PlantESP Loop Performance Monitoring Integration with PlantPAx System to Power Loop Analytics and Extend Process Optimization Capabilities

October 20, 2015 – Control Station today announced the planned integration of its PlantESP Loop Performance Monitoring technology within the PlantPAx distributed control system from Rockwell Automation. The integration aligns Control Station’s plant-wide monitoring and diagnostic technology with one of the fastest growing DCS platforms. It further cements the relationship between the two companies and broadens the market reach of Control Station’s underlying technology.

The collaboration between Control Station and Rockwell Automation is working towards the integration of PlantESP’s core capabilities to provide a seamless extension to the PlantPAx system. Process data will be accessed natively from within the PlantPAx system environment using FactoryTalk Historian, and individual PID control loop configuration will be automatically populated to the new application’s dashboard.

Control Station’s PlantESP actively monitors the performance of PID control loops on a plant-wide basis and provides actionable insights. Equipped with a portfolio of key performance indices and advanced forensic tools, PlantESP simplifies the identification of performance issues and the isolation of the associated root-causes. Specific performance challenges addressed by PlantESP range from mechanical and controller tuning issues to constraints associated with process architecture. PlantESP uses a production facility’s existing process data and proactively alerts production staff of negative performance trends.

PlantESP is recognized as a leading control loop performance monitoring technology that has been successfully deployed at production facilities spanning the process industries. It is equipped with an array of highly effective and proprietary diagnostic tools, including advanced KPIs for identifying and quantifying stiction – a leading mechanical issue facing process engineers. PlantESP also includes a unique optimization utility called TuneVue that proactively captures everyday output changes for the purpose of isolating control loops that are in need of tuning. TuneVue is based on Control Station’s NSS Modeling Innovation and it is the only such utility that can accurately model the noisy, oscillatory process dynamics which are typical of industrial production and control environments. Collectively these and other PlantESP capabilities allow production staff to prioritize their efforts on issues that will have the greatest impact on performance.

Control Station has participated in the Encompass Partner Program from Rockwell Automation since 2009. The relationship began with the enrollment of the company’s LOOP-PRO branded process modeling and PID control tuning products. LOOP-PRO is award-winning technology that replaced the previously available line of RSTune and RSLoop Optimizer products. It was the first add-on product made available through the Rockwell Automation Toolkit Program and has since been pre-integrated with PlantPAx. Both LOOP-PRO and PlantESP are available today through the Encompass Program and they will be on display during Automation Fair in Booth #1091 located near the Process Pavilion.