WiZARTEC® Glossary

I/O checkout I/O checkout, also known as I/O testing or signal checking, is the process of making sure that every signal in an installation is correctly connected and works properly in the control system. The team checks the signals one by one. For inputs: does the sensor show the true value in the system? For outputs: when a command is issued, does exactly the right device start? The result of each test is documented. It is tedious and time-consuming work,

Instrumentation and control (I&C) Instrumentation and control (I&C) covers all the components that allow an installation to “know” what is happening inside it and respond accordingly. The simplest way to picture it is as the installation’s senses and muscles. The measuring part (the senses) consists of sensors and transmitters that measure, among other things, temperature, pressure, product level in a tank and flow, as well as quality parameters such as pH, conductivity and density. The actuating part (the muscles) consists

I/O (inputs and outputs) I/O (inputs/outputs) are the signals a controller uses to communicate with devices in an installation. Inputs are information that reaches the controller: “the temperature is 72°C”, “the tank is full”, “the valve is open”, “someone has pressed the emergency stop button”. Outputs are commands the controller sends: “open the valve”, “start the pump”, “set the agitator speed to 50%”. Signals are further divided into: digital (discrete) signals, which have only two values: on/off, open/closed, analogue signals,

OPEX OPEX (operating expenditures) is the ongoing cost a company incurs so that its plant can operate and produce day to day. Unlike CAPEX, which creates something lasting, OPEX does not build anything new, it keeps the business running. These expenses recur every month or every year for as long as the installation is in operation. In a production plant, OPEX includes, among other things: raw materials and ingredients used to make the product, as well as packaging, electricity powering

CAPEX CAPEX (capital expenditures) is the money a company spends on buying, building or upgrading fixed assets, meaning things that will serve it for many years. In industry, this mainly includes: new production lines and process installations, machinery and equipment, such as reactors, mixers, pasteurisers and filling lines, upgrades to existing installations that increase capacity or quality, or extend their service life, buildings and infrastructure, such as a new production hall, boiler house or chiller, automation systems and software, such

SCADA SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) is software that lets you see and supervise how an installation is running. On a computer screen in the control room, the operator sees a diagram of the installation: tanks with their current levels, pipes, pumps, valves, and live temperature and pressure readings. Colours and symbols show what is running, what is stopped and what is reporting a fault. The main functions of SCADA are: visualisation, meaning a real-time view of the installation’s

MES MES (Manufacturing Execution System) is a system that manages production from the organisational side. SCADA answers the question “what is the temperature in tank 3 right now?”, while MES answers “which batch are we producing, how much has been made so far, from which raw materials, and are we on schedule?”. Typical tasks: receiving production orders and assigning them to lines, tracking production progress, traceability, meaning a record of which raw material batches were used to make a given

Testing and acceptance (FAT and SAT) Testing and acceptance (FAT and SAT) are tests that formally confirm that an installation or piece of equipment works in line with the requirements set out in the contract and specification. They are carried out according to a test plan agreed in advance, and the results are recorded in test reports signed by both parties. There are two main types of acceptance tests: FAT (Factory Acceptance Test) is carried out at the manufacturer’s or

Prefabrication Prefabrication means building parts of an installation in advance, in the contractor’s workshop, rather than on site at the client’s plant. The most commonly prefabricated items are: pipe spools, which are cut, welded and inspected in the workshop, steel structures, such as frames, platforms and supports, complete modules, meaning sets of equipment assembled on a common frame together with piping and wiring (also called skids). Working conditions in a workshop are better than in a production hall: the right

Pre-engineering Pre-engineering is the stage that comes before detailed design. Its purpose is to check whether the planned solution is feasible and what exactly will need to be done, before the company commits significant funds to design and procurement. At this stage, engineers, among other things: clarify the requirements: what product, what capacity, which standards must be met, check the on-site conditions: available space, floor load capacity, transport routes, existing installations, assess utility demand and whether the existing sources will

Process utilities Process utilities are everything a plant needs to operate that is neither a product nor a raw material. The most common ones are: compressed air, which drives pneumatic valves and some equipment, and sometimes comes into contact with the product (in which case it must be properly purified), process steam, used for heating the product, pasteurisation, sterilisation and cleaning, chilled water, meaning water cooled, usually to a few degrees Celsius, used to cool the product and equipment, process

Process tanks Process tanks are tanks in which a specific stage of a process is carried out, rather than tanks that simply store a product. A standard storage tank is essentially a large container. A process tank actively does something to the product. Typical equipment of a process tank: an agitator, which keeps the product homogeneous or mixes the ingredients, a heating/cooling jacket, an additional wall through which steam, hot water or chilled water flows, temperature, level and pressure sensors,