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Corteva, Inc., a global pure-play agriculture company, delivers solutions for the world’s most pressing agriculture challenges. With some of the most recognized brands in agriculture and a technology pipeline well positioned to drive growth, Corteva is committed to maximizing productivity for farmers, while working with stakeholders throughout the food system as it fulfills its promise to enrich the lives of those who produce and those who consume, ensuring progress for generations to come.
- Migrated proprietary legacy distributed control systems (DCS) within a tight deadline
- Addressed legacy system and component obsolescence concerns
- Navigated a complex I/O cutover while keeping plant operations running
- Mitigated potential security vulnerabilities using Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to support secure and reliable remote monitoring
- Installed miles of new fiber connections for remote I/O and multiple Operator Stations
- Transitioned outdated human-machine interface (HMI) graphics to high-performance HMI (HP-HMI)
- Executed a turnkey migration, prioritizing future lifecycle costs and minimizing downtime during I/O cutover
- Defined project scope, schedule, and budget through extensive front-end loading (FEL) and front-end engineering design (FEED) studies
- Deployed new redundant Industrial Data Center (IDC) servers to enhance system reliability
- Incorporated HP-HMI to improve operator experience and alarm response time
- Executed detailed collaborative Commissioning and Startup plan, including multiple Acceptance Testing activities
- Completed a large-scale migration, including network startup, new redundant IDCs, and extensive new fiber and copper connections to more than 30 Stratix® switches
- Migrated 15 proprietary distributed control systems to PlantPAx® DCS
- Integrated approximately 4000 I/O and IT/OT components to enhance site-wide connectivity
- Optimized efficiency using state-based control (SBC) to automate tasks, improve margins, and reduce project risk
- Improved alarm prioritization, operator control, and overall experience through HP-HMI
Challenge
DCS Migration on a Tight Deadline
Midland, Michigan-based Corteva company approached Rockwell Automation with the desire to migrate their proprietary control system to a modern distributed control system. As the site produces agricultural chemicals, executing the migration project with minimal disruption was a top priority to meet business and contractual obligations.
Corteva supplies essential infrastructure services, including steam, deionized water, and electrical distribution, to multiple dependent tenants. To modernize site-wide components, critical updates were required. The team successfully navigated a complex network startup before migrating new redundant Industrial Data Centers (IDCs). They also deployed over four miles of new fiber and copper connections, integrating them with more than 30 new Stratix switches.
Additionally, Corteva’s operator interfaces lacked high-level access to dynamic data, limiting visibility into crucial systems. To address this issue, new control systems were implemented, enabling real-time interaction with dynamic data. A complete overhaul of the company’s HMI graphics was also necessary to enhance operational efficiency.
Solution
Streamlined DCS Migration through Collaborative Expertise
Working closely with the Corteva team to meet their tight deadline, the Rockwell team developed the scope, schedule, and budget through the FEL/FEED process. They made sure that Corteva’s goals and outcomes were clearly defined and achievable.
Given the project’s complexity and multiple stages, the Rockwell Automation Installation Services team worked closely with the Corteva team to streamline the installation process, facilitating a smooth and more efficient implementation. Through a consultative approach and workforce augmentation, the team successfully migrated 15 proprietary distributed control systems (DCS) to PlantPAx® DCS while implementing updates to other IT/OT components. HP-HMI graphics were also installed and interlaced with data-driven graphics included in the PlantPAx package, enhancing operator visibility and control.
In addition, leveraging Rockwell Automation digital twin technology, the team performed a high-fidelity factory acceptance test (FAT) to validate the equipment’s performance and reliability.
Given the critical nature of their facility, Corteva requested new redundant Industrial Data Center (IDC) servers. The team also successfully migrated critical utilities, including electrical and utility distribution, deionized water production for steam/electric systems, chemical distribution, and a Thermal Oxidizer Unit (THROX).
State-Based Control Expertise
Corteva’s state-based control (SBC) helps identify issues across the facility, enabling operators to manage entire batch processes and adjust control loops effectively. During the testing phase, the Rockwell team optimized the existing SBC by refining functionality, cleaning up outdated code, and removing inefficient programming. They also developed new code blocks to emulate essential functions from the original proprietary systems.
Result
Benefits of a DCS Migration
Our partnership and collaborative turnkey effort have provided Corteva with significant advantages throughout the DCS migration journey. The Rockwell team improved operational reliability with modern equipment while reducing total lifecycle costs of ownership. Operations now benefit from more efficient, plant-wide production processes. With the new modern DCS, the plant can remotely monitor operations through Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), enhancing support and maintainability.
HMI graphics were substantially improved, offering operators greater control, additional productivity through data visualization, and improved alarming capabilities. Additionally, the newly implemented SBC programming code identifies what step the process is in, how to make sure each step is completed within a sequence, and how to clear utility-related elements such as step numbers and diagnostic alarms. SBC further strengthens better equipment reliability and asset utilization, improving alarm rationalization rates and enabling smoother operations with fewer upsets.
Ultimately, the project’s success was a direct result of the strong collaboration and partnership of the Rockwell Automation and Corteva teams, leading to seamless execution and shared achievements.
Published July 24, 2025