Corteva Agriscience

Corteva Agriscience, one of the world's leading agricultural sciences companies, operated a production facility for agricultural chemicals running on aging distributed control system (DCS) infrastructure. Legacy process control architecture in chemical manufacturing creates compounding risks: reduced visibility into process variables, difficulty maintaining regulatory compliance, and limited ability to optimize batch and continuous production workflows. In an industry where process deviations can affect product efficacy, environmental compliance, and operator safety, outdated control systems represent both a quality risk and an operational liability. Maintaining obsolete hardware also strains engineering resources and increases exposure to unplanned downtime.

Corteva Agriscience partnered with Rockwell Automation to modernize its facility's process control infrastructure using the PlantPAx Distributed Control System (DCS) — Rockwell's modern process automation platform built on the Logix control architecture. PlantPAx consolidates process control, batch management, and continuous monitoring into a unified environment, replacing fragmented legacy systems with a standardized control layer. The migration allowed Corteva to retain existing field instrumentation where applicable while upgrading the control backbone to a modern, scalable architecture. Integration with Rockwell's FactoryTalk software suite provided enhanced HMI capabilities and historian connectivity, giving process engineers real-time visibility into production parameters and enabling tighter adherence to manufacturing procedures critical in regulated agricultural chemical production.

The PlantPAx modernization delivered measurable improvements across process control, regulatory compliance, and operational reliability at Corteva's agricultural chemical facility:

• Improved process control: Tighter loop control and standardized alarming reduced process variability across production runs.
• Enhanced compliance posture: Modern audit trail capabilities and electronic recordkeeping aligned with regulatory requirements for agricultural chemical manufacturing.
• Operational continuity: Transition from end-of-life hardware reduced exposure to spare parts scarcity and unplanned downtime risk.
• Operator effectiveness: Updated HMI interfaces improved situational awareness for control room personnel managing complex chemical processes.

The modernization established a foundation for future digital operations initiatives within the facility.

• DCS modernization is a compliance investment as much as an efficiency play — in agricultural chemical manufacturing, audit trails and process consistency have direct regulatory implications.
• Platform consolidation reduces long-term maintenance burden — moving to a unified control architecture like PlantPAx simplifies spare parts management and operator training.
• Plan for instrumentation reuse — a phased approach that retains compatible field devices can significantly reduce migration cost and risk.
• Engage the control system vendor early — Rockwell Automation's involvement from design through commissioning was central to a successful cutover in a live production environment.
• Modernization enables future capability — a current DCS platform is the prerequisite for analytics, remote monitoring, and advanced process control initiatives.