SCADA eBook –

Supervisory Control and

Data Acquisition
Industrial automation, Industry 4.0 and the
IIoT are the foundation for today’s operational
processes – all realized by SCADA
SCADA – Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition 2

SCADA
We are experiencing the age of digitalization. The Internet of Things (IoT) and

Industry 4.0 are ubiquitous. The automation of many manufacturing operations

and processes is now standard. It is therefore all the more important to have

appropriate monitoring and control elements that are capable of optimally

supervising, analyzing, documenting and controlling the increasingly complex

processes. Many industrial organizations rely on supervisory control and data

acquisition (SCADA) systems. SCADA lets organizations control various

sized assets and entire facilities. Using a SCADA system, you can

collect operational insights and make business decisions

based on the data.

SCADA – Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition 3

What is a
SCADA system?
SCADA systems control equipment at facilities and plants. ` The 1980s and 1990s: The next generation of SCADA
Organizations that use SCADA systems also often use the systems, known as distributed SCADA, allowed diffe-
systems to record and collect data. rent systems to communicate. Several stations could be
Usually, SCADA systems include hardware and soft- linked and share real-time data. Compared to monolit-
ware. Remote terminal units (RTUs) and programmable lo- hic SCADA systems, distributed SCADA systems were
gic controllers (PLCs) are among the hardware that‘s often considerably smaller and had a lower price. Distributed
part of a SCADA system. The PLCs and RTUs communicate systems also introduced HMIs, communication proces-
with the facility‘s equipment, collecting data to send to the sors and databases.
control room. Human operators in the control room super- ` The 2000s to today: Industrial automation led to the
vise the RTUs and PLCs using HMIs. All SCADA systems development of the most recent SCADA generation,
include human Human Machine Interface (HMI) elements, networked SCADA. Networked SCADA systems use
such as the screens people use to interact with the system. an open system architecture, eliminating vendor
A SCADA system lets an organization control processes dependence associated with the earlier generations.
from a remote or local location. Interaction between motors, Networked SCADA systems can be distributed over
sensors and other pieces of equipment is centralized. The a wide area network (WAN) rather than just a local
systems can also be automated and can control equipment area network (LAN). The integration of common
based on data. communication protocols and services, such as the
TCP/IP allowed the utilization of SCADA in flexible
network architectures, built upon modern networking
The history of equipment, such as routers and switches. Today, this
allows for the secure and effective migration of certain
SCADA systems SCADA services into the IT services infrastructure of
companies. As the journey continues, SCADA services
Like HMIs, SCADA systems have a relatively long history. and solutions are increasingly offered for deployment
The first systems were created in the 20th century. in Internet and cloud computing environments.
` The 1900s: Some of the earliest versions of SCADA
systems came about in the early 20th century. The
concept of relay logic was developed around 1900 and
adopted widely in factories through the 1920s. Relay
logic paved the way for PLCs.
` The 1960s and 1970s: The proto-SCADA systems
continued to evolve through the first half of the 20th
century. In the 1960s, the system that is considered
the first real SCADA system came into existence. Called
monolithic systems, these early SCADA systems were
built on mainframes. They were standalone systems, as
they couldn‘t connect to each other. They could connect
to RTUs to send data to and from a master computer.
SCADA – Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition 4

Applications of SCADA
systems in today‘s
factories
The SCADA systems used in factories today can be massive
and complex or compact and straightforward. The complexity
and size of the system depend largely on the organization‘s
needs and the applications connected to the system.

Today‘s factories use a SCADA system to:

` Connect machinery
` Monitor and process collected data
` Remotely or locally control processes What the future of
` Log data and events
SCADA looks like
SCADA systems allow organizations to get a real-time
view of their processes. The system lets a company verify SCADA systems are continuing to evolve and advance. They
that its machinery is operating correctly. A company can will continue to adopt and embrace modern standards for
also use the data produced by a SCADA system to determine the interconnection of massive IoT device networks, data
how to make improvements or adjustments to equipment to modelling and storage and cyber security. Flexibility and
maximize productivity or efficiency. The adjustments can be platform independence are becoming increasingly important.
made on-site or remotely. Depending on the system‘s size, an High scalability, to not limit the company‘s growth, is beco-
organization can adjust single machines, individual processes ming more and more a basic requirement. The adoption of
or entire facilities. web-based standards will enhance the user-friendliness and
Using a SCADA system, an organization can centrally accessibility of SCADA systems. State-of-the-art solutions
store data sourced from various locations. The system can use HTML5, which streamlines the process of dashboard
combine the data, process it and format it for use in other configuration and data processing, creating a secure, produc-
systems. SCADA systems help minimize downtime by impro- tive and efficient SCADA system.
ving efficiency and decision-making. As systems enhance their data collection capa-
bilities, security becomes key – even more than it is
The zenon SCADA solution offers several benefits to organi- today. Employees can now access live data anywhere
zations. It allows for: and anytime from their smartphones. But how do they
` Reduced downtime know that only authorized employees have access to
` Improved efficiency current production figures and to data in the cloud?
` Increased operational visibility Smart Factories and IIoT require expert knowledge to
` Automated and streamlined engineering ensure software is as secure as possible and to prevent
` Remote usability unauthorized access. And each additional gateway is a
` Ease of integration potential target for attacks.
SCADA – Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition 5

How are HMI and SCADA systems similar and different?

HMI and SCADA are often linked together, but it‘s important an integrated platform, such as an HMI purpose-built for a
to note that the two aren‘t the same thing. An HMI is either specific SCADA system. Using an HMI designed to integrate
hardware or software that lets a human operator interact easily with your organization‘s existing SCADA system
with a controller. The simplest way to understand the dif- allows you to consolidate data pipelines and create a holistic
ference between HMI and SCADA is to recognize that one is management system.
part of the other. An HMI is often part of a SCADA system.
However, a SCADA system is not part of an HMI.
You‘re likely to have multiple features or components
within a SCADA system. These include HMIs, RTUs and
PLCs, among others. When operating a SCADA system, an
individual uses an HMI, such as a touchscreen, to interact
with the system. An HMI lets you access and use the
features of a SCADA system. The system itself delivers the
functionality.
With the latest generation of SCADA systems, it‘s
possible to connect an extra HMI to the system. This will
certainly cause significant engineering effort, as visual
design but also data connections need to be engineered and
maintained in a separate system. But, for improved usability
and efficiency, organizations often find that it‘s better to use
SCADA – Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition 6

Learn more about COPA-DATA‘s SCADA solutions

COPA-DATA has decades of experience providing solutions ` Increases overview and shortens response time:
to industrial manufacturers. The zenon Software Platform Quick overviews, flexible input and location-indepen-
integrates HMI with SCADA to provide organizations with dent alerts guarantee an optimal level of control over
the ability to analyze, automate, control and monitor their the facility. Alarm administration is integrated consist-
processes. ently in zenon. The triggering of too many unnecessary
When you use zenon as a SCADA system, you gain alarms is prevented with functions such as threshold
enhanced operational visibility, plus greater control over values and dynamic alarm limits. Load Management
processes. The platform allows you to collect real-time enables users to visualize energy consumption trends.
data and distribute it to authorized users. When you If the software forecasts load peaks that exceed a set
implement zenon, you’ll notice the difference as it: limit, zenon recommends switching actions or takes
action automatically, keeping energy costs low.
` Develops projects rapidly: Setting up an automation ` Improves access across your organization: zenon
project with zenon is as easy as its gets. No coding makes data accessible to people of all technical skill
needed. The product philosophy of “setting parameters levels by making the plant status easy to understand
instead of programming” makes it possible to complete and the interface easy to interact with, from horizontal
even complex projects with minimum fuss. An ex- machinery integration to vertical incorporation of
tensive library of pre-designed graphical elements production and management data. zenon also supports
and other visualization features provides all necessary multiple languages and measuring units, so users can
elements out of the box. zenon also offers a wide range easily create projects for international use.
of wizards, which are saving time and preventing users
from errors. Thanks to its several hundred communication protocols
` Connects heterogeneous hardware landscapes: and cloud and ERP interfaces, you can also make zenon a
In structures that have developed over time, old and core component of your organization‘s IIoT. Incorporating
new production systems from a range of different ma- zenon‘s SCADA solutions will help your organization
nufacturers often run in parallel. zenon offers hardware move toward Industry 4.0. Contact us today to learn more
independence at field level. Over 300 native drivers about zenon and our industrial SCADA solutions.
and communication protocols ensure a free choice of
hardware and incorporation into existing systems. Ad-
ditionally, zenon’s built-in IEC 61131-3 solution can be
used as a soft PLC for controlling equipment.
` Saves even big data securely: With zenon Historian,
data is recorded and preprocessed without interruption,
so even when data volumes are high, zenon delivers
high-performance reporting. Because it is fully integ-
rated, calling up real-time data and accessing historical
GET IN TOUCH:
data at the same time is incredibly easy. zenon can be
[email protected]
used to secure large volumes of data cost-effectively
and safely in a public or private cloud. The data can
then be retrieved from the cloud, as required.
www.copadata.com