential to provide a competitive edge. Technology continues to advance at a rapid rate, accelerated by the emergence of the Industrial Internet of Things and advances in enabling technologies, including data analytics, remote monitoring and mobility.

Rockwell Automation continues to incorporate these latest technologies in control and automation platforms and although the PLC-5 programmable logic controller has been a valuable part of its portfolio for more than 30 years, no technology can last forever. Modern control systems provide a higher level of integration, driving improved asset utilisation, increased system flexibility and easy access to information.

The high performance, Rockwell Automation ControlLogix platform delivers the capabilities to converge production disciplines (discrete, motion, process and safety), including extreme environments and high availability applications, into an integrated plant-wide architecture enabling a connected enterprise.

Information shared between Information Technology (IT) and Operations Technology (OT) across a secure network enables:

·         Greater production visibility, for quicker response to customer demand.

·         Higher profit margins through improved inventory management, cycle times and quality control.

·         Improved capacity and asset utilisation, leading to greater Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).

·         Regulatory compliance and reduced exposure to security risks.

Migrating to the ControlLogix family of programmable automation controllers (PAC) provides the platform to leverage advancements in technology, including improved access to information, more informed business decisions, faster performance for more throughput and increased memory. This platform improves ease-of-use and enables scalability via a common control engine in a single development environment that helps eliminate the need for multiple discrete control systems.

Whether a decision is made to migrate all at once or use a phased approach, Rockwell Automation provides migration tools for hardware selection, code conversion and hardware conversion that eliminate the need to modify any field device wiring.

Contemporary equipment can lessen the burden of maintaining spares for aging parts, while at the same time providing access to leading-edge technologies that allow your business to grow and innovate, opening the door to new opportunities and an expanding global presence.