Ignition at the edge, insight at the centre: BONNER’s condition monitoring architecture with B&R
BONNER recently deployed a secure, scalable condition monitoring solution using Inductive Automation’s Ignition SCADA on a central B&R APC4100, with Ignition Edge running on B&R X20-based edge panels at remote sites.
The condition monitoring system continuously tracks critical-to-quality (CTQ) parameters, raises immediate alarms the moment any process drifts outside limits, and streams contextualised data to a central historian for analysis.
The outcome: fewer site visits, faster interventions, optimised set-points and a measurable reduction in carbon emissions.
The challenge
Our client services multiple sites where uptime, quality, and energy efficiency are paramount. Traditional “drive and diagnose” maintenance meant slow feedback, inconsistent data capture and unnecessary CO₂ from technician travel. They required continuous CTQ monitoring with real-time alarms and clear escalation, secure remote visibility and (where justified) control, resilient comms and data handling with no data loss during outages, and a route to reduce energy use without compromising quality.
They needed:
- Continuous CTQ monitoring with real-time alarms and clear escalation
- Secure remote visibility and (where justified) control
- Resilient comms and data handling – no data loss during outages
- A route to reduce energy use without compromising quality
Architecture at a glance –
The system heart (supervisory):
- B&R APC4100 running Ignition (full)
- Unified tag model, central alarm journal, historian, KPI dashboards, scheduled reports
- Role-based access via IdP/SSO
On the Edge (site/skid):
- B&R X20 EDGE panels running Ignition Edge
- Local OPC UA to instruments, drives, and PLCs (B&R and third-party)
- Store-and-Forward buffers; automatic backfill after network drops
Connectivity & security:
- Primary wired or private APN; LTE fall-back where needed
- Encrypted transport (TLS), device certificates, firewalls between zones
- Network zoning to IEC 62443 (zones/conduits separating control, supervisory, and enterprise)
Continuous CTQ monitoring and immediate action
Each unit operation tracks the CTQs that actually govern quality and asset health—temperature, conductivity, pressure, flow, vibration, and power draw. We configure:
- Specification limits: hard Hi/Hi-Hi and Lo/Lo-Lo thresholds
- Statistical bands: moving-window mean/σ, rate-of-change and derivative checks to catch early drift
- Debounce & deadbands: fewer, better alarms – less noise, more signal
- Alarm philosophy: priorities, delays, shelving and acknowledgements with audit trails (aligned to ISA-18.2 / EEMUA 191)
- Escalation: on-screen annunciation and email/SMS/Teams notifications; optional call-out rota
Operators see context at the point of alarm: last values, short trend, related tags and recent interventions. Engineers can add root-cause notes in the event record, preserving knowledge for the next occurrence.
Remote operations without compromising security
- HTML5 visualisation with Ignition Perspective for desktop, tablet, and mobile
- Role-based permissions: view-only for management; deeper diagnostics for engineers; commands restricted and logged
- Full session auditing – who did what, where and when
- Read-only “diagnostics mode” for external partners (no control exposure)
Data you can trust
- Time-series historian at the centre with change-based and periodic sampling
- Edge buffering eliminates gaps after outages
- Automated daily/weekly reports with alarm KPIs and exception summaries
Resilience by design
- Local fall-back: basic HMI and alarms at the edge if the centre is unreachable
- Redundant data paths where risk justifies it, with simple switchover
- Versioned deployments and golden images for rapid site recovery
How the solution reduces carbon emissions
- Fewer truck rolls. Engineers triage remotely and travel only when needed.
Example: Avoiding two 80-km round trips per week in a diesel van (~0.18 kg CO₂/km) saves approximately 30 kg of CO₂ per Week – equivalent to about 1.5 tonnes/year – and scales with fleet size and distance. - Energy optimisation. Trends expose fouling, mis-tuned loops, and off-spec set-points (over-heating, over-pumping, excessive compressed air). We track specific energy and surface drift; corrective actions cut kWh without risking quality.
- Condition-based maintenance. Vibration, temperature and current signatures inform when to service—fewer failures, fewer emergency call-outs, less scrap.
- Better starts, fewer restarts. Early-warning CTQ alarms reduce rework and start-up waste.
Results our client is seeing
- Near-instant visibility of off-spec trends with targeted alarms
- Fewer site visits and shorter MTTR via remote diagnostics
- Lower energy intensity per unit output through set-point and asset optimisation
- Stronger compliance posture with auditable alarm management and change logs
Why Ignition on B&R
- Industrial PC performance: B&R APC4100 delivers the compute headroom and reliability a central SCADA needs.
- Hardened edge: B&R X20 EDGE integrates cleanly with existing B&R control and third-party I/O, with low-latency local decisions.
- Ignition flexibility: one platform for OPC UA, Perspective, historian, reporting, and scripting—economical at scale.
- Open by design: standards-based integration to analytics, MES, and cloud—no lock-in.
What we actually built (straightforward by intent)
- Centre: APC4100 with full Ignition – unified tags, alarm journal, historian, dashboards, reports.
- Edge: X20 EDGE panels with Ignition Edge – local acquisition over OPC UA, buffer on comms loss, push upstream.
- Security: TLS everywhere, least-privilege roles, IEC 62443 zoning. Read-only for most; command rights for the few who need them.
It’s deliberately straightforward – in the best engineering sense: standard, supportable and easy to extend.
The human side: fewer pop-ups, better decisions
Alarm systems fail when they shout all day. We adjusted priorities, delays, shelving and escalation so that the most critical event is presented with the necessary evidence to act. Engineers annotate alarm records with root cause, so the next person starts two steps ahead.
To find out how BONNER can help reduce downtime in your facility through condition monitoring, visit bonner.ie or contact our team to start a conversation.