In the context of the global economic crisis, the competitive challenges faced by small manufacturers in the pharmaceutical, fine chemical and other industries are increasing. On the one hand, they hope to win market opportunities by improving the level of automation and production efficiency,
In the context of the global economic crisis, the competitive challenges faced by small manufacturers in the pharmaceutical, fine chemical and other industries are increasing. On the one hand, they hope to win market opportunities by improving the level of automation and production efficiency, but on the other hand, they face cost pressure. From the level of automation technology, DCS brings the stability and reliability of the system and higher control quality to the user, but the huge investment makes some small manufacturing enterprises discouraged; PLC control is often unable to solve the "secondary configuration" and "false redundancy" and other problems, a small investment is to solve the cost pressure, uncontrollable unplanned parking times but let the enterprise suffer new losses. How to find a control system for small manufacturing enterprises that can guarantee their production flexibility and ensure system reliability? This is an important issue for industrial automation solution providers.
Can a "simple" DCS system be introduced to meet the control needs of small manufacturing enterprises? It seemed like an idea, but now it has become a reality. Honeywell's Experion LS control system (" LS System "), officially released in February 2009, provides distributed control system capability and reliability in a small, flexible control solution. Using "simple" to define LS system is not accurate, from a functional point of view, LS system compared to Honeywell's widely used DCS - PKS system is not any simplification: Inherits the controller and advanced algorithm of the PKS system with high computing speed, the alarm function and DSA technology are also available, which only reduces the scale, and its easy operation and maintenance characteristics are more prominent.
Craig Resnick, an analyst at ARC Consulting Group, commented: "Many users in the food and beverage, specialty chemicals, pharmaceuticals and life sciences industries should benefit from the power of DCS, but poor scalability, high complexity and high price limits the use of DCS in these industries. Experion LS is designed to address these issues with a mass-market DCS product that is quick to install, easy to configure, affordable, and easy to maintain, making it suitable for industries that have not previously used DCS products and require flexible production. In today's society, it is critical for manufacturers, processing companies, and original equipment manufacturers (Oems) to apply these technologies under unprecedented pressure to reduce costs while achieving legal compliance and sustainability goals."
Nowadays, the application and promotion of LS system in China has been in full swing, and has obtained a lot of successful cases. Recently, on the characteristics of LS system, the benefits brought to users and the application goals in the Chinese market, the reporter interviewed Mr. Jiang Yachun, business development manager of Automation Control System Department of the Industrial Department of Honeywell (China) Co., LTD.
Automation Today: What do you think are the differences and differences between DCS and PLC control systems in terms of characteristics and benefits to users? How do you locate the LS system?
Jiang Yachun: The difference between DCS and PLC control system in terms of characteristics and benefits to users can be summarized in four points. First, DCS realizes deterministic control, and its control speed is guaranteed. The control speed of the PLC control system is related to the size of the system capacity, so it realizes uncertain control. This determines that in some key occasions with high requirements for control speed, only the use of DCS can ensure production. Second, DCS uses the "global database", can achieve "one configuration", the biggest benefit of the global database to the user is that it can shorten the project time, and easy to maintain; The upper and lower levels of PLC control are two databases. Third, DCS in the design stage to achieve I/O redundancy, to ensure reliability, and PLC control is often "false redundancy". Fourth, the control algorithm of DCS is more perfect, and the control quality is higher.
Although Honeywell's LS system is smaller than the PKS system, it is still a DCS, and it has its own characteristics compared to ordinary DCS. First, it inherits the functions and features of Honeywell PKS, such as advanced algorithms. Advanced algorithms can improve the control quality of the system, for example, the use of advanced algorithms in the temperature control loop can bring direct energy-saving effects to users, and the steam heat saved in 1 year is equivalent to nearly one million yuan. Second, the LS system also integrates batch processing functions for small manufacturing enterprises in pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries. Most of this work was done manually before, but the error rate was high and efficiency could not be guaranteed. Now, driven by international standards and market competition, manufacturers want to automate this part of the work, that is, by the system to replace the operator to "memorize" the process steps, and always remind the operator to complete the operation. Automation reduces losses for businesses and increases competitiveness.
Automation Today: How was automated production usually achieved in small manufacturing companies before? What are the significant benefits for small manufacturers when Experion LS is applied compared to before?
