Best way to send data to pc from plc

I'm fairly new to the PLC world. We are adding a pc to a line at my work the pc is to track good/bad parts and up/down time of the machine maybe late keep track of alarms. The pc will only be receiving data not sending any data to the PLC . Do I have to add the pc to the hardware configuration? Or is there another way to send the data to the pc from the PLC? The PLC is a s300 programmed is step7 5.6. And will be hooked up to the PLC with Ethernet.

I have done this with I THINK a MSG. I am not positive. I found it in the Siemens website as they had an example. I set up the example program and listening in with hyperterminal on the PC.

the pc is to track good/bad parts and up/down time of the machine maybe late keep track of alarms.

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What you are describing are some of the core features of an ordinary PC-based HMI program.

Before you start going into the details of how the PC and the PLC controller communicate over the network, write a document that describes exactly what kind of performance indicators and status information you want to display, and what kinds of records you want to keep, and in what format.

WinCC is the default HMI for Siemens controllers, and there are hundreds of others that vary in scope, power, and cost.

Now that you say that yes seems like an HMI. Put its a PC that will be networked to our corporate office so they can track the machine efficiency from a remote location.

There exists HMI software which performs the same task as a panel mount touchscreen HMI but is installed on a windows PC.

For what you are looking to do, you could use a SCADA package. This is just like HMI software, but designed with a more "your manager is going to want to look at this from his desk" mindset.

AdvancedHMI is a free example of the HMI software that runs on a PC (Their website can be misleading in thinking that this is a hardware company. In fact the hardware is quite recent, AdvancedHMI has been a great open source HMI tool for over 10 years)

Ignition is a SCADA package worth looking at. B-Scada has a free teir but I have no experience of this.

Have a look at the IntegraXor SCADA. Simply install it on your PC, hook the PLCs up, set the alarms, and you're good to go. It comes with a web-based HMI you can access from any device with a web browser, including smartphones and tablets, so you do not need any additional hardware.


Also, it's completely free to try out.

IGSS communicates with Siemens and let's you use 50 objects for free. Objects are not tags, so you can get quite a lot done with it.

+1 for AdvancedHMI
https://sourceforge.net/projects/advancedhmi/
To communicate to the S7 300 you would use Modbus TCP.
https://support.industry.siemens.com/cs/document/22660304/how-do-you-establish-a-modbus-tcp-communication-from-a-simatic-s7-300-s7-400-and-where-can-you-find-further-information-?dti=0&lc=en-WW

Hope this helps you out.
Regards,

If it's just pulling data and storing/showing it, you can roll your own solution. Using Snap7 you can connect to the PLC and grab whatever data you want. Snap7 is just a comms wrapper, it's not a program. Dump the data in a SQL database and make nice visuals.

Or you could get one of them precooked MES-solutions.