BOSTON — In an effort to enlarge its distributed control system (DCS) installed base, Invensys Process Systems today announced a migration module that gives users of Honeywell's TDC 2000 system an upgrade path to the latest version of Invensys' Foxboro I/A Series as well as device diagnostics capabilities.
The plug-in module from Invensys fits into the existing TDC 2000 system enclosure and does not require replacement of wires, termination assemblies, system enclosures, or power supplies, Invensys officials said.
Invensys has been migrating competitors' DCS to I/A Series through similar methods for several years, but this is the first time the upgrade supports HART field communications, a 10-year-old standard that enables device diagnostics.
The announcement, made today at the Foxboro User Group Conference, here, is part of a push by Invensys to move existing I/A customers to the most current version, and even to migrate users of Foxboro's legacy SPECTRUM and SPEC 200 systems to the I/A series. By moving to the advanced Foxboro I/A Series technology, users not only gain HART capability, but also have a platform upon which Invensys' new Enterprise Control System, called InFusion, can be layered, company officials say.
Invensys' migration message is not new, but many legacy DCS systems — many of which are 15 to 20 years old — can't take advantage of HART-enabled smart devices that add new capabilities such as asset management, preventive maintenance, and remote configuration of field equipment. Five years ago, Invensys rolled out the HART-enabled version of its I/A Series, and now the company is extending that capability to customers using other DCSs that lack HART support, starting with the Honeywell TDC 2000 system. More will follow, Invensys officials said.
While Honeywell officials conceded that the TDC 2000 does not support HART, they said customers have the option to upgrade the system with a HART-enabled Experion I/O subsystem from Honeywell.
The Invensys migration strategy is fairly easy and cost-effective.
"We put in a new I/O module, controllers, and workstations, but keep the wiring infrastructure in place, which is where the big cost is," said Betty Naylor-McDevitt, marketing director of Invensys' Foxboro Automation unit in an interview with Managing Automation. There is some software mapping that takes place between the old and the new systems, which can take Invensys engineers three to six months to design. But switching the systems over can be done in a four- to eight-hour window. Moreover, it can cost 40% less to just upgrade I/O rather than rip-and-replace a complete architecture, she said.
"We can replace everything faster and now we have a better system, so we're adding value," Naylor-McDevitt said.
Honeywell has its own migration strategy from TDC 2000 to its Experion that, according to the company, does not require a rip-and-replace exercise but rather just a hardware upgrade kit and HMI upgrades that retain wiring, officials said.
Invensys' DCS migration strategy has become a lucrative business for the automation giant. It already has added about 500 new customers around the world and brings in about $80 million per year, officials said. Currently, Invensys supports "functional" I/O migration strategies — which means just replicating the existing system without adding HART — to a handful of competitors' systems, including the Honeywell TDC 3000, Bailey (ABB) NET 90 and INFI 90, Fisher PROVOX S10 and S20, Westinghouse WDPF, and Siemens Moore APACS.
And while other vendors have their own migration strategies in place, they often require the customer to invest in new cabinets and cabling to run between the new and old I/O modules. That doubles the system footprint and can add a layer of complexity.
Customers say they want plug-and-play, so to speak.
"The Foxboro plug-in migration modules saved us an enormous number of man-hours and minimized our downtime," said Rod Wetsch, project manager at Dakota Gasification Co.'s Great Plains Synfuels plant, in a statement. The company is in the midst of a five-year modernization program in which legacy Honeywell and Bailey control systems are being phased out in favor of the I/A Series. HART functionality is an important element in this upgrade, as it can pull all the information from HART field devices into the control system for diagnostics and maintenance. That was "something that was not possible in our old systems," Wetsch said.