Case Study: REC Silicon

Dan Chivers, IT Manager at REC Silicon Inc, faced a challenge when upgrading software systems at their Washington State manufacturing facility. During the upgrade, he discovered OPC communications stopped working between an OPC client on one of the upgraded Windows . Chivers needed a solution to diagnose the communication issue and to ensure seamless communication between four Yokogawa systems with a central server running Bently Nevada which communicates with compressors sensing vibration and the DCS to correlate compressor status with process execution.

“Initially, I downloaded OPC Expert as a troubleshooting tool to diagnose communication issues between my two systems,” said Chivers. ” I discovered that due to Microsoft’s recent DCOM hardening patch (KB5004442), I needed to update my UA certificates enabling proper permission for DCOM communication. But I saw I could use OPC Expert to avoid DCOM altogether and use the tunnelling features to connect my OPC servers.”

Chivers was drawn to OPC Expert because of its simplicity and reliability. By using five OPC Expert Pro licenses, he quickly solved his OPC communication issues, saving both time and money. Using tunneling, Chivers does not have to upgrade future systems at a single time and has the flexibility to stagger future upgrades without fear of losing OPC communications in the interim. This gives him flexibility in timing upgrades slowly while still maintaining his OPC communications.

“What is most impressive about OPC Expert is how generic and simple OPC communication has become for us, and we do not have to concern ourselves with it any longer.  We currently have plans to deploy it in other facilities, including a DCS soon,” Chivers said.

Chivers was able to quickly troubleshoot his communication issue (DCOM hardening requiring updated permissions), and resolve issues using OPC Expert tunneling. The user-friendly interface and reliability of the software to enable communication empowered him implement the solution at other REC Silicon facilities. While Microsoft’s DCOM hardening patch broke his current OPC communications setup, Chivers was able to rapidly deploy a solution to restore communications, and improve upon it while standardizing OPC communications in his facility.

About REC Silicon

With two U.S.-based manufacturing facilities and sales support offices in the U.S. and Asia, REC Silicon is helping energy and technology providers worldwide to shape the future.

Their Signature Silane® based products are used in everyday quality of life technologies, emerging technologies, cutting edge power and memory devices, high-voltage transmission, as well as renewables.

REC Silicon’s strategy is to maintain its position as a low-cost leader and technological innovator in the silicon materials industry by continuing the development of silicon manufacturing processes that enhance efficiency without increasing environmental impact.