manager for the systems integrator program at Wonderware, a unit of Invensys, in Lake Forest, Calif. “If you know the ROI is there, you can structure the project so the early phases can go online and pay for the later phases.”

Jeffreys notes that the emphasis on tying ROI to installation projects originally came from the large enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendors, such as Oracle, SAP and IBM. From those vendors, it filtered down to the integrators, since they live at the hub of the installation. The ERP vendors “know consultative selling with ROI,” says Jeffreys. “And i2 was the first vendor I know of that taught their integrators to design their projects based on ROI.”

He notes that an emphasis on ROI should be the overriding concern as integrators plan their projects. “ROI should define the phases. As a pure software vendor, I can’t enforce that, but I can recommend it,” says Jeffreys. “We depend on our system integrators to have the skill to plan out the ROI.”

Many integrators now want to be judged primarily on their project management skills rather than their technical capabilities. “Look at the background, experience and size of the integrator,” says Maverick’s Galeski. “A lot of customers call us in when a small integrator was hired and went out of business.” He notes that integrators offering more than just technical assistance can make a difference in how their clients run their plants.

The City of Albany has two automation installations, one for water treatment, and the other for wastewater treatment. PS2 is in the process of upgrading the control system at the city’s water treatment plant, and it is working on installing Wonderware’s Industrial Application Server, which should go live before year’s end. According to the city’s automation analyst, Budiselich, the new system will have redundancies to ensure constant operation. The new system will be fully networked and based on open standards, which will allow the city to expand the system by simply adding modules.

Transferring to the new system presents difficult logistical challenges. “The two systems work on pressure,” says Budiselich. “You can’t start a new plant with a new system and not balance it with the current system. You need to be able to control both plants without the lines getting over pressurized.”

Logistical challenges

PS2 provided technical expertise to the city as well as a good understanding of how to structure the extended project to avoid problems in the switchover from the old system to the new. “We mapped out their connections and looked at the overall picture,” says Jeff Baxter, senior system engineer at PS2. “We developed a comprehensive plan to replace or address all of the systems, rather than looking at them as discrete systems.” PS2 was thus able to avoid moves that would solve immediate problems but cause long-term headaches.

For the Albany engineers, PS2’s big-picture view and project management expertise were critical for a successful system upgrade. “The lessons PS2 learned at other plants is what mattered, especially their engineers’ knowledge of the programmable controller level and the reporting level,” says Budiselich. “Without a knowledgeable integration firm, we would have struggled quite a bit more.”

See sidebar to this article: Driving business management expertise