S5 to S7 Upgrades – The conventional way

Although Optima exclusively offer the S57 processor to upgrade critical plant and equipment in stages from Siemens Step 5 to Step 7 and TIA Portal we realise not all our customers wish to take this approach. Well that doesn’t create a problem for us. We are happy to upgrade your plant and equipment using other innovative methods. We can offer a seamless transition from Interbus to Profinet or Masterdrives to Sinamics.

Below, you will find a list of some of the more interesting Siemens Step 5 to Step 7 or TIA Portal conversions we have carried out.

Optima’s Solution Partner Accreditation for 2024

March 4, 2024

Optima are proud to maintain both our Siemens Drives and Motion and Factory Automation accreditations for 2024. Our Solution Partner status as Automation Drives verifies our status of application and system expertise, industry knowledge and project experience. We implement tailor-made solutions with exceptional quality. Our partner accreditation forms part of Siemens’ commitment to their principle of ...

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Bespoke Welding Machines’ Seam-Less Upgrade From S5 To Tia Portal

October 16, 2019

Siemens S5 PLC’s are the workhorses of industry which is why Optima still come across them on a weekly basis. Fortunately, our talented team of engineers can apply their engineering skills to a wide variety of machines. This provides a valued upgrade service for our clients. S5 has been so reliable that we are now upgrading ...

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Drive System Retrofit for MasterDrives

September 18, 2019

Optima’s innovative approach to motor and drive upgrades significantly reduces the installation time and minimises risk to your site. All of our systems are thoroughly tested before they are shipped to site, completely eliminating any “out of box” failures. By replacing legacy equipment, your production machine can be future-proofed with the latest technology features and ...

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Don’t replace old for old. Replace old with new!

July 1, 2019

Should you really replace like-for-like following failure of an automation component? Why not consider the opportunity of upgrading to a brand new fully-supported unit? The cost difference may not be what you expect. Quite the opposite in fact. Read on for more information:  When faced with the complete failure of a HMI TP177A, our customer wished ...

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Recent Posts

Safety Scanner Issues and EN999

Optima were recently asked to advise on a safety guarding application for one of our customers. 

There had been a number of false trips of the laser scanner causing the machine to stop. As a result of this, a plastic chain ‘barrier’ had been fitted as a temporary measure with instructions to operators to not breach the barrier whilst the machine was running. 

The customer naturally wanted this rectifying as soon as possible, so Optima performed a short-notice service visit to site.

On the site visit, our engineer noted that the scanner was showing a code which indicated that the front screen required cleaning.

Once the screen was cleaned thoroughly the scanner did not show any faults or errors and was in normal run mode.

However, we performed further checks on the original software to ensure that the scanner configuration still met the requirements of the safety guarding application. 

The diagrams to the left show the Warning Field configuration (Yellow) and the Protective Field (Red). Both of these were confirmed to be operational. 

The warning field causes the klaxon to operate and the protective field caused an emergency stop of the machine.

We did, however find a few concerns that needed to be addressed.

1. None of the scanner safety circuit had been documented on any drawings.

2. Non-compliance with EN999 ‘Safety of machinery – the positioning of protective equipment in respect of approach speeds of parts of the human body’ includes a formula to be used to calculate the distance from a hazard that a safety zone must be triggered. Based on the stopping times of the machine, the scanner was placed too close to the machine to be effective in an emergency.

We are working closedly with our customer to assist them with this application and help them achieve a safe and effective solution to this.

If you need any support with safety applications or other upgrades, please get in touch.

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