Risk minimization in modernization projects of plant automation — A knowledge-based approach by means of semantic web technologies

In high-wage countries the number of Greenfield projects for plant automation is decreasing. In contrast to this, plant modernization becomes more and more important. The estimation of the costs for a re-engineering of the existing plant automation is an error-prone task which has to be done in the bidding phase of a modernization project. This article describes a knowledge-based approach to reduce the risk potential in the bidding phase of plant modernization projects. Based on a concept for rough plant modeling in CAEX and technologies of the semantic web a concept for a software assistance system is presented.