Engineering
How a system gets built.
Six layers, six commissioning stages and a maintenance model that starts the day the system is handed over. None of it is unusual — the difference is that one company owns all of it.
- 01 Equipment
- 02 Edge
- 03 Connectivity
- 04 Data
- 05 Software
- 06 Business systems
Engineering principle
Hardware, software and data are one problem.
Split them across three suppliers and the seams become the system’s weakest points. Kept together, they become the place the engineering value is.
Hardware
Reach the equipment
Interface modules, relay control and device-side firmware, built where standard IT hardware cannot go far enough into the process.
Software
Operate the process
Monitoring, recognition and workflow control, presented as the real-time status of the line rather than a database front end.
Data
Account for the result
Conversion, archiving, protection and onward transfer, so that what was measured can still be produced and defended later.
One team specifies the device, writes the firmware, builds the application and commissions it on site. When something is wrong in the chain, there is no boundary to argue across.
The chain
Six layers between a reading and a decision.
Select a layer to see what sits there and what USS does about it.
Layer 01 — Physical
Machines, instruments and sensors already on site
Production machinery, measurement devices, test equipment and instrumentation — usually from several manufacturers, bought in different years, with no expectation of ever talking to each other.
- Existing equipment is kept; replacing it is not a precondition
- Mixed manufacturers and generations are the normal starting point
- Physical preparation of equipment is part of commissioning
Commissioning
Installation is a sequence, not an event.
The same six stages run on every project. The duration changes with the quantity and complexity of the equipment; the order does not.
- 01
Preparation
Equipment and instruments are prepared for data transfer, and the adapted computer hardware is combined with the facilities already in place.
- 02
Transfer configuration
Parameters on the transfer equipment are set so data moves cleanly from devices, equipment and sensors to the computer.
- 03
Software installation
System modules are installed onto the relevant equipment, devices and sensors.
- 04
Software configuration
The software is combined and adjusted until the agreed functions are fully implemented on the live process.
- 05
Testing
Installed hardware and software are tested together, and any inaccuracies found are corrected before handover.
- 06
Documentation & handover
Equipment instructions are prepared, personnel are trained, technical documentation is provided, and a fully functioning system is handed over.
Stage six ends with documentation, trained personnel and a system that runs. Everything after that point is covered by the maintenance model below.
After handover
The part most suppliers leave undefined.
Six named services with an agreed scope, including the one that decides whether a measurement is admissible at all.
Technical maintenance
Transfer and processing equipment is kept working, faults are removed, and update proposals are put forward.
Product support
Installed software is kept functioning correctly and defects are resolved.
Preventive maintenance
Hardware and software are inspected in due order, with the general condition reported and recommendations given.
Equipment update
Software and hardware are modified as demand or technology changes, rather than left to age into a rebuild.
Consulting
Customers are advised on operating, updating and developing the installed equipment.
Metrology & accreditation
Where required, USS takes care of the equipment meeting metrological requirements and obtaining the due accreditations.
Engineering stack
What we connect to, and what we run on.
Deliberately conventional. Longevity in industrial systems comes from interfaces that will still be supported in ten years.
Industrial interfaces
Wired connections to instruments and control equipment
- RS232
- RS485
- CAN
- LON
- Ethernet
- USB
Wireless & telemetry
Used where cabling to the position is impractical
- Bluetooth
- Wi-Fi
- GSM 3G
Control & electrical
Device-level actuation and power envelope
- 8 NO / 8 NC relays
- 16 connection ports
- 12–30 V, 2 A
- Expansion modules
Platform
What the systems run on, and where
- Linux
- On-premise operation
- No internet required
- Central databases
Software & delivery
How the system is presented and kept current
- Web interfaces
- Mobile & handheld clients
- PDF reporting
- Automatic updates
Integration
Where processed information goes next
- Transfer to other systems
- File-based import
- Google Workspace linkage
- Vendor-independent equipment layer
This list covers the interfaces and platforms USS documents publicly. Equipment support is broader than any list of protocols, because the interface layer is built per installation.
Why USS
Six reasons that are checkable.
Each is a property of how the company works, stated alongside the fact it rests on.
- 01
Independent of equipment manufacturer
Systems are built so the make and type of connected equipment is a configuration detail, not an architectural commitment. Replacing a device does not mean replacing the system around it.
Stated as the principal benefit across USS service documentation
- 02
Hardware and software in one team
The same engineers specify the interface device, write the firmware, build the application and commission it on site. Nothing is handed across a supplier boundary mid-chain.
USS develops engineering devices and the software that drives them
- 03
Designed to run without the internet
Operation does not depend on an external service being reachable. Sites that cannot expose their process to a public network run the same system.
Ulark5 requires no internet connection; Linux, on-premise
- 04
Measurements that stand up to inspection
Where results are subject to regulation, the equipment has to be metrologically correct and accredited. That work is inside the engagement, not left over afterwards.
Metrology and accreditation are listed maintenance services
- 05
A maintenance model, not a warranty page
Technical maintenance, product support, preventive inspection, updates and consulting are defined services with an agreed scope from the start.
Six named post-handover services
- 06
Building these systems since 2007
Long enough to have maintained installations across several generations of equipment, and to treat the years after commissioning as the real test.
USS Enterprises established in 2007
Have a process that has outgrown its instrumentation?
Tell us what the equipment is and what the result has to prove. That is usually enough to scope the first stage.