Approaches for Migration of Legacy DCS Systems to Maximize Return on Existing Assets

摘要

Migration is an important topic in today's industrial marketplace as users confront the life cycle management of their installed control systems. According to ARC Advisory Group, Inc., approximately USD65 billion of legacy process control systems have reached the end of their reasonable life cycle. The process automation industry has undergone massive consolidation of both end users and suppliers, and has seen significant changes in the life span for Distributed Control Systems (DCS) components spurred by rapidly changing technology. While the expected life span for input/output (I/O) and wiring is 25 years or more, the life span of Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs) and workstations is now 5 years. Thus, migration to newer technology presents many challenges to the user and to the supplier.