Safeguarding Your Plant Automation Systems with Change Management

Overview:

The increased use of plant floor automation to achieve production goals has created a dependency on PLCs, PC control systems and programmable automation. These devices and their logic programs are costly to develop but vital to the running of the plant, and are viewed by most companies as corporate assets. It is incumbent on plant and corporate management to insure that proper safeguards are in place to protect and manage change in these assets. This paper examines the sources and types of changes that take place in plant automation environments, and the considerations and approaches necessary to safeguard your automation systems through the effective use of a Change Management System (CMS).