The Upgrade Planning Process in a Global Operational Environment

摘要

Industrial automation systems are multi-technological systems that contain in-house developed and COTS hardware and software sub-systems. Automation systems can be used to control various industrial processes ranging from water management to pulp and paper production. These systems are used for a long time and are upgraded in order to keep the system up-to-date. Typically, automation system providers serve their customers worldwide, meaning that the service operations are spread geographically over several continents. Furthermore, the service organisation needs to cooperate internally with R&D and externally with customers and COTS providers so as to gain a necessary understanding of which upgrades are urgent and which can be done later. This paper discusses the importance of a systematic upgrade planning service in a distributed operational environment and presents as well as demonstrates the process description and related tools that have been composed based on an industrial case study in an automation company.