What is SCADA Systems?

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If you are not that familiar with SCADA systems and its functionality, we hope that this blog answers certain questions you might have and provides you with more clarity.

To begin with, Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) is an amalgamation of software and hardware elements which allows industrial organisations to:

• Control industrial processes locally or from remote locations
• Monitor, gather, and process real-time data
• Directly interact with devices like sensors, valves, pumps, motors, and more through human-machine interface (HMI) software
• Record events in a log file

Why are SCADA Systems crucial in an industrial organisation? 

SCADA systems are of paramount importance as they help in maintaining efficiency, process data to make smarter decisions and communicate issues revolving the system to help mitigate downtime. The fundamentals of SCADA architecture start with programmable logic controllers (PLCs) or remote terminal units (RTUs).

Both are microcomputers that do the job of communicating with an array of objects like HMIs, sensors, end devices, and factory machines, and then they route the information extracted from those objects to computers with SCADA software. Therefore, SCADA software distributes, processes, displays the data, and then helps operators and other employees to examine the data and take decisions.

Who uses SCADA?

Typically, SCADA systems are used by industries and companies that come under the realm of public and private sectors. It helps control and maintain efficiency, communicate system issues, distribute data that will help make better decisions and alleviate downtime. SCADA systems can work well in several enterprises as they have the range that can vary from simple configurations to large and complex installations. Some of the industries where they can work smoothly are:

• Food and beverage
• Manufacturing
• Transportation
• Oil and gas
• Power
• Recycling
• Water and wastewater
• Energy

Look around and you will see some kind of SCADA system that is working behind the scenes. Be it maintaining the refrigeration system, or ensuring safety in refineries, or tracking your energy use at home.

With SCADA software, you can get real-time information and data from different system components connected to the internet. Also, the system is easily expandable. Therefore, any number of control units and sensors, you can add them according to your requirement.