If you know both systems, could you please share your knowldege?

I am interested in obtaining a clear picture of what is liked from Invensys and from ABB, ease of use, ease of operation, complexity, user friendliness, intuition level, limitations, frustrations, etc. etc.

 

Can you please tell more about yourself, your job etc. I have experience in competitive intelligence for process control systems. I can help you.

 

There is no simple answer to your question. You need to decide your requirements and go visit both suppliers and users of their equipment to see if they will fit your requirements.

My knowledge of I/A is dated as I have not worked on it for several years. Foxboro I/A controllers have been around since the mid 1990's. They are quite dated technology and are programmed by completing "templates". Configuration of a controller is slow and making changes to an online system can be quite time consuming by modern standards. There is no support for IEC61131. I have only worked on the Unix based HMI - which has since been updated, so don't have experience on their new HMI system. Overall the system is dated, but simple, stable and effective.

There have been persistent rumours and press stories about the stability of Invensys for many years. Hopefully these problems are behind them now.

800xA is a much more modern system. With 800xA you have a choice of using any controller from ABB's range - such as Advant Master, MOD300, DCI, AC700F, Freelance etc - but most likely if you are purchasing a new system you will be using AC800M Controllers.

AC800M is very easy to program, has support for all IEC61131 languages (ST,FBD,IL,LAD and SFC) and with experience can be programmed extremely quickly and efficiently. It is much more flexible than I/A and there is very little that you cannot do. ABB has good support for integration of advanced features like batch handling and asset management.

However, it is much more complex - so if your System Integrator or Supplier is experienced, then it is a very good system. But be warned - pick your supplier or system integrator carefully and make sure this is not their first 800xA system.

ABB went through financial problems 5 or 6 years ago, but the company has recovered and is very stable again.

As a Plant Operator, there is probably not much to separate the systems, but as an engineer 800xA is much more powerful, but with the trade-off of complexity.

Rob
www[.]lymac.co.nz