Unlike personal relationships, having control over your industrial processes can make you a better administrator and streamline your management processes. But how do you supervise and control such extensive and diverse operations locally and remotely? Enter SCADA systems that automate real-time data monitoring, collection and analysis, providing you with up-to-date information and the ability to control industrial equipment.

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This article will provide insights into the following areas:

• What Is a SCADA System?
• Components
• Architecture
• Primary Benefits
• Key Features
• Implementation Best Practices
• Next Steps

What Is a SCADA System?

A SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system is a blend of hardware and software modules that helps automate, control and supervise industrial processes remotely or locally. You can monitor, collect and process real-time data from different equipment. It captures operational technology (OT) data and connects equipment monitoring systems to remote or local servers.

SCADA is one of the most common industrial control systems used in industries such as oil & gas, manufacturing, industrial plants, transportation, fleet management, power distribution and more.

The platform provides human machine interface (HMI) software that empowers you to interact directly with equipment such as valves, motors, sensors and pumps. It can also record and archive log and event data to process reports and warn you about hazardous conditions.

Importance

A SCADA system is crucial to industrial operations because it helps automate the management process. Not only it offers a better and more holistic view of your industrial equipment’s condition but also allows you to make informed decisions and respond optimally. By streamlining manual industrial tasks and quickly responding to critical machine failures, it helps enhance productivity while minimizing the risk of human error.

You can attribute its growing importance to the rapid scaling up of industrial sites and the rise of remote operations. Automation has made industrial processes safer for employees and cost-efficient for management. With even better automation in modern SCADA systems, businesses can save significant money in the foreseeable future. But to understand modern solutions, we need to have a closer look at the history and evolution of SCADA.

History and Evolution

SCADA’s concept was introduced in the mid-20th century to solve industrial problems. To know its origins, we need to understand those problems first:

• Most industrial plants, remote sites and manufacturing floors relied on employees to manually supervise and control equipment with analog dials and push buttons.
• While industrial plants started growing in size, sending people to long distances physically to interact with each device became impossible.
• A significant workforce shortage in the industrial setup contributed to a lack of safety measures and efficiency.
• Despite implementing timers and relays for supervision and control, configuring them repeatedly became a tedious task.
• The control panels of timers and relays occupied too much space.

In the early 50s, computers were developed, and industries started using them to gain better control over their equipment. After the development of telemetry in the 60s and telematics in the 70s, remote monitoring and automated communication to remote equipment became easier. The term “SCADA” was first coined in the 70s and became popular with the rise of PLCs and microprocessors.

However, modern systems have evolved a lot since then. Now, let’s take a look at the evolution of SCADA systems.

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First Generation: Monolithic or Early SCADA

• Based on mainframe computers with minimal networking capabilities.
• Couldn’t interconnect with other SCADA systems.
• Capable of creating a wide area network (WAN) connected to remote units to communicate information from master computers.
• First-generation systems only supported computers that the same vendor designed.
• Could only scan, exchange and control data between remote units and the master computer.

Second Generation: Distributed SCADA

With the rising popularity of first-generation SCADA systems, vendors faced pressure to improve their communication capabilities. This gave rise to second-generation systems with better features.

• Included local area network (LAN) technology and evolved into smaller devices.
• It could now interconnect with other SCADA systems, making real-time data transmission from multiple stations possible. This is why they were known as distributed SCADA systems.
• Cheaper compared to first generation systems.
• Featured comparatively common technologies like HMI, databases, communication processors and remote terminal units (RTU).
• However, second gen systems were also limited to compatibility with systems designed by the same vendor.

Third Generation: Networked SCADA

The third or the current generation of SCADA systems was developed in line with the evolution of industrial automation and communication needs.

• Open system architecture and compatibility with other vendors’ systems.
• No longer restricted to LANs and can be distributed in WANs.
• The introduction of ethernet and optical fibers makes communication faster and more efficient.
• The open system architecture allows systems to connect with third-party peripheral devices, unlocking a broader field for communication.
• Use IP protocols.
• Security risks increase with many systems from different vendors coming under one console.

Fourth Generation: IoT or Web-Based SCADA

• Incorporate Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices for better convenience and connectivity.
• Use cloud computing and big data to save costs and easily maintain the system.
• Include software development tools for access via web browsers.
• Security measures such as transport layer security (TLS) and secure socket layer (SSL) offer better data protection.

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Components

A SCADA system consists of several components to exchange data and communicate instructions between a central computer and industrial equipment. Primary components include sensors, remote terminal units (RTU), programmable logic controllers (PLCs), supervisory computers, human machine interface (HMI) and distribution control systems (DCS).

• SCADA sensors act like a meter that determines equipment’s condition and input status. Actuators are switches that let you directly control devices.
• RTUs collect telemetry data about equipment status from sensors and forward it to another system to take action on devices accordingly.
• PLCs allow you to control industrial processes remotely based on the data collected and delivered by RTUs by connecting with actuators.
• HMI systems present the data collected from sensors in an easily understandable format to operators, allowing them to analyze the status of individual processes and take manual action if required.

Architecture

SCADA systems have five levels of operation, also mentioned in the Purdue model for ICS Security.

• Level 0 consists of field instrumentations like sensors and actuators.
• Level 1 includes PLCs and RTUs that interact with field instrumentations.
• Level 2 has supervisory devices to monitor and collect data from equipment.
• Level 3 features production control level systems that produce reports on collected data and generate alerts.
• Level 4 offers production scheduling systems to automate management processes.

Primary Benefits

Control Equipment Remotely

SCADA systems allow you to control industrial processes and equipment remotely or locally by providing data about their status through a centralized console. This streamlined management process fosters increased automation within the system.

Reduce Downtime

With better automation, you can reduce the downtime of industrial devices by taking quick actions to address faulty systems. It also prevents troubleshooting problems by analyzing data packets for errors, enabling proactive maintenance and problem resolution.

Minimize Costs

A centralized control helps businesses minimize operational and personnel costs. Controlling all devices with a single system also mitigates the need to invest in different software and hardware components.

Improve Communications

SCADA systems are equipped with advanced communication interfaces that provide better access to data and information. These interfaces facilitate efficient communication between different departments of your industry, promoting seamless coordination and integration.

Make Informed Business Decisions

You can create improved business policies and make informed decisions with real-time data updates. SCADA systems also provide in-depth reports and analytics to help you better understand your industrial infrastructure and enhance operational efficiency.

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Key Features

Though features of a SCADA system vary from one vendor to another, here are some capabilities that you can find in most systems:

• Equipment Control: Actuators let you control your equipment remotely or locally based on sensor data.
• Data Presentation: HMIs transform the collected data into an easily understandable pattern for the operators.
• Data Collection: This is one of the most crucial features of SCADA systems. It collects and analyzes data from different sensors before delivering it to SCADA computers.
• Data Communication: It allows interaction between different modules of your industrial process. You can ensure that field controllers communicate data from sensors to supervisory devices for generating remote control instructions which go back to the actuators for execution.
• Real-Time Updates: You can always stay on top of your industry’s status with real-time updates from different system modules.
• Reporting and Analysis: SCADA facilitates continuous monitoring and reporting of events to help you get a grasp of productivity, performance and progress.
• Alerts and Notifications: This capability offers real-time alerts whenever any equipment fails so that the operator can immediately take action. It helps reduce downtime and increase efficiency.

Implementation Best Practices

We suggest you follow these steps to implement a SCADA system efficiently:

• Ask yourself what your company’s requirements are.
• Define the scope of monitoring systems in your organization.
• Assess what you currently monitor, supervise and control and identify why improvements are necessary.
• Start simple and small. Don’t get into complex systems initially, as it can complicate your business operations.
• Decide on the best-suited architecture for your business.
• Create gateways for your data collection sources.
• Ensure a centralized console to monitor data collected by the system.
• Determine the extent of automation, control and data visualization.
• Clearly map out security policies.

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Next Steps

If you haven’t yet experienced the benefits of implementing a SCADA system to gain full control over your industrial processes, then you’re in the right place. You can start your software selection process with our free comparison report that lets you compare top solutions in the market based on features, pricing and other custom criteria.

Have you integrated a SCADA system into your business operations? How do you think it can transform your operational efficiency and productivity? Do let us know in the comments below.