The 2011 Siemens Automation Summit user conference kicked off in
Orlando, Fla. June 27th with a big focus on process industry solutions
and discussions. Despite the fact that the event is being held in Walt
Disney World—arguably the densest concentration of PLCs, drives and
motion control systems in the U.S.—the first-day announcements seemed
all about process industries and Siemens' process instrumentation and
analytics offerings.
The chairman of Siemens' user advisory board, Dennis Inverso of the
electrical & instrument technology group at DuPont, was even an
opening session speaker. He welcomed attendees by talking about the
relationship DuPont has had with Siemens since 1990. He said DuPont's
distributed control system (DCS) engineering team is renewing an
agreement with Siemens, entered into in 2006, to be one of two DCS
suppliers (the other is Honeywell), and one of two PLC suppliers
(Rockwell is the other). While not all groups and locations of the
chemical company giant are expected to conform to the agreement, Inverso
talked about his team's belief that Siemens is “the best.” An indication of the strength of the Siemens DCS offerings was perhaps
the strong attendance at the PCS7 “roadmap” session. About 100 people
listened to DCS/PCS7/APACS Product Manager Stacey Jarlsberg summarize
the status of PCS7 Version 7.1 and give hints about what will appear in
Version 8 of the system next year.
The magic (instrumentation) bus
The global automation company also announced it is launching its
Measuring Success tour—as in “measuring success one customer at a time,”
said a spokesman. What is touring around the U.S. is a 53-foot bus
tricked out with process instrumentation, process analyzers, and other
process automation product demonstrations. Siemens Process
Instrumentation and Analytics products includes level, pressure,
temperature and flow transmitters, valve instrumentation, regulators and
relays, process protection instruments, weigh feeders, belt scales,
analytical system integration, gas chromatographs, continuous gas
analyzers and laser analytics. “The tour is a testament to our customer-first attitude, and will bring
products and solutions to our customers’ doorsteps,” said Raj Batra,
president of Siemens Industry Automation Division. The customers who can
expect a visit include those in industries like water, power
generation, oil and gas, chemical, pharmaceutical, food and beverage,
glass, cement and metals.
The tour vehicle also showcases Siemens Totally Integrated Automation
(TIA) framework with a display that demonstrates how information can be
shared to improve customer operations. Batra said, “Our goal is to be a
full-service and long-term partner with our customers, using our
experience and knowledge to work together in solving challenges,
reducing costs, minimizing risks and increasing productivity and
profitability.” The vehicle will travel across the country and be
staffed with Siemens process measurement experts.
New process-focused blog
Engaging the process automation community with Siemens expertise is also
the point of the newly launched
Measuring Success blog, (
https://blogs.siemens.com/measuringsuccess). It delivers weekly articles
from process instrumentation and analytics specialists, and is designed
to allow feedback from end users.Overall, it was a strong show of process industry automation focus. So
much so, it caused one visitor interested in motion control to remark
pointedly, “It's ALL about automation. Where the heck are the drives?”
It turns out motion control, low voltage drives and other factory
automation products were on display along an entire wall of the
Technology Cafe product exhibit area of the conference. Those interested in motors and motion control also benefited from
Siemens choice of conference locations. The company has an extensive
technology presence in “the Land of the Mouse,” as Batra put it.
“Whether we automate attractions for tourists at Hollywood Studios or
help Disney save on energy costs, Siemens is almost everywhere” in
Disney World, the conference program said. [cross link to second story]
In fact, the Toy Story Midway Mania attraction is “almost completely run
by Siemens technology”: S7 PLCs, contactors and breakers, a Simatic HMI
and the Scalance wireless and wired networking. Elsewhere in The Magic
Kingdom, the curious and observant can find Siemens drives, switchgear,
motor control centers and more.
Renee Robbins Bassett,
[email protected], is Managing Editor of
Automation World magazine.
