PLC-5 Migration: The Time is Now

The Allen-Bradley PLC-5 programmable logic controller platform has been a part of the AB PLC portfolio for more than 30 years. Technology has progressed dramatically over the past 30 years. The cost of components required to manufacture this product has increased tremendously, and the availability of these components has decreased. In fact, some components are no longer available making it impossible to manufacture some of the products within the PLC-5 platform. For these reasons, Rockwell Automation has announced that the PLC-5 platform will be discontinued in June 2017. The Allen-Bradley ControlLogix platform is here to replace the PLC-5. This programmable logic controller platform offers greater flexibility and capabilities than the PLC-5. The components are not interchangeable between the two platforms and the program utilized within the PLC-5 must be converted to a program compatible with the ControlLogix. Rockwell Automation has developed hardware and services to simplify this migration. The migration hardware enables the transition to take place with no wiring changes. The services include converting the existing PLC-5 program to a ControlLogix program before the hardware migration occurs. The combination of migration hardware and services minimizes the downtime required to migrate your system to current technology. Although existing PLC-5 systems have functioned flawlessly for years, waiting until a component fails may cause significant unplanned downtime. Program conversion and delivery of components take time. By utilizing the Rockwell Automation migration package, the new system can be installed and implemented during a planned production outage minimizing production losses and unplanned downtime. If you are currently using PLC 5 processors in your facility, please contact your CBT account representative so we can guide you through a migration strategy. Thanks so much to Jim Hall, one of our Control Product Specialists, for writing this blog content.  Jim has been a Control Product Specialist with CBT since November 2002. He was a Sales Engineer for Rockwell Automation for 12 years prior to joining our CBT team. Contact us today for more information on PLC-5 Migration.