It was 1983 when we released our third generation distributed control system, the CENTUM-V. The Berlin Wall was still there. It is 2003 now. The Cold War is history. The CENTUM series has evolved into a fully scalable production control system that can cost-effectively serve both a single-node entry application and a super large one million tag application. Time flies. Before we know it, it will be 2023. We don't know for sure what our world will look like twenty years down the road, but there is one thing I can guarantee: Yokogawa production control systems will continue to evolve with users, incorporating the latest technologies while protecting past investments. Allow me to share with you some of our ongoing, behind-the-scenes initiatives for the stable long-term supply of our production control systems.

Because Yokogawa cares. Yokogawa cares for your past, your present, and your future. It is our pride and joy to serve the production facilities around the world that sustain the very fabric of our modern society. The control systems we supply run the operating core of manufacturing facilities that often have a life span of well over 20 years. In our view, it is the first and foremost mission of any automation supplier to stand by and help customers ensure a lifetime of plant efficiency.

As the pace of technological innovation accelerates, it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet the often conflicting requirements of equipment life-extension on the one hand and continuous innovation on the other. Even as we embrace the latest open technologies to help our customers leverage state-of-the-art automation solutions, the life-cycle of hardware and software components that comprise our control systems is getting shorter than ever. It is an ongoing challenge to ensure both continuous evolution and smooth compatibility, and this is the kind of challenge that Yokogawa engineers revel in. We take it as our mission to satisfy the dual needs of a long life cycle and the continuous evolution of our production control systems.

2005-02-04 16:00Because Yokogawa quietly keeps investing in vigilant solutions that ensure stable, long-term support for the control systems embedded in your operating core, providing:

• A flexible, step-by-step evolution path
• Stable long-term supply of field interfaces
• Stable long-term supply of parts-level components
• Continuous development of cutting-edge controller CPUs

Our migration policy is designed to give you maximum flexibility in balancing your needs for life-extension and renewal. Component-by-component migration enables you to upgrade your legacy systems in an incremental manner, avoiding both large-scale outlays and prolonged plant shutdowns.

We know the value of your existing field wiring and are committed to the long-term supply of field interfaces such as signal conditioner cards, signal conditioner nests, and I/O cards for our legacy systems. We also provide interface adapters that connect your existing cables to our latest I/O cards.

 

 

 

As for parts-level components, we have four options ready to make sure we continue to supply our systems without causing any pain to our users. We can develop compatible components (e.g. CPUs, I/O cards) ourselves. At other times we can develop equivalent solutions that are intrinsically more durable (e.g. replacing a hard disk drive with an IC disk). And yet other times we can develop solutions that ensure equivalent functionalities for non-compatible parts (e.g. a pin adapter for an IC). And finally, in certain cases, we can establish an inventory of necessary parts sufficient for a period of 15 years.

Our passion for ensuring stable, long-term support sometimes drives us to extremes. As one recent example, we have made it possible to do an online replacement of a CPU. Our CENTUM CS / CS3000 users can upgrade their control system to a new generation CPU without stopping their plants. Many users who can periodically stop their plants do not require such a capability, but there are some hard-core mission-critical users such as utility companies who cannot afford to shut down their plants that often. We consider it a privilege to help them extend their non-stop operation cycle without compromising their desire to keep their automation systems up to date.

None of these efforts are very glamorous, yet Yokogawa is determined to keep investing in these and many other backstage initiatives to keep your operating core in its best shape over the years. This is yet another example of vigilance at Yokogawa, where commitment means building the future to last.