Application

Operator interaction in an SFC phase

An OPD can be used in an SFC phase. The simplest interaction is a request to the operator to confirm an OPD message before progressing to the next step of the phase. A second application example is a request to the operator to select one of two storage tanks. Electronic signatures may be necessary in both cases.

Operator interaction between two SFC phases

At the batch level, OPD can also be used for operator interaction between two separate SFC phases. For example, the operator can be requested to select between different technical equipment which require separate subsystem assignments.

Operator interaction for event-based actions

OPD can also be used for event-based actions. An example is the request to an operator to acknowledge an OPD message before opening a valve or closing a pump.

Audit Trail

The entire operator interaction is stored in the form of WinCC messages and can be easily incorporated into SIMATIC BATCH standard reports. In addition, they can be transferred to any MES system that supports long-term archiving of SIMATIC PCS 7 process data.

Operator dialogs

Operator dialogs are configured using the user-friendly OPDEdit engineering tool. The dialogs are automatically versioned. OPDEdit provides a complete revision log of all modifications.

Each OPD message can have the following content:

• 1 text message
• 0 to 10 process values (string or real)
• 0 to 10 operator inputs (string or real)
• 0 to 3 option groups with up to 6 option boxes
• 0 to 3 control groups with up to 6 control boxes
• 0 to 5 electronic signatures

Further features

• Redundant database server
• Multi-client capability
• Secure identifier (SID)
• Support of SIMATIC PCS 7 Web functionality
• Language support based on Unicode