Automation

Optima Controls is a Midlands based supplier of automation systems to industries. The range and depth of skills we have developed over the years have led us into a range of industries in both utilities and manufacturing and we continue to extend our influence through this skills depth and quality of the services by adding new clients to an already impressive portfolio.

As a systems integrator we specialise in the implementation of real-time control, but we are able to relate these skills in the application of Data Acquisition as well as enterprise-wide industrial networks and information systems.

Optima Controls provide fully integrated industrial automation and control solutions. We provide PLC system design and SCADA solutions, where a ‘total integration’ approach delivers high-integrity software alongside high-reliability hardware for assured system performance.

With over 10 years’ industry experience, Optima Controls has developed expertise across a wide variety of markets. Our continued involvement across a range of process industries ensures that our services utilise the latest technology to provide optimum systems solutions for operations and management challenges.

Through adopting this approach customers have the added reassurance that safe, efficient and up-to-date designs are developed and implemented, resulting in improved operational performance and efficiency. Supported by our expertise in functional safety systems, we can deliver a complete solution within scheduled windows.

From smaller single projects to larger major turn-key projects, Optima Controls offers a diverse scope of operations and cost-effective solutions to a wide cross-section of industries including power generation, pharmaceutical, heat treatment, food and beverage, nuclear, automotive and water treatment.

Whichever industry you work in, we can design, install, maintain and upgrade electronic control systems to keep your business running far into the future.

Optima Controls Process Control capability has been the cornerstone of the Company capability for many years.

We have undertaken complex and challenging Process Control projects throughout the world for a range of prestigious Clients like Cadbury, Kraft Foods, Mondelez International, Marabou, Jacobs Douwe Egberts, Coca-Cola, Jaguar Land Rover, BMW, Bentley, Nissan, Magna Interiors, Convatec, West and others.

Optima Controls is pre-eminent in the design and delivery of PLC/HMI based Control Systems. We have considerable experience spanning the industrial environment. Our process control engineers have experience with all the major PLC and HMI vendors and we have strategic partnerships with a number of leading vendors across the world.

Our applications range from high-speed packing and wrapping applications to wide-area data monitoring and acquisition, from continuous real-time processes to validated S88 compliant batch installations.

The company has significant experience of multi-product, multi-streaming batch production processes and a deep understanding of formal development using ISA S88.01 and S88.02 modelling techniques for improved production capability.

We are able to offer this experience to our clients who may be looking to improve existing production methods and want to explore the benefits of designing their new plant operations to the S88 Model.

Careful consideration at the design stage is crucial in realising the benefits offered by the S88 approach, our experienced consultants will guide you through the process and identify the pitfalls and ensure that you are able to take maximum advantage in terms of process plant design, control system design and information systems design and gain the competitive edge your investment deserves.

We have assisted many chemical companies to secure a significant return on their batch control and information systems investment and create competitive advantage.

This has been achieved by working with clients to ensure production, reliability, flexibility and efficiency objectives are understood, controlling programme and budget, whilst ensuring appropriate standards of safety and quality are maintained.

In the field of speciality chemicals and pharmaceutical chemicals, we have experience of designing best value control systems and supporting our client in the development of Unit Operations for multipurpose/multiproduct production, pilot and production scale, and recovery and purification processes.

We have designed and installed several fully S88.01 compliant batch control systems for cGMP regulated Pharmaceutical and Food quality intermediate process manufacturing plants, using traditional DCS and PLC/SCADA based applications including full electronic reporting and management systems.

In the food industry, we have a long history of batch processing applications experience for single, multiproduct and multistream process ingredients management.

Key unit operations experience:

• Fermentation
• Liquid / Solid Additions
• Reaction
• Condensate Routing
• Solids Separation – Filtration / Drying
• Vac Control
• Cleaning in Place (CIP) systems
• Tanker Loading / Offloading
• Nitrogen filling /relief
• Dosing
• Evaporation
• Distillation
• Liquids & Solids Storage & Transfer
• Gas Sampling
• Thermal Fluid Systems
• Critical Utilities

Optima Controls offers a broad range of proprietary SCADA systems via partner relationships. In practice, however, the majority of shrink-wrapped products have limited functionality when stretched to run as true SCADA solutions and exist mainly to service process and related industries as local HMI (Human Machine Interfaces) terminals.

Features that characterise a true Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System are hard to find in shrink-wrapped offerings.

Alarms handling, a major requirement for a SCADA system, is often very limited and true Hot Standby redundancy capability at both server and Client level is also very rare. Proprietary manufacturers often refer to “failover” capability and other such euphemisms, which fall well short of true Hot Standby Capability which in practice is an extremely complex technical problem to solve and rare even on a Unix platform let alone Windows.

Security Access is another feature that challenges most proprietary systems. One of the key requirements for a true SCADA solution demands layers of access tied to a range of Operational, Management and Technical personnel. Once again in practice, the security models available in shrink-wrapped products fall far short of the demanding requirements of a true SCADA system.

At Optima Controls we have a wealth of Knowledge in SCADA built-up over the years of engineering and delivering dozens of Solutions.