Full migration of an aging legacy control system to a modern Siemens S7 platform for a composite materials manufacturer. The project covered the complete lifecycle — from functional design and electrical documentation through PLC programming, virtual commissioning, and on-site startup.

The Challenge

The facility’s oven control system had reached end of life. With 4-zone temperature control and recipe management for different composite curing profiles, the system needed to handle complex thermal processes reliably around the clock. Any extended downtime during the migration would directly impact production schedules.

My Approach

I designed a full Siemens S7 migration using TIA Portal, starting with a detailed functional specification and electrical documentation. Before touching the physical system, I built a digital twin simulation using PLCSIM Advanced to validate the control logic and catch issues early. A WinCC Unified HMI gave operators an intuitive interface for recipe management, zone monitoring, and alarm handling.

The Result

Virtual commissioning paid off — 18 issues were identified and resolved during simulation before I ever set foot on the plant floor. The on-site startup was completed in just 5 days, with operators trained and running production confidently on the new system.

Scope

Legacy system assessment and migration planning
Functional design specification
Electrical schematics and panel layout
Siemens S7-1200 PLC programming in TIA Portal
WinCC Unified HMI development
4-zone temperature control with recipe management
Digital twin simulation and virtual commissioning (PLCSIM Advanced)
On-site commissioning and operator training

Technologies

Siemens S7-1200 | TIA Portal | WinCC Unified | PLCSIM Advanced

Industry

Manufacturing — Composite materials processing

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