Automation at all levels

The project was developed for the chemical industry and specifically for the production of polyurethane systems which are used for various applications, from thermal and sound insulation (refrigerators, composite panels for industrial construction), to furniture (upholstery for sofas, chairs, sanitary items), cars (seats, steering wheels, armrests, interior doors, dashboards, air filters), footwear (work shoes, sports, casual), adhesives (material recycling, anti-corrosion for bridges for high-speed trains).

The pilot project was developed for a plant here in Italy, and has become a standard adopted and installed in a dozen plants worldwide by the final customer. The high standardization in process management and the technical documentation produced by Blue Star Software have made it possible to facilitate the development of subsequent projects for the expansion of these plants, projects that take place annually.

The project followed the business processes in all levels of automation, starting from the development of the software for the PLCs and passing through the creation and design of the operator pages for the SCADA, right until the management of batch production based on the formulas specifications provided by the customer for the MES part and interfacing with SAP for the ERP level.

The aim was to make the most of the automation of the plants to maximize production and reduce the risks for line operators, introducing SIF loop (Safety Instrumented Function), or managing any possible criticality of the plant with the use of fail-safe equipment and taking actions to alleviate the consequences of an industrial hazard.

Blue Star Software, with its decades of experience in the world of industrial automation, has taken charge of the project, following the customer in all phases starting from the drafting of the technical documentation and then moving on to software development. From here the testing of the aforementioned and of its integration into the system, up to commissioning on site and also ensuring post start-up assistance.

We have an excellent knowledge of Siemens proprietary software for industrial automation, such as STEP7 and PCS7 used for software development PLC, SIMATIC IT and WINCC for the SCADA interface, X-Batch and Production modeller for the MES part. Furthermore, an in-depth knowledge of software development and engineering using the C# language and Microsoft SQL is essential for the success of the project.