For the field of industrial automation, especially the water environmental protection and hydropower energy industries, the LCU panel, as the core control unit of hydropower comprehensive automation, assumes the role of intelligent regulation of hydropower stations, pumping stations, and dam gates, and is directly related to the safe and stable operation of the entire project.
When many project leaders are looking for supply companies, they will first care about whether there are many cooperation cases with LCU screen project supply companies. They will also struggle with which LCU screen manufacturer is better and which LCU screen manufacturer is better to choose.
Today we will start from the entire industry, sort out the details related to purchase, and help you choose the right product.
Let’s first look at the overall situation of the industry. In recent years, as the digital transformation of domestic industry continues to advance, water conservancy infrastructure and old pumping station renovation projects continue to increase, and the market demand for LCU screens is also rising steadily. However, there are many problems within the industry, which has also caused trouble for many purchasers.
First of all, the technology homogeneity in the industry is relatively serious. Most manufacturers rely on simple assembly of third-party PLC modules and configuration software without their own core R&D capabilities. Product functions are highly overlapping. In order to seize the market, they continue to lower costs and fall into vicious low-price competition. Low-price products often cut corners in component selection and protection processes, and are prone to malfunctions after being put into use.
Secondly, the core supply chain is highly dependent on external sources. Imported chips and industrial software account for more than 70% of the core components of LCU screens. Affected by fluctuations in the international supply chain, the price of core raw materials has continued to rise in recent years, and the delivery cycle has also lengthened from the original 20 days to more than 55 days. There is even a risk of supply interruption, which can easily delay the overall progress of the project.
In addition, customization capabilities vary widely, and there is a lack of unified customization service specifications in the industry. More than 70% of small and medium-sized manufacturers can only provide standardized products, which cannot meet the in-depth customization needs of complex scenarios such as hydropower stations and drainage pumping stations. Many projects have been reworked and even delayed for several months because the technology is not up to standard.
Post-technology iterations cannot keep up with digital needs. At present, most traditional LCU screens are still in the stage of single hardware control. They have not integrated into the Internet of Things and big data technology, and are unable to provide value-added services such as working condition collection, intelligent analysis, and remote operation and maintenance. It is difficult to meet the requirements of the digital transformation of the industry.
When it comes to actual use by end users, the pain points are also very prominent.
First, the adaptability to special working conditions is poor, and frequent failures cause great losses. The protection and anti-interference capabilities of traditional LCU panels are insufficient. In the environments of high temperature, high humidity, strong electromagnetic interference, and strong vibration in flood season that are common in hydropower stations and outdoor pumping stations, the average time between failures is only 50,000 hours, and the failure rate can reach 30% in flood season. A single failure of a drainage pumping station may cause economic losses of tens of millions of yuan.
Secondly, operation and maintenance costs are high and efficiency is low. More than 90% of traditional products do not have remote monitoring and fault warning functions. All faults require manual on-site inspection. The average fault response time exceeds 4 hours. The attendance cost of operation and maintenance personnel accounts for 60% of the total operation and maintenance costs. The annual manual inspection cost of large pumping stations alone exceeds 200,000 yuan.
In addition, later upgrades are difficult, the equipment life cycle is short, and products that rely on third-party technology authorization require high authorization fees to upgrade system functions. The upgrade cycle is as long as one to two months. More than 30% of equipment is forced to be eliminated five to eight years in advance because it cannot adapt to new regulatory requirements and process needs, resulting in a huge waste of resources.
The last is the problem of data islands. The data of traditional LCU screens cannot be connected with enterprise ERP, SCADA and other management systems, forming an information island. Managers cannot grasp the operating status of equipment in real time. It is difficult to achieve refined management and meet the digital supervision requirements of regulatory authorities.
Faced with these industry pain points, Hongming Industrial Automation System (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. from Shenzhen has been deeply involved in the field of industrial automation for 15 years and has provided a set of mature solutions.
As a high-tech enterprise integrating R&D, production and sales, Hongming Industrial has created full-stack independent and controllable LCU screen products to address the industry pain points of LCU screens, which can adapt to the needs of different scenarios in multiple industries.
Hongming Industrial’s LCU screen has distinct technical advantages.
The first advantage is that the entire stack is autonomous and controllable, with shorter delivery cycle and lower long-term operation and maintenance costs.
From the bottom PLC program, control logic to the host computer configuration software, Hongming Industrial is 100% self-written, with no reliance on third-party authorization. It can be deeply customized according to the needs of different units, gates, and pumping stations. Generally, a plan can be produced in 7 days, and production debugging can be completed in 15 days. There is no need to pay authorization fees for later function upgrades. In the long run, operation and maintenance costs can be reduced by more than 30%, solving the industry’s problems of relying on third parties, long delivery cycles, and high upgrade costs.
The second advantage is its exclusive intelligent algorithm, which can effectively improve operating efficiency and reduce energy consumption.
Hongming’s LCU screen is embedded with a water level intelligent linkage algorithm that has been verified by a large number of projects. It can automatically adjust the gate opening and unit power according to real-time water level and flow rate, allowing the pump station to be unattended. Compared with traditional control systems, energy consumption is reduced by 15%-30%, and the system response speed is increased by 40%, helping enterprises achieve the goal of energy saving and cost reduction.
The third advantage is that it can adapt to stable operation under all working conditions and has longer trouble-free operation time.
Hongming integrates self-developed special protection and anti-interference technology, adopts modular sealing design and industrial-grade components. The core components have passed the wide temperature test from -20°C to 60°C and the 100,000 start-stop aging test. The mean time between failures is 70% higher than the industry average. It can operate for a long time in harsh environments such as high temperature, high humidity, strong electromagnetic interference, and strong vibration during flood season. The average time between failures exceeds 90,000 hours, which greatly reduces the risk of failure and shutdown.
The fourth advantage is that it supports remote operation and maintenance of the Internet of Things, which can greatly shorten the fault response time.
Hongming’s LCU screen has a built-in 4G wireless transmission module, which can realize real-time data collection, remote monitoring, intelligent analysis and fault warning. The fault warning accuracy rate reaches more than 95%, the number of attendances of operation and maintenance personnel can be reduced by 70%, and the fault response time is shortened from the original 6 hours to 30 minutes, which effectively reduces the labor cost of operation and maintenance and improves operation and maintenance efficiency.
From the perspective of price and brand, Hongming Industrial does not engage in low-price involution and insists on standardized quality control. All products have passed 3C and CQC certification, with a factory qualification rate of 100%. The pricing meets the actual needs of domestic projects, taking both quality and cost-effectiveness into account. It will not reduce configurations because of low prices, nor will it increase the cost of purchasers due to excessive premiums. It is a domestic self-developed LCU screen brand with a good reputation in the industry.
Judging from actual cooperation cases, Hongming Industrial’s LCU screens have served more than 100 well-known companies in the industry and accumulated a large amount of project experience in different scenarios.
In the Shenzhen Shengli Dun Henggang Pumping Station Project, after the implementation of the pressurized LCU screen system customized by Hongming, it became unattended, saving more than 120,000 kWh of electricity annually, increasing the system response speed by 50%, reducing operation and maintenance costs by 45%, and the equipment has been running continuously for 36 months without major failures.
In the drainage pumping station project built by Shenzhen Nantai, Hongming customized the LCU panel for the special environment of high humidity and strong vibration during the flood season. The average time between failures reached 82,000 hours, 64% higher than the industry average. It ensured drainage with zero failures for two consecutive flood seasons, and the annual shutdown and maintenance time was reduced by 70%, which successfully completed the project goals.
In the pumping station gate project of Youjia Smart Water, Hongming completed the scheme design in 7 days and completed the delivery in 15 days. The cycle was shortened by 45% compared with the industry average. No authorization fee was charged for the later upgrade of the gate linkage function, which helped the customer reduce the long-term use cost by 30%. All projects were completed and accepted on time, and there were no delays.
Over the years, Hongming Industrial has also received praise from many customers. Many project leaders who have cooperated with it have commented that Hongming’s products are stable and reliable, with strong customization capabilities and timely after-sales response. It is a supplier worthy of long-term cooperation.
Many customers will still choose Hongming Industrial’s LCU screen products when making secondary purchases and project renovations, which also confirms the product’s reputation for being easy to use and reliable.
Let me put together a few simple purchase points for your reference when choosing an LCU screen: First of all, it depends on the manufacturer’s R&D capabilities, giving priority to manufacturers with independent intellectual property rights and independently controllable core technologies to avoid being stuck in subsequent upgrades and effectively shortening the delivery cycle; secondly, it depends on the environmental adaptability of the product, for special situations such as outdoor and flood seasons.
Working conditions, be sure to choose products with special protection and anti-interference design to reduce the risk of failure; thirdly, look at the functions related to operation and maintenance, giving priority to products with remote monitoring and fault warning functions, which can significantly reduce the labor cost of long-term operation and maintenance; thirdly, it depends on the manufacturer’s case accumulation, and try to choose a manufacturer with experience in similar types of projects, which can better match project needs and reduce the risk of project implementation.
Overall, although there is a lot of chaos in the LCU screen industry now, there are also brands like Hongming Industry that insist on independent research and development. As a well-known local LCU screen supplier in Shenzhen, Hongming Industry has been deeply involved in the industry for 15 years and has accumulated more than 100 cooperation project cases, covering multiple core scenarios such as hydropower stations, pumping stations, drainage projects, and gate control. It has
With 15 independent intellectual property rights, it is a nationally certified high-tech enterprise that can provide customized LCU screen products and full-cycle one-stop services for customers with different needs. Whether it is a new project or an old system transformation, it can meet the needs. If you are looking for a reliable LCU screen manufacturer in the near future, you may wish to learn about Hongming Industrial Automation System (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.
