CNT 20121201

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DCS MigrationFailure Is Not an Option
Power Supplies Take Sophisticated Paths
ON THE WEB
Using Modular Procedural Automation
to Improve Operations
Serene
The Economic
Recovery is
But like the swan, under the water
its feet are paddling feverishly.
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Decenber 2Ol2 Volune XXV Nunber l2
CONTROL (ISSN 1049-5541) is published monthly by PUTMAN Media COMPANY (also publishers of CONTROL DESIGN, CHEMICAL PROCESSING, FOOD PROCESSING, INDUSTRIAL NETWORKING,
PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURING, and PLANT SERVICES ), 555 W. Pierce Rd., Ste. 301, Itasca, IL 60143. (Phone 630/467-1300; Fax 630/467-1124.) Address all correspondence to Editorial and Executive Offces, same ad-
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D E C E MB E R / 2 0 1 2 www.controlglobal.con 5
F E AT UR E S
W E B E X C L U S l V E S
Modular Procedural Automation
Can Improve Operations
Standard automation methodology improves operations
and prevents incidents by enabling best practices shar-
ing among operators.
www.controlglobal.com/pauto-improves-operations.
C O V E R S T O R Y
30 / The Economic Recovery is
Serene The ARC/Control Top 50
But like the swan, under the water, the feet are paddling
feverishly.
by Walt Boyes, David Clayton and Inderpreet Shoker
D C S
41 / DCS Migration: Failure Is Not
an Option
And doing nothing is not a solution.
by Matt Sigmon, MaverickTechnologies
P O W E R S U P P L I E S
44 / Power Supplies Take
Sophisticated Paths
Power supplies are diversifying their capabilities and
serving many new applications.
by Jim Montague
Endress+Hauser, Inc
2350 Endress Place
Greenwood, IN 46143
inquiry@us.endress.com
www.us.endress.com
Sales: 888-ENDRESS
Service: 800-642-8737
Fax: 317-535-8498
Flowing with great possibilities.
As a direct, digital Coriolis flowmeter, the Promass 100
opens entirely new perspectives for demanding applications
in life sciences, biotechnology, food and chemical industries
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flow, corrected volume, density, temperature and
viscosity (Promass I)
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management systems via EtherNet/IP and Modbus RS485
(HART
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configuration without additional software
s)NDUSTRYOPTIMIZEDSENSORSFOREACHAPPLICATION
www.us.endress.com/promass-100
Proline Promass 100
Compact without compromise
Proline
simply clever
DE PART ME NT S
D E C E MB E R / 2 0 1 2 www.controlglobal.com 7
Decenber 2Ol2 Volune XXV Nunber l2
Chemicals & Allied Products ............................................................................... 12,419
Food & Kindred Products..................................................................................... 11,355
System Integrators & Engineering Design Firms .................................................... 9,261
Primary Metal Industries ........................................................................................ 5,232
Electric, Gas & Sanitary Services ........................................................................... 4,174
Petroleum Rening & Related Industries ................................................................ 3,789
Pharmaceuticals ..................................................................................................... 3,769
Rubber & Miscellaneous Plastic Products ............................................................. 3,499
Paper & Allied Products ......................................................................................... 3,311
Stone, Clay, Glass & Concrete Products ................................................................ 1,855
Textile Mill Products .............................................................................................. 1,219
Tobacco Products ...................................................................................................... 137
Total Circulation ................................................................................................... 60,020
CIRCULATION AUDITED MAY 2011
PRODUCT SHOWCASE
9 / Editors Page
Well, the Good Guys Wonor Lost
The government and industry will have to
work together to revive manufacturing.
11 / On the Web
Be Sustainable or Be Doomed
Its not a suprehero, but sustainable
practices that will save the planet, and
ControlGlobal.com has resources to help
you improve your sustainable practices.
13 / Feedback
Not all smart transmitters are, plus
wireless is easy-peasy, say our readers.
16 / Other Voices
Modular Matters
Time to get on board with NeSSI to improve
your process analyzer practice.
21 / On the Bus
Trunk Testing Tribulation
Live-working on the trunk during process
operations is a really bad idea for several
reasons.
22 / In Process
Honeywells big EMEA HUG; ABB solves
a 100-year-old electrical puzzle; and more
process industry news.
29 / Resources
The skinny on temperature and pressure
online resources.
46 / Ask the Experts
Handling emergency shutdown in LPG
tank farms.
48 / Roundup
Software for your operations.
51 / Products
Sierra Instruments thermal mass fowmeters
and other process manufacturing goodies
for you.
54 / Control Talk
Diagnosing Final Control Elements
McMillan and Weiner talk to James Beall
about managing your valves and actuators.
57 / Ad Index
Check these pages.
58 / Control Report
BP and the Oobleck
Maybe a dose of Dr. Seuss is whats needed
to get us all to start thinking about safety
and sustainability.
IN PROCESS
Darius Aoanczyk, presioent oI
Honeywell Process Solutions
CuaoraThern 64Oi/78Oi Thernal
Nass Flowneter Series Iron
Sierra lnstrunents
ReIIabIe and accurate
ProSense pressure and vaccum
sensors stretcn your controIs
and maIntenance budget
SPT25 Series Pressure Transmitters
All stainless steel welded sensing element
DIN 175301803C Lconnector or integral 6.6 foot
2m shielded cable
Vacuum 14.7 to 30 psi and pressure up to 5000 psi
sensing ranges
Transmitter outputs of 420mA or 010VDC
SPT25 series starts at $109
Also Available
www.automationdirect.com
1-800-633-0405
Go online or call to get complete information,
request your free catalog, or place an order.
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DPTA Series Air Differential Pressure Transmitters
Highly stable capacitive sensing element
Positive, negative, and bidirectional pressure measurement
Sensing ranges from 0.1 to 25 inches w.c.
High overpressure rating of 15 psi without damage or
calibration shift
DPTA series starts at $105
PTD25 Pressure Transmitters and Vacuum Transducers
Ceramic sensing element
M12 quickdisconnect cable connection
Pressure transmitters offer 420mA or 010VDC outputs
Vacuum transducers available with 204mA or 100VDC outputs
Vacuum 14.5 to 0 psi and pressure up to 5000 psi sensing ranges
PTD25 series priced at $125
All Models
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Electronic
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Digital Pressure
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Pressure Transmitters Signal Conditioners
Solo Process
Controllers
WALT BOYES
EDI TOR I N CHI EF
wboyes@put man. net
E D I T O R S P A G E
This is what we
used to do, and we
should be doing
againand doing
it now with some
serious urgency.
Politicians are for Mom, the fag, apple pie and
babies, too. But they generally dont have to put
their money where their mouths are.
Manufacturing in the United States has
been written off as a dead issue ever since the
1990s, when companies started closing plants
and offshoring jobs to low-cost countries
such as China. Well, China isnt so low-cost,
now. India and even Vietnam arent as low-cost
as they once were. Jobs are beginning to mi-
grate back to the United States as quality issues
and transportation costs multiply.
Weve known for years that 21st century
manufacturing was going to have to be smart,
connected, sustainable and agile in order to be
competitive. Weve also known that we were
not getting the trained workers and the R&D
that we need. The infux of foreign workers to
the United States is drying up as opportunities
open up in their home countries. The number
of students in engineering and the tradesthe
key entry points to manufacturing careershas
drop precipitously over the past two decades.
Mostly, industry leaders, politicians and the
people that offshoring and automation have put
out of work have been complaining about the
situation, but not doing much about it.
Enough, already! What we need to do now
is create skilled workers for the manufacturing
jobs that are coming back here and the new
ones that are being created.
Based on results, so far, it isnt likely that the
private sector will step up in any meaningful
way to do this. We can fog them verbally all we
want, but it hasnt happened since offshoring
began, and it isnt going to happen now.
Luckily, the federal government has begun
to do something. The Obama administration
has been deeply involved in the Smart Manu-
facturing Leadership Coalition. In March of
this year, President Obama announced his plan
to invest $1 billion to start up a national net-
work of 15 manufacturing innovation institutes
around the country to serve as centers of excel-
lence in manufacturing. He called it NNMI,
the National Network of Manufacturing In-
novation. The proposal is stalled in the U.S.
House of Representatives.
There are other initiatives, both federal and
state. The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) has
built a state-of-the-art Clean Coal Research
lab in Morgantown, W.V. Other centers are re-
searching additive manufacturing for the fne
chemicals and pharmaceuticals industry. Five
federal agencies have jointly commit to invest-
ing $45 million in this research without waiting
for Congress to act.
The model for this is the space program.
Were still living on the innovations produced
by government investment in space exploration
funded by the U.S. Dept. of Defense (DOD)
and NASA. Everything from cardiac catheter-
ization to memory foam beds to cell phones
and tablet PCs are directly traceable to public
investment in R&D for the space program.
This is what government and public/private
partnerships are designed to do. Its what we
used to do, and we should be doing againand
doing it now with some serious urgency.
If youd like to see manufacturing back in
North America in a big way, there are some im-
portant things you can do. Get your company
interested in the Smart Manufacturing Leader-
ship Coalition. Encourage your representatives
in both the state and federal legislatures to fund
projects like the NNMI. The return on invest-
ments like these can be astronomical.
The presidential election in the United States is over, and either the good guy won, or,
if you leaned the other way, the good guy lost. Either way, for the frst time in years, the
election included a serious discussion about manufacturing. Both candidates were for
manufacturing. But being for something and actually doing things are quite different.
Well the Good Guys Wonor Lost
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SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR, DIGITAL MEDIA
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C O N T R O L O N L I N E
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Search this site | Tips
Remote Emergency Shutdown Device
Improves Safety and Performance at Oil
Production Platform
Learn how a new data concentrator
system allowed a control room and drill
ships to communicate at a distance of
more than 100 km.
Radioactive Isotopes in Process
Measurement
A look at the roles of Cesium-137 and
Cobalt-60 in nuclear measurement
systems for industrial processes.
To download these papers, go to www.
ControlGlobal.com/whitepapers.
The Great Kanduski is Back!
http://community.controlglobal.com/
content/sojourn-over
Checklist for Bioreactor Control Tips
content/checklist-bioreactor-control-
tips
Nuclear vs Solar and Wind:
Which Is Better? Should We Pursue Both?
content /nucl ear-vs-sol ar-and-wind-
which-better-should-we-pursue-both
Process Visualization
content/back-future-process-visualisa-
tion-0
Be Sustainable or
Be Doomed
The Mayans predicted the end of the world to be on Dec. 21, 2012, so if
youre not ready for thiswell, its kind of too late to start getting ready for
the inevitable.
Dont panic. Chances are on Dec. 22, 2012, well wake up and go about
our days as usual. Yet, we all know that all good things come to an end, and
someday this world will be gone.
So far, we have made major contributions to the death of planet Earth. We
have contaminated the oceans, the land and the atmosphere with millions
of pollutants. Slowly these contaminants are killing all living organisms
including us. We have depleted Earths natural resources and have caused
global warming. Every day we take out of this planet
more resources than we ever attempt to put back in.
Yet somehow we have managed to retroft the planet,
converting it into the largest, 24/7 automated factory
ever made. One daymaybe Dec. 21, 2012Earths
natural processes will just shut down, or maybe this gi-
gantic industrial plant will blow up, and everything as
we know it will cease to exist.
We need to change our way of living. We need to be a lot more sustainable.
This is the only way how we can help Mother Earth grow older and celebrate
a few billion more birthdays.
Automation professionals have already started changing their ways, and
doing things differently to help the planet. Many automation companies
have jumped on the green bandwagon and adapted their processes, mak-
ing them more sustainable and effcient. Read our article Serious Sustain-
ability at www.controlglobal.com/serious-sustainability.html, and see what
some experienced end users and their applications are doing in this arena.
Going green is not just about becoming effcient. Safety can play an impor-
tant role in sustainability. Our article, Process Safety and Sustainability Are a
Two-Way Street, shows how focusing on safety can yield sustainability efforts.
Read this article at www.controlglobal.com/two-way-sustainability-street.html.
Dont know were to start with sustainability efforts? Try reading Secur-
ing Your Sustainability. In this article, executive editor Jim Montague says
that designing and assembling greener process applications, running more
sustainable facilities and producing greener products requires participants
to adopt better practices. Read the article at www.controlglobal.com/arti-
cles/2012/montague-securing-your-sustainability.html.
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Not All Digital Transmitters Are
I read with interest John Rezabeks article
in the October 2012 issue (One Remark-
able Transmitter, www.controlglobal.
com/articles/2012/rezabek-remarkable-
transmitter.html). In it, he made a number
of signifcant points about the evolution of
electronic pressure transmitters.
I do take issue though with the refer-
ence to manufacturers digital transmit-
ters. While all smart transmitters have
microprocessers and digital circuitry,
there is truly only one digital transmitter
manufacturer today. Yokogawas EJA and
EJX series of transmitters are the only ones
that have digital sensors using their exclu-
sive dual resonance technology. All other
manufacturers start with an analog sensor,
like capacitance in the case of the 3051
you mentioned, and have to use an A/D in
their circuitry.
The other issue that I had was your ref-
erence to the Rosemount 3051C DP cell.
DP cell is a registered name of Foxboro.
They registered the term when they intro-
duced the 13A pneumatic DP transmit-
ter. Their products are the only ones that
should be associated with the term DP
cell. I understand that many people use
the term, but I did want to point that out
to you.
ROY RATCLIFFE
RM CONTROLS, I NC.
r oy@rmcont r ol s. com
Wireless Is Easy-Peasy
After reading your article (Wireless
Comes of Age, August, 2012, www.con-
trolglobal.com/articles/2012/bartels-wire-
less-comes-age.html) I am very perplexed
at the perception of wireless. My concern
is that the vendors are creating the cloud of
confusion here. I have worked in RF tech-
nology at some level for over 30 years. The
simplicity of wireless (UHF, SHF and In-
dustrial Science and Medical test bands)
provide users with a variety of choices.
Wireless is easy-peasy. Ten years from
now, every plant in the world will be using
wireless. Most every plant will be using the
cloud in some capacity, but all of these
solutions will be blended. Wire-line and
wireless will fow throughout the plant.
The cost factor will drop due to domi-
nant acceptance in the market place. You
will see experts pop up in the instrument
shops that understand the world is about
RF technology when we discuss wireless
and IP addressing, and that linking net-
works is not how one defnes the integ-
rity of the network
connection. Signal-
to-noise ratio, data
packet rates and ra-
dio signal strength
are very helpful in-
dicators. But, the ex-
pert can use all this
collective informa-
tion and a few tools
to easily set up a rock solid network.
Wireless will work anywhere! It is a mat-
ter of how you plan your network. When
you engineer any project you start out with
a concept, run it through a front-end en-
gineering and design (FEED) and front-
end loading (FEL), and build to your de-
sign. Wireless should be no different. RF
technology works great, but it should not
be considered a slap-and-stick technology.
You bring experts in that are vender-
neutral and know how to make the
802.11s, existing proprietary networks, ISA
100.11a, WirelessHART, GSM and Zig-
Bee all happily coexist. It can be done and
the resources are plentiful.
However, now that competition is grow-
ing, the sales course is to plant FUD in
the client on all the other products avail-
able, and say that someday they may be or-
phaned, when in reality they can all coex-
ist happily within the plant with a properly
managed engineering design.
It is truly simple, safe and secureas
long as you have it planned and mapped.
All your handheld portables, RFID asset
tags, location systems and more can hap-
pily link and live in the same environment.
It was a nice article. Once we allow the
users to get past the fear, this technology
will rocket. In some plants it already has.
STEPHEN MUENSTERMANN
s| tt. matrs| trmsrrtemtss| . rt|
OCTOBER 2012
Bidirectional Flow
Measurement
Simulation Pans Out
for Goldmine
ON THE WEB
Breathe New Life
into Your Facility
Where Do You Draw
the Line in Applying
Security to Your
Systems?
HOW SECURE IS
SECURE
ENOUGH?
O T H E R V O I C E S
14 www.controlglobal.com D E C E MB E R / 2 0 1 2
Modular Still Matters
and in 2004 to the North American market, as
well as the dual-analytic chassis/single-enclo-
sure spectrophotometer, the Ultramat 23. Sud-
denly, process analyzers were available in one
to two cubic-foot devices (perhaps steel cop-
ies of those wooden bridges?). Other major
analyzer manufacturers also introduced spec-
trophotometers offering this format around that
same time. Only one other manufacturer has
seen ft to offer a miniaturized process gas chro-
matograph to the hydrocarbon processing and
chemical processing industries. This unit is the
Calidas micro gas chromatograph by Falcon
Analytical (www.falconfast.net).
In 2002, a group of hydrocarbon processing
industry (HPI) and chemical processing indus-
try (CPI) process analyzer personnel gathered
and defned ANSI/ISA 76.00.02 (2002), which
is generally referred to as the New Sampling
and Sensor Initiative (NeSSI), Generation I.
It defned a universal mechanical format for
process analyzer modular sample condition-
ing system components. The process analyzer
industry had entered the era of two- to six-cubic
inch devices.
This group also defned NeSSI, Generation
II (ConnI), as a Universal Connectivity Instru-
mentation Format for electrical data exchange
and component control between process ana-
lyzer modular sample conditioning system
components.
The process analyzer industry at this point
in NeSSI development ran headlong into pro-
prietary systems that channel purchases to a
single supplier rather than systems for the uni-
versal advancement of the industry. For exam-
ple, open standard formats are CANBus (IEEE
1451.6) or Modbus (ISA SP100.11a); i-squared-
C was adapted to a Siemens proprietary version
of this universal open standard.
Finally, the NeSSI group defned NeSSI,
Generation III (AnNIE), as a Universal Analyt-
ical NeSSI Instrumentation Equipment Hard-
ware Format, where the footprint is NeSSI Gen
I; the connectivity is NeSSI Gen II; the analyti-
cal engine is miniaturized to ft within a 1.50-
inch width by multiples of 1.50-inch length
and, within reason, unlimited height (NeSSI
Gen III); and the analytical performance is
maximized by utilization of laser analytical
light sources and ASIC PDA (1024 photo diode
array) or other miniaturized analytical detec-
tors. Examples include H2scan (www.H2scan.
com ) for a hydrogen-specifc analyzer and
TOC Systems (www.TOCSystemsinc.com) for
a component-addressable non-dispersive infra-
red (NDIR) spectrophotometer.
The process analyzer industry and one of
its largest user communities (HPI/CPI) abso-
lutely must get away from building steel cop-
ies of wooden bridges. In this case, they must
get away from building $250,000, NEC/NFPA
explosion-proof, climate-controlled 8 ft x 10 ft x
9 ft analyzer shelters to house $25,000, 0.5 ft x
0.5 ft x 1.0 ft process analyzers.
The HPI/CPI communities must provide
fnancial support for the NeSSI generation of
process analytical equipment!
The operational model of the HPI/CPI pro-
cess analyzer system must change. It must
evolve from using a relatively expensive, in-
frastructure-intensive (explosion-proof, cli-
mate-controlled, walk-in) shelter/building to
a relatively inexpensive integrated infrastruc-
ture (NeSSI-format, intrinsically safe, climate-
adapted, at-line, 1.0 ft x 1.0 ft x 1.5 ft enclosure
process analyzer system).
The maintenance model in this inexpen-
sive integrated infrastructure feld application
would be an identical, relatively inexpensive
NeSSI system available from the analyzer shop
as a hot-spare, total-feld substitution.
The process
analyzer industry
and one of its
largest user
communities must
get away from
building steel
copies of wooden
bridges.
When man invented steel, he did not build steel copies of wooden bridges. Ayn
Rand From the mid-1940s through the mid-1990s, process analyzers were two- to six-
cubic-foot devices, wooden bridges, if you will. In the late 1990s, Siemens introduced
the MicroSAM gas chromatograph (www.usa.siemens.com/pa) to the European market
ROBERT E. SHERMAN
VALERO ENERGY CORP.
Bob. Sherman@val er o. com
The Emerson logo is a trademark and a service mark of Emerson Electric Co. 2012 Emerson Electric Co.
Tank overfill.
In the best case, you have to clean up.
In the worst case, you end up in court.
Want to sleep well at night?
YOU CAN DO THAT
Driving overfill prevention technology forward.
Emersons new Rosemount Raptor tank gauging system lets you comply with the reworked
overfill protection standard API 2350 (4
th
edition) for every type of storage tank. The Raptor system includes safety
features like SIL certification and a unique radar with two independent gauges (level and overfill) in one housing.
Learn more about Raptor and get the latest API 2350 overfill prevention guidance at www.rosemount-tg.com/safety
O T H E R V O I C E S
16 www.controlglobal.com D E C E M B E R / 2 0 1 2
A multi-national refner considered the NeSSI format and
maintenance model for a large chemical plant expansion in
Singapore (circa 2007), but ended up only using NeSSI Gen
I (basic hardware items in a 1.50-in. x 1.50-in. footprint) in
its process analyzer systems for this major expansion project.
Why was this decision made? In this era of high technol-
ogy devices, ultra-communication capability and Sarbanes-
Oxley accounting principles. this decision came down to the
classic conundrum of the chicken or the egg. If this refner
went with the chicken, here being the process analyzer
modular sample conditioning system components (Gen I)
and the electrical data exchange and component control be-
tween process analyzer modular sample conditioning sys-
tem components (Gen II), would there be future nourish-
ment (the egg)?
It managed its risk by applying NeSSI Gen I components.
At this point in time, there were (and currently are) three ma-
jor manufacturers producing NeSSI modular substrate ba-
sic (Gen I) componentsCircor (www.circor.com), Parker
(www.parker.com) and Swagelok (www.swagelok.com)and
using classic pressure and fow indication devices to popu-
late the data generation function for control of these many
(~400) process analytical systems.
The entire HPI/CPI missed a crucial tipping point with
the loss of momentum to use NeSSI Gen II connectivity
and NeSSI Gen III pressure and fow indication and control
devices. There was a six-month window where this connec-
tivity and component development was in beta test applica-
tions, but this refner could not accept the risk that NeSSI
Gen II and Gen III would fail to reach critical mass in time
for this very important expansion project to move forward
smoothly within its return-on-investment schedule.
Some enlightened HPI/CPI customers were making use
of classic proportion process analyzers with NeSSI Gen I
sample conditioning systems, NeSSI Gen II data exchange/
component control systems, and NeSSI Gen III digital bus
fow/pressure monitor/control devices by Circor. These
NeSSI Gen III transducers and control devices can replace
classic pressure-indicating gauges, indicating/controlling
variable-area fowmeters (rotameters), and pressure-control-
ling regulators.
An early adopter of this technology was a catalyst pro-
ducer. In its R&D pilot plants in the Midwest, the company
used classic proportion laboratory analyzers with NeSSI
three-generation system technologies.
Another early adopter was the West Coast refnery of a
major international refning company. In this refning appli-
cation, analyzer maintenance personnel justifed the NeSSI
three-generation system concept based on reduced mainte-
nance time requirements. Maintenance personnel would no
longer walk long routes on a daily basis, tapping on pressure
gauges and rotameter tubes to see if the reading was current,
or if the indicator (needle or foat) was stuck in some posi-
tion within the instrument. Instead, this refners personnel
would enter their analyzer shop each morning and check an
exception printer. The NeSSI devices would communicate
through the NeSSI-bus Gen II communication system onto
the refnery fberoptic communication network to generate an
exception report for any analyzer where pressure or fow values
were outside of preset limits. Now the maintenance personnel
would only visit process analyzer applications where a prob-
lem was known to exist based on monitored and transmitted
data. Maintenance personnel were now able to use their time
to perform preventive maintenance activities to further reduce
process analyzer feld problems.
Todays process units in most CPI/HPI plants were built
between 1944 and 1974. In the ensuing 50+ years, they have
become incredibly complex and crowded as modifcations,
optimizations and upgrades have been shoehorned into
the original plot plan. Todays economic climate is one of
What have you done for me this quarter? Positive results
this fscal year? Nobody but engineers want to wait two to
three years for design and construction and another one or
two to turn a proft from the resulting process unit perfor-
mance. The HPI/CPI can no longer afford classic model
process analyzer systems enclosed in classic model process
analyzer shelters.
HPI/CPI operating companies must communicate to
process analyzer companies, process analyzer system com-
ponent companies and process analyzer system integration
companies, and tell them that products using the NeSSI
concept need to be developed within their organizations.
This must take place in order for widespread application of
NeSSI process analytical measurement system applications
to be deployed.
The critical requirement for these near-future process an-
alytical systems is to control input to the more easily under-
stood and currently implemented industry-wide advanced
process control initiative. HPI/CPI processes cant be con-
trolled without reliable knowledge of process variables re-
ported within the timeframe of the response dynamics of
HPI/CPI processes.
The reengineering of classic process analyzer system
components to the NeSSI format typically results in equal-
or-better performance from the NeSSI format device due
to advances in machining and material technologies. If
well-respected process analyzer and process analyzer com-
ponent vendors produce well-engineered NeSSI systems,
these vendors will be rewarded with signifcant sales oppor-
tunities in support of NeSSI systems and the NeSSI main-
tenance model. The hydrocarbon and chemical process-
ing industries need cost-effective process analyzer systems.
Which process analyzer vendor will fulfll this HPI/CPI
requirement?
Put AMETEKs new IPS-4 on the job.
High performance, low maintenance
and now available in Infrared!
Put next-generation technology to work to verify the quality of your
feedstocks, intermediates, final products and more. The new IPS-4
spectrophotometer detects and quantifies thousands of chemical species
up to eight at once. With an IP-65-compliant housing and a 2-year-life
lamp, the IPS-4 needs no annual maintenance. So its perfect for outdoors,
next to inaccessible areas along your process.
Just 31 inches wide, the IPS-4 is packed with features including 22-key keypad, analog
signal output, 3 digital signal ports, high-speed Ethernet port, plug-and-play/web-based
queries, alarm contacts, RS232 and RS485 ports. Plus, its multilingual interface includes
English, French, German, Russian and Spanish. The IPS-4 is available in UV/Vis and NIR
versions with fully integrated sampling systems.
AMETEKs entire family of spectrophotometer-based analyzers is proven in applications
from chemicals and petrochemicals to pharmaceuticals, food and metals processing.
To learn more call 412-828-9040 or visit our web site.
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2012 AMETEK, Inc. All rights reserved.
Weve got you covered no matter what
kind of protection you need.
Pepperl+Fuchs has long been associated with intrinsic safety
and explosion protection technology in the chemical and oil &
gas markets. Coupled with this expertise are new-generation
eldbus products, industrial display monitors, rugged purge and
pressurization systems, and a powerful ability to combine all of
our solutions into customized packages. Get protection you can
depend on. Pepperl+Fuchs is protecting your process.
World-leading supplier of intrinsic safety interface devices
Complete solutions designed to customer specications
UL508A and UL698A accreditation for custom cabinets
Global support, worldwide manufacturing, unparalleled service
Advanced diagnostic accessories for eldbus installations
ARE YOU CONFIDENT WITH THE
PROTECTION PROVIDED IN YOUR PLANT?
Pepperl+Fuchs, Inc.
Twinsburg, Ohio
330.486.0002
www.pepperl-fuchs.us
O N T H E B U S
JOHN REZABEK
CONTRI BUTI NG EDI TOR
JRezabek@ashl and. com
Trunk Testing Tribulation
Our H1 (Fieldbus interface) card design had changed, and terminals that were once
available to attach test equipment were gone. Since our techs wanted to hook up their
Relcom FBT-6 in the comfort of the rack room, the solution to the missing terminals was
to expose a small length of bare wire beneath each terminal. That seemed okay until
two test clips touched, and shorted out an en-
tire segment. We didnt shut the plant down,
but the excitement that ensued was enough to
discourage us from ever attempting that again.
Early in the design phase, engineers are
faced with choices regarding how they design
networks conforming to the hazardous area
classifcations. Many users in North America
fnd their area classifcations are Class 1, Divi-
sion 2 as defned by the ANSI/NFPA standards,
equivalent to Zone 2 in IEC 60079-10. Even
before the widespread use of bus technologies,
users frequently deployed the non-incendive
concept for 24-VDC instrumentation.
Non-incendive means a well-maintained
system protected from casual tampering wont
create enough heat or a spark of suffcient en-
ergy to ignite a hazardous atmosphere. It can
also mean that the system employs current-lim-
iting circuitry that ensures the energy of a fault
will be too low to ignite a hazardous vapor.
Profbus PA and Foundation feld-
bus solutions offered by suppliers such as
Pepperl+Fuchs, MTL, MooreHawke, Turck,
Stahl, Cobalt and others (see the Fieldbus.
org website, http://tinyurl.com/bl8vnrk) for a
complete listing of certifed products) achieve
hazardous area standards in a variety of ways,
many of which rely on energy-limiting cir-
cuitry. Twisted pairs extending from such net-
works are individually current-limited, which is
how the spurs preserve the non-incendive prop-
erties required for live working. This means an
energy-limited spur can have enclosure covers
removed, hazardous area-compliant test equip-
ment connected, and can be worked on with-
out a hot work permit.
The trunk is another matter. In solutions de-
signed to achieve an NEC (NFPA) non-incen-
dive rating, the trunk itself is not current-lim-
ited, and can carry in excess of 500 mA. This is
great if you have heavily loaded segments and
segments with power-hungry, two-wire trans-
mitters, but 500 milliamps means theres no
protection for interaction with the trunk in the
classifed area while youre under power. A gas
test and hot work permit and, possibly, persis-
tent monitoring, depending on local practices
and concerns, are required. You can power
down the trunk from the safe area, but that
would mean all the devices on the segment
would power down and remain out of service
for the duration. I have found it very challeng-
ing to power down segments while the plant is
downlet alone while the process is up and
generating revenue. Powering down is not an
attractive option.
Intrinsically safe (IS) solutions called high-
power trunk preserve the high current capa-
bility of the non-incendive solution, and per-
mit the user to have IS spurs. The issue of live
working of the trunk typically is addressed by
segregating the trunk terminations and enclos-
ing them separately. You have to work at it a bit,
but you could still conceivably undo the protec-
tive measures, and connect to the trunk under
power.
As we design systems that will be turned
over to less trained and experienced workers,
maybe the choices that are most foolproof
will be more compelling. There are solutions
available that ensure even the trunk isnt an ig-
nition source for live-working. Contemplating
such scenarios, I can visualize the multitude of
troubles that the heedless, untrained or igno-
rant can get themselves into. Live-working on
the trunk during process operation is unwise
for another reason: the trunk is the common-
mode fault path for all the devices on the seg-
ment, and its best to leave it be once its landed.
Nowadays we always connect test equipment at
unused spurs.
Its challenging
to power down
segments while
the plant is down,
let alone while
a process is up.
Powering down is
not an attractive
option.
New
500 MHz
1
9
9
1
1
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5
1
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9
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1
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Watch ScopeMeter 190-II Scenario Videos:
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now with 500 MHz bandwidth and 5 GS/s sampling speed.
The Fluke 190 Series II extends your troubleshooting arsenal, showing you
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before. Two- and four-channel models t any application, measuring signals from
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the only completely sealed, drip-proof, dust-proof IP-51 rated scopes.
I N P R O C E S S
Honeywell Affrms Continuous Evolution
Pledge to EMEA Users
Lifecycle services commitment, new enabling technologies showcased in Istanbul.
In November, Honeywell Process So-
lutions (HPS) wrapped up its global se-
ries of annual user group meetings in
Istanbul with the 24th annual gather-
ing of customer delegates from Europe,
the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Under the conference theme of Sus-
tain.Ability, some 700 attendees from
throughout the region shared best
practices, and were treated to a three-
day dose of how they can continue to
sustain the abilities of their production
assets using the latest process automa-
tion and instrumentation technologies
from Honeywelleven as they con-
tinue to preserve past investments dat-
ing back to the companys earliest dis-
tributed control system offerings.
Indeed, technology is only part of
the answer to sustainable business per-
formance, said Honeywells leadership
in a series of event keynotes anchored
by Darius Adamczyk, HPS president.
Fruitful collaboration and lifecycle ser-
vices are equally important elements of
the sustainability mix, according to Ad-
amczyk, who brings a passion for ser-
vices to his relatively new role as HPS
business leader.
Its not good enough to provide tech-
nology, said Adamczyk. And we cant
just be there to fx things when they
break. We have to be there with you
through the lifecycle of that equipment.
He went on to outline a future in
which service agreements that guaran-
tee uptime play an increasingly impor-
tant role, effectively aligning Honey-
wells goals with those of its customers.
We want to be your partner in three
ways: to help optimize your business
performance; to help develop and
equip your knowledge workers wher-
ever they happen to be; and to help you
operate in a method that is both safe
and environmentally friendly.
Further, said Adamczyk, Honey-
wells new technology offerings are
aligned with its customers evolving
needs, including the support of remote
operations, the management of envi-
ronmental sensitivities, and new mea-
sures to help address engineering com-
plexity and data overload.
Systems-Level Innovation
Major technology initiatives showcased
in Istanbul included the Experion PKS
Orion, Honeywells latest generation
process knowledge system. First intro-
duced in June at the Honeywell Users
Group Americas conference, Experion
PKS Orion is built on core technology
concepts of universal, fully confgurable
process I/O (to increase system fexibil-
ity, reduce costs and shorten project de-
livery timelines); virtualization (to re-
duce computing costs, footprint, energy
use and maintenance effort); and col-
laboration (to facilitate rapid, accurate
team decision-making).
A key system-level introduction
made at Istanbul is Honeywells next
generation version of its widely adopted
High-Performance Manager (HPM)
controller. Called the Enhanced HPM
(EHPM), the new controller effectively
allows 25 years of distributed control
system installed base to seamlessly
migrate to Experion. Risk and cost of
system migration is signifcantly re-
duced by preserving control strategies
and wiring, according to Jason Urso,
HPS vice president and chief technol-
ogy offcer. Honeywells commitment
to continuous evolution allows plants
to take what was once a legacy system
and gradually, in a step-by-step fashion,
move it forward, so that it becomes part
of a new, modern system, while at the
same time protecting the plants intel-
lectual property, Urso said.
SmartLine Pressure Transmitter Unveiled
Further afeld, Honeywell also debuted
its new SmartLine industrial pressure
transmitters. They are designed with
enhanced communication capabilities
and improved operational effciency,
and can reduce lifecycle costs for pro-
cess manufacturers.
Honeywell SmartLine pressure
transmitters make it easier to support
feld devices and promote plant reli-
ability with their unique effciency-en-
hancing features, such as a graphic dis-
play capable of showing process data
in graphical formats and communicat-
ing messages from the control room.
SmartLine transmitters also feature
modular components to simplify feld
repairs and reduce inventory required
to make those repairs.
Its not good enough to provide tech-
nology, says Darius Adamczyk, presi-
dent of Honeywell Process Solutions.
MORE THAN TECHNOLOGY
I N P R O C E S S
SmartLine is designed to provide the lowest total cost
of ownership at every point in the project lifecycle to help
customers operations be more effcient, and make their
process more accurate and their plant more reliable, said
Don Maness, vice president for feld products at Honeywell
Process Solutions.
SmartLine offers a number of unique benefts to cus-
tomers, Maness added. It exceeds industry norms for ac-
curacy, response time, turndown and stability. It provides
the lowest lifecycle cost by leveraging a modular design for
confguration, installation, upgrades and maintenance. It
communicates to all automation systems through open
communication protocol modules, and is even more tightly
integrated with Experion PKS and legacy DCS custom-
ers.Lastly, we designed it for the instrument technician by
making it simple to confgure with an easy-to-read display
and without the need to use a feld calibrator or to open the
housing itself.
ABB Solves 100-Year-Old
Electrical Puzzle
Development of a DC breaker for high-
voltage transmission will help shape the
grid of the future.
ABB has announced a breakthrough in the ability to inter-
rupt direct current, solving a 100-year-old electrical engi-
neering puzzle, and paving the way for a more effcient and
reliable electricity supply system.
After years of research, ABB has developed the worlds
frst circuit breaker for high-voltage direct current (HVDC).
It combines very fast mechanics with power electronics, and
will be capable of interrupting power fows equivalent to
the output of a large power station within 5 milliseconds
which is 30 times faster than the blink of a human eye.
The breakthrough removes a 100-year-old barrier to the
development of DC transmission grids, which will enable
the effcient integration and exchange of renewable energy.
DC grids will also improve grid reliability and enhance the
capability of existing alternating current (AC) networks.
ABB is in discussions with power utilities to identify pilot
projects for the new development.
HVDC technology is needed to facilitate the long-dis-
tance transfer of power from hydropower plants, the in-
tegration of offshore wind power, the development of vi-
sionary solar projects, and the interconnection of different
power networks. ABB pioneered HVDC nearly 60 years
ago and, with over 70 HVDC projects, ABB accounts for
around half the global installed base, representing an in-
stalled capacity of more than 60,000 megawatts (MW).
Deployment of HVDC has led to an increasing number
of point-to-point connections in different parts of the world.
The logical next step is to connect the lines and optimize
the network. ABB is already working on the construction
of multi-terminal systems and the latest DC breaker inno-
vation is a major step in the evolution of HVDC grids. In
parallel to the new hybrid breaker development, ABB has
established an HVDC grid simulation center developing
solutions for future DC overlay grid operations.
ABB has written a new chapter in the history of electri-
cal engineering, said Joe Hogan, CEO of ABB. This his-
torical breakthrough will make it possible to build the grid
of the future. Overlay DC grids will be able to interconnect
countries and continents, balance loads and reinforce the
existing AC transmission networks.
Hybrid HVDC breaker development has been a fagship
research project for ABB, which invests over $1 billion an-
nually in R&D activities.
Yokogawa, Honeywell, Nivis Pass
ISA100 Trials
According to the ISA100 Wireless Compliance Institute
(WCI), gateways from Yokogawa, Honeywell and Nivis
have successfully demonstrated interoperability with a
WCI test client. The test verifes WCIs new Generic Client
Interface (GCI) specifcation, which is applicable to ANSI/
ISA-100.11a-based gateways. The tests were conducted at
ISAs headquarters in North Carolina.
The frst production client to use GCI will be GEs Sys-
tem 1 product, which was also successfully tested during the
trial. System 1 is GEs patented condition monitoring soft-
ware platform for real-time optimization of equipment and
selected processes, condition monitoring and event diag-
nostics that enables plant personnel to quickly identify im-
portant events, evaluate the situation and respond, leading
to increased equipment availability, reliability and reduced
maintenance costs.
We are excited to see the success of this interoperability
test conducted by the ISA100 Wireless Compliance Insti-
tute. WCI plays a crucial role in the success of ISA100 in
the industrial space, said Hitoshi Yasui, general manager
of the Wireless Research and Development business unit at
Yokogawa Electric Corp.
With the successful outcome of the test, we continue
to look forward to additional interoperability tests planned
for the coming year with more ISA100-certifed products
in the queue to confrm the scalability, reliability and per-
formance benefts of the ANSI/ISA-100.11a standard, said
Andre Ristaino, managing director of WCI.
The ISA100 Wireless Compliance Institute (ISA100
I N P R O C E S S
WCI) is a non-proft industry organization providing users
and developers with market awareness, educational infor-
mation, technical support and compliance for the ISA100
family of universal industrial wireless standards. More in-
formation about the Institute can be found online at www.
isa100wci.org.
Process Simulation Paper Wins
Honeywell Student Award
Honeywell has announced the winner of its ffth annual stu-
dent competition dedicated to the encouragement of design
and innovation in the process industry. This years compe-
tition, which focused on the use of Honeywells dynamic
process simulation technology, UniSim Design, was won by
Davide Bocciardo from the University of Edinburgh, for his
entry Customizing UniSim Design: Membrane Separation
and Its Application to Carbon Capture..
Davides winning entry focused on the use of UniSim-
based simulation to model membrane separation applied to
the post-combustion capture of carbon dioxide, as an alter-
native to the conventional method of solvent-based capture.
Orhan Genis, vice president-sales, Honeywell Process So-
lutions EMEA, presented the award in a ceremony in Istam-
bul, Turkey, where Honeywell held its annual EMEA Users
Group Conference.
ASCO Numatics
Awards Scholarships
Fluid automation, fow control and pneumatics solutions
provider, ASCO Numatics announced recipients of the
2012 ASCO Numatics Industrial Automation Engineering
Scholarship at Pack Expo 2012 in Chicago. Kelsey Johnson
of Brownsburg, Indiana, and Nathan Koetsier of Marne,
Michigan, will each receive $5000 as part of the scholar-
ship program. ASCO Numatics also will make $1000 grants
to the engineering departments of Purdue University and
Michigan Technological University, the schools that John-
son and Koetsier, respectively, attend.
This year, ASCO Numatics had the largest and most
qualifed feld of applicants in our scholarship programs
history, said Robert Kemple Jr., executive vice president of
sales and marketing for the Americas at ASCO Numatics.
Kelsey and Nathan stood out from the other applicants for
their potential to succeed in the industrial automation in-
dustry. We look forward to seeing great things from them
in the future.
Johnson will graduate with a bachelor of science in me-
chanical engineering from Purdue University in May 2013.
Cust omer s Fi r st
I nt egr i t y Al ways
45 Years of Excel l ence
New Sol uti ons Every Day
In process and industrial automation,
you need accurate monitoring, consistent
uptime and real ROI. Be sure. With the
Banner SureCross Wireless Network. Visit
BannerEngineering.com/ProcessControl.
Or call (888) 373-6767.
I N P R O C E S S
Koetsier will receive a bachelor of sci-
ence degree in mechanical engineer-
ing in May 2013 from Michigan Tech-
nological University.
The ASCO Numatics Engineering
Scholarships are awarded annually
based on the candidates potential for
leadership and for making a signifcant
contribution to the industrial automa-
tion engineering profession.
Automation Vendors
Look to Future
Fall is user group season in the au-
tomation industries, and as with the
change of seasons, there are certain
telltale signs and certain recurring
themes. The product roadmap, the
user success stories, the newest prod-
ucts, and always the members of the
executive team outlining how they see
the coming year(s) and future plans for
the company.
This year a common goal was be-
coming a partner who will stand by
customers as they upgrade and meet
the challenges of 21
st
-century man-
ufacturing, including the need for
more effciency, while grappling with
the challenges of a changing work-
force, shifting government regulations,
emerging economies and consumer
demand for scalable operations.
Satoru Kurosu, senior vice president
of Yokogawas Industrial Automation
Marketing headquarters and a mem-
ber of Yokogawas board of directors,
said at the North America user group
conference in New Orleans that scale
is important to Yokogawas vision, and
pointed to record revenues of 334.7
billion (US $4.2 billion) last fscal year.
Kurosu touted Yokogawas value-
added operations consulting. Using
standards-based functions and prod-
ucts, We can achieve both plant safety
and energy saving at a high level, and
maximize human performance using
best practices and ergonomics, said
Kurosu. Thats why Yokogawa has
taken the lead in standards such as ISA
101, ISA 106, ISA 18.2 and in advanced
process control.
The Song in Philadelphia
At Rockwell Automations Automation
Fair, held in Philadelphia this year,
CEO Keith Nosbusch outlined some
of the challenges any company will
face in the coming years.
The coming decade will be the frst
in 200 years when emerging-market
countries contribute more growth than
the developed ones, he said. The
emergence of these massive, new mid-
dle-class consumer markets is creating
signifcant new demands on resources
and, especially, increasing demand for
commodities.
He said that these new demands call
for new manufacturing capabilities,
even as a generation of control and
automation engineers begins to retire
before their successors can get trained.
This is why we need smart manufac-
turing, which we defne as a highly
connected, knowledge-enabled indus-
trial enterprise, in which all business
and operating actions are optimized
to achieve substantially enhanced pro-
ductivity, sustainability and economic
performance.
Rockwells response to helping
its customers meet these challenges
comes in several forms, including
more secure Ethernet solutions, im-
proved scale and performance, better
ease-of-use, and integrated energy, mo-
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R E S O U R C E S
Temperature and Pressure Resources You Can Use
Controls Monthly Resource Guide
Every month, Controls editors take a specifc product area, collect all the latest, signifcant tools we can fnd,
and present them here to make your job easier. If you know of any tools and resources we didnt include, send
them to wboyes@putman.net, and well add them to the website.
TEMPERATURE/PRESSURE BLOG
APG Sensors has as regular blog that
covers a variety of sensor subjects. In
the section devoted to pressure and
temperature, it covers such subjects as
Top 10 Things Not to Do with Pres-
sure Sensors, Six Common Variables
Affecting Pressure Sensors, How
Temperature Affects Pressure Sen-
sors and Pressure Sensors and Water
Hammer. Access to the blog is free.
The direct link is at www.apgsensors.
com/products/applications/pressure-
measurement.
APG Sensor s
www. apgsensor s. com
DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE
TRANSMITTER ACCURACY
Differential pressure transmitters are
extremely versatile instruments ftting
a broad range of applications in various
process industries. Accuracy is a key per-
formance measure for any process-mea-
suring device, and is an important factor
for proper device selection and mainte-
nance. Differential pressure devices are
very versatile, but it is not always easy to
understand, calculate or compare accu-
racies between devices. This document
is intended to help the reader better un-
derstand what manufacturers accuracy
statements mean, what specifcations are
important for a given application, and
how to properly compare various product
capabilities. The direct link to this free,
downloadable white paper is at http://ti-
nyurl.com/dx8fx72
Honeywel l Pr ocess Sol ut i ons
www. honeywel l pr ocess. com
HOW TO USE A PRESSURE SENSOR
This tutorial from National Instruments
covers the basics, such as how to measure
pressure with pressure sensors. It also cov-
ers the types of sensors available and the
appropriate hardware to accurately take
pressure measurements. Other subjects
include the anatomy of a basic pressure
sensor, the types of sensors available and
the appropriate hardware to take pres-
sure measurements accurately. This is a
free, downloadable PDF. The direct link
is at www.ni.com/white-paper/3639/en.
Nat i onal I nst rument s
www. ni . com
AVOID TEMPERAURE
MEASUREMENT PITFALLS
For more exacting needs, found in
many scientifc, industrial and com-
mercial uses, the temperature of a pro-
cess must be measured and controlled
defnitively. LAN Extensions for In-
strumentation (LXI) offer a methodol-
ogy to perform these exacting measure-
ments in test and control applications.
What do you need to know to select
the best temperature measurement so-
lution for your application? This pa-
per describes the common pitfalls of
precision temperature measurement
and what you need to consider before
selecting a temperature measurement
solution. This is a free, downloadable
white paper. The direct link is at http://
tinyurl.com/4cmzxmz.
Dat a Tr ansl at i on
www. dat at r ansl at i on. com
TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT
FOR POWER PLANTS
Irrespective of the type of power plant
(coal-fred, oil- or gas-based), tem-
perature measurement remains high
on the list for operational excellence
throughout the plant. Implementa-
tion of some of the new technologies
results in improved safety and lower
installation and maintenance costs.
Incorrect measurement information
due to temperature effects, non-lin-
earity or stability can result in major
equipment getting damaged. Ensur-
ing that instruments that have mini-
mal downtime from a maintenance
standpoint, not just devices that have
been evaluated to provide safety in-
tegrity level service in safety instru-
mented systems, is crucial for daily
operations in a power plant. The pa-
per covers some of the basics of tem-
perature measurement and leads into
some of the technical advances that
impart a higher degree of safety and
reliability to power plant operation.
Free download at http://tinyurl.com/
bsfs2ts.
Endr ess + Hauser
www. us. endr ess. com
HOW TO SELECT A PRESSURE SENSOR
There are over 200 pressure sensor
suppliers around the world, offering
products that cost from a few dollars
to thousands of dollars. A purchaser or
engineer unfamiliar with pressure sen-
sors can become overwhelmed with
the price range, quality and options.
The frst step is to understand all as-
pects of their application, from the me-
dia being measured to the desired elec-
trical output for indication or control.
The following link takes you to a guide
through a variety of options to make a
prudent decision. The direct link is at
http://tinyurl.com/bnlqkgo.
Ameri can Sensor Technol ogi es
www. ast sensor s. com
C O N T R O L / A R C A U T O M A T I O N T O P 5 0
But like the swan, under the
water, its feet are paddling
feverishly.
by Walt Boyes, David Clayton
and Inderpreet Shoker
Serene
The Economic Recovery is
TOP 50 GLOBAL AUTOMATION VENDORS
2011 Worldwide
TOTAL (in millions) 102,386.51
1 Siemens 14,763.33
2 ABB Process Automation and ABB Automation Products 11,364.41
3 Emerson Process Management 7,943.82
4 Schneider Electric 5,644.50
5 Rockwell Automation 5,465.47
6 Yokogawa Electric 3,949.26
7 Mitsubishi Electric 3,759.59
8 GE 3,461.19
9 Honeywell Process Solutions/Sensing & Control 3,114.72
10 Danaher Industrial Technologies 3,057.19
11 Omron 2,535.94
12 Endress+Hauser 2,138.85
13 Phoenix Contact 2,131.84
14 IMI Fluid Controls Severe Service PLC 2,063.17
15 Yaskawa 1,824.50
16 Invensys Operations Management 1,759.33
17 Cameron Valves & Measurement 1,663.00
18 Ametek EIG 1,647.20
19 FANUC 1,596.09
20 Spectris 1,551.10
21 Flowserve Flow Control Division 1,448.79
22 azbil Group (Yamatake) 1,054.41
23 Mettler Toledo 1,040.00
24 National Instruments 1,024.20
25 Wika 982.33
26 FMC Energy Processing Systems 964.65
27 Weidmuller 869.57
28 MKS Instruments 822.50
29 Hitachi 812.40
30 IFM Electronics 799.44
31 Samson 740.00
32 Roper Industries Industrial Technology 737.40
33 Bosch Rexroth 726.18
34 Metso Automation 695.65
35 Beckhoff 652.17
36 Wago 645.37
37 Fuji Electric 623.08
38 Teledyne Instruments 621.41
39 Advantech 598.20
40 Krohne 579.24
41 B&R 575.04
42 Turck 559.00
43 Burkert 535.76
44 Pepperl+Fuchs 504.36
45 Horiba 481.36
46 TMEIC 459.90
47 Toshiba 424.15
48 Pilz 398.69
49 Belden Connectivity Products 288.90
50 Thermo Scientifc 287.86
HONORABLE MENTION
2011
Worldwide
Parker Industrial 281.63
Badger Meter 262.90
OSIsoft 259.10
Aspen Technology 198.20
Tyco Flow Control 180.00
SupCon 161.50
Magnetrol 150.00
MTL 134.34
Hollysys 129.00
MTS 105.00
SPX Valves and Controls 104.62
SMAR 87.71
Opto 22 85.63
Cashco 84.30
IDEC 80.71
Vega 72.39
Iconics 42.39
Pyromation 25.40
The U. S. presidential election is over, as of this writ-
ing, and by the time you read this, politicians are ar-
guing over whether to jump over the fscal cliff, or
whether there is, actually, a fscal cliff or just a fscal
curb. We may be headed into another recessionor
maybe not.
Every major automation company and most of the
smaller ones posted large sales increases throughout
2011 and into 2012. But one by one, at the fall user
groups meetings, vendor executives warned that,
while things looked good now and the pipelines into
next year looked full, things didnt look all that rosy
from mid-2013 onward.
At the recently concluded Automation Fair, I asked
Rockwell Automation CEO Keith Nosbusch if I was
right in concluding that everything was going along
swimmingly. He replied, Its like the swan foating on
the surface of the pond. Everything looks serene as it
glides along, but under the water the feet are churn-
ing furiously.
Dr. Mark Douglass, senior analyst with Longbow
Research, agrees. U. S. demand for automation prod-
ucts is fat to slightly down, he says. Oil and gas activity
appears to be the strongest segment within process au-
tomation, with demand driven by oil felds, shale gas
and biofuels in Texas, California, Florida, Washing-
ton and New York. Specialty chemicals were mixed,
he says, and pulp and paper, along with food process-
ing, were generally weaker.
Internationally, Douglass says, demand for new au-
tomation products and systems is mixed. In Europe,
German demand remains relatively healthy, but his
respondents tell him that while demand appears to re-
main positive, there are signs of cooling off. France
HONORABLE MENTION
2011
North America
Magnetrol 60.00
Burkert 53.58
Beckhoff 52.17
Pilz 50.80
Tyco Flow Control 37.54
TMEIC 37.25
Samson 37.00
Hitachi 29.18
MTS 27.30
Pyromation 25.40
Iconics 25.01
SMAR 23.06
Vega 21.07
IDEC 15.58
Fuji Electric 14.22
TOP 50 NORTH AMERICAN AUTOMATION VENDORS
2011 North America
TOTAL (in millions) 24,348.77
1 Emerson Process Management 3,664.32
2 Rockwell Automation 3,082.52
3 ABB Process Automation and ABB Automation Products 1,737.48
4 Siemens 1,562.56
5 Danaher Industrial Technologies 1,375.73
6 Schneider Electric 1,192.15
7 GE 1,167.26
8 Ametek EIG 840.07
9 Honeywell Process Solutions/Sensing & Control 829.70
10 Cameron Valves & Measurement 698.46
11 Roper Industries Industrial Technology 560.42
12 Invensys Operations Management 491.14
13 Flowserve Flow Control 463.61
14 IMI Fluid Controls Severe Service PLC 430.46
15 National Instruments 411.00
16 Endress+Hauser 395.69
17 MKS Instruments 391.10
18 Spectris 387.78
19 Yokogawa Electric 304.93
20 Omron 304.31
21 Mettler Toledo 298.00
22 Yaskawa 294.42
23 Teledyne Instruments 287.09
24 Badger Meter 231.30
25 Turck 202.00
26 Toshiba 195.18
27 Belden Connectivity Products 176.23
28 Advantech 174.10
29 Weidmuller 170.94
30 FMC 165.92
31 Thermo Scientifc 152.57
32 Mitsubishi Electric 132.96
33 OSIsoft 127.50
34 Metso Automation 125.22
35 IFM Electronics 119.94
36 Phoenix Contact 106.59
37 Wika 98.23
38 Wago 96.35
39 azbil Group (Yamatake) 94.90
40 Bosch Rexroth 93.12
41 Parker Industrial 89.34
42 B&R 86.26
43 Cashco 78.68
44 Horiba 77.02
45 Aspen Technology 70.96
46 FANUC 70.51
47 Krohne 63.72
48 Opto 22 62.95
49 Pepperl+Fuchs 59.61
50 SPX Flow Technology 56.67
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is harder to quantify, but here too, demand appears to be
slightly positive.
It is when we get to the BRIC countries (Brazil, Rus-
sia, India and China) that things get very interesting. Chi-
nas economy, the mainstay of the recovery from the 2008
recession, appears to be slowing, and some people report
negative growth. This is diffcult politically as the new gov-
ernment of Xi Jinping takes offce. Mr. Xi, it is universally
acknowledged, will face challenges no Chinese govern-
ment has yet faced.
China is no longer the low cost of manufacturing leader
it once was. Wages, according to Peter Orszag, former direc-
tor of the Offce of Management and Budget, writing in the
Bloomberg View, rose from about $1000 in 1978 to almost
$5500 in 2011. This is in part due to the same shortages of
skilled workers the West has confronted for the past 10 years
or more. It is also because sometime during Mr. Xis term,
China will cross the Lewis point, where the economic gains
from moving workers from agriculture to manufacturing no
longer obtain.
Douglass believes that there are still signs of strength in
Chinas petroleum, chemical and power generation sectors,
though.
Quoted in Steve Minters article in IndustryWeek on
Nov. 14, 2012, Schneider Electrics president of U. S. oper-
ations, Jeff Drees, sees a more positive view. Drees says that
A question that keeps coming up is how
the Top 50 will stay on top. This may be de-
cided by their ability to improve their mar-
keting and sales technologies to 21
s
t-cen-
tury levels. Marketing in the 21
st
century is
a moving target. Large automation com-
panies are at a signifcant disadvantage
because by the time they have spent six
months developing their online marketing
strategy, its time to crumple it up and start
over. The marketing landscape is changing
that quickly thanks to the head-spinning
pace of innovation from the likes of Google,
Facebook, LinkedIn and their ilk.
As if thats not bad enough, automa-
tion companies are at a disadvantage for
another reason. As our business commu-
nication platforms become increasingly in-
tertwined with social media, the computers
are paradoxically forcing us all to become
more human in our marketing. This is re-
ally tough for engineering and technically
based companies to grasp, harder to em-
brace and incredibly tricky to pull off.
What customers want is the freedom to
seek vendors out, instead of vendors fnd
them. Fortunately, there is a proven model
that works under this new paradigm; it is
called inbound marketing, pull rather than
push. This approach fips traditional mar-
keting on its head. Instead of trying to in-
terrupt people from what they are doing
by shoving advertisements under their
nose or cold-calling them, successful
21
st
-century marketers are embracing the
trust economy and delivering valuable
content to their prospective customers,
establishing themselves as benevolent
thought leaders instead of pesky, self-ab-
sorbed chest-pounders. Inbound market-
ing has worked in all the other high tech-
nology markets.
So how are we doing in the industrial
automation market? Well, lets put it this
way: The good news is that the bar is low,
The frst company to grasp, embrace and
execute the new approachis going to fnd
great success. No company has quite
done this yet. Lets take a look the fve ma-
jor components of inbound marketing and
evaluate the current landscape.
Content Marketing
The frst step in inbound marketing is to
generate remarkable content that prospec-
tive customers will value. While download-
able content like ebooks and white papers
are very important in content marketing,
blogging is its bread and butter because it
provides so many peripheral benefts out-
side of the content itself. The industry is
taking baby steps in this direction. While a
few of the major vendors are doing a great
job strategically, most of them are not do-
ing as well tactically.
Visibility
Most corporate websites make it very dif-
fcult to fnd these blogs. It seems that
many companies are uncomfortable with
the word blog, so they use euphemisms
instead. Other companies ignore them al-
together and dont mention them on their
websites or hide them several layer deep.
Consistency
There are a number of industry blogs post-
ing on a remarkably consistent basis. Oth-
ers are very sporadic or have abandoned
their blogs altogether.
Foot-Shooting
Inexplicably, most every industrial automa-
tion blog Ive seen is hosted on a domain
separate from the main corporate website.
Some even have a different domain for each
topica waste of search engine juice. One
of the great benefts of blogging is the way
it can contribute to SEO (search engine op-
timization)keyword usage, back-links and
social media shares. By moving blogs off-
domain, companies are giving it all away.
Search Engine Optimization
Once youre creating remarkable con-
tent, its great if people can fnd it through
search engines. Companies are missing a
huge opportunity with their blogs. But even
basic, on-page optimization techniques
such as using keywords in URLs, page
titles and headings are not as well imple-
mented as they could be.
Social Media Marketing
This is one area where most companies
are making real efforts. There have been
some really clever campaigns executed on
21ST-CENTURY AUTOMATION MARKETING
Continued on Page 36
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the rebound in U.S. manufacturing
is real, not just wishful thinking. Ac-
cording to Minter, Drees believes that
Schneider will outperform expected
U.S. GDP growth of 2% in its hard-
ware offerings and move into software
and services.
Satoru Kurosu, executive vice pres-
ident of Yokogawa Electric, appears
to agree with Drees. In his keynote
address to the 2012 Yokogawa USA
user group meeting in October, Ku-
rosu claimed, The U.S. is our newest
emerging growth market, and added
that the reason was the offshore oil and
natural gas markets.
Although his companys feet are
pumping furiously, Rockwells Nos-
busch declared himself bullish on the
Rockwell Process Initiative (PlantPAx
and allied products), and told analysts
at Automation Fair that the Process
Initiative would double its revenues
by 2017.
The Service Economy
Every major automation vendor an-
nounced a new or an expanded ser-
vice offering in the past year. Theyve
all seen the handwriting on the wall:
fewer employees, higher through-
put, less well-trained operators and
engineers, and theyre all lining up
to help their customers remain their
customers by providing cradle-to-
grave service packages for their sys-
tems and other products. The man-
tra seems to be as Emerson Process
Management business leader Steve
Sonnenberg said in his Emerson Ex-
change keynote, We want to be your
trusted partner.
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21ST-CENTURY AUTOMATION MARKETING (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 34)
Facebook, and were starting to see more
of a presence on Twitter too. However, too
many of them are trying to force an out-
bound peg into an inbound hole. Theyre
spending too much time talking about
themselves and not enough time sharing
remarkable content that is going to make
them a benevolent thought leader.
Another shortcoming I see ignores
one of Sun Tzus warnings from The Art of
War: Tactics without strategy is the noise
before defeat. Jumping into social media
without a comprehensive marketing strat-
egy wont generate the ROI a company
could otherwise realize.
Conversion
This is the one area of inbound market-
ing that industrial automation marketers
almost completely ignore. Once the 21
st
-
century marketer has created remarkable
content that is being found by search en-
gines and discovered via social media,
visitors need to be converted into leads.
This is accomplished by placing calls to
action across the website that send visi-
tors to carefully designed landing pages.
These landing pages contain offers and
conversion forms where visitors trade
personal information such as email ad-
dresses for something of value such as an
ebook or webinar or even a direct product
purchase or inquiry.
Analytics
This is a tough one for anyone to analyze
from the outside because its impossible
to know what metrics and KPIs are be-
ing monitored internally. However, the
very absence of landing pages on most
industrial automation websites is strong
evidence that they arent watching the
single most important 21
st
-century mar-
keting metric; conversion rates.
The bad news is that the automation
industry hasnt quite moved into the 21
st-
century yet from a marketing perspective.
The good news is that the playing feld is
wide open. There are a few players on
the sidelines stretching and warming up,
but from my perspective, the opening
whistle hasnt blown yet.
by Jon DiPietro, president,
DomesticatingIT.com
Virtualization
The cloud is coming, the cloud is coming! At every user
group this year, there was an offering of virtualization soft-
ware and programs to help clients keep using obsolete soft-
ware and operating systems. Virtualization also provides a
handle on reducing downtime, high availability, automatic
failover and other very critical features that automation us-
ers want and need.
The question is, will they permit their systems to be run
inside the cloud, and not just in a virtual server? Some au-
tomation vendors say no. Others are working hard to con-
vince their customers to virtualize as the frst step toward
cloud-hosted services. After all, how much safer is your data
if you store it on the server rack in the dirty old closet be-
hind the control room than if you stored it at Apples $1-bil-
lion server farm in Maiden, N.C., where there are redundant
power backup, redundant server backup, automatic failover
and high-purity HVAC?
The Charts
The charts pretty much speak for themselves. In the
top 10, Siemens, ABB and Emerson all held position
globally, while Schneider and Rockwell changed
places. GE moved up significantly, while Mitsubishi
and Danaher moved down. A significant move was that
Endress+Hauser, which only manufactures field instru-
ments and analyzers, moved into the 12th spot without
owning a DCS or PLC, or even a valve manufacturing
facility. Its partnership with Rockwell seems to be help-
ing the company greatly.
Amid rumors, Invensys dropped to 16th from 14th, while
the azbil group, formerly Yamatake, rose to 22nd from 25th.
At the bottom of the Global Top 50, Badger Meter moved
from 48th place to the Honorable Mention list.
In North America, the frst three on the list are the same
as last year, and then things start to move around. Siemens
moved to 4th, Danaher moved from 4th to 7th, and Roper
moved up two places. Companies move up and down a cou-
ple of places every year.
We want to remind our readers that this list is a work in
progress every year. Every year, somebody points out a com-
pany we have missed, or a vendor suggests better numbers
than we have been able to fnd. We regret any errors, and we
very much welcome corrections and additions.
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So Whats Coming?
We have mentioned cloud computing and virtualization as up-
coming trends. These are both sneaking up on automation end
users faster than most of us think. The pervasive use of wire-
less in the plant and the bring your own device (BYOD) move-
ment are poised to seriously change the way we work both in
the plant and in the control room. Virtualization aids security,
but vendor companies now are working hard to produce the
most secure products they possibly cannow that they have
woken up to the danger to their controllers and their feld de-
vices. In Siemens new S7-1500 PLC, for example, engineers
have embedded an edge device frewall of their own making.
There is a great deal of discussion about one big network
again, and it will be interesting to watch what happens when
customers start to insist (you will insist, wont you?) that products
from disparate vendors plug and play nicely with each other.
And there are serious questions about the global economy.
Whats going to happen with China? According to gong-
kong, the huge Chinese analyst frm, the Chinese economy
is growing at a low single-digit rate. Many people expect that
the new government in China will have to prove itself to
the people by increasing spending on infrastructure and
modernization of both facilities such as water and wastewa-
ter and power systems, and many quasi-private companies
will be invested in and encouraged to invest in turn.
According to Lutz Liebers, director of European busi-
ness for Pepperl+Fuchs, South American hotspots include
Argentina, Peru, Bolivia and Chile. He is less sanguine about
Brazil, because of its middling poor infrastructure. Russia,
he notes, fgures largely in his growth regions, and Liebers
echoes Satoru Kurosu of Yokogawa in pointing to the United
States as one of the highest new growth regions in the world.
Yes, the place where it seemed for decades that manufactur-
ing was dead. It appears that the United States is more pro-
ductive and produces higher quality than everybody believed,
and can compete on price with the rest of the world.
As far as the euro crisis is concerned, most people think
the EU will somehow fgure out how to solve it. Chancel-
lor Merkel is dancing as fast as she can to keep any one of
the sick countries of the Eurozone from defaulting, and the
smart money in Europe is betting that she can.
So what will happen next? Most people believe that there
will be a fat frst half in 2013, followed by an uptick. How big,
or how long will the uptick in late 2013 and 2014 be? The con-
ventional wisdom from the hot seats of the major automation
companies is that we dont really know. That isnt likely to in-
spire you to great heights of happiness, but thats the way it is.
This economy is growing very slowly, with all the economic
and political time bombs and land mines affecting it. It is like
the dancing bear. The thing about the dancing bear is not
how well he dances, but that he dances at all.
Wal t Boyes i s Cont r ol s edi t or i n chi ef. Davi d Cl ay t on i s Seni or Anal yst and
I nderpr eet Shokar i s an anal yst at ARC Advi sor y Gr oup.
Every year, we fnd more companies to
add to the list. If you spot one we havent
listed and that should be, let us know. Even
though we add companies and subtract the
ones that have been acquired, we havent
changed our basic methodology of analysis
for the past several years.
Heres what we include in our defnition
of the 50 largest companies:
Process automation systems and re-
lated hardware software and services
PLC business, as well as related hard-
ware, software, services, I/O and bun-
dled HMI
Other control hardware components,
such as third-party I/O, signal condi-
tioners, intrinsic safety barriers, net-
working hardware, unit controllers, and
single- and multi-loop controllers
Process safety systems
SCADA systems for oil and gas, water
and wastewater, and power distribution
AC drives
Motion control systems
Computer numerical control (CNC)
systems
Process feld instrumentation, such as
temperature and pressure transmitters,
fowmeters, level transmitters and as-
sociated switches
Analytical equipment, including pro-
cess electrochemical, all types of infra-
red technology, gas chromatographs
for industrial manufacturing and related
products
Control valves, actuators and positioners
Discrete sensors and actuators
All kinds of automation-related software,
from advanced process control, simula-
tion and optimization to third-party HMI,
plant asset management, production
management (MES), ERP integration
packages from the major automation
suppliers and similar software
Other automation-related services pro-
vided by automation suppliers
Condition-monitoring equipment and
systems
Ancillary systems, such as burner man-
agement systems, quality control sys-
tems for pulp and paper, etc.
What we dont include:
Pumps and motors
Robotics
Material-handling systems
Supply chain management software
Building automation systems
Fire and security systems
Processing equipment such as mix-
ers, vessels, heaters, etc., as well as
process design licenses from suppliers
that have engineering divisions
Electrical equipment, such as low-volt-
age switchgear, etc.
HOW DO WE DO IT?
D C S M I G R A T I O N
And Doing Nothing Is Not a Solution.
by Matt Sigmon
Recently, I watched the movie, Apollo 13, again, this time
with my four children who had never seen the cinematic
classic. Ive personally seen it too many times to count;
its one of my favoritesprimarily because its based on
actual events. Perhaps my favorite scene in the movie is
the one where Gene Kranz (played by Ed Harris), NASA
fight director of the Apollo missions, is confronted with
the harsh reality that three American astronauts were
trapped inside the crippled command and lunar mod-
ules, unlikely to reach their destination and needing a
diffcult, if not impossible, rescue. Back at Mission Con-
trol, Kranz and those around him confronted the likeli-
hood of mission failure and loss of three lives. But Kranz
was a rock of sanity and determination. As the movie de-
picts, it was in this moment and faced with a mountain
of pressure that Kranz uttered the words, Failure is not
an option!
Interestingly, however, Kranz never actually uttered that
phrase during the Apollo 13 mission. Rather, it was written by
screenplay writers after interviewing former fight controller
Jerry Bostick. As the story goes, while interviewing Bostick for
the movie, writers Al Reinart and Bill Broyles asked, Werent
there times when everybody, or at least a few people, just pan-
icked? Bostick answered, No, when bad things happened,
we just calmly laid out all the options, and failure was not one
of them. We never panicked, and we never gave up on fnding
a solution. Reinart and Broyles so liked that sentiment they
coined it as, Failure is not an option, and gave it to Kranz in
the screenplay.
Admittedly, most controls engineers will never be
confronted with such a life-and-death dilemma, yet we do
face problems that demand the same determined ethic. Per-
haps the most critical challenge facing the automation in-
dustry is that of aging control systems at or near the end
of their product lifecycles. Many refneries, chemical plants
and paper mills are more than 50 years old, and most of
them have been running on the same control systems for
more than three decades. This is particularly the case with
DCS systems, though there are certainly a multitude of ma-
ture PLC, SCADA and DDC systems likewise nearing the
end of their lifespans. According to one recent report, there
is $65 billion of obsolete control systems installed world-
wide. Assuming that a third of those (approximately $20
billion) are DCS systems, the result is that over 10 million
DCS I/O points will need to be migrated over the next 10+
years. Multiple platforms are no longer approaching the end
of their lifecycles; they are already there. For many systems,
the can simply cannot be kicked further down the road.
The Times They Are A-Changin
However, while obsolescence is certainly a real and press-
ing concern for owners of older control systems, it is not
the only issue they face when considering the challenge of
platform migration. The objective should not be to simply
replace and replicate, but rather to innovate. DCS migra-
tion is an opportunity to design, implement and maintain
a 21
st
-century control system that will enable the manufac-
turer to operate more effciently and safely; position it for
market growth; and frm up its stability for a quarter-century
or more. Further, it is an occasion for process improvement
DCS Migration:
Failure Is Not an Option
and expansion, as well as a much needed opportunity to ad-
dress the gap between how the plant is currently operated
and controlled and how it should be.
For example, refneries in North America are running
above design capacity, some as much as 135% above. The
youngest refnery in the United States is the Exxon-Mobil
refnery in Joliet, Ill., which is 43 years old. The control sys-
tems installed at most refneries and other process facilities
were designed to requirements developed years before ac-
tual construction began. Further, the systems in these plants
have been upgraded and modifed over the years, but in
most cases the upgrades and modifcations have been done
to continue the basic operational functionality of the plant.
Rarely has an upgrade been done that took deviations in de-
sign requirements into account, nor implemented with a
goal of improving process effciency and productivity.
Leaders, Followers and Laggards
Aberdeen Group, (www.aberdeen.com), a major consul-
tancy that works in manufacturing, divides companies into:
Leaders, who set the pace and implement new strategies;
Followers, who do what leaders do, but later; and Laggards,
who do not do what Leaders or Followers do until it is nearly
too late or already too late for them to continue to be com-
petitive without major change. The issue of DCS upgrades
and 21
st
-century competitiveness clearly lends itself to Aber-
deens method. For industrial manufacturers with a signif-
cant DCS installed base, the problem is daunting, and they
face the real challenges of limited resources and capital.
The Leaders have been proactive in facing these problems
and challenges, having already begun implementing migra-
tion strategies and plans. This includes Front End Loading
(FEL) studies, capital and commissioning planning, and ac-
tual execution of migration projects. Most Leaders are also
using modern collaborative tools and outsiders, such as ven-
dors and especially controlsystem integrators, as effective,
long-term team members.
Many others havent been so proactive, yet these Follow-
ers are now beginning to embark on similar endeavors. They
are starting and completing evaluations; developing prelimi-
nary estimates and schedules; and laying out roadmaps for
their migrations. Some in this second category are further
along than others, but all face similar challenges, including
vendor selection, funding approval, and fguring out how to
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migrate thousands of I/O and applica-
tion programs to a new system with lit-
tle or no downtime.
Finally, a number of manufacturers,
the Laggards, are in reactive mode and
have done little or nothing to plan for
or begin migrating their obsolete sys-
tems. In a recent discussion, one con-
trols engineer told me his manage-
ment will not begin replacing their
old DCS until equipment failures that
cant be remedied with parts refur-
bished on-site cause process downtime.
Failure should not be an option, yet
for some industrial manufacturers its a
very real possibility, particularly those
in the third category. With no plan,
no funding approved and no migra-
tion work completed, they potentially
face production downtime, loss of ef-
fciency and diminished market pres-
ence. And without an effective, pro-
active plan, they will likely struggle to
secure funding, fail to thoroughly eval-
uate their options, and spend too much
when they fnally begin the process of
migration.
Even so, there is time and opportu-
nity to plan for success, implement the
right solution and move your organiza-
tion forward. How? Here are some key
steps that should be put into practice
post-haste.
First, start planning now. Dont delay
any longer. In 1961, President Kennedy
issued a great challenge to the American
people and to a specifc team of engi-
neers, scientists, pilots and others. But it
took more than a challenge for the goal
to be achieved. It took years of planning,
research, effort and continued refning
of the solutions and designs. The team
did not quit after the Apollo 1 tragedy,
and neither did it quit when faced the
impending disaster of Apollo 13. Failure
was not, and should not, be an option.
Plan the work and work the plan, and
start planning now. Incorporate all the
stakeholders in the design team, and de-
mand the assistance of vendors and con-
trol system integrators at the very front
end of the project.
Second, remember that you must
develop the project in light of the
business goals of the enterprise and
the place of the plant in the compa-
nys overall financial strategy. Fund-
ing for migration projects will likely
not come easily or quickly, and you
will need a strategy and plan in order
to secure it. The sooner you take the
first couple of steps, the sooner you
can get funding approved, and begin
implementing a holistic plan that ad-
dresses not only the obsolescence of
your existing systems, but also helps
you drive process improvement.
Third, get the right people on your
team and challenge them to deliver.
Remind them failure (e.g., down-
time, loss of production, etc.) is not
an option, and success is achiev-
able. You likely cant go this alone,
and youll need a team that possesses
the right aptitude and attitude for
success. Look for partners and team
members that understand your needs
and goals and will be mutually com-
mitted to your missions success.
Be careful of biases and excuses
theyll lead you down the wrong road
or hold you back. Seek out those who
are objective and experienced. They
can be found in your supplier com-
munity, in the control system inte-
grator community, and among your
plant operators and maintenance
staff.
And fourth, but not last, as you
face challenges, setbacks and delays,
go back to your plan, revise your so-
lutions and keep moving forward.
Stagnation and apathy will result
in missed opportunities and possi-
bly failure. As the Apollo 13 mission
taught us, never panic and never
give up on finding the right solution.
Lay out the options, consider them
objectively and develop a migration
and funding plan that meets your ob-
jectives and results in success.
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Using many of the same data processing tools and software as
process controllers, power supplies are diversifying their capabilities
and serving in many new and different applications.
by Jim Montague
Weve gone way beyond on and off. Yes, power supplies al-
ways had to convert and deliver appropriate volts, watts, amps
and other power levels, and meet quality measures to run their
machines and applications. But once confguration was done
and harmonics were tested, most power supplies operated con-
tinuouslyat least until an interruption or outage happened.
Well, those set-it-and-forget-it days are long gone. Digital
monitoring devices enabled by microprocessors and software
are pulling power supplies up to the same awareness level as so
many other process control components.
For instance, Boliden (www.boliden.com) recently spent
$790 million to renovate its Aitik open-pit copper mine in Glli-
vare, Sweden, and it used ABBs (www.abb.com) control systems
and power equipment to increase Aitiks effciency and double
capacity to 36 million tons of ore per year, even though its ini-
tial ore is only 0.25% copper (Figure 1). The mine installed 650
motors ranging from 4 kilowatts (kW) to 5 megawatts (MW);
230 drives and variable-speed drives; and two 22.5-MW gearless
mill drives (GMDs). These are powered by ABBs 23 distribu-
tion transformers and gas-insulated switchgear and controlled
by its System 800xA DCS.
Of course, extracting metal from the 106,000 tons of ore
thats crushed and chemically concentrated to 25% copper at
Aitik each day requires lots of stable, high-quality power for its 7
km of conveyors, the GMDs and other equipment, which must
often run 24/7/365 in very dusty conditions that can get down
to -45 C in winter. So, ABB implemented a 179-kV substation
with its gas-insulated UniGear switchgear thats protected by its
Relion relay protection equipment, and distributes 24-kV power
throughout the mines operations. Also, a harmonic flter and
power-factor correction system help Boliden prevent damage to
its own equipment and avoid disturbing the local power grid.
In addition, Aitik uses the IEC 61850 standard that defnes
communications within and between electrical components,
which enables 800xA to provide one environment for supervis-
ing and controlling process automation equipment, power auto-
mation devices, switchgear, and transmission and distribution
equipment. Boliden reports that integrating Aitiks electrical
controls with its process controls increases productivity and re-
duces stoppages.
Custom-Made Monitoring
While most process applications arent as big as the Aitik mine,
many similar methods of monitoring and proactively maintain-
ing electricity are being adopted by smaller power supplies in
diverse applications.
Power supplies have always been a bit of a stepchild com-
pared to other process control devices, but users in applications
from power generation to food and beverage are recognizing
that power is the most critical element in their applications,
says Roolf Wessels, business unit manager for monitoring and
protection at Pepperl+Fuchs (www.pepperl-fuchs.us). You can
lose a few I/O points and networking nodes and still run an ap-
plication, but losing power means losing your whole application,
so its worthwhile investing in high-reliability, high-effciency
power. As a result, users want more diagnostics in their power
supplies. They already have diagnostics for predictive mainte-
nance and asset management in their controllers and feld de-
vices, and now they want it in their power supplies, too.
Power Supplies Take
Sophisticated Paths
Figure 1. The Aitik copper mine uses ABBs 800xA process controls to coordi-
nate its 179-kV substation, gas-insulated switchgear and power supplies.
MANAGING MINE POWER

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As a result, Pepperl+Fuchs redesigned its PS 3500 power
supply in 2009, and is scheduled to introduce its PS 3500-DM
diagnostic module in January 2013. It plugs into the power
supplys backplane and monitors incoming current quality
and generated dc outputs, checks for brownouts and spikes,
time-stamps any events, correlates them with data from other
sources, and provides alerts and alarms, says Wessels. We
even added a display on the DM module itself, so users see all
their parameters locally too.
Similarly, Emerson Network Power (www.emersonnetwork-
power.com) is integrating its uninterruptible power supplies
(UPSs) with Asset Management Suite (AMS) software to moni-
tor UPS performance. In many cases, power systems and their
backups have been reliable for decades, so users tend to forget
about them after commissioning, and no longer know what to
do when alerts and emergency calls eventually come in, says
David Vasselin, market and business development vice presi-
dent for Emerson Network Powers industrial systems division.
Now users want UPSs that are easier to understand and main-
tain, and this is why weve integrated them with AMS in elec-
tronic device description (EDD) software and human-centered
design principles. We ran through all the UPS alert situations
and added them to the EDDs to give users a hierarchy of alerts
and how to troubleshoot them.
Standard Pieces for Specifc Puzzles
To help reduce the time it takes to integrate power supplies
with their control-based counterparts, Mark Wilkins, chief en-
gineer at Acopian (www.acopian.com), reports his company
is building IP addresses, Ethernet and USB interfaces and
some control functions directly into its 0-30 kV power supplies
Theres a lot more fuctuating inputs these days, typically be-
tween 90 V and 265 V, so we designed a universal input to
handle them without having to fip a switch, says Wilkins.
In general, we now have more programming and communi-
cations options for applying power more effciently, and these
are allowing power supplies to interface with other equipment,
talk to each other and synchronize efforts. For example, in a
water ionizing application to purify water for plating, a control-
ler can tell a power supply to turn on; it can report back in a
few hundred milliseconds; and be adjusted much faster than
manually for more consistent plating with less feathering.
Likewise, some power supplies are adding intelligence that
allows them to be more easily monitored and managed, ac-
cording to Kai-Uwe Bronzel, product consultant for U.S.
power supplies and power security at Siemens Industry (www.
usa.siemens.com/industry). We recently built a relay contac-
tor module into our Sitop power supplies that can bring a sig-
nal back to upper-level control systems, says Bronzel. This
lets users check on their input and output voltages, observe
trends in their 24-Vdc supplies, and prevent more interrup-
tions and potential failures.
Sharonda Wamer, Siemens product marketing manager
for U.S. power supplies and power security, adds that many
power supplies and related systems are following the lead of
Europes suppliers, and moving from 230 Vac or 120 Vac to
24 Vdc. More customers have applications that depend on
critical 24 Vdc power, so we provide solutions to maintain it,
says Wamer. These include our dc ups with battery backup,
redundant solutions with two power supplies for load sharing,
and switched-mode power supplies. These use an electronic
method that draws less current than regular mechanical sup-
plies when reacting to short circuits, and this means fewer
trips, more and better identifcation of potential overloads, and
fewer lost circuits.
Merging Power and Control
To combine control and power even more tightly, National
Instruments (www.ni.com) and the National Renewable En-
ergy Lab have combined NIs single-board Reconfgurable I/O
(RIO) and added its standard General Purpose Inverter Con-
troller (GPIC) board for 50-kW and up power supplies, which
primarily use custom circuit boards.
In fact, Dynapower Corp. (http://dynapower.com) has de-
veloped power converters for grid-tied energy storage based on
NIs LabView RIO architecture and RIO GPIC (Figure 2). Ad-
vanced carbon batteries are useful for grid storage because they
have a long lifecycle, fast charge/discharge and deep-cycling
capability, but they require a unique power conversion and in-
verter system such as Dynapowers to stabilize performance
and provide these benefts.
LabView and GPIC development platforms reduced our
development cost and risk compared to a full-custom control-
ler design, says Kyle Clark, Dynapowers advanced systems en-
gineering manager. We were able to reduce development time
for our power converters from 72 weeks to 24 weeks. FPGA
devices in particular, which now include embedded DSP cores
inside the fabric, are a real game changer. We can precisely
control the fow of power, run multiple control loops in paral-
lel and reconfgure the hardware at a silicon level even after its
deployed to the grid.
Jim Montague is Controls executive editor
Figure 2. Dynapowers 50 kVA dc-to-dc power converter and
the SmartPowerStack Consortiums 100 kVA power inverter
(bottom right) are based on National Instruments General
Purpose Inverter Controller (GPIC).
MERGING POWER
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A S K T H E E X P E R T S
Emergency Shutdown of LPG Tank Farms
Q
We have four liquifed petroleum gas (LPG) spherical
tanks complete with low-level transmitters connected
to the shutdown system to stop the outlet pumps in
case of low level, and high-level transmitters providing high
level alarm. The following modifcations are planned:
- Inslallalion ol a new shuldown valve al lhe inlel ol each
tank to be closed in case of high level and in case of common
planned shutdown (PSD) or emergency shutdown (ESD).
- Inslallalion ol new shuldown valves al lhe oullel ol each
tank, which will be closed in case of low level in the corre-
sponding tank and in case of common PSD or ESD.
- Inslallalion ol a new shuloll valves in lhe vapoi line ol
each tank. The vapor lines will be connected together to
equalize the pressure in the vapor spaces of the four tanks.
- Inslallalion ol a new slandalone hydiaulic conliol sys-
tem complete with a dedicated PLC system to manage the
operation of the new shutdown system.
- A seiial inleilace lelween lhe new IIC and lhe exisling
DCS which presently monitors the operation.
- A haidwiied inleilace lelween lhe exisling ISD/IC
syslem and lhe new hydiaulic/IIC syslem.
Now my queslion is lhis Is il allowed liom lhe slandaid
poinl ol view lo use lhe exisling level liansmilleis lo conliol
lhe inlel and oullel shuldown valves In olhei woids, is il al-
lowed lo conveil lhe exisling analog level signals liom lhe
exisling ISD syslem inlo digilal, and send lhem as digilal
input into the new PLC system, or do we have to install new
dedicated transmitters?
RAGAB ABDEL FATTAH
r agab. abdel f at t ah@t ecnomar eegypt . com
A
Iiislly, congialulalions lo all ol you loi gelling iid ol
the dictatorship in Egypt, and taking your nations fu-
ture into your own hands by successfully conducting a
free election.
1he queslion you ask is veiy lamiliai. I come acioss il on
many projects when users are converting from a semi-man-
ual mode of operation, such as yours, where the DCS auto-
matically stops the outlet pumps on low level, but on high
level, it provides no automatic action, only monitors, leaving
the closing of valves to the operators or to an automatic con-
trol system serving emergency shutdown (ESD). Your choice
of operating the new shutoff valves by a separate PLC is a
logical one, and your plan to hardwire the PLC to the sen-
sors is the correct one. Given the state of the art and reli-
alilily ol wiieless liansmission, I iecommend using wiieless
only for monitoring, but not for control and certainly not for
ESD purposes.
Youi queslion conceining lhe ieuse ol lhe exisling level
deleclois and lhe salesl melhod loi inleilacing lhe exisling
DCS with the new PLC is also often asked. On some proj-
ecls, I lound people gelling in lioulle ly ielying on slan-
daids, inslead ol liusling lheii common sense. In my view,
you should always follow your common sense.
Conceining lhe ieuse ol exisling level deleclois, lhe com-
mon sense answer is that using two sensors is better than
one! Detecting the occurrence of an unsafe condition by
redundant sensors improves safety if either will trigger the
ESD action. Naturally, if only one of the two sensors sig-
naled abnormal level and triggered an ESD, then, before
the operation is restarted, both sensors should be recali-
lialed. In olhei woids, lhe salely inlegiily level (SII) ol a ie-
dundant-sensor-based system is always better than a single-
sensor-based one if the above approach is used. Therefore,
on lhe one hand, you should conlinue using lhe exisling
detectors, and, on the other, you should install another set
of backup sensors.
The other rule dictated by common sense is that the fewer
the number of components between the sensor and the ac-
tuated device, the safer the ESD system. Therefore, the new
level detector signals should be hardwired directly to the
PLC. Naturally, you should also hardwire the DCS outputs
to the PLC, so that shutdown will be initiated whenever ab-
normal level conditions are detected by either sensor.
Il you lnd lhal a pailiculai slandaid disagiees wilh lhe
above two points, it is the standard that should be revised,
not lhe design. In olhei woids, I would keep using lhe exisl-
ing level sensors and, in addition, install backup level de-
tectors on each tank. This way, safety will be improved, be-
cause each of the level measurements will be redundant,
and the cost of adding these backup sensors is small relative
to the cost of the project.
I would inslall non-conlacling, iadai-lype level deleclois
as the new sensors, and would hardwire them directly to
lhe IIC. I would do lhal lecause, lhis way, we aie always
measuring the actual level, regardless of the swelling that
This column is moderated by Bla Liptk (http://belaliptakpe.com/), automation and safety consultant, who is also the editor of
the Instrument and Automation Engineers Handbook (IAEH). If you would like to become a contributing author of the 5th edi-
tion, or if you have an automation-related question for this column, write to liptakbela@aol.com
A S K T H E E X P E R T S
occurs whenever the vapor space pressure drops or the
LPG temperature rises. I would install a single, fre-
quency- modulated carrier wave (FMCW) type radar
transmitter on the top of each spherical LPG tank and
wire it to the PLC, and would continue using the exist-
ing level transmitters through the DCS as a backup in
the redundant ESD.
I do not know what type level transmitters you have now,
but if they are the differential pressure (d/p) type, they do
not correct for swelling variations or density changes. They
measure weight, not volume. Therefore, if in addition to
EDS, you also want to provide weight-based inventory
management, weighing is recommended because the radar
readings cant be directly used for that purpose.
BLA LIPTK
l i pt akbel a@aol . com
A
If your goal is to separate the existing S/D systems to
comply with IEC 61511/ISA 84-2005 with all these ad-
ditions of proposed components, keep in mind your
risk tolerance levels and company policy. I expect it is in
line with industry practices to meet the highest level of
safety integrity levels.
Points to keep in mind:
- Il is nol a good idea lo use exisling analog liansmilleis,
signals or share them due to common-mode failures, handi-
capped testing and nuisance trips.
- Using swilches in place ol independenl digilal lians-
mitters with self-diagnostic features will limit the avail-
ability numbers if you plan to use quantitative methods to
validate your design, test frequency and completeness of
testing to meet the SIL levels selected. Safety instrumented
functions (SIFs), as you well know, depend on calculations
based on mean time between failures of components. Pub-
lished data tables indicate switches at 15 years; digital trans-
mitters at 50 years: smart valves at 100 years; and digital
logic solvers at 10,000 years.
- In geneial, SII lailuies aie ialed al liansmilleis <10,
logic solveis <10, and lhe lig conliilulois, lnal conliol
elemenls al <0. 1heie is no pullished dala iegaiding
human error and wiring mistakes.
- In geneial, lank laim aieas localed lai liom opeialing
areas are considered to be SIL 1 or SIL 0 or SIL-a, depend-
ing on the product stored.
- You can eliminale all switches by installing two inde-
pendent, reliable transmitters with deviation alarms input-
ting to the DCS and SIS. That kind of system can share to
meet SIL 0 requirements, including trip designs.
- 1he liend nowadays is lo avoid islands ol IIC opei-
ations dedicated to hydraulic systems, alarms and S/Ds.
PLCs per se contribute to common-mode failures if they
are not triple-redundant systems. It is easier to integrate the
systems in DCS, and the standard gives you that fexibil-
ityif you use the right transmitters, test procedures and
completeness of testing to meet availability numbers.
- Keep in mind lhal simple syslems wilh minimum com-
ponents that are tested frequently are better than complex
systems that are not tested, leading owners to face covert
failures unforeseen at the time of design.
Many of us here join Bla in complimenting your youth
revolution to bring the country to the digital age.
RAM.G.RAMACHANDRAN
r am@mi cr omi x-usa. com
A
The answer to your question, based on the fact that
the transmitters are being used as a part of a safety
syslem is, mayle.` You need lo do a piolalilily-ol-
failure analysis and determine what, if any, SIL rating the
transmitters can have, and whether they should be used in
a safety system at all.
Theres no real reason, other than conformance to stan-
dards, that you cant do what you want to dobut youre
opening yourself to point failures in your control system
and safety system simultaneously. Im a cautious person,
and I prefer the belt and suspenders approach. Id put in
new transmitters just for the redundancy that provides. The
cost of doing so is miniscule in comparison to the cost of
the current project, or God forbid, the cost of the damage
an oveillled IIC sloiage vessel could cause.
WALT BOYES
wboyes@put man. net
A
I understand the narrative description to indicate that
Mr. Fattah has two limited-range transmitters, one for
low-level safety and one for high-level. With a limited
range, there is little value or need for correction for change
in density.
The general tone of the discussion seems to be that they
intend to improve the safety of the system. Adding new lim-
ited range transmitters for high and low levels would fur-
ther reduce the dangers. It all depends on the value of the
measurements. A safety analysis should indicate if the re-
quiied SII is salisled and possilly indicale lhe need loi ad-
ditional measurements.
There may also be a need for inventory management.
For this, a wide-range transmitter based on weight and
thus, value, is usually desired.
I believe that inventory control and physical level in-
leilock aie measuiemenls lhal aie lesl sepaialed. Use all
the measurements in managing the system, but do not
compromise measurement robustness in order to save a
few parts.
CULLEN LANGFORD
Cul l enL@aol . com
R O U N D U P
IMPROVE YOUR GRAPHICS
Create professional-looking
graphics and displays us-
ing InfoLink. Incorporating
industry standard graphics
symbols, users can view the
real-time graphical represen-
tation of their equipment and
process. Alert your operators
quickly when critical values change. Including TrendLink
trends and graphs, visualization into the Canary Enterprise
Historian data is easily combined with the graphic symbols.
Canary Labs
814/793-3770; www.CanaryLabs.com
INNOVATION IN PLANT DIAGNOSTICS
Intune+ Process Navigator
is software that guides plant
management to excellent per-
formance and increased ca-
pacity through faster start-ups,
reduced variation and im-
proved stability. It is a key part
of making sure the control sys-
tem, control strategy and fnal elements are all doing their part.
Intune+ enhances existing technical expertise, and returns con-
trol to the hands of management.
ControlSoft
440/443-3900; www.controlsoftinc.com
CALL A COPPER FOR SWITCHGEAR DESIGN
The Copper add-on mod-
ule for EPlan Pro Panel
Professional allows design,
confguration and virtual as-
sembly of control cabinets
and the necessary busbar sys-
tems. Users can simply trans-
fer the results of the design
process into the Eplan overall project for further virtual
setup and assembly. Any busbar and associated connecting
elements can be designed and assembled virtually.
EPlan Software
248/945-9204; www.eplanusa.com
SELF-SERVICE ASSET MANAGEMENT
Avantis Decision Support
System software, Version
5.0, leverages Wonderware
Intelligence software to give
manufacturing and executive
decision-makers role-based
asset management analytics
and reporting. The software
is pre-confgured to support a comprehensive set of KPIs
based on asset management best practices. Users can con-
solidate reporting across sites, create analytics and more.
Invensys Operations Management
http://iom.invensys.com/EN/Pages/Avantis.aspx
THE LATEST IN SCADA
Fast/Tools R9.05 is the lat-
est release of this web-based,
real-time management and
visualization software. It fea-
tures collaboration and deci-
sion support, alarm system
performance analysis, mo-
bile device support, a remote
gateway station that connects Centum VP DCS and the
Stardom RTU environment with Fast/Tools, an OPC UA
client function and support for IEC61850 MMS.
Yokogawa Corp. of America
800/-888-6400; www.yokogawa.com/us
ELECTRONIC FLOW MEASUREMENT AND MORE
Top Server is an OPC and na-
tive HMI device connectivity
software with more than 130
device drivers and plug-ins.
Version 5.9 has new applica-
tions for the oil and gas in-
dustry. The Electronic Flow
Measurement (EFM) Suite
enables EFM data export for midstream applications The
EFM plug-in provides users with export capabilities for the
Flow-Cal proprietary CFX fle format.
Software Toolbox
704/849-2773; www.toolboxopc.com.
Control Software
Upgrades, new features, mobile apps and more.
R O U N D U P
SOFTWARE-BASED AUTOMATION
SimaticS7 AS mEC RTX
is a software-based automa-
tion system inside an AS 300
form factor. Its compact auto-
mation system based on Si-
matic Microbox PC 427C is
designed for 24-hour, main-
tenance-free operation. It is
ideally suited for distributed installation close to the plant,
for OEM installations like package units, and for plants with
large distributed infrastructures.
Siemens Industry
215/646-7400; www.usa.siemens.com/pi
MOBILE ALARM APP
TopView Mobile Web App
provides access to TopView
alarms and monitored data
values from mobile devices.
Support for any platform
with a modern browser al-
lows phone, tablet and desk-
top access to your tag data
and alarms. Users can monitor alarms and data values, ac-
knowledge alarms, flter by alarm category and examine tag
details. It works on most modern mobile devices.
Exele
585/385-9740; www.exele.com
EVOLUTIONARY DCS SOFTWARE
Unique in its ability to con-
tinuously preserve applica-
tions from the frst version
to the latest, D/3 is the most
powerful and adaptable DCS
on the market. The Process-
Vision console software and
D3Express mobile app en-
sure that operators are informed, not overwhelmed. When
abnormal situations arise, D3v14 keeps operators and auto-
mation at their combined best.
NovaTech, LLC
800/253-3842; www.novatechweb.com/process
SIMPLIFY LEVEL CONTROL
ExperTune software now
includes non-steady-state
(NSS) modeling features for
integrating control loops.
These tools provide fast, sim-
ple modeling and tuning of
level controls. Users can de-
velop excellent tuning for
level controls, even when little data is available. NSS tuning
integrates seamlessly with ExperTunes PlantTriage and PID
Loop Optimizer software.
ExperTune Inc.
262/369-7711; www.expertune.com
PAC SOFTWARE UPGRADE
PAC Project9.2 is an upgrade
to PAC Project suite that pro-
vides control programming,
HMI development, OPC
connectivity and database in-
tegration. PAC Control, the
fowchart-based program-
ming application, adds the
capability of sending email directly from a PAC controller,
with or without attachments, and has new commands for
using the HTTP protocol to exchange data with web servers.
Opto 22
951/695-3000; www.opto22.com
SCADA FOR YOUR IPAD
The iPad ProfcySCADA app
extends the control room by
providing users with informa-
tion anywhere, increasing vis-
ibility and effciency of oper-
ations. The iPad app enables
users of either iFix WebSpace
or Cimplicity GlobalView to
instantly connect to their HMI/SCADA runtime projects. It
supports the same full-featured capabilities of a standard cli-
ent, and delivers full HMI/SCADA functionality.
GE Intelligent Platforms
www.ge-ip.com/automation-software
R O U N D U P
ARE YOU BEING SERVED?
KepServerEX is a fexible,
scalable solution for connect-
ing, managing, monitoring
and controlling diverse auto-
mation devices and software
applications. Communica-
tions are managed through a
platform that supports an ar-
ray of open standards, such as OPC, propriety communica-
tion protocols, APIs and various automation systems inter-
faces. Free, downloadable demo available.
Kepware Technologies
207/775-1660; www.kepware.com
COLLECT OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE DATA
SILStat software captures key
operational and maintenance
data, including equipment
failures, process demands, suc-
cess or failure of protection lay-
ers and proof test results. The
data is reviewed and analyzed
as required by the IEC 61511/
ISA 84.00.01-2004 standard and as part of compliance with an
OSHA PSM mechanical integrity program. SILStat can help
determine risk and the effectiveness of layers of protection.
exida
215/453-1720; www.exida.com
AUTOMATION TOOLBOX
RT Toolbox2 software is now
integrated into Melsoft iQ
Works software platform, and
has added robots to the Mel-
soft Navigator environment.
The addition of RT Tool-
box2 allows programming,
maintaining, retroftting and
monitoring of Mitsubishi Electric robots, along with PLCs,
HMIs, servos and motion controllers from the same plat-
form.
Mitsubishi Electric Automation
847/478-2100; www.MEAU.com
NEW LABVIEW
The newest version of Lab-
View provides recommended
application architectures de-
signed to save time, ensure
scalability and lower main-
tenance costs. It includes
stability improvements and
environment enhancements
designed to increase productivity, and it supports a large
portfolio of new hardware products showcasing a commit-
ment to expanding platform capabilities.
National Instruments
800/258-7022; http://ni.com/labview/whatsnew/
UNIFIED DESIGN AND ENGINEERING
Studio 5000 unifed engi-
neering and design environ-
ment sets the foundation for
design tools that allow engi-
neers to enter confguration
and programming informa-
tion once, and leverage it
across their entire control sys-
tem architecture. It includes the Logix Designer application
for programming and confguration of Allen-Bradley Con-
trolLogix 5570 and CompactLogix 5370 PACs.
Rockwell Automation
414/382-2000; www.rockwellautomation.com
MANAGE CHANGE
AutoSave PC Backup and
Recovery module manages
the creation of disk images
and incremental revisions. It
takes a snapshot of the disk
using patented disk imaging
technologies, and then stores
each data set as a unique re-
vision while maintaining prior revisions. It has one change
management system for automation and PC imaging needs
and a backup solution for PC-based controls and HMIs.
MDT Software Inc.
678/297-1000; www.mdt-software.com
P R O D U C T I N T R O D U C T I O N S
PLUMB-AND-PLAY CHLORINE DIOXIDE ANALYZER
The low-maintenance, eco-
nomical CDA-22 chlorine
dioxide analyzer features a
panel-mounted, plumb-and-
play design and automatic
fow control. It is a complete
chlorine dioxide (ClO
2
) mea-
surement system. Easy to in-
stall and maintain, it can run for up to a year between elec-
trolyte/membrane changes, and features a polarographic
gold/silver PTFE membrane amperometric ClO
2
sensor. Its
output is fow-independent at values greater than 0.5 ft/sec.
Electro-Chemical Devices
949/336-6060; www.ecdi.com
SECURE ZERO-FAILOVER SWITCHES
The Hirschman RSP switch
series supports the new IEC-
standard redundancy proto-
cols, making them ideal for
environments where uninter-
rupted data communications
are a requirement. They sup-
port the parallel redundancy
protocol (PRP) and high-availability seamless redundancy
(HSR). Security functions include authentication, Radius
support, role-based access, port security, SSHv2, HTTPS
and SFTP.
Belden
314/854-8000; www.Belden.com
UNIVERSAL WATER CUT MONITOR
Universal IV CM Model wa-
ter cut monitor offers supe-
rior water cut measurement
accuracy in low ranges (0-1%,
0-5% and 0-10% water). Accu-
racy is 0.03% water, and mea-
surement resolution is down
to 0.0002% water. The sens-
ing element extends a minimum of 15 ins. into a main pro-
cess line. The probes are designed to handle pressures up to
1500 psi and temperatures up to 450 F. Approved for Class
1 Div 1 and Zone 0 hazardous locations.
Ametek Drexelbrook
215/674-1234; www.drexelbrook.com
PRECISION COMPACT PRESSURE TRANSDUCER
Heise Model HPK compact
pressure transducer is avail-
able with a choice of pressure
and electrical connections.
HPK offers either current
or voltage outputs to indi-
cate readings from vacuum
through 20,000 psig and ab-
solute ranges to 150 psia. An advanced sensor design deliv-
ers long-term stability and 0.15% F.S. accuracy. Each Heise
Model HPK pressure transducer is authenticated with a
nine-point, NIST-traceable calibration report.
Ashcroft
800/328-8258; www.heise.com
FEATURED PRODUCT
SUPER-ACCURATE MASS FLOWMETERS
The QuadraTherm 640i/780i Thermal Mass Flowmeter Series marks a breakthrough
in thermal dispersion technology. With its sensor design advancements, coupled with a
proprietary iTherm Brain, the 780i inline version achieves gas mass fow rate measure-
ment accuracy of 0.5% of reading above 50% of the full scale (air), making it the most
accurate thermal meter in the industry. At the heart of the 640i/780i is its revolutionary
patented QuadraTherm sensor and proprietary iTherm algorithm set. QuadraTherm in-
troduces four sensorsthree precision platinum temperature sensors and one patented,
no-drift DrySense mass velocity sensor. The QuadraTherm sensor isolates forced convection by calculating and
then eliminating unwanted heat-transfer components, such as sensor stem conduction. QuadraTherm and iTherm cal-
culate stem conduction and all other unwanted heat loss components, subtract them out, and then compute the mass
fow rate from the remaining forced convection component.
Sierra Instruments
800/866-0200; www.sierrainstruments.com/quadratherm
OPERATIONS FROM YOUR IPHONE
The free Operations App
for the iPhone, iPod Touch
and iPad lets users download
specifc documentation for
Endress+Hauser products.
Just enter the serial number
or scan the data matrix code
on the device with the phone
and gain access to the information. The app can be down-
loaded at https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/endress+hauser-
operations/id556777232 or by scanning the QR code above.
An Android version will be released soon.
Endress+Hauser
888/ENDRESS; www.us.endress.com/operations-app
SMART REDUNDANCY MODULES
Quint ORing active redun-
dancy modules use auto-
current balancing (ACB)
technology for precise load
sharing. Coupled with load
current monitoring, remote
diagnostics and visual indica-
tions, they ensure maximum
reliability in redundant power systems. ACB technology au-
tomatically and symmetrically distributes load current with-
out regard to effects such as temperature drift. A balanced
current draw increases life expectancy of power supplies.
Phoenix Contact
800/322-3225; www.phoenixcon.com
PROGRAMMABLE TEMPERATURE/PROCESS PID CONTROLLERS
The Dpi32 and CNi32 1/32
DIN programmable tem-
perature/process meters and
PID controllers with RS-232
and RS-484 communications
are user-friendly instruments
with programmable color dis-
plays. The CNi32 features
two outputs: control, alarm or retransmission of process vari-
able and universal inputs. This series has free software, Ac-
tive X controls and built-in 24-VDC excitation, standard on
units without DC power or communication options.
Omega
888/826-6342; www.omega.com
EXPLOSION-PROOF PRESSURE SWITCH
The AST46SW explosion-
proof pressure switch offers
a single-pull, double-throw
confguration with factory-
set switch points and hystere-
sis, and a one-piece, stainless
steel sensing element. It has a
maximum operating pressure
range up to 20,000 psi (1378 bar). It is CSA-approved for use
in hazardous areas, including Class 1, Div 1 explosion-proof
Groups A, B, C and D, and for mining applications, includ-
ing Class 2, Div 1 in Groups E, F and G.
American Sensor Technologies
973 /488-1901; www.astsensors.com
ULTRASONIC LEVEL SENSORS AND TRANSMITTERS
The Flowline EchoPod and
EchoSonic II ultrasonic liq-
uid level sensors and trans-
mitters are made with PVDF
transducers and NEMA
Type-6P polycarbonate en-
closures. They replace foat,
conductance and pressure
sensors that fail due to contact with dirty, sticky and scal-
ing media. Ideal for chemical, water and wastewater applica-
tions, they are available with single and multi-function capa-
bilities, including continuous level measurement.
Automation Direct
770/889-2858; www.automationdirect.com
STAINLESS STEEL EXPLOSION-PROOF ENCLOSURES
Adalet now offers Division 1/
Zone 1, 316L stainless steel,
explosion-proof enclosures.
Theyre designed for use in
highly corrosive areas where
environmental conditions
require additional corrosion
protection. Rated for Class I,
Division 1/Zone 1 hazardous locations, the XCESX series
carries UL, cUL, ATEX and IECEx approvals. Five stan-
dard sizes from internal dimensions of 10 in. W x 14 in. H x
8 in. D up to 24 in. W x 36 in. H x 10 in. D.
Adalet
216/267-9000; www.adalet.com
SEAMLESS UPGRADES
The next generation of the
High-Performance Process
Manager (HPM) industrial
process controller, the En-
hanced High-Performance
Process Manager (EHPM),
allows 25 years of distributed
control system installed base
to seamlessly migrate to the Experion Process Knowledge
System. Cost of migration is signifcantly reduced by pre-
serving control strategies and wiring. Ease the risk of legacy
system upgrades.
Honeywell Process Systems
800/822-7673; www.HoneywellProcess.com
FLOW SWITCH/MONITOR
Model FS10A Analyzer fow
switch/monitor for analyz-
ers and sampling systems is
designed for use with tub-
ing from 1/8 in. to in. The
electronics may be either in-
tegrally or remote-mounted
from the sensor element.
There are no moving parts and no cavities, orifces or dead-
legs to trap or contaminate samples. It is suitable for applica-
tion in liquid or gas analyzer sampling systems. It is small,
lightweight and features a choice of electronic outputs.
Fluid Components International
800/854-1993; www.fuidcomponents.com
MIX IT UP
Kenics KMX-V static mixer
is ideal for applications in-
volving fuids with extreme
viscosity or volume ratios. It
features a design that gener-
ates superior mixing per unit
length for laminar fow and
high/low viscosity ratio ap-
plications. It uses cross-stream mixing and fow splitting to
achieve rapid blending. Each element is one pipe diameter
in length, and consists of multiple intersecting blades, which
generate fuid layers as the mixture fows downstream.
Chemineer
937/454-3200; www.chemineer.com
NEXT-GEN GAS FLOWMETER
The Altosonic V12 ultrasonic
gas fowmeter for custody
transfer applications has 12
measuring chords, two dedi-
cated to diagnostic functions.
Once commissioned, it con-
tinuously checks the operat-
ing status. The chords are po-
sitioned in fve horizontal parallel planes to compensate for
swirl and provide reliable measurements, even with highly
distorted fow profles. Its diagnostics can reliably assess de-
posits, contamination or changes in wall roughness.
Krohne
800/FLOWING; www.us.krohne.com
NON-CONTACT CALIBRATION
The BBSL Black Body Cali-
brator is a non-contact IR py-
rometer calibration system
that features a temperature
range of 10 C above ambi-
ent to 350 C. It also offers
an accuracy range of 0.5%
or minimum 1C; emissivity
of 0.97 to 0.98; stability of 0.5% or minimum 1 C, plus an
auto-tine PID controller and a stabilization time of 20 min-
utes. Calibration certifcation is included with the calibra-
tor unit.
E-Instruments
215/750-1212; www.E-Inst.com
FOUR-WIRE TRANSMITTERS WITH USB
TT330 series of four-wire pro-
cess transmitters is designed
to deliver maximum eff-
ciency and optimal perfor-
mance and versatility. It sup-
ports high-density mounting
on DIN rails, and has a USB
connection to a PC for sim-
ple, precise confguration. The series is DC-powered (12-
32V) and supports a bussed rail power option for primary
or redundant power. The design features -40 C to +80 C
operation, electrical noise immunity and surge protection.
Acromag
248/295-0880; www.acromag.com
GREG MCMILLAN
STAN WEINER, PE
cont rol t al k@put man. net
C O N T R O L T A L K
Diagnosing Final Control Elements
Greg: I have known James Beall since way
back to his days at Eastman Chemical, when
he generated some eye-opening data on the re-
sponse of valve positioners. James started out as
instrument engineer. When he moved to the
feld, he had to make the instrumentation and
valves that he had selected actually work! This
lead to a career in process control improvement
at Eastman and his present position as princi-
pal consultant at Emerson. I have always been
impressed with James feld experience, practi-
cal approach and open mind.
Stan: Since automation systems generally af-
fect the process by manipulating a fow, the
control valve is the key fnal control element.
What was the biggest step forward that helped
you improve valve performance?
James: The biggest revelation was getting the
actual valve or more accurately the actuator
position into the data historian and my process
control data analysis system. Before the advent
of the high-performance digital positioner with
readback, we had to install temporary or per-
manent position transmitters.
Greg: I installed position transmitters on surge
valves because it was essential for making sure the
pre-stroke dead time was less than 0.2 seconds,
and the stroking time was less than one second.
It would haven been helpful to have this indica-
tion for all control valves, but the cost of the sepa-
rate transmitter and wiring relegated the installa-
tion to special cases. Not knowing what the valve
was actually doing led to creative explanations of
process variability. The Control feature I wrote at
an ISA conference in the early 1990s, Valve Po-
sition: The Missing Link, revealed the absurdity
of the situation. The feature ended up as a chap-
ter in the ISA book How to Become an Instrument
EngineerPart 1.523, coauthored with Monsanto
engineers with a similar sense of humor. (See
http://tinyurl.com/c9p7hw7.)
James: Without actual valve position (AVP)
in the data historian, it is particularly diffcult
to diagnose when a valve moves despite a steady
signal. If something was strange, the frst thing
to do was plot the AVP. In one case the valve
would move on its own at a certain spot in the
piston due to a worn O-ring. In another case,
the valve cycle was following the instrument air
compressor pressure cycle. We found there was
no air pressure regulator for the valves, but even
so, after checking the positioner specifcations,
the double-acting pistons should not have been
moving. The real problem turned out to be that
the cross-over pressure was set to zero, so there
was no stiffness, except for the spring that as-
sisted fail action. Since the pressure could not go
below zero, the actuator was acting like a single-
acting rather than a double-acting piston.
Greg McMill an and Stan Weiner bring their wits and more than 66 years of process
control experience to bear on your questions, comments and problems.
Write to them at controltalk@putman.net.
Stan: Can you fgure out everything from the control
room?
James: You always need to look at what is out in the feld,
or it will bite you. Once, on a level loop on a decanter boot,
a relatively fast integrating process, showed a limit cycle in-
dicating a dead band of about 1%. When we checked the
valve in the feld, it would respond to a 0.1% change in
signal if you waited long enough, so technically the sup-
plier could say the valve had a resolution of 0.1%. The po-
sitioner had a two-stage relay. For changes larger than 1%,
the high-capacity relay would kick in, and the valve would
respond within a second or two. For smaller changes in sig-
nal, the valve would take 40 seconds or more to respond.
The fast integrating loop effectively revealed the real reso-
lution limit because the level was ramping while waiting
for the valve to respond. We put on a digital valve controller
(DVC) that is a high-performance digital positioner, and
the problem went away. Since then, I have recommended
putting this type of positioner on all valves.
Greg: It seems a lot of poor performance can be related
to suppliers and users not realizing that response time,
dead band and resolution are important. The ISA Stan-
dards ISA-75-25 sheds light on how to measure these met-
rics, but stops at revealing the implications and providing
guidelines for various applications. I got burnt big time in
1975 as lead engineer for the worlds largest acrylonitrile
plant when the contract design and construction frm said
we could save big bucks by omitting positioners on several
hundred loops. The lead engineer pulled out a Nyquist
plot study from a supplier that showed positioners would
hurt performance, and if speed was needed, a booster
should be used instead of a positioner. During start-up,
I ended up putting positioners on all the valves because
many did not move unless the signal changed by 25%. I
got burnt again about 10 years later when I tried to replace
positioners with boosters on surge valves. The huge but-
terfy valves slammed shut when the compressor started.
The instrument tech showed me how he could manually,
easily move the 24-in. butterfy valve by simply grasping
the shaft. When the positioner was put on, he could not
budge the valve, as you might expect. The high outlet port
sensitivity of the booster led to positive feedback with the
diaphragm actuator. A couple of years later at a factory ac-
ceptance test, the valve supplier made the same mistake. I
went up to the 30-in. valves and showed how I could stroke
them with my hand on the shaft.
James: Without a positioner, the dead band on a brand
new valve in perfect condition can be anywhere from 5%
to 25%, and imperfect bench settings manifest themselves
as offsets. I restated the old rule that fast loops should not
have positioners to fast loops have a chance to work satis-
factorily without a positioner, but will perform better with
positioner, especially a modern DVC type positioner.
Greg: The main concern about the violation of the cascade
rule where the valve positioner as a secondary loop needed
to be faster than the fow loop as a primary loop was over-
stated because the fow loop was tuned with mostly reset ac-
tion and not much gain action, partly due to the unknown
nonlinearity of the installed valve characteristic. The new
positioners, such as the DVC with excellent resolution, can
be tuned for exceptionally fast response. Also, external-re-
set feedback can be used if a fast position readback is avail-
able to prevent the burst of oscillations from the process
loop output changing faster than the valve can respond,
allowing violation of the cascade rule.
Stan: What can go wrong with even a good valve, actuator
and positioner?
James: I once worked on a loop that had a green control
valve with a DVC, yet the data historian showed there was
an 1/8% dead band. Normally, I would have been happy
with 1/8% dead band, but the other green valves in the
plant were doing better than this! When I went out in the
feld (remember, you will get burnt every time you do not
go to the feld!) I saw the feedback arm spring clip on the
bonnet of the actuator. The feedback arm was missing its
spring clip in the slot to rotate the positioner, resulting in
the observed backlash. The spring clip got knocked off.
Someone realized the part belonged to the valve, but didnt
notify anyone.
Greg: Much worse is when the control valve and actuator
are an inherently poor design and a DVC connected to the
actuator shaft says everything is OK. The Control feature
article in November 2012, Is Your Control Valve an Im-
poster (www.controlglobal.com/articles/2012/mcmillan-
control-valves-imposter.html), gives the details of perhaps
the greatest deception in the automation business.
James: In this case, a good on-off valve had been modi-
fed in an attempt to make it also provide throttling action.
However, it wasnt performing well and was limiting pro-
duction. Just 0.008-in. slack in the key ways of a shaft con-
nection combined with the slop in a scotch yoke actuator
caused an 8% dead band. The DVC feedback measurement
was on the actuator shaft position before the backlash took
effect. The DVC said things were not that bad. The ad-
dition of integral action in the positioner helped the slow
level control loop do better. As a temporary fx, we made
some mechanical modifcations to the valve and actuator,
and then planned to replace the valve with a real regu-
lating control valve at the frst opportunity! When the new
control valve was replaced, the process capacity could be
increased by 10%!
Greg: The combination of the integrating response of the
piston and in the positioner caused a fast limit cycle from
dead band in the positioner. I think the limit cycle average
value from the fltering action of the process was closer to
the desired position than the offset if there was no integral
action in the positioner. Thankfully, the limit cycle wore out
the valve.
Stan: Given that you need to use a rotary valve, what do
you look for?
James: A diaphragm actuator, splined shaft connection, an
offset of stem-to-closure member, low sealing friction, low
packing friction, a contoured disk butterfy or segmented V-
notch ball with an equal percentage characteristic, and rotary
feedback of stem position to a high-performance digital posi-
tioner. Surprisingly, there is a lot technology in the packing. A
mom-and-pop service shop, unbeknownst to us in the plant,
put Graphoil packing not made by the valve manufacturer
in a valve, creating horrendous resolution (stiction). However,
we ran diagnostics on the valve, and the signature plot looked
dandy. The full-scale traverse of position did not reveal much
of a resolution issue. Only when we slowed the ramp rate of the
input signal during the signature test did we see the stair-step
response of stick and slip caused by poor resolution. Apparently,
the generic packing had a large difference between the static
and dynamic friction coeffcients, causing the stick and slip
issue and resulting in poor control. The problem was solved by
putting in the low-friction, high-temperature packing from the
control valve manufacturer that was carefully designed to have
a small difference between the static and sliding friction coeff-
cient. By the way, most pneumatic positioners can cause a limit
cycle similar to the packing induced stick-slip, but its actually
caused by a slow response of the positioner when the valve posi-
tion is close to the target. This problem is easily solved with a
high-performance digital positioner that has a consistent (fast)
speed of response for small changes.
Stan: Looks like another example of the consequences of
poor valve dynamic performance not being commonly un-
derstood. If your service shop or control valve supplier cannot
talk intelligently about response time, dead band (backlash)
and resolution (stick-slip), you should look for one who can.
Greg: The positioner, like any other controller, performs
only as well as the tuning. The pneumatic positioner was
a proportional-only controller with a gain of about 150. To-
days positioner offers incredible fexibility and something
akin to PID control. How do you tune the DVC?
James: The DVC has recommended tuning sets for differ-
ent actuator and valve combinations, but many applications
do not ft a set of rules, just as in tuning process controllers. I
frst knock the heck out it, maximizing the speed of response
with proportional action. Often a positioner has a hidden gain
multiplier, like 15, which means that a gain factor of 10 is ef-
fectively a proportional mode gain of 150. Once the valve is
responding well, I reduce the overshoot with derivative ac-
tion from the shaft position. The minor loop feedback helps
by providing very fast motion control of the pneumatic relay
kind of like a very fast inner loop. We still have a lot to learn
about tuning positioners. I do not recommend integral action
in the positioner in most applications.
Stan: What can users do to better understand stick-slip?
James: Static friction sets stick, and dynamic friction de-
termines slip. The static friction of tight shutoff rotary valves
can be so large that there is shaft windup where the actua-
tor shaft moves, but the internal closure member (e.g., ball
or disc) does not move. When the change in actuator torque
becomes large enough, the shaft unwinds. We have seen as
much as 1% to 2% shaft windup!
Stan: What have you learned about the valve characteristics?
James: Gas pressure loops where the valve pressure drop
is so large compared to other pressure drops in the system,
or where it has a critical pressure drop, can beneft from a
linear trim characteristic. This is because the valve drop
is so large compared to other pressure drops, resulting in
an installed characteristic close to the inherent character-
istic. In general, we need to pay attention to the change
installed characteristic when the valve drop is small com-
pared to frictional losses in the piping system.
Greg: I also recommend linear trim for reagent valves for
pH control, since the valve drop is the system drop. For most
other loops, a linear inherent characteristic is undesirable
because it distorts to a quick opening characteristic as the
valve drop as a fraction of the system drop decreases. Todays
emphasis on minimizing energy has taken a wrong term in
allocating insuffcient pressure drop to the control valve,
causing severe distortion and loss of rangeability.
[Editors note: For more, including Top 10 Signs Your Valve
Is an Imposter, go to www.controlglobal.com/1212_Con-
trolTalk.html.]
ADVERTISER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE NO.
ABB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Advantech Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Ametek. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
ARC Advisory Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
AutomationDirect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Banner Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Emerson Process Mgt/Saab . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Emerson Process Mgt/Systems . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Endress + Hauser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Flexim Americas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Fluke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Magnetrol International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Martel Electronics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
National Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
NovaTech Process Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Numatics, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Omega Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Opto 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Orion Instruments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Pepperl+Fuchs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Phoenix Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Siemens Process Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Winsted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Turck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Wago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Yaskawa America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Yokogawa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
C L A S S I F I E D S
A D I N D E X
For additional information, please contact
Foster Printing Service, the ofcial reprint
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Call 866.879.9144 or
sales@fosterprinting.com
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Contact: Polly Dickson, pdickson@putman.net, 630-467-1300 ext.396
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C O N T R O L R E P O R T
JIM MONTAGUE
EXECUTI VE EDI TOR
j mont ague@put man. net
BP and Oobleck
Sometimes I dont know what to write about. Other times I cant choose which of sev-
eral tales to tell. At frst, I was going to write Too Little, Too Late, and slam BP again
following the $4.5 billion settlement it announced Nov. 15 to resolve U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission and other criminal claims related to the Deepwater Horizon dis-
aster. You know the drill. Why didnt BP and its
contractors have suffcient blowout preventers
and other inexpensive automatic controls and
safety equipment to prevent killing 11 of its rig
workers and fouling the Gulf of Mexico? Why
does BP perform many complex tasks well, but
then persist decade after decade with a culture
that cuts so many stupid corners and inevita-
bly leads to catastrophe? And, fnally, why does
BPs board and its major investorsnot to men-
tion those at so many other frmscontinue to
reward ignorant and destructive behavior?
Because its highly proftable, of course, at
least in the present fscal quarterwhich is as
far ahead as many companies and people seem
to look these days. Its well known that satisfy-
ing fnancial analysts is often more important
now than building actual products. Merely
moving money around shell-game/con-man
style is the way to get the biggest payoff with
the least effort. Cash trumps everything else
nowlogic, common sense, professional pride
and basic integrity. And, if pursuing it happens
to injure others? Well, just make sure theyre
at a distance. Out of sight, out of mind, right?
But, where does this short-sightedness come
from? I think maybe its the relative prosperity
so many of us grew up in that weakens us. It
causes us to focus only on short-term lifestyles,
unhealthy consumption levels and Black Friday
deals at the expense of traditional self-sacrifce,
delaying immediate gratifcation and investing
in innovation with long-term benefts. No more
saving for a rainy day or slow and steady wins
the race. A little severe, self-imposed austerity
might help. Ill let you know how it goes right
after I fnish this next bag of Cheetos.
The other rehashed column I was think-
ing about, Really Little Engineers, was in-
spired by two of my co-workers here at Putman
MediaMichele Vaccarello Wagner, who is
expecting a baby, and Derek Chamberlain,
whose wife is also about to give birth. I fgured
the new arrivals might enjoy some of the pic-
ture books that my daughters and I grew out
of long ago. You know the drill here, too. Nur-
turing new engineers looks like it begins with
Science Technology Engineering and Math
(STEM) programs, but it really starts with read-
ing to babies, and keeping them away from the
danged TV and all the other video drivel.
The Cat in the Hat, Mike Mulligan and His
Steam Shovel, Curious George Takes a Job and
many other stories opens kids minds to the
world, and then wood blocks, Legos and all the
other building sets let them get their hands on
it. Theres your holiday shopping list. De nada.
Surprisingly, while packing the books, I ran
across a forgotten Dr. Seuss masterpiece, Bar-
tholomew and the Oobleck. Its about King Der-
win of Didd, who gets tired of the usual rain,
snow, sunshine and fog, and orders his magi-
cians to invent something newoobleck. Un-
fortunately, this new weather phenomenon
turns out to be a sticky, green adhesive that
pours down on the kingdom, and almost de-
stroys it. Sound familiar? Anyway, the country
looks doomed until the king says hes sorry and
means it, which makes the oobleck evaporate.
Of course, apologies only make environmen-
tal damage disappear in fairy tales, but the les-
son is precious anyway. Sadly, some people just
cant seem to even begin to say theyre sorry.
Sounds familiar again? Thats because public
apologies after strings of disasters and earlier
apologies just arent enough. I know its impor-
tant to limit liability, but theres a point where
honesty and self-respect should kick in, and it
should be a lot earlier than it is now. Maybe we
can sit a few CEOs and board members down
with the babies, read Horton Hatches the Egg,
and learn to keep some promises.
Sadly, this new
weather turns out
to be a sticky,
green adhesive
that pours down on
the kingdom, and
almost destroys it.
Sound familiar?
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2012 Yaskawa America Inc.
Our customers tell us that quality means no product hardware failures. Now, thats a gift that keeps
on giving.
When you take Yaskawa drives out of the box, you can count on them to work. In fact, Yaskawa
products have a meantime-between-failure rate (MTBF) of up to 28 years. That means your engineers
can spec Yaskawa and never have to worry. Just program, plug and play.
Get what you want, every time. Call Yaskawa.
YOU CAN DO THAT
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