PC alarm management questions

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Thread Starter

terry

I have heard that there are stand alone PC alarm management systems that can intercept the alarms that would otherwise go to a printer. I've been told this package allows extensive sorting and storage of alarms. Does anyone know where to look for this system or any manufactures?
 
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Shaun Branley

Terry, There are a number of options you can go for. 1). There are a number of vendors who provide 3rd party alarm management software, which collects the alarm journal files.Eg. Industrial Software Solutions www.isspl.com.au ; (just do a search on the web for "baileyDCS"). 2). You could build a simple application yourself which extracts the journal files or writes to a virtual printer, then analyse the data with a database application.....ms access. 3). I have written similar applications for a number of control systems, and if you would want to discuss. Please contact me [email protected] Hope this helps, Shaun
 
Hello Terry, I don't know if there are such systems, but perhaps there is a cheap way to make one. If your HMI software (or anything else) sends alarms to an ASCII printer (not graphic) you can easily intercept the alarm text and store it in PC (can be an old one, say a 386 or 486). If your HMI runs under Windows, you can switch from graphic to pure text printout by selecting an ASCII (Generic/Text Only) as default printer in Windows. To send the alarms to the 486, redirect the HMI printer port to serial port (this should be possible either for DOS and Windows systems) or buy a parallel-to-serial device and connect your HMI to the 486. In the 486, with some lines of code (Basic, Pascal, C, etc) you can write a program (or have somebody do it) that reads in the string sent otherwise to the printer. Once the string is saved to file on hard disk, you can process it in several ways (write a specific program or use a spreadsheet, access to it via serial or network connection, print the string on printer) regards Luca Gallina Tecnog
 
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Peter Whalley

Hi all, Iconics (www.iconics.com) make a stand alone alarm management package called AlarmWorX32. It can log alarms and events to an SQL or Access database and operate as a server with multiple clients. Main advantage vs full blown SCADA package is license cost is proportionally lower because you only pay for the alarm management part not the graphics, trending etc. Disadvantage from your point of view is that it gets its data via DDE or OPC but there may be ways to get the data you have into it. Regards Peter Whalley Managing Director Magenta Communications Pty Ltd 121 King Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000 Australia. e-mail: [email protected]
 
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IP SHAHID WAQAS CHAUDHRY

One place to look is http://www.matrikon.com/products/processguard/processguard.htm. They have a product called ProcessGuard. This suppresses false alarms (nuisance alarms) and also perform a host of other features. Another place to look for is www.gensym.com which produce the G2 based platform. Another solution provider www.Key-Control-Inc.com makes intelligent alarm system (based on G2). Hope this will help you. Best regards, Shahid Waqas Chaudhry System Integrator Address: 64-CIII, Gulberg III, Lahore 54660, Pakistan IT Plant Solutions (I&S ITPS) Phone: +92 42 587 1010 - 16 Fax: +92 42 571 7798 SIEMENS Pakistan Engineering Company Email: [email protected]
 
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Heavner, Lou [FRS/AUS]

Try TiPS in Georgetown, TX. Sorry, I don't have a phone number or web address handy.
 
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Douglas Firlotte

In the 1997 Bailey users group meeting there was a presentation by personnel from the Mead coated board mill at Mahrt, (presentation #EBGS-1063). The topic was MCS to OIS conversion, but it briefly covered an external event and alarm capture/reporting system for OIS-4X consoles. I found it impressive. Your ABB, (Bailey), representative may be able to get you a contact, on the system implemented at Mead.
 
Hi You are most welcome to use AlarmWorX32 software that has full multimedia support as well. Alarms can be posted over the web using ActiveX Controls. For more information, visit our website. Regards Dr Habib U Rehman Regional Manager ICONICS Aus 4/99 Rose Street Liverpool, NSW 2170 Australia Phone: 61-2-9600-3904 Fax: 61-2-9602-0777 Email: [email protected] Visit our web: www.iconics.com
 
Sorry I had not noticed this message previously. This is a bit of a late posting. Specifically, with your question, there are some simple solutions that allow for a PC to record information as if it were a printer. If you are looking for a serious alarm management solution, you should look into what alarms (and other information) you are giving to the operator and the process context of that alarm. Our Dynamic Configuration technology reconfigures the alarm system according to the current process state context. You can find information at: http://www.prosysinc.com/solutions/amrc/amrc.php I hope that helps you with your overall solution that you might be having with alarms. Too many times, I find that people just treat the symptoms while the underlying problem gets worse. Unfortunately, this cycle normally continues until the problem manifests itself in a costly situation. D Beebe ProSys, Inc.
 
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