What is scada? Definition and Details paessler com/it-explained/scada it explained: scada back to index Content

Why is SCADA used?
The main reason SCADA systems are used is to automate specific processes that are
either too complex or dangerous for people, or are repetitive. SCADA systems allow
organizations to analyze a measured condition and program an optimal response that can
consistently and automatically be executed every time.
Before SCADA was introduced, industrial manufacturers relied on people manually
controlling and monitoring equipment on site. Initially, organizations utilized relays and
timers for some measure of supervisory control of remote equipment but as businesses
scaled out, configuring and maintaining relays and timers became too complicated and
costly.
SCADA systems allow technicians, machine operators, and automated processes to get
data from remote hardware components in real time, analyze and manipulate the
acquired data, and perform limited control tasks like closing a valve in a remote irrigation
system or turning off a pump at an oil production facility in the event of a leak.
SCADA systems reduce human error and labor costs. They help operators to make
informed decisions in complex industrial processes and react quickly to maintain system
uptime and increase productivity. Furthermore, they help business to increase efficiency,
reduce waste, extend equipment life, and ensure regulatory compliance.
SCADA mitigates the risk of system failure of critical national infrastructures like oil
pipelines, chemical plants, water systems, nuclear plants, and transportation networks.
This could otherwise have a major impact on large sections of the community, including

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loss of life, economic losses, and disruptions to basics services.
Where is SCADA used?
SCADA systems can be configured for any industrial application from a small system that
provides refrigeration services for a supermarket chain to a complex installation that
monitors a national electricity grid. Industrial enterprises are defined as businesses other
than commercial or service enterprises but SCADA systems are typically used in any
heavy-asset system where large amounts of processing are required, regular intervention
is necessary, or immediate remote remediation may be required in mission-control
systems.
SCADA is commonly used in the food and beverage, building and facilities management,
manufacturing automation, oil and gas, chemical, transportation, agriculture, waste
control, aerospace, defense, lumber production, construction, cement and metal
fabrication, and water purification industries. 
Examples of SCADA applications are: providing power across an extended geographical
area in mission-critical systems, controlling the behavior of automated equipment in
factories, remote monitoring of offshore assets in the oil and gas industry, monitoring
environmental impacts in the mining industry, regulating power supplies for public
transport like subways, controlling lighting and temperature in the retail sector, and
regulating water levels in dams.
SCADA systems are used in sectors where regulatory compliance is mandatory and there
is no room for human error, for instance in the health and pharmaceutical industries. They
are used in environments where automation is beneficial to the business, for example
where products are manufactured in an assembly line or on space stations.