CASE STUDIES · MINING
A brownfield control upgrade on a live mine, executed without unplanned downtime
At a glance
Client
A coal mining operation
Sector
Mining
Scope
Brownfield upgrade of ageing control hardware: RIOs, Simocodes, VSDs and softstarters
Approach
Site audit, hardware lifecycle risk management, phased install during planned maintenance shuts
Outcome
Upgrade delivered inside maintenance windows, obsolescence risk reduced
The challenge
A coal mining operation was running critical processes on ageing control hardware that could no longer be guaranteed OEM support, the kind of legacy PLC estate that a faster-moving landscape of AI, quantum computing and open architecture is pushing towards end of life across the industry. Replacing remote IO, Simocodes, variable speed drives and softstarters on a producing plant carries real risk, since obsolete equipment fails without warning and an unplanned stoppage on a live mine costs both uptime and throughput, the parameters that move the dial on production. The work had to happen around the operation, not interrupt it.
What PCS Global did
PCS started with a digital assessment to define the brownfield scope precisely and rank obsolescence risk, then managed the upgrade as a hardware lifecycle risk exercise rather than a rip-and-replace. The replacement of RIOs, Simocodes, VSDs and softstarters was sequenced and implemented during the mine’s planned maintenance shutdowns, so the live system was never taken down outside its scheduled windows. Early scoping is the discipline PCS leads with, on the principle that risk ignored early is cost multiplied later, moving the plant towards a stable, scalable and secure platform.
The result
- Ageing control hardware replaced without unplanned production loss, work contained within scheduled maintenance shuts.
- Obsolescence and hardware lifecycle risk actively reduced across RIOs, Simocodes, VSDs and softstarters, protecting the uptime and throughput the operation depends on.
Capabilities demonstrated
- Brownfield and legacy integration
- Hardware lifecycle risk management
- Live-site execution
- Planned shutdown work
Running critical processes on ageing control hardware?
Talk to us about a phased upgrade planned around your shuts.