The purpose of bringing the approximately 180 cabinets together is to be able to store the samples in the most responsible way, optimise operational reliability and improve the way alarms are handled. The cabinets require individual temperatures between +5 and -140 degrees Celsius, depending on the types of samples stored in the cabinet.

Connecting hospital automation for full compliance

Init has delivered automation consultancy as well as conceptual design of the monitoring system and also the programming and commissioning of the PLC and SCADA applications.

The applied solution is based on Bihl+Wiedemann’s ASi system which has been utilised in previous automation tasks at the hospital. The combination modules are linked to an ASi master via an ASi cable. The ASi masters are via Profinet connected to the Siemens PLC, which functions as overall control and processer power on top of the entire ASi network. The Siemens PLC communicates with the overall WinCC SCADA system which monitors most of the hospital.

The new setup meets requirements for documentation of temperature in the cabinets during storage. Sensors have been retrofitted in all lockers which send an alert to the overall SCADA system in case of non-conformities.