Honeywell announced that it successfully completed a remote control system migration for Richter Gedeon Plc., a Hungarian multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company headquartered in Budapest. The project was the first of its kind to enable plant operators to deploy advanced remote solutions to eliminate control technology obsolescence, enhance operations, and improve business results. Remote migration is a game-changer in industrial automation as plant operators no longer need to delay their control system upgrades because of a lack of field personnel at their site
The migration project—deployed at Richter’s production facility in Dorog, northwest of Budapest—involved updating a Honeywell Experion PKS R431.5 control system to the latest R511.3 release. During current unprecedented times, the Honeywell service team executed the migration tasks using limited resources allowed on site and completed the work during strict schedule constraints associated with a plant shutdown.
“As a manufacturer of innovation-driven specialty pharmaceutical products, we believe there are significant benefits in proactively addressing the risks and issues of control technology obsolescence,” Csaba Ódor – deputy head of investment department for Richter Gedeon said. “Honeywell’s Remote Migration Services will help us reduce total cost of ownership, increase production rates, extend the life and performance of their systems, and improve response to changing business demands.”
Industrial companies are seeking ways to minimize their on-site presence while keeping equipment up to date with minimum downtime. If they fail to address outdated plant automation systems, it could lead to crucial assets being rendered inoperable. Only those organizations with a solid roadmap for ongoing technology upgrades can mitigate risks and drive plant operations seamlessly without unnecessary disruptions.
“Honeywell’s strategy for remote control system migration is well-suited to the current business situation. By executing migration projects remotely, plant operators can reduce potential risk, minimize operational downtime and make migration an advantageous experience rather than a burdensome requirement,” said Pramesh Maheshwari, vice president and general manager, Lifecycle Services and Solutions at Honeywell Process Solutions. “Beyond traditional on-process migration, the latest technology advancements allow system modernization to be performed on the cloud – just like a simple update. Industrial facilities can leverage value-added support on a remote basis with limited risks to their personnel or other assets.”
With the Remote Migration Services, Honeywell’s Migration Center of Excellence experts perform control and safety system upgrades on a 24/7 schedule. This type of migration is performed in-house on Honeywell’s Virtual Data Center, which can be accessed remotely by technical support specialists along with local Honeywell staff and Richter’s on-site personnel to enable the fastest migration possible. The service includes migration readiness, software migration, offsite or remote acceptance testing, and production system upgrading. Honeywell specialists perform the software migration and then invite the end-user to test the new Experion software release prior to introducing it into their production system.
Experience shows that Honeywell’s innovative remote migration solution can improve project execution cycle time by as much as 50% and increase migration productivity by at least 60%. Industrial companies can also take advantage of Honeywell’s enhanced industrial cybersecurity capabilities and control technology improvements to achieve optimum results.