Addressing obsolescence is an issue facing many companies and failure to create a robust action plan can often lead to problems that not only affect the operation of a line or machine, but can also result in unfavourable issues that could have detrimental effects on quality levels and brands.
The dangers of obsolescence were identified early on at a leading British biscuit manufacturer in its mixing plant, where older hardware was not only showing its age in terms of performance and failures, but was also no longer part of a supported spares package. More information can be found here: Rockwell Automation Case Study
More information here:
Allen‑Bradley ControlLogix programmable automation controllers
EtherNet/IP device-level ring network topology
Rockwell Automation integrated-display computer running FactoryTalk View Site Edition (SE)