Integrating Handheld Readings with SCADA Systems using OPC

SCADA systems are used by large facilities to monitor the conditions of various equipment and systems around the facility. Most of the data displayed in a SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system is real time data sent to the system by measuring devices installed around the plant. This will often include various pressure, temperature, level or flow values. By pulling all of this data into one place, the people who operate the systems can make decisions on whether their systems are working as designed, or if adjustments need to be made.

Often times there is a need to view data that is collected manually alongside the data that is collected automatically by the SCADA system. We have developed a solution to this problem.

Data collected with FDPMobile,  our handheld data collection software, can be integrated into SCADA systems by using OPC technology.

OPC stands for OLE for Process Control.

Using an OPC server, any data that is entered in our database can be viewed in the SCADA system. When the data is updated in the FieldData Pro application, the data will be updated on the SCADA system. 

This does not only apply to data collected with the handheld device. Our web application also has a web based data entry portal. This is often used to enter data from paper sources, such as utility bills or lab testing results.

Once this data is in the SCADA system, out of spec conditions of this data can be managed in the same manner that the plant manages out of spec conditions for all the SCADA system data. If your plant uses an alarm notification system such as WIN-911 from Spector Instruments, you can send out email or text messages notifying key people of out of spec events.