Selection of DCS for Paint Industry

Dear All,

We're in the process of finalizing the DCS for our upcoming Greenfield project consisting various types of paint plants and require your valuable inputs in selecting the right make and model. Previously we have used ABB, Honeywell, Rockwell and Schneider. This time we want simply the best one. Kindly help.
 
I normally stay out of DCS opinion polls, but it’s apparent to me that the availability of local support should be a major criterion. There is little public forum support for DCS’s like there is for PLC’s, so the ability to get support from an ’authorized’ source, whether that’s factory support or an integrator, can make or break the versatility and ROI that one should expect from the investment in a DCS. Support is a ’revenue stream’ for all the DCS vendors, so it’s inescapable; just make sure there some depth of experince and commitment to long term support on the service side (have lunch with a reference or two to see what their experience has been).

I suspect that any serious DCS competitor nowadays has S88 batch software, but the implementation can vary from vendor to vendor. My limited exposure to paint stock production 30 years ago clearly warranted S88 batch control and tracking - the DCS at that time didn’t have S88. Reactor control was great though. I’ll let others tout their favorite.
 
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