In 2005, DCS (Distributed Control System) class systems, with their own controllers and visualization systems, were already in operation at the facility.
Systems of this type are used wherever the installation is distributed over a large area. Their main advantages are mostly used in places with special requirements, such as power plants, steel mills or refineries.
However, not every type of work requires such advanced solutions. Tasks that are not critical for the plant, but are only of a supporting nature, e.g. show the current working states and statuses of storage tanks, can be successfully carried out with the help of other tools.
Alternatives to DCSs included PLC-based solutions and individual operator stations collecting data from individual plants and visualizing it on InTouch applications. However, due to the need to exchange data between multiple sites and distributed pumping plant systems, the decision was made to use Application Server, today’s AVEVA System Platform.
The solution was very innovative for that time. Moreover, it was one of the first System Platform licenses in Poland. At a time when digital technologies were not yet as widespread as they are today, not only the implementation of such a tool was a challenge. It was also organizational changes and the proper preparation of employees to use it. A challenge undoubtedly successfully completed, because as Piotr Latos, Senior PLC/SCADA Control Systems Engineer at the Gdansk Refinery, says:
„When I started working at LOTOS Group, the staff involved in maintenance and changes within the Platform was well prepared, that is, when the training took place, the cooperation must have been so fruitful that after I was hired here and took over my responsibilities, I was able to carry out maintenance and service work within the Platform itself without any problems.”