TIA Portal Hardware Configuration and PLC Tag Creation

• Start from the architecture and electrical drawings, not from TIA Portal: they tell you every device, name, IP, slot and terminal
• Fix I/O start addresses per station (RIO_1 = byte 10, RIO_2 = byte 20) so the tag list never shifts
• Build tag names in Excel as prefix + signal, check them for spaces and spelling, then paste them straight into the tag table
• The FAT tests each tag end to end: field device, PLC address, program, MTP700 screen and alarm

This guide follows one real job from start to finish: a skid conveyor line with a main control panel (MCP), three ET 200SP remote I/O stations, ten operator push button stations (OPB), powered roller beds (PRB), a cross transfer, a turn table and an MTP700 Unified Comfort panel. Every step uses the same drawings and the same tag names, so what you configure in one step is what you test in the FAT.

Step 1: Read the System Architecture

Device configuration is where you tell TIA Portal exactly what hardware the program will run on. Before opening the software, read the architecture drawing and list every device that has a PROFINET connection. Each box below becomes a device in the TIA Portal Network view, and each orange line becomes a PROFINET connection.

Copy the address plan out of the drawing into a table. You will type these values in Steps 3, 4 and 6, scan for them with Accessible devices in Step 7, and tick them off in FAT test F-04.

Step 2: Read the Electrical Drawings

The architecture tells you which stations exist. The electrical drawings tell you what is inside each one: which module sits in which slot, and which field device lands on which terminal. Read three kinds of sheet for every station before configuring it.

The hardware layout sheet shows the station exactly as it is built on the DIN rail. You will copy this module order into the Device view.

The I/O wiring sheet shows every field device against a terminal. Each column gives you one row of the tag table: device, address, name.

The motor feeder sheet shows the power circuit and the feedback contacts that come back to the PLC. These feedbacks are what make fault detection possible.

Step 3: Add the CPU and Set the PROFINET Name and IP

1. Create a new project and choose Add new device > Controllers. Search the catalog for the exact order number printed on the CPU in the MCP, and pick the same firmware version.
2. In the Device view, open Properties > PROFINET interface [X1] > Ethernet addresses. Add a subnet (PN/IE_1), set IP 192.168.0.1, mask 255.255.255.0.
3. Untick Generate PROFINET device name automatically and type mcp-plc.
4. Drag the MCP local modules into slots 2 and 3 (DI 32x24VDC and DQ 32x24VDC) and set their start addresses to byte 0, so local I/O occupies %I0.0–%I3.7 and %Q0.0–%Q3.7.

On a brand new CPU with no IP yet, use Online & diagnostics > Functions > Assign IP address first, so the download in Step 7 can find it.

Step 4: Add RIO Stations and Fix the I/O Addresses

1. Switch to the Network view. From the catalog drag Distributed I/O > ET 200SP > Interface modules > IM 155-6 PN ST onto the canvas three times.
2. On each station click Not assigned and choose mcp-plc.PROFINET interface_1. The orange line from Fig. 1 now appears.
3. Rename the stations RIO_1, RIO_2, RIO_3, then set IP and device name for each from the address plan.
4. Open RIO_1 in the Device view and insert modules in the order shown on the hardware layout sheet: DI 16 in slot 1, DI 16 in slot 2, DQ 16 in slot 3, then the remaining modules from the full sheet, server module last.
5. In slot 1 properties set Potential group: Enable new potential group (light BaseUnit). Leave slots 2 and 3 on the dark BaseUnit setting.
6. For each module open I/O addresses and type the start byte from the drawing: 10, 12 for inputs, 10 for outputs. Repeat for RIO_2 (bytes 20+) and RIO_3 (bytes 30+).

The table lists the first three modules of each station. RIO_1 continues with further DI 16 and DQ 16 modules for OPB_2, OPB_3, PRB_3 and PRB_4 from %I14.0 and %Q12.0, still inside its own byte block; RIO_2 and RIO_3 do the same in theirs.

Fixing addresses by station number costs two minutes per module and saves hours later. If TIA Portal assigns them automatically, adding one spare DI card to RIO_1 next year would shift every address on RIO_2 and RIO_3, and the tag table, the drawings and the FAT sheet would all be wrong.

Step 5: Copy-Paste PLC Tags from Excel

Typing tags one by one is fine for a trainer kit. On a conveyor line with ten OPBs and three RIO stations, the same signal list repeats again and again with only the prefix changing. Build it once in Excel, then paste it into TIA Portal.

5a. Set up the Excel sheet. One row per physical signal. Column A holds the station prefix, column B the signal name, and columns C to F are formulas.

Watch for the mistakes that turn up in real tag sheets, because a tag name ends up in SCL code, HMI alarm texts and FAT reports, and is painful to rename later:

5b. Generate and copy. Use the generator below to produce the rows for any station and signal group, using the same signal lists as the drawings. Or build the same thing in your own Excel sheet with the formulas above.

5c. Paste into TIA Portal.

1. In the project tree open PLC tags > Add new tag table and name it after the station, for example RIO_1_IO. One table per station keeps the list readable.
2. Copy the Tag table rows (Name, Data type, Address separated by tabs, or columns C:E from Excel).
3. Click the Name cell of the first empty row (<Add new>) and press Ctrl+V. TIA Portal fills Name, Data type and Address for every row.
4. Copy the Comments list, click the Comment cell of the first pasted row and press Ctrl+V again.
5. Compile the tag table. Any duplicate name or address turns red, which is your cue to check the drawing.

For very large lists there is a second route: in an existing tag table click Export, which writes an .xlsx in TIA Portal's own column layout. Fill your rows into that file and bring it back with Import. Use this when you also need columns such as HMI visibility set in bulk.

5d. Map hardware tags into station data blocks. The SCL mapping tab gives you one line per signal, ready to paste into an FC called RIO_1_Input_Mapping. Create a UDT with the signal names (Emergency_Stop, Auto_Mode_Selected and so on) and one DB per OPB from that UDT. The conveyor logic then works on "RIO_1_OPB_1".Emergency_Stop and the same FB can serve all ten OPBs; only the mapping lines differ.

Step 6: Add the MTP700 HMI and Connect It

The MTP700 is a 7 inch Unified Comfort panel (800 × 480). It is configured with WinCC Unified inside the same TIA Portal project, so it can use the PLC tags and data blocks directly.

1. Add new device > HMI > SIMATIC Unified Comfort Panel > 7" Display > MTP700 Unified Comfort, matching the order number and image version on the panel's label. Untick the HMI wizard if you prefer an empty project.
2. In the Network view click Connections, choose HMI connection, and drag from the MTP700 interface to the CPU interface. Then set IP 192.168.0.2 and device name mcp-hmi.
3. On the panel itself open the Control Panel network settings and set the same IP, or enable transfer so the first download assigns it.
4. Build screens by dragging DB members straight from the project tree onto screen objects. TIA Portal creates the HMI tags and links them for you.
5. Create discrete alarms from the fault bits (MPCB_Trip_Fault, Contactor_On_Feedback_Fault, VFD_Communication_Fault). Reuse the tag comment from Step 5 as alarm text, so the operator, the drawing and the FAT sheet all use the same words.
6. Add an I/O diagnostics screen showing the raw station inputs. It is the main tool during the FAT.

Step 7: Compile, Download and Fix Errors

1. Set the PC network adapter to 192.168.0.100 / 255.255.255.0 and plug into a spare port on the MCP switch.
2. Right-click the PLC and choose Compile > Hardware and software (rebuild all). Fix every error before going further.
3. Run Online access > Update accessible devices. Every device in the address plan should appear. If an ET 200SP shows without a name, select it and use Assign PROFINET device name.
4. Download the PLC, then the MTP700 (select the HMI, Download to device).
5. Go online and check the Network view: every station should show a green tick.

Step 8: FAT Test After Configuration

A Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) proves the configured hardware, network, tags and MTP700 screens work as drawn, while the panels are still in the workshop. It follows a written procedure, the customer's engineer usually witnesses it, and every test is signed off as pass or fail. A wrong address found here takes minutes to fix. Found during site commissioning with the line waiting, it takes days.

Have ready: the drawings from Step 2, the tag list from Step 5 printed as an I/O checklist, a watch table and force table per station, and the MTP700 I/O diagnostics screen. Isolate motor loads before forcing any output. Mark each test below as you go.

Every failed test goes on a punch list with cause and fix, and is re-tested before sign-off. On conveyor panels the usual FAT failures are two adjacent terminals swapped on an OPB, an E-stop wired NO instead of NC, a feedback contact taken from the wrong auxiliary block, and a PROFINET name typed differently on the station and in the project.