Rockwell Automation LOGIX User Manual

LOGIX HOT BACKUP SOLUTIONS

Reduce unplanned downtime with Logix redundant control solutions

BEGIN

Downtime is a certainty.

What’s the plan?

Lost production is inevitable, so planning for outages is critical.

Part of that planning process should include an understanding of control system reliability. This has a different meaning in every industry, so going back to the basics is necessary. Identifying the type of disruption and severity of the outcome can help you evaluate risk mitigation options should a downtime incident occur.

A good place to start is with a risk assessment. Depending on your specific manufacturing environment and application, the results of the assessment can help determine suggested techniques to help keep your people and your equipment safe.

One of those suggestions may be to build controller redundancy into your operations. Before diving into the details, what are some of the considerations inyourspecificindustryandapplication?

What’s the plan?	The cost of doing nothing	Redundant capability	Controller redundancy options	2
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WITH SOME PROCESSES,

REDUNDANT CONTROLLERS ARE TWICE AS NICE!

Some production environments are continuous or irreversible and require high availability at all costs. Disruption of the process could be

catastrophic from both a safety and profitability perspective. If any failure or stoppage occurs after production starts, the product is often scrapped, and the process reinitiated to realize a quality output. Think life sciences, food and beverage, pulp and paper, oil and gas, mining, cement, etc.

Other industries or applications simply can’t afford to restart their production because it can take days, weeks, even up to a month to get back to full operation. A perfect example is the metals industry. What if a large furnace in a steel mill experiences a failure? It could take days to reach a stable operating temperature again so production can resume.

Although these examples are more aligned with critical industries where reliability at the highest levels is required, some applications need high availability for other reasons, including customer service. Think baggage handling.

In ALL these cases, what might be the cost of not implementing redundant control?

What’s the plan?	The cost of doing nothing	Redundant capability	Controller redundancy options	3
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