• Database connectivity, available drivers, web server ability and reasonable price made InduSoft Web Studio attractive to Contemp. • InduSoft Web Studio provides all automation building blocks for Contemp to build HMI, SCADA systems.
Figure 1: The Contemp FullView System, based on InduSoft Web Studio, provides supervisory control of up to 128 control and monitoring devices.
Background Friendly interface. Trustworthy reputation. Reliable software. These are adjectives used by Contemp Industria Comercio LTDA to describe why it selected InduSoft Web Studio to build an operator interface. Established in São Caetano do Sul, Brazil, Contemp builds an extensive line of temperature measurement and control instruments. Contemp was looking to build an operator station that would allow its customers to acquire data from dozens of field instruments, create detailed HMI (Human Machine Interface) displays and perform alarm, trend, and monitor applications.
• Contemp is able to develop reliable products with the latest in proven technologies with the help of InduSoft Web Studio
Willfully so, Vicente Teodoro, an application engineer at Contemp, developed a custom application with InduSoft Web Studio HMI/SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) to fit the company’s instrumentation, temperature monitoring and control applications. The end result was the Contemp FullView supervisory system, an original equipment manufactured product (OEM), shown in Figure 1. Customers of Contemp now have the full power of InduSoft Web Studio HMI/SCADA
Continued from front page... in a slimmed-down version that is tailored for temperature monitoring and control in environments ranging from greenhouses to complex industrial and laboratory processes. InduSoft Web Studio provides all automation building blocks needed to develop HMIs, SCADA systems, and embedded instrumentation applications for all current Microsoft operating systems. These building blocks provide all the tools necessary for Contemp’s customers to build complete temperature control systems. Selecting HMI Software Founded in 1984, Contemp is one of the most traditional companies in Brazil that produces solutions for measuring, controlling, and monitoring many different types of industrial processes. In addition to measurement and control devices, Contemp develops HMI/supervisory systems, has a private measurement laboratory, and integrates and manufactures electric panels. Contemp is the only company in the market that offers integration solutions in all its diverse business areas. Contemp wanted to create an application simple enough that plant floor users could operate. At the same time, “we wanted to create advanced tools so more experienced engineers and managers could add, manage, and monitor advanced features” Teodoro added. Essentially, Contemp needed a high-performance HMI/SCADA software package that could be customized for its customer’s
Figure 2: From this screen, customers can easily configure the system.
needs and coupled with the full line of PC-based operator interfaces at a reasonable price. “In evaluating HMI software from several vendors we selected InduSoft Web Studio based on its reliability, solid reputation and friendly interface,” says Teodoro. During the selection process, Contemp determined that software from other companies appeared to be unstable, especially when connecting to databases. In conducting its research, Contemp said it found that many other systems were extremely expensive. The Contemp FullView system connects to plant floor instrumentation and interfaces to higher-level control systems, plant historian databases, plant networks, and the Internet. Therefore, Contemp required a system with a powerful interface to the outside world. Features that Contemp found attractive in InduSoft Web Studio included strong database connectivity, the large number of communication drivers available, its ability to have a web server, and InduSoft’s reasonable price for an OEM application. Building an HMI After specifying InduSoft Web Studio, Contemp engineers set out to create their HMI application template. “We wanted to create a generic application that would allow the user to easily configure the system for a specific application during the runtime,” Teodoro explained.
Figure 3: Customers can choose from standard displays and configure them to meet their needs.
The key unique advantage offered in InduSoft Web Studio was the modular and flexible architecture that allows Contemp to develop a temperature application that can be customized for each customer during the runtime through a user-friendly interface. Instead of creating a limited specific application, Contemp designed a configurable product with InduSoft Web Studio that has been deployed successfully in many facilities. Furthermore, the unique capability to provide rich graphic interfaces to remote users through a web browser (Internet Explorer) and filter the data available to each user based on his/ her credentials made the system a web-based portal of meaningful information in real-time statistics as well as historical data. The application includes menus and functions (Figure 2) to set the timeframe for acquiring and storing historical data, determining types of alarms (visual or audio), modifying equipment descriptions, managing user access, configuring e-mail addresses for sending remote alarm notifications, specifying backup paths, and customizing reports for each company with the company’s logo, name, and formatting. Teodoro added that “users are able to set up security parameters, create data filters, customize reports, and backup information.” The voice alarms are synthesized and custom. Setting up the communication and equipment with menus allows users to quickly configure eight different types of Contemp temperature monitoring and control devices and set communications parameters, such as baud rate and number of ports. The system accommodates up to 128 devices, including Contemp equipment, control valves, pumps, etc. Contemp FullView allows the user to create custom Synoptic views to quickly access commands and data related to a specific object. Using image-based toolbars, the user can select from a series of standard graphic displays, such as alarm screens, bar graphs and trends, Figure 3. Other standard screens provide data on communication and operational status of each device. Contemp also made it easy for users to create custom displays, Figure 4, with background images in .jpg, .bmp, .gif, .tif and other formats. Contemp FullView allows users to export data in csv (comma separated variable) and txt (text) formats. “If the client wants integration, they will export the csv or txt data of his or her
Figure 4: Customers can also create custom screens, using .jpeg images, process symbols or other graphics.
database,” Teodoro explained. There is also the possibility of recording the data directly in a database. Contemp works with customers to configure the system correctly. Teodoro says the database is compact, encrypted and secure. In developing the FullView system, Contemp uses a web server equivalent to InduSoft’s Web Thin Client. The web server provides a means of remotely monitoring and controlling machine operations and processes. The user may engage in remote communication via the Internet, Intranet, LAN, Wi-Fi and radio. Contemp FullView validation protocols have all the qualification, commissioning and check-list in Portuguese that fully meet, if not exceed, the standards established by Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) 21 CFR Part 11. Contemp hired an audit company to test and certify that their procedures were correct. 21 CFR Part 11 requires manufacturers, biotech companies, biologics developers, and other FDA-regulated industries to implement controls, including audits, system validations, audit trails, electronic signatures, and documentation for software and systems involved in processing electronic data. Upon completion of the system, Contemp provides a product that easily interfaces to all its temperature monitoring and
that Contemp products are of the highest quality and reliability. Contemp has one of the lowest numbers of return merchandise authorizations (RMAs) in the market today: less than 0.5%. Since 1999, Contemp has held the prestigious ISO 9001 certification, granted by the International Organization for Standardization and considered by far the world’s most established quality management system. Additionally, Contemp has been recognized in Brazil for its exceptional measurement laboratory and for the FDA validation of its supervisory system, Contemp FullView.
Figure 5: Imported graphics from a 3D CAD system enables operators to see a realistic representation of the physical plant layout, thus reducing human error. control equipment, plus many of the other devices—such as valves and pumps—that a customer would encounter in a typical application. Teodoro says “the menus and screens were designed so that a plant floor operator could understand and use the system with little training.” Contemp likens its FullView as part of a new concept of supervisory systems, providing flexibility for expansion.
Contemp maintains its certificates through fulfilling the needs of its clients by providing the right solutions for machine builders, integrators, and distributors to name a few. With over 25 years of experience, Contemp provides its customers 24/7 support. It was Contemp’s emphasis on quality and reliability that led the company to select InduSoft in building an operator interface system. The InduSoft Web Studio software got the nod because of its friendly interface, trustworthy reputation and reliability, not to mention, its reasonable price. Furthermore, InduSoft’s commitment to customer service and extended support gained respect of the engineers at Contemp.
A Commercial Success Contemp’s FullView system has been a tremendous success. The company has sold a notable amount of FullView systems to pharmaceutical plants, chemical plants, refineries, etc. Contemp became well known through the development of technologies using international standards. These efforts guarantee
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