Shrinking the DCS

Competitive market pressures over the past recessionary two years have prompted the introduction of “smaller” distributed control system (DCS) products, and provided an increasing role for systems integrators to supply and support end-users of automation technology.

These trends are particularly evident in the UK, where major greenfield projects are thin on the ground. The emphasis instead has been on extending the life of existing systems, small migrations and other system plays for lowering energy costs and improving output and productivity.

As Yves van den Kieboom, Honeywell’s general sales manager, UK and Ireland, reports: “Overall there has been a decline in investment, mainly because projects and upgrades were cancelled or postponed. For those projects that have gone ahead, there has been a lot more competitive pressure with more customers going out to tender.”

From a vertical industry point of view, van den Kieboom said manufacturing had been the most challenging, while the chemical and petrochemical sectors had also suffered. On a brighter note, the oil and gas industry has remained buoyant, in particular the Aberdeen-based, North Sea offshore market.

Meanwhile, David Dilworth, sales director at systems integrator JMS Automation and Drives, reports that the recession has hit investment in the metals and paper industries, while spending levels have also reduced in some areas within the energy sector.

Extended reach
Against this competitive backdrop, some major automation vendors have been trying to extend the reach of their products.

Honeywell, for example, has introduced extensions to its Experion Process Knowledge System process control platform with product lines that offer the power of a DCS in a smaller, flexible package more commonly associated with PLCs.

These products include the Experion HS platform, which incorporates new applications for HMI and SCADA and is designed for small to medium-sized applications in the industries, such as minerals, chemicals, life sciences, glass, and food & beverage.

Reporting on market response, Simon Morrison, sales manager, services, UK and Ireland, Honeywell Process Solutions, said: “While we have not seen the ’smaller’ DCS taking over from the ’large’, we have seen a steady move from proprietary TDC/TPS systems to open systems such as Experion. We also have a significant volume of business in the smaller-systems market.”

ABB is also marketing products that offer DCS functionality for smaller applications than those that would typically be undertaken with its flagship 800xA system. A key selling point is cost-effectiveness of the products, which are typically priced at around £10,000.

Martin Grady, manager of ABB’s Open Control Systems (OCS) business in the UK and Ireland, said: “Most people would take DCS to be large enterprise, very high level, but we are talking about accessibility for a much broader audience. Most people don’t know ABB does this at a scale that could be applicable to their projects.”

ABB’s Compact 800 system, for example, uses the same product components as the 800xA in standalone configurations. It is targeted at applications that previously would have attracted a SCADA/PLC solution, and those that don’t fall neatly into the categories of continuous process or discrete automation.

Compact 800 is presented in a small-system configuration and at a price that suits small systems, said Grady. Equally though, he added, it comes with features, which are easily delivered, because they are part of a DCS product offering.

“For instance, you can get Compact 800 in a fully redundant configuration, as this is achieved in exactly the same manner as in the 800xA, in terms of the product hardware,” he explained.

Dilworth supports Grady’s view. He said: “Small DCS controllers have been extremely beneficial to us as a systems integrator. We can offer a cost-effective DCS solution that will allow integration of other aspects of the plant and future expansion.”

However, he believes uptake of the technology is being held back by “a lack of understanding of the main benefits of DCS solutions, such as the single database, increased intelligence over PLC solutions and integrated device managers”.

According to Dilworth, DCS development workflows offer customers significant advantages over procedures for PLC/SCADA integration. These, he said, include capabilities for drilling into controllers and subscription to live controllers. “End-users need to look at having a DCS as the centre of management, operation and maintenance. Users rarely consider this,” he added.

The arrival of compact controllers has been accompanied by a Previously, ABB control system products were supplied almost exclusively by the group’s own engineering groups. However, the development of more affordable DCS products has prompted ABB to start supplying these products through its channel partners.

Indeed, according to Grady, the systems-integrator channel partners are key to the market strategy. There are, he said, arrangements already in place with 25 of the premier names in the UK and Ireland under the ABB Solution Provider programme.

Customers for medium-sized and smaller systems can choose a delivery model that they consider best suited to their needs: experienced system integrator, engineering by ABB or a product-only purchase supported by training and coaching.

Honeywell has also signalled its intention to engage more with systems integrators, although within some clearly defined parameters. Systems integrators can generally do the “visible” and frequent activities associated with implementing and supporting a DCS, believes Morrison.

However, he adds, without the direct backing of the wider support organisation available to a direct support channel, systems integrators can face challenges when it comes to some of the more in-depth and intricate functionality of a DCS.

End-users are generally attracted to systems integrators for their low upfront cost, flexibility, perceived vendor neutrality and industry specialisation, noted Morrison. But, he said, a vendor offers much more intimate knowledge of its DCS and its application in different markets - a value is often overlooked until an abnormal situation arises.

“It is the in-depth experience a direct support organisation can offer that helps end-users avoid the situation to begin with, or, if it does occur, address it as quickly as possible to have them back in business with minimal production losses,” the Honeywell expert argued. “This value of increased safety, efficiency and availability far exceeds the additional cost of direct DCS vendor support.”

Before any investment, however, van den Kieboom advises customers to establish their system requirements in terms of size, complexity and the processes it needs to integrate with. They should also understand what knowledge and information they want to capture at a business management level.

Selecting the right solution
“The best approach is to have an experienced vendor, or multiple vendors, come in and have a discussion with an expert about what the requirements are,” van den Kieboom said, “so that the solution that gives the highest return on investment can be recommended.”

According to Brian Holliday, general manager, industrial automation, at Siemens Automation Drives, his company is happy to decouple the supply of a DCS from the solution work associated with it. This is in contrast to some DCS competitors who are of the view that, “that’s our business, that’s what we do,” he claims.

“We are not schizophrenic in any way about our partner policy,” said Holliday. “We have been consistent in developing partners to [supply] our DCS products to the process market. The value proposition for the customer is quite different from going to a vendor that believes they should supply everything lock, stock and barrel, with variations on an early scope that add up over time,”

Getting a single vendor to supply the equipment, do the engineering, the installation, the connection and all the servicing, doesn’t necessarily deliver the best value, Holliday continued.

“Yes, they get the benefit of having one vendor to go to and help fix problems. But on the flip side, if you get significant price pressure … then a combination of a fleet-of-foot systems integrator and a DCS product can allow the end-user to seek service solutions from multiple sources. This creates competition that gives the customer an opportunity for more value.”