40TH ANNIVERSARY – PLCS


40th Anniversary 40yrasrevinnAht04


The eND OF ONe eRA and the start of another


Siemens SIMATIC S5 PLC, the workhorse of automation for over 40 years, is being put out to pasture as a new chapter begins...


S


ince its launch more than 40 years ago, the programmable logic controller (PLC) has automated countless machines


and processes and transformed production in every industry imaginable. S5’s main achievement was that it offered


factory engineers an increase in computing power. Add to that control functions enabling higher-level tasks to be performed, and the robust and simple technical layout, it is no wonder so many are still in use today, with both small manufacturers and giants like Heinz at its plant in Wigan. The product life cycle ended on


September 30 2020, meaning spare parts will not be available and repairs not be possible for the S5 family of products, heralding the end of an era and a move to the next generation of Siemens technologies. For many engineers, the end of


S5’s lifecycle has prompted a sense of nostalgia and reflection about the impact and legacy of this game-changing box of tricks. This includes Alan Norbury, chief technology officer, Siemens Plc. who was taking his first steps as a Siemens apprentice in Congleton, the same moment as S5 was being unveiled to the world. But it wasn’t a straightforward journey from


PLC newcomer to market leader, as Norbury can attest to. In those early years he was one of three product specialists out on the road winning the hearts and minds of production managers and encouraging them to take a technological leap of faith. “In the late 1970s engineers were used to


wiring diagrams and relay panels,” Norbury said. “The arrival of S5 - which was a tenth of the size of your traditional hard-wired panel - was a huge advance. “Siemens were very aware of the cultural


change it was proposing, so designed S5 to look familiar to a relay panel engineers were used to. But the biggest shift was that the functionality was ruled by a stored program rather than a hard-wired system. That was the biggest barrier: the psychological change.


A move from the physical to software required a new mind set of what was now possible and an entire set of new skills. “It was a new world to engineers, so the


challenge was getting customers to understand the value of change. We gradually overcame those barriers.” The S5 line was produced in 90U,


95U, 101U/R, 100U, 105R, 110A/S/F 130A/W, 150S 115U/F/H, 135U, and 155U/H chassis styles. The higher the number the more sophisticated the system. For each chassis several CPUs were available, with varying speed, memory, and capabilities. Some systems provided


redundant CPU operation for high- reliability control, as used in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Others provided failsafe capabilities, designed to safeguard machines and people, used in applications such as oil and gas. Much of the success of S5 is


Top: Alan Norbury, CTO Siemens Plc,and above: Dave Pickles, MD, Capula


owed to the introduction of the engineering software STEP 5 which made it easier to quickly create and modify programs. “It was groundbreaking,” Norbury


explained. “Structured programming was a big leap for engineers working in automated


plants and enabled them to diagnose faults much more quickly. It was easy to follow and you could label elements to organise the software. There was no longer a huge linear string of code to wade through to find a fault. “This was a huge benefit to customers in the


automotive industry. It sped up fault diagnosis and increased the uptime of machines, which saved them a lot of money.” In those early days of S5, Norbury was one of


three Siemens technical assistants covering the UK and Ireland and involved in the sales and aftersales process. It wasn’t long until S5 was the leading PLC in


the market but competition and the need of industry was driving forward advances in automation technology. For Siemens that meant setting itself apart


from the products of other manufacturers with a more reasonable price, increased


40 DeCeMBeR 2020/JANUARY 2021 | PROCeSS & CONTROL


quality, and a more diverse product line or new functions. Recognising the need for more power and


flexibility, Siemens launched its universally applicable S5 U series, and sales figures grew rapidly. The major advance with the U series were added modularity, timing and counter capacity, and communications modules. Modularity enabled engineers to connect


S5 with other devices like printers and monitors to aid graphical programming to control engineering. Improved programming enabled high


speed counting and positioning for the food processing industry with applications for labelling on bottles. The advent of the S5-100U range, which


introduced a central processing unit (CPU) option, reduced switching times and enabled more complex and faster production processes. With this new-found speed, plant and


operator safety became paramount. Siemens developed an additional failsafe controller to the range, S5-115F. Dave Pickles, managing director of Capula,


an industrial systems integrator, started his career at Siemens as an apprentice engineer with Norbury and was involved in training electricians to use S5. He recalls a project he was involved with at


Delta Rods in Wolverhampton, which replaced a 12m long solid state control suite with the compact 110S for the processing of brass billets into wire. "It was transformational moving from an


enormous bank of panels, which were prone to failure, and vast complicated drawings mapping all the logic circuits, to a compact unit and a screen for programming and diagnostics,” Pickles explained. “Watching the lightbulb moment in these veteran engineers who were wary - and in some ways frightened by the change - was very rewarding. "As a young engineer it was fantastic to be


part of that revolution. There was a euphoria around this new technology which would transform the performance of a plant across all industries." Pickles also attributes the success of S5 to


its price and performance. "The 100U was the first micro PLC that was


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