Control systems
& modernization
Siemens PCS 7, CEMAT, WinCC Classic, and legacy PLC systems. Requirements, architecture, migration planning, licensing, and plant-team coordination.
INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION · CEMENT · SOFTWARE
Ashish Atre.
Plant experience.
Practical software.
Useful intelligence.
I work at the meeting point of plant engineering and software—helping engineers solve real problems simply, reliably, and cost-effectively.
Navi Mumbai, India
THE ENGINEER BEHIND THE TOOLS01
Always building what comes next.
CONTROL SYSTEMSENGINEERING UTILITIESINDUSTRIAL DATAPROCESS AI
01 / ABOUT ME
Useful on the
plant floor.
My work starts with the engineer who has to keep the plant running.
My background is in industrial automation, DCS and SCADA modernization, and hands-on collaboration with plant engineers. Cement manufacturing is a central part of that work—from crusher and raw material preparation through kiln, grinding, and packing, alongside power and waste heat recovery systems.
I’m equally interested in the everyday gaps: an awkward data export, a difficult OPC connection, a backup nobody has verified, or a report that takes too much manual effort. Those problems are the starting point for the software tools I’m building.
My direction is practical: make existing systems easier to understand and maintain, then use reliable plant data to support better decisions.
A working principle“Boringly stable and reliable.”
02 / WHERE I WORK
From the control room
to the data layer.
Engineering choices have to make sense in a running plant, with real constraints and real consequences.
Control systems
Connectivity
& plant data
OPC DA and UA, historians, SQL, CSV, and reporting. Turning available signals into data that engineers can inspect, trust, and use.
Practical
industrial AI
My industrial AI work focuses on cement process applications: preheater anomaly detection, kiln and mill optimization, soft sensors, and operator advisory tools.
03 / SELECTED PROJECTS
Built around
real engineering needs.
These are the kinds of projects I work on—from focused utilities to larger ideas still taking shape. I welcome conversations with engineers and developers who see a useful next step.
Siemens project intelligence
What is in this automation project? What changed? Which physical module does a signal belong to? These tools turn project files and exports into information an engineer can use.
Explore the projects
- ProjectIntelligenceSuite — in developmentJoins software signals to hardware rack, slot and module information, with lifecycle context. Combines project inspection, hardware analysis and traceability in the SiemensToolKit collection.
- S7DocAuditorRead-only block and symbol inventories, baseline comparisons, change-audit reports and backup organization from STEP 7 Classic project copies. Some toolkit-dependent enrichment remains in development.
- S7InventoryMngrTurns STEP 7 / PCS 7 hardware exports into classified inventories, I/O channel summaries and Excel reports. An optional TIA Openness reader extends the import routes.
- S7-XRefBuilds a searchable cross-reference database from symbol exports and AWL/STL sources, including data-block element references. Exports findings to PDF, Word and CSV.
Example engineering problem
A plant is preparing for an upgrade. The engineer needs to connect program references, I/O addresses and installed modules, then identify which changes or lifecycle concerns deserve attention.
Directions to explore together
Broader project-format coverage, clearer confidence and exception reporting, and worked examples that help engineers plan maintenance or migration. Plant engineers can contribute real questions; developers can help strengthen parsers and traceability.
XPertLogger
A lean industrial data logger for collecting OPC UA and OPC DA values, preserving quality and timestamps, and keeping data available through connection and storage interruptions.
Explore the projects
- XPertLoggerProject-based logging, SQLite buffering, InfluxDB integration, exports and diagnostics. OPC DA runs through a separate helper process to isolate legacy COM failures.
- Development directionArray-item handling, controlled setpoint workflows and WinCC historical-write integration are areas of ongoing work; availability depends on the feature and build.
- InfluxDBSetupCompanion Windows setup work that keeps historian binaries, data, logs and connection settings organized.
Example engineering problem
A useful trend needs more than a tag value. It needs the right timestamp, trustworthy quality, and a visible explanation when a connection or storage path fails.
Directions to explore together
Resource-efficient acquisition, easier diagnostics, array handling and controlled data exchange. Especially useful conversations involve real logging workloads and the limits of the installed plant PC.
OPC connectivity
Modern data applications still have to connect to older plant systems. This work explores practical bridges between OPC Classic and OPC UA, with attention to quality, security and diagnostics.
Explore the projects
- UA-DA-WrapperExposes legacy OPC DA values and OPC HDA history to OPC UA consumers. Includes tag access controls, audit logging and remote-collector work. A broader DA/UA tunneler is a development direction.
- XPertOPCMapper — feasibility workA proposed configurable bridge for DA-to-DA, DA-to-UA and UA-to-UA mappings, with mapper-hosted servers. Hosted OPC DA feasibility has been exercised; the production service and user interface are still to be built.
- SNMP_OPCSeparate connectivity work that brings network-device measurements and traps into an OPC UA view alongside process signals.
Example engineering problem
An older system exposes OPC Classic data, while a new application expects OPC UA. The bridge has to preserve the meaning of the data and make connection failures understandable.
Directions to explore together
Vendor interoperability, legacy-machine collectors, clearer certificate and DCOM diagnostics, and the proposed DA/UA mapping workflows. Engineers and developers with difficult connectivity cases would bring valuable test scenarios.
XPertSim & UA-Sim
Testing an integration should not require a running plant. Simulation makes it possible to exercise trends, alarms, historian behavior and failure recovery before deployment.
Explore the projects
- XPertSimAn OPC UA plant simulator with a section-wise cement model, derived values, operating scenarios, CSV replay and fault injection. Client writes and held setpoints support interactive tests; product refinement continues.
- Why it mattersA bad-quality value, a frozen signal or a lost connection should be tested deliberately. Simulation gives engineers a repeatable way to check how their application responds.
- UA-SimRelated model-driven OPC UA simulation work using JSON and Excel plant models to expose tags, alarms, sequences and diagnostics.
Example engineering problem
A dashboard works with smoothly changing values. What happens when a sensor reports bad quality, a signal freezes, a counter resets or communication drops?
Directions to explore together
More process scenarios, reusable acceptance exercises and the planned OPC DA simulation path. Process specialists can contribute realistic behavior; integration developers can contribute failure cases their applications must handle.
WinCC data utilities
Make archive data easier to extract, and make external lab values or predictions visible where an operator already works.
Explore the projects
- XPertWinCCOleDBBrowses Tag Logging and Alarm Logging archives through the WinCC OLE DB provider, with CSV, Excel and PDF exports. A companion command-line application runs saved export jobs.
- XPertWinCCCSVTrend — browser prototypeDisplays timestamped CSV data as trends and tables, with daily-file handover, missing-data handling and a last-good display. The browser prototype has documented WinCC V7.5 SP1 testing; a native ActiveX viewer is planned.
- XPertWinCCUaCertManager — in developmentCertificate inventory, diagnostics and trust-exchange workflows, with rollback as a design priority.
- XPertWinCC — integration researchA reference workspace for exploring WinCC data interfaces, including OPC, OLE DB, user archives and external application connections.
Example engineering problem
An engineer needs archive data for analysis, or an operator needs to compare a laboratory result with a prediction. Repeated manual exports and disconnected displays make both jobs harder.
Directions to explore together
Simpler export workflows, more target-system trials, and the planned native CSV viewer. A useful starting point is an anonymized data sample and the operator or reporting task it should support.
PCS 7 security assessment
Turn a long hardening checklist into a repeatable configuration review for PCS 7 clients, servers and engineering stations.
Explore the projects
- PCS7_HardeningAssesses node configuration against editable baselines derived from Siemens guidance. Produces HTML and CSV findings, commissioning checklists and fleet summaries for engineering review.
- Assessment boundaryReports deviations without applying hardening changes. A finding is a starting point for review, rather than a certification of the system.
- Open-source foundationMy extensions build on OTORIO’s PCS7-Hardening-Tool under GPL v3, with additional checks, reporting and baseline work.
Plant views & reports
Collected plant data becomes useful when people can see its context, follow a trend, review an alarm or produce a dependable daily log sheet.
Explore the projects
- XPertPlantPulseOperations dashboards, historian, alarm handling, scoped access, notifications and reports in a common plant hierarchy. Development emphasizes clear data quality, useful views and maintainable operation.
- XPertReporter — pilot developmentA Windows acquisition service and report Studio, currently centered on OPC DA and daily log sheets in PDF, XLSX, CSV and HTML. Other sources, report types and scheduling remain development areas.
- A shared principleMissing or incomplete data should be visible. A report should distinguish a gap from a genuine zero, and show the coverage behind its result.
Example engineering problem
A daily report has values, but can the reader tell whether the plant stopped or the recording stopped? The calculation and its data coverage need to remain understandable.
Directions to explore together
Section-specific report templates, clear KPI definitions, better report design and practical operator views. Plant and process engineers can help define the calculations, missing-data rules and layouts worth building.
Industrial notifications
Different plant situations call for different ways to reach people: SMS, phone notifications, MQTT, WhatsApp or spoken messages in the control room.
Explore the projects
- XPertSMSOPC UA alarm rules with recipient groups, acknowledgement, history and delivery channels including GSM or API-based SMS, email and push services. OPC DA support remains planned in the supplied feature table.
- XPertMQTTRule-based OPC alerts published over MQTT, with durable outage buffering and an Android companion. The documentation records an end-to-end alert trial on a physical handset.
- XPertNotify — in developmentA Windows service and web administration platform with OPC acquisition, authentication, audit and health monitoring. Mobile companion work is documented; the full alarm and delivery workflow remains under development.
- XPertWapp — working prototypeAlarm-condition monitoring and WhatsApp dispatch through a locally hosted gateway. Reliability qualification and delivery receipts remain open work.
- XPertVoiceAlarmOffline spoken alarm announcements with cached audio, priority queues, repeat handling, flood protection and event history. Intended as a supplementary annunciation layer.
Cement Process Assistant
A local assistant for a curated cement reference library, connecting answers to the passages that support them. Part of my wider interest in AI that helps engineers make informed decisions.
Explore the projects
- MyFirstRAGHybrid text and semantic retrieval, page-aware PDF extraction, and a chat interface showing supporting passages.
- Source preservationWorks with the reference library without modifying its source documents.
- Development interestsBetter retrieval, traceable explanations and process context—and connecting reliable plant data to useful soft sensors and advisory tools.
An engineering knowledge shelf
Finding a promising repository is only the beginning. These companion tools help discover relevant resources, remember why they matter and find reusable material later.
Explore the projects
- XPertRepoScout / XPertCLRepoScoutA technology radar for repositories, AI resources and research papers. Scores relevance and other signals transparently, tracks new discoveries and supports engineering review.
- XPertCLRepoLibraryIndexes downloaded archives without changing them, including skills, examples and notebooks inside ZIP files. Search, task-based ranking and persistent notes make the collection reusable.
- Why I built themUseful engineering knowledge should remain findable after the download. Discovery and organized reuse are two parts of the same workflow.
Useful beyond the plant
XPert Viewer / XPertCSVViewer
A local Windows tool for reading CSV, text and Markdown. Delimited data can be edited, saved with its format preserved, or converted for sharing.
XPertLinkedinPost
An offline browser tool for turning rough drafts into polished posts, with suggestions and a realistic preview.
WRITING IN PROGRESS
Industrial Intelligence
A manuscript project: A Practical Engineer’s Guide to AI, Knowledge, Automation and Common Sense. The draft outline explores human judgment, operational knowledge, the economics of AI and the future control room.
This portfolio includes working tools, prototypes and ideas in development. It reflects the problems I work on and the directions I am exploring.
Working on a similar challenge? Let’s discuss what we could develop together.
04 / HOW I THINK
Reliability is
in the details.
A good solution should leave the engineer more confident, with less effort needed to keep it working.
Solve the actual problem.
Start with what the plant needs. Keep the utility focused and remove features that add effort without adding value.
Make recovery part of the design.
Verified backups, predictable restart behavior, rollback, and clear diagnostics matter as much as normal operation.
Respect the installed environment.
Resource use, older operating systems, existing networks, and the engineer’s time are practical design constraints.
Earn trust before adding intelligence.
Good timestamps, data quality, process context, and operator understanding are the foundations of useful industrial AI.
05 / LESSONS FROM THE FIELD
The plant teaches.
I keep notes.
I share observations from troubleshooting and modernization on LinkedIn, with an emphasis on lessons engineers can put to work.
LEGACY SYSTEMS / RECOVERY
“A 33-year-old PLC didn’t fail.
A 33-year-old assumption did.”
A cement-loading S5-115U went to STOP. The hardware was healthy; a missing data block caused a TRAF error, and the EPROM differed from the expected program by one block.
The lesson: age alone tells you little. A verified restoration path tells you much more.
TROUBLESHOOTING / FIRST PRINCIPLES
When the ID fan started,
the whole section tripped.
Multiple trips at almost the same time naturally drew suspicion toward the DCS. The eventual finding was a loose neutral connection.
The lesson: follow the evidence across electrical, instrumentation, and control systems.
06 / CONNECT & COLLABORATE
Have a plant problem
or a development idea?
I’m interested in conversations with plant engineers, developers and process specialists about useful tools, practical industrial AI and the next step for these projects. Share the problem, the constraints and what a useful result would look like.