{"id":1990,"date":"2018-06-28T11:12:00","date_gmt":"2018-06-28T09:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.blogs.yokogawa.de\/chemical-pharma\/uncategorized\/back-to-the-future-with-centum-vp\/"},"modified":"2022-06-17T09:28:21","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T07:28:21","slug":"back-to-the-future-with-centum-vp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yokogawa.com\/eu\/blog\/chemical-pharma\/en\/back-to-the-future-with-centum-vp\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to the future with CENTUM VP"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nothing lasts forever, or does it?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Mr. Jones is not normally someone who embraces change with open arms. At least, not in a professional context. As Head of Automation, Mr. Jones is responsible for several process plants in the chemical industry. These projects often run continuously for several years. Stability and availability are top priorities. Especially where the process control system is concerned, which in Mr. Jones\u2019 case was supplied by Yokogawa (CENTUM VP<\/a>).<\/p>\n

After several years in operation, several of what Yokogawa calls the field control stations (FCS) were starting to show their age. A motley collection of the CENTUM VP<\/a> FFCS series were meanwhile installed in the various plants. These components are not like a smartphone, which has to be replaced every two years; however, some of them had been doing duty for nearly 15 years already, and in a few cases the CPU modules (the heart of any FCS) were no longer available as spare parts. Mr. Jones had to do something urgently!<\/p>\n

Not enough cash in wallet<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It didn\u2019t take long to develop a replacement concept for the field control stations (FCS), and a quotation was received shortly after from Mr. Roik, the Yokogawa sales representative. Only Mr. Moneybags, the plant manager responsible for the budget, was not at all happy. All that money on new hardware, without any increase in plant capacity \u2013 no, that wish fell on deaf ears. Mr. Jones was advised to make do with the components he already had and instead to have a word with Yokogawa. \u201cThey\u2019re always talking about compatibility, protecting investments, TCO and so on,\u201d said Mr. Moneybags to Mr. Jones. \u201cNow\u2019s their chance to prove it.\u201d<\/p>\n

That evening, over a beer with some colleagues who also had Yokogawa systems in their plants, Mr. Jones listened very attentively. One of them reported that Yokogawa let you swap just the CPU module and then you\u2019re right up to date. The reason is that Yokogawa use only one platform. Mr. Jones\u2019 colleague believed you could even do it online but he wasn\u2019t absolutely sure on that count. Mr. Jones knew someone who would be.<\/p>\n

Mr. Roik of Yokogawa explained to an astonished Mr. Jones that there is now a brand new CPU (CP471) that can be inserted into all field control stations in the FFCS series \u2013 even online with redundant systems or newer models from about 2011 onward \u2013 without having to switch them off first!<\/p>\n

Still no green light to spend money<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This was exactly the solution Mr. Jones had been searching for. It would bring the core automation components back up to date at a reasonable cost without disrupting operations. That ought to be enough to convince Mr. Moneybags!<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it wasn\u2019t! \u201cWhy should I go spending money on new CPU modules when the old ones still work? And all because Yokogawa aren\u2019t capable of stocking spare parts?\u201d Luckily, Mr. Roik was ready once again with some persuasive arguments. The new CP471 CPU module offered far more storage capacity and computing power than the oldest models. It was possible, at long last, to expand the parts of the plant where those old field control stations were installed without having to buy new ones. And that\u2019s not all: the latest generation of I\/O modules (the universal Network-IO) could now be used in this high performance CPU.<\/p>\n

Back to the future<\/strong><\/h3>\n

After all of the CPU modules had been replaced (Mr. Moneybags had eventually given his reluctant approval to the budget), Mr. Jones looks back with satisfaction \u2013 and ahead with confidence. Mr. Roik, too, pays more frequent visits again. Thanks to the newly available reserves in the FCSs, modernization and expansion projects which had been left by the wayside, or which were quite simply infeasible in the past, can now be tackled. They\u2019re both very pleased with the outcome \u2013 only Mr. Moneybags still rolls his eyes whenever he bumps into them.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The development of the FFCS series by Centum VP (2003-today)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Facts, figures and data (by the author)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This story may be purely fictional, but it\u2019s altogether realistic. Mr. Jones and Mr. Moneybags don\u2019t actually exist. On the other hand, there really is a Mr. Roik at Yokogawa!<\/p>\n

As of CENTUM VP R6.05, the CP471 runs in all FCSs in the FCCS series. All stations with a CP461 can be replaced online (after being revved up to R6.05). All older models can be<\/p>\n

Synaptic Business Automation as the guiding theme at ACHEMA 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n