SCADA Tutorial for Beginners: Your First WinCC and Ignition Project

SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) software is the operator's window into a process: it reads values from PLCs, shows them on screens, raises alarms, and stores history. Every SCADA project, in Siemens WinCC or Inductive Automation's Ignition, is built from the same four parts: tags, screens, alarms and a historian. This tutorial uses a simple tank-level example to show each part in both products, and explains where they differ.

What does a SCADA system do?

A SCADA system does four jobs, and the PLC does the real-time control underneath it.

1. Data acquisition: poll PLCs and field devices for current values.
2. Supervisory control: let operators send commands, setpoints and recipe values to the PLC.
3. Alarm management: detect abnormal conditions and make operators aware of them.
4. Historical data: log values over time for trends, reports and investigation.

If you are unsure where the line sits between the PLC and SCADA, read PLC vs SCADA explained and SCADA systems explained.

What are tags, screens, alarms and historians?

These four concepts are the vocabulary of every SCADA package.

• Tag: a named data point, usually mapped to a PLC address. Every value on a screen traces back to a tag. A good tag has a name, data type, engineering units, a range and a scan rate.
• Screen: an operator page made of objects linked to tags: numeric fields, bar graphs, buttons, pipes, valves and motors.
• Alarm: a configured condition on a tag, such as level above a setpoint, with a priority and an acknowledgement state.
• Historian: a time-series store that logs tag values for trending, reports and analysis.

How do you build the tank project in Siemens WinCC?

In WinCC you build the PLC and the visualisation in the same TIA Portal project, so tags come straight from PLC data blocks. Siemens offers more than one WinCC family. WinCC Unified is the newer visualisation system in TIA Portal, built on web technologies, and Siemens describes it as scaling from machine panels up to plant-wide SCADA; WinCC Professional is the earlier PC-based system. The steps below apply to both, though the menus differ.

1. Create the project. Add an S7-1500 (or an S7-1200) and a PC station or HMI device with WinCC runtime, and connect them over Ethernet in the network view.
2. Define the PLC data. Create a data block, for example Process_Data, containing Tank1_Level (REAL), Tank1_Pump (BOOL) and Tank1_HighAlarm (BOOL).
3. Connect HMI tags. Create an HMI tag table and link the tags to the PLC variables through the connection, so values stay in step with the controller.
4. Build the overview screen. Add a tank shape, an output field showing Tank1_Level with one decimal place, a bar scaled 0 to 100, a button that toggles Tank1_Pump, and a pump symbol that changes colour when running.
5. Configure the alarm. Create a discrete alarm triggered by Tank1_HighAlarm with the text Tank 1 level high, a high priority and an acknowledgement requirement, and place an alarm view on the screen.
6. Log history. Configure logging for Tank1_Level with a sensible logging cycle and retention, and add a trend control to a trends screen.
7. Test. Compile, download the PLC, start runtime (simulation works), change the level in the PLC or simulator, and check the bar, the alarm and the trend.

Siemens' V21 announcement adds redundant WinCC Unified server architectures and a central archive (the WinCC Unified Data Hub) for production data, messages and audit trails, which matter once you move from a tutorial to a plant. Our TIA Portal version guide has the details.

How do you build the same project in Ignition?

In Ignition the Gateway connects to devices and holds the tags, and the Designer is where you build screens. Inductive Automation says one server licence covers unlimited tags and connections and unlimited Designers, and that the software is free to try, which is why Ignition is popular for self-study.

1. Add the device connection. In the Gateway, add an OPC UA device connection to your PLC. Ignition 8.3 added a Siemens Enhanced driver that supports browsing and symbolic access for S7-1200 and S7-1500 devices.
2. Create tags. Tags live in tag providers; a fresh installation includes a default internal provider. Organise them in folders, for example Tanks/Tank 1/Level. Ignition's tag paths put the provider in square brackets, so the level tag is [default]Tanks/Tank 1/Level.
3. Build the screen. Perspective runs in a browser using HTML5, and Vision is the desktop client. Add a gauge bound to the level tag, a level bar, and a button that writes to the pump tag. A script can use system.tag.writeBlocking with a list of tag paths and a list of values, which waits for the write to finish.
4. Configure the alarm. A tag can have any number of alarms. Add an alarm in the Above Setpoint mode with a setpoint of 90 and the High priority. Ignition's priorities run from Diagnostic through Low, Medium and High to Critical, and each event is acknowledged or unacknowledged, active or cleared.
5. Enable history. The Tag Historian module stores history when you tick the history option on a tag, saving to your SQL database, and you can drag tags onto a trend component.

How do WinCC and Ignition compare for a beginner?

Both build the same four parts, and they differ in licensing, engineering model and typical use.

Our WinCC vs Ignition guide explains how to pick one for your career.

What are good SCADA design practices?

Design for the operator at the worst moment, not for the engineer at the desk. Use consistent colours that mean the same thing on every screen, show the alarm list on every page, and keep screens uncluttered; our guide to ISA-101 HMI design covers this in depth. Use tag paths or aliases rather than hard-coded addresses so you can replace a PLC without rebuilding screens. Give operators the minimum rights they need, and keep engineering access separate. Back up the project, tags and historian regularly, and test restores. Finally, treat connectivity as a risk: the UK NCSC's 2026 OT guidance is worth reading before you connect SCADA to anything outside the plant.

Are SCADA skills in demand in the UK?

Yes, advert volumes were up sharply in 2026, though the data comes with caveats. According to ITJobsWatch, UK permanent adverts mentioning SCADA numbered 632 in the six months to 21 October 2026, up from 242 a year earlier, with a median salary of £55,000 (10th percentile £39,500, 90th percentile £80,000) and a London median of £60,000. The skills most often appearing alongside SCADA were a degree, preventative maintenance, NVQ Level 3, line management and mechatronics. ITJobsWatch is an IT-focused index, so the sample may under-represent industrial employers. See SCADA engineer career path and how to get into SCADA without experience.

How EDWartens can help

The EDWartens UK Professional Module covers WinCC SCADA on days four and five of its five-day live online class (after TIA Portal, ladder logic, simulation and HMI on days one to three): tags, graphics, animation, alarms and events, trending and historical data, and a project review. It is followed by 68 self-paced Basic Engineering modules and career support, and costs £2,140 + VAT (£2,568), with a £100 deposit option and a maximum of 10 learners per cohort. It is online and simulation-based, and the CPD certificate is not a regulated qualification. Free practice is available in the WinCC SCADA and Ignition SCADA courses, or sign up.