Taking Control of Your Control System

Today’s process manufacturing plants are under a lot of pressure. Often, these plants are using control technologies that are 20 to 40 years old. In many cases, the control system is rapidly reaching end of support, which can lead to a series of problems. I/O-agnostic control solutions help plants break free of provider “lock in,” providing more choice and faster return on investment in modernization projects.

Supply chain issues make it harder to find replacement parts for aging control systems, generating long lead times and extended outages. Support, when available at all, is often limited, and a shortage of personnel experienced with legacy systems means long wait times for help. Perhaps most importantly, many of the best practice safety and efficiency features provided by automation technologies are either difficult to connect or not available with legacy control systems. Read more in an article about reasons to modernize your control system in the January 2023 issue of Control Engineering by Emerson’s Aaron Crews, global director of modernization.