Customer Feedback Facilitates Development of PID Optimization Technologies
April 19, 2006 Control Station today announced the newest release of LOOP-PRO OPC Inbox. The enhanced software module equips Control Station’s licensed users with advanced process control monitoring and analysis capabilities that are specifically engineered to improve bottom-line plant profitability. LOOP-PRO solutions help customers eliminate costs associated with production defects and process shut-down by providing early identification of negative process trends.
OPC Inbox is the most recent module added to the LOOP-PRO Product Suite. The newest release ushers Control Station into the market of real-time data analysis and supervisory control technologies. OPC Inbox was first introduced in October 2004 as a data capture and trending tool. Through aggressive product development and with feedback from select Control Station customers, the module has been enhanced to deliver both valuable loop performance measurement and reporting capabilities.
Our product development focuses on delivering capabilities with immediate and recognizable value, commented Dr. Bob Rice, Control Station’s Director of Solutions Engineering. We actively engage our customers to understand their challenges, and we aggressively seek ways to solve them. Customers and prospects made clear the need for tools that improve visibility into plant performance. Equally important, those tools needed intuitive design in order to minimize training requirements and to accelerate return on investment.
OPC Inbox was designed with the user in mind. OPC Inbox simplifies the way in which users find, access, and monitor critical process data. New template-based browsing capabilities allow users to build control system templates that store the structure of essential data item paths and preferred performance analysis methods. Combined, these capabilities allow for quick and efficient monitoring of critical processes. A template can be created in less than 5 minutes and, once specified, it can be quickly duplicated to monitor the performance of a single PID controller or groups of PID controllers.
Honeywell has been a Control Station customer for years and has seen consistent product innovation, shared John McIlwain, Process Control Leader for Honeywell International’s Specialty Materials Division. Control Station’s introduction of OPC Inbox is especially notable in that the technology simplifies access to process data within Honeywell’s expansive process control infrastructure. My staff uses OPC Inbox daily to monitor process data for our loops. With it and other LOOP-PRO software tools, we’re equipped to quickly and consistently tune loops with confidence.
OPC Inbox provides real-time data capture, monitoring, performance analysis, and trending capabilities. The module enhances the LOOP-PRO Product Suite and satisfies the needs of both front-line process control staff and back-office plant management.
