Emerson, Siemens “biggest step” towards interoperability

London — Emerson Process Management and Siemens Automation & Drives are expanding their system interfaces to enable end users to benefit more fully from the main global fieldbus standards, the companies have announced.

The co-operation will see Emerson and Siemens — the main proponents of Foundation fieldbus (FF) and Profibus, respectively — deliver field instrumentation and electric drives with expanded interoperability and functionality from mid-2007.

For its part, Siemens is to add interfaces to its Simatic PCS 7 process control system and its Process Device Manager (PDM) tool to support FF standards. This will enable Siemens to connect to the extensive array of FF instruments and valve controllers from Emerson, as well as devices from other companies that support FF.

Emerson will, meanwhile, expand its DeltaV and Ovation control systems, as well as the company's AMS Suite: Intelligent Device Manager application, with an interface for Profibus DP and Profinet standards. The company will use enhanced EDDL (Electronic Device Description Language) to connect to Siemens drives, starters and other discrete devices, as well as other makers’ devices supporting Profibus DP and Profinet.

For Larry O'Brien, research director for ARC Advisory Group the co-operation is probably “the biggest step toward increased openness that Emerson and Siemens have ever taken.” Both companies, he said, should benefit from the increased integration of the process and discrete domains of automation.

“Both companies, however, compete in many ways, with Siemens making the process industries a top priority, so this is truly the biggest example of co-operation in the automation market we have seen in some time,” the ARC analyst concluded in an ARC newsletter.

“Extending the value of our asset management applications to more plant assets in this way is just one example of the benefit to customers of global standards,” said John Berra, president, Emerson Process Management, in an Emerson press statement.

“Further harmonisation of field device integration will prove advantages particularly in heterogeneous system landscapes. The potential for improving plant efficiency lies, however, in further integration by the uniform EDDL communication technology and the respective software tools,” added Anton Huber, a Siemens A&D board member.