Automation is the name of the game

How successful the process industry is depends largely on how fast it can spot and respond to the latest market requirements. These days, new plants have to be built both swiftly and within budget, while relentless pressure on prices translates into ongoing efforts to step up productivity. Scarcely any other field has risen to such prominence during the past few years as automation. The innovative measurement and control technology that now controls complex processes not only makes for greater safety, but serves as a basis for plant maintenance strategies as well.

Of course, there is a big difference between automating existing plants and building new ones. The focus in North America and Europe is clearly on modernization, thanks to which processes have become more efficient and plants themselves more competitive and more successful than they were
 in the past.

Planning a completely new plant is no easier, however, as is evident from some recent examples from the Middle and Far East. Without the necessary transparency, the automation of single processes can be a somewhat hit and miss affair. In most cases, this can be attributed to how plant operators, planners and the authorities communicate. And to these communication shortcomings must be added the constant stream of modifications that have to be taken into account. An experienced team of internal and external planners is still a fundamental necessity, therefore, as our main feature “All in hand at Nanhai“ on page 16 shows.

When talking about automation, the word “fieldbus“ is bound to crop up sooner or later. Just three years ago, the main complaint among users was of “inadequate interoperability“ and an “insufficient choice of equipment“. Users´ organizations, users themselves and equipment manufacturers were still talking about one single international fieldbus standard.

These days the situation looks completely different: Fieldbus-compatible equipment and components are now available in great variety. And with most manufacturers now offering several different protocols, users are able to select the technology best suited to the task in hand. An international fieldbus standard will probably never happen, but we are no worse off for that.

-Thomas Röhl-