Wonderware vs. WinCC for dairy

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Thread Starter

elecman

Hi

I work in a dairy plant & we want to revamp the plant & use PC-based control for the process. We have about 900 digital Inputs & Outputs and about some 100 AI/AOs and to deal with them I don’t know which software to use, Wonderware or WinCC for HMI. I'd appreciate it if you could send me a comparison between Wonderware and WinCC.

Best regards;
Elecman
 
I have used both Wonderware and WinCC in many different industries and applications. Which HMI is best depends greatly on how complex is your application, how skilled the people that are going to develop/maintain/etc. Generally they both are powerful HMI's. I would say that Wonderware is easier to learn and use. WinCC can get confusing and complicated to a novice developer,although it can do many complex things that are hard if not impossible in Wonderware. If need a generic HMI and you want to be able to learn it fast go for Wonderware.
 
Though I am not able to lend advice concerning WinCC, I can readily state Wonderware as a good choice.

The structure will work well for your process. I spent a large percentage of my career in the dairy, food and beverage. Having deployed Wonderware over the years through it's migrations, the package will do the trick.
However, I must preface all of this with; are you truely considering PC Control or a HMI package with various controllers and PLCs.
The hardware is an important facet of the whole.

What HTST is installed at this time and is it to be replaced?
What are the products.
Bottled milk?
Bulk pastuerization?
Butter, cottage cheese, yogurt?
Possibly dried milk.
Are the ancilliary controls ultimately to be incorporated into the scheme?
Are a wide variety of PLCs in the facility?
Just some thoughts.

Anonymous
 
Well...to be honest I have used all of the listed products extensively. for many years. Based on newer technologies, if I were going to use a PC-based or "embedded" type solution, I would choose an ISaGRAF based offering such as FlashPoint Automation has, and the Web Studio product from Indusoft. Both are based on norms. Are not difficult to understand based on your level of experience, and provide the greatest overall connectivity for present and future needs.

Best Regards,

Dave
 
I live in northern Illinois and work in Wisconsin -- many of the automated plants in Wisconsin are using Wonderware.
 
P
I have such a document. If you would like to email me directly please do so at [email protected]

Ron Powers
Consulting Technical Support Engineer-HMI/IPC
Siemens Energy & Automation-Solutions Business Unit
Validation Center
5300 Triangle Pkwy
Norcross, GA. 30092

For pre-sales support try out [email protected]
 
H

Hakan Ozevin

All SCADA systems have positive and negative sides.
I advice you to choose the system for which you can take better support in your area.
I am using WinCC, cos I take good support locally and from customer support headquarters.
 
R

Ranjan Acharya

<clip> I have such a document. If you would like to email me directly please do so at [email protected] </clip>

How about copying the "Executive Summary" of this Siemens document to another list message? I am sure Wonderware fans have an equally interesting study of Wonderware versus WinCC. Perhaps they could post one too. It would be fun to compare them ....

I still hate the "what is best" postings. They elicit nothing more than opinions based on habit or personal bias. Having seen both WinCC and Wonderware in action, I see no real way that you can pick between them unless you have a particular feature that you really need that one of them does not support without (for example) extensive modifications or scripting.

I think the very best thing you can do is to write up a good functional requirements specification and then hold whoever writes your system to it. That is, they have to provide a guarantee of performance based on their winning bid whether it be Wonderware, Citect, WinCC or whatever.

A lot of really good SCACA applications run on awful platforms and on the corollary a lot of really bad SCADA applications run on really good platforms. By that I mean even if you have a "study" proving one package is better than another in "laboratory tests" it means nothing once your supplier has put it all together.

Work with a local integrator, local supplier and the like and sort out what your system has to do. I would imagine a good supplier will be able to make it work with either WinCC or Wonderware or ANY other market leader.

Try talking to some other people in the dairy business and see what luck they have had. May be one of their integrators can bring extensive dairy experience and help you write a good FRS. Then they could help you select one from a short list of suppliers. They might have an application they wrote for one of your cohorts that can easily be ported to your facility.

As always, think about not picking brand "X" if no one in your geographic area can support you.

RA
 
S

Shahid Waqas Chaudhry

My usual take on this kind of selection is some thing similar to the following table:

Requirement Vendor 1 Vendor 2 ... Vendor n
- Requirement 1
- Requirement 2
- ...
- Requirement n
- Existing Installbase
- Local Support
- Helpdesk Support
- Your experienec
- Price

Once you make a list of this kind, the winner comes forward (usually two at
times).

IMHO, almost all HMI currently present are more or less similar in
capabilities. It usually boils down to the local expertise/support and your
experience. And then there is always the PRICE!

My 2 bits,
Shahid Waqas
 
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