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As your organization’s digital maturity evolves, Enterprise Automation provides comprehensive expertise that spans the entire lifecycle of your industrial automation system. From strategic planning to system integration and network security to AI-driven insights, we envision and implement automation systems to fulfill the existing and future needs of your organization.

Services

Ensuring your automation systems run reliably today and expand smoothly as your operations evolve

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SCADA audits & site analysis

Regular audits secure the reliability, security, and efficiency of the SCADA system. Audits are not only a means to optimize performance, but also to catch threats. In our auditing process, engineers conduct condition assessments of existing facilities to provide detailed quantified metrics and prioritized recommendations. We also develop a SCADA roadmap alongside clients so you can improve facilities comprehensively and reap all the benefits of the automation technology you already possess. Managers use our reports to highlight areas for improvement, validate past investments, and drive future budgets.

Our focus areas typically include disaster recovery and prevention, physical and cybersecurity, documentation, software, infrastructure condition, and system performance.

Offload the complexities of budgeting by relying on us to figure out realistic project priorities and deadlines. The resulting master plan defines a strategic vision that specifies what needs to happen over the years, breaking it down into specific projects with estimated costs for each fiscal year. With this clarity, your management can work with a concrete plan that builds trust with stakeholders and enhances confidence in budget allocations. By ensuring that every project is well-defined and accounted for, you’ll maximize the value of automation investments over many years.

Enterprise Automation can act as an owner’s representative in the review and oversight of design and implementation of automation projects. In scenarios where our client lacks in-house expertise, EA steps in to bridge the gap. This involves coordinating between vendors and the end client, ensuring that client requirements are clearly understood and addressed. EA representatives review design documentation and expedite communication among all parties involved. By acting under the direction of the client’s staff, EA helps ensure that project goals and objectives are met effectively and efficiently.

In legal or insurance contexts, having a subject matter expert (SME) in automation can be invaluable for organizations lacking in-house expertise. When issues arise, such as system failures, compliance disputes, or operational inefficiencies, an SME can provide critical insights and assessments. These services can include root cause analysis, cost assessment, expert testimony, or recommendations for remediation.

Real-time control systems can significantly improve operational efficiency, and EA can identify and implement enhancements on top of that. We don’t suggest taking action unless our calculations indicate a strong return on investment for our clients. For example, we’ve conducted thorough analyses to determine the optimal times for operating energy-intensive assets like motors and pumps, enabling clients to save on energy costs by running these systems during off-peak hours. In another instance we refined control strategies to manage chemical dosing accurately, ensuring that substances are treated effectively without unnecessary overdosing. With the right setup, your facility can achieve precise control over dosage and mixing, reduce chemical and energy consumption, and enhance overall output while extending the lifespan of their assets.

You get the most value out of your automation systems when personnel are prepared to fully utilize the tools you’ve invested in. EA can train your team on topics ranging from manufacturer-specific basics to advanced client-specific SCADA platform operations and maintenance. Our guided hands-on trainings use simulated SCADA and PLC systems to replicate your environment without compromising existing infrastructure. We can run training on-site or at a 30-person training room at our own facility.

You have the assurance that our approach to vendor and product selection is big picture and brand agnostic. We don’t just compare specifications and prices when selecting vendors and products. We assess which equipment was previously in use, staff capability for troubleshooting different types of equipment, and availability of third-party support, including local options. Our experience in designing and selecting control system hardware spans various manufacturers and includes controllers (PLCs), human-machine interfaces (HMIs), communications modules, and drives. Additionally, our software expertise encompasses AI solutions, reporting tools, and historians that support predictive maintenance, real-time insights, and long-term data analysis.

Reducing your downtime and manual work by linking software and hardware into one dependable system

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Electrical & instrumentation

EA specializes in detailed design and shop drawings for low voltage control panels and motor control cabinets. Our partner panel shops handle fabrication, and we perform extensive factory acceptance testing prior to shipment.

We provide with detailed instrument datasheets plus loop and wiring diagrams for pressure, temperature, flow, level, and analytical devices. We manage procurement of all sensors and valves, ensuring brand and vendor agnostic selection and on-schedule delivery. On site we perform calibration, loop checks, and comprehensive acceptance tests to confirm accuracy and facilitate commissioning.

Our engineers use various programming languages and understand how each manufacturer implements standards. You can have any PLC programmed, including those from Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, and other manufacturers. Our project capabilities range from single PLCs to complex multi-PLC systems, and we are equipped to work on greenfield installations, brownfield upgrades, and modernization efforts. Our engineers are well-versed in various communication protocols, such as Modbus, Ether/Net IP, and Profinet, as well as remote I/O configurations. Our industry-leading certifications and tools for PLC platform modernization ensure high-quality outcomes.

The functional specification document is crucial for successful implementation. This document clearly establishes the scope of the controller, detailing what it controls and how it interacts with other devices, ensuring alignment with client expectations. By defining the logic upfront, we minimize programming errors and reduce costs, as all decisions are made on paper before coding begins. The functional specification serves as a valuable guide during testing and as technical documentation for operators, facilitating easier troubleshooting and enhancing overall operational efficiency.

Any SCADA software we recommend to you is based on scalability and compatibility with your existing systems. We are trained and certified in every SCADA software package we recommend. We then design the system architecture for integration with hardware like PLCs and sensors. Configuration includes setting up data points, alarms, and high-performance graphics to enhance data visualization. After a rigorous testing and validation process, we ensure the system functions as intended and maintain your lifecycle management throughout the years.

EA is an AVEVA endorsed system integrator certified in System Platform, PlantSCADA, OMI, and InTouch. We are also a Schneider Electric Master Alliance Partner working with EcoStruxure Process Expert, a VTScada Advanced Certified Provider, an Ignition Gold Certified partner, and certified in the Rockwell Automation product suite.

Operators should be able to quickly grasp essential metrics on OITs and HMIs. We help improve situational awareness by using high-performance graphics that emphasize key information while deemphasizing less critical data. We prioritize accessibility by incorporating textual confirmations for alarm priorities, which is crucial for effective monitoring. In close collaboration with our clients, we develop intuitive visualizations that simplify complex processes, sometimes using advanced graphical representations to ensure alarms are not overlooked. We work often with leading vendors such as Schneider Electric, Allen Bradley, and Siemens.

Seamless deployment of automation hardware and software comes with meticulous planning and coordination. This begins with pre-commissioning workshops and meetings to align all stakeholders and prepare them for a successful launch. Our process includes thorough I/O checkouts and System Acceptance Testing (SAT) once the facility is operational, confirming that all systems function as intended. Acting as an automation project manager, we coordinate communication among various groups, including electrical contractors, construction management, and vendors, to minimize delays and establish shared goals. We take ownership of our commitments while closely monitoring related scopes of work, proactively identifying risks and gaps in others’ plans to ensure that all necessary tasks are completed before commissioning can proceed.

Securing your networks and control systems so you can focus on making things, not fixing them

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Cybersecurity

Threats to industrial control systems have become increasingly sophisticated. Effective ICS cybersecurity programs generally apply the “defense-in-depth” strategy, which layers security mechanisms so that the impact of a failure in any one mechanism is minimized. A truly robust system needs many different layers of security and redundancy accounting for network security, physical security, software security, organizational security, process security, and others.

This is the approach we take in auditing and safeguarding your operational environment.

For instance, we use network segmentation to isolate critical systems and minimize the risk of unauthorized access and potential breaches. Additionally, we may establish a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to add an additional layer of security and allow controlled access to external networks while protecting sensitive internal resources.

Our knowledge of our clients’ full automation technology stack translates to our ability to design and build the ideal network to protect and enhance communications within their specific industrial facilities.

EA applies advanced IT practices in OT network design. This includes routing and switching, hardware specifications, firewall setup and configuration (including DMZ design), wireless communications, IP address schemes, and efficient protocol and media application. We design complex networks tailored to our clients’ needs, whether for single-site installations featuring copper and fiber networks, switches, firewalls, routers, and Wi-Fi access points, or for multisite configurations that incorporate radio and telemetry solutions. Our attention to detail extends to every aspect of the design and implementation process.

Our OT governance and security services ensure the integrity, availability, and confidentiality of your systems through access controls, policy management, and change tracking. Documentation can include a security matrix, group policy specifications, active directory specifications, and source control practices, all designed to create a strong foundation for security management. Our thorough documentation ensures that when we hand over the system, our client has all the necessary information to take full ownership.

EA has been ahead of the curve on implementation of virtualized SCADA platforms using VMware and Hyper-V. For over a decade we have developed a deep understanding of the benefits of virtualization and its usage with safety best practices and IT policy compliance. One of the key advantages of virtualization is the implementation of redundancy, which creates layers of failsafe mechanisms and high availability. Redundant architecture minimizes the risk of system downtime, ensuring that critical operations remain uninterrupted even in the event of hardware failures.

We provide hardware specifications for servers, including components like CPUs, memory, and storage. Our services include installing and configuring hypervisors for virtualization as well as handling the setup and configuration of servers to ensure they operate correctly within your network.

Helping you make smarter, faster decisions with your plant's data

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Historian

Any plant with a full local SCADA system should also utilize a historian. The historian stores and logs all the data such as process, event, and alarm history, aggregated by the SCADA system. This database of time-series data is held for future reference and aids in the analysis of historical data trends and patterns.

We design and set up SCADA historians, specializing in the implementation of Tier 1 local historians, Tier 2 enterprise historians, and secure third-party data sharing solutions.

You can have custom reports tailored to meet your specific organizational and compliance needs. Our services have successfully reduced the time spent on data scrubbing and cleaning from days to mere minutes, while simultaneously improving accuracy and traceability. We develop reports by analyzing the current data streams to optimally leverage existing data, assessing what additional data collection is needed, crafting queries to extract the correct data, and designing reports for effective visual communication. With reporting tools such as SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), Power BI, and AVEVA Reports, we automate report generation, ensuring that your organization can access timely and reliable insights.

Data centralization creates a single source of truth, allowing organizations to access holistic datasets from one location. This integration simplifies data access, eliminating the need for users to navigate multiple systems to gather information. By consolidating data, organizations can derive meaningful insights that may otherwise be lost when data exists in isolation. We can integrate SCADA systems with enterprise tools, enabling cross-contextualization across various platforms, such as laboratory information management systems (LIMS), water information management systems (WIMS), financial data, and geospatial information.

Recognizing that many clients are new to machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), we provide a structured approach that outlines incremental steps from their current stage to successful implementation. This technology can bring benefits such as improved forecasting and reduced oversight when properly applied. Applications for ML and AI can include process set point optimization, predictive maintenance, and anomaly detection. For example, these tools can analyze historical data to identify potential equipment failures, which allows timely maintenance. This approach enables organizations to monitor large datasets and respond to issues more efficiently. Our services include model design, training, and deployment. We also provide software vendor selection and training so staff are well-equipped to capitalize on these technologies.

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