Case Studies

Unitronics UniStream Controller for Pharmaceutical Application

UniStream PLC HMI
Posted in HMI and SCADA, Manufacturing Automation and Intelligence, Medical and Pharmaceutical, PLC Programming

Summary

DMC worked with a New England OEM in the pharmaceutical industry to upgrade an existing Unitronics Vision-series control system to a newer UniStream-series controller. DMC worked with the customer to implement new features that were not available on the previous controller. The Unistream controller also enabled the use of reusable functions and customizable modules to provide an organized solution that will be easier for the customer to maintain.

Solution

DMC’s client was upgrading their existing high pressure homogenization system that utilizes hydraulic cylinders and various different digital and analog sensors. Although there were no tools to directly convert the legacy code into UniLogic code, DMC was able to leverage expertise with the client’s existing systems to recreate and improve the program. As this is a pharmaceutical application, DMC utilized built-in UniStream features to adhere to FDA 21 CFR Part 11.

DMC’s client designs and builds these units in addition to performing the panel and field wiring. DMC created the program and worked with the client to complete a functional test of the system. The upgraded system has proven to be more user-friendly, provides more diagnostics and traceability, and has increased the reliability of the system.

Customer Benefits

  • Expanded functionality including: live trending of process data points, data logging to a remote PLC via FTP, built-in user access control, and greatly improved HMI process visualization.
  • FDA 21 CFR Part 11 compliance
  • Improved maintainability through the use of reusable functions, user defined data structs, and organized modules
  • Lower cost PLC+HMI combination and free development software

Technologies

  • Unitronics UniStream PLC+HMI Controller
  • UniLogic (Programming Software)