Reduced disposal opportunities in integrated production control system upgrades

Start time

January, 2021

Description of technology and business model

Yokogawa released CENTUM VP R6.08 integrated production control system for industrial plants, in January 2021. When upgrading a CENTUM VP controller's CPU module, it has also often been necessary to replace the cabinet that houses these components. Replacing and rewiring these cabinets, which are around two meters tall and weigh more than 200 kilograms, is a very time-consuming process. Yokogawa has developed a utility kit that eliminates the need to replace the cabinet when upgrading the CPU module. By eliminating the need in many cases for the complete replacement of the cabinet, this reduces waste of the cabinets.

In addition, certification for compliance with local explosion-proof and safety standards has needed to be done for the field control unit as a whole. This means that certification for the entire unit, which in addition to the CPU module includes a power module and terminal block, would be invalidated when just the CPU module was upgraded. With R6.08, certification to these standards has been obtained for the CPU module and for each of the other components, so replacement of just the CPU module will no longer invalidate certification for the entire field control unit. Enabling the replacement of individual components reduces waste by eliminating the need to replace the entire field control unit just to upgrade the CPU module.

Achievements and goals

A total of 27,000 integrated production control systems have been installed, and this initiative is expected to reduce disposal opportunities during upgrades.

URL introducing the initiative

https://www.yokogawa.com/news/press-releases/2021/2021-01-20/