2008 New Product Compendium: Application and Programming Software

The following products were introduced in 2008, and participated in the Control Engineering Engineers' Choice Awards competition.

By Control Engineering Staff February 9, 2009

Descriptions were provided by vendor companies. For more information, visit the Website listed. To learn which products won the competition, and which received honorable mentions, visit www.controleng.com/awards .

To jump to a specific category of products, click on the following links.

Application software
Data acquisition

Design/simulation

Application software

POMStrace

Honeywell Process Solutions

POMStrace reduces efforts to maintain and track inventory records for supplies used in clinical trials, as well as managing patient kits and supplies required to execute trials.

POMStrace was designed to allow clinical investigators to improve patient safety by better managing and tracking inventory during clinical trials. POMStrace helps reduce patient risk by improving communication and response time during trials. POMStrace displays technological advancement by providing up-to-date information on supply levels, including patient distribution. It also can reduce potential risks to patients in case of cancelled or recalled trials by blocking dispensing and providing immediate access to logistical information. The system produces a traceability record of each patient kit and provides complete accounting for all materials. Additionally, POMStrace can be easily integrated to other systems using the POMS integration server middleware. POMStrace provides a service to the industry by running tighter processes while making the technology more user friendly. The POMStrace database is maintained on a central database server with Internet connectivity and is a lightweight smart application that installs and maintains itself via the Internet. As more drug makers transition from paper systems to electronic records, reducing the effort needed to maintain inventory records can save up to $30,000 per trial, which quickly adds up for companies that may execute as many as 200 trials per year.

www.honeywell.com/ps

Wonderware IntelaTrac

Wonderware

Wonderware IntelaTrac is the industry’s leading Mobile Workforce and Decision Support System that accelerates and sustains operational process improvements.

Wonderware IntelaTrac is a key component for companies who are trying to institute a culture of operational excellence and serves as a catalyst for work process change, by promoting workforce competency, engaging first-line supervision and bridging the work processes of plant departments to make the shift-team more effective. The traditional operations work process includes paper-and, shift-based equipment surveillance rounds that merely collect observations of the current state of the equipment. The data collected is difficult to access and analyze and therefore has limited utility. Using Wonderware IntelaTrac on mobile computers for equipment surveillance opens the door to an intelligent work process that takes advantage of new sensors, portable best practices, historical data and embedded, expert knowledge to improve operators’ decision making. Wonderware IntelaTrac is built on the latest Microsoft technologies, ensuring a secure, robust and scalable solution that integrates seamlessly with a company’s existing environment. Leading companies worldwide are recognizing the benefits of Wonderware IntelaTrac. The system has been selected by 5 of the 8 largest integrated oil and gas companies, over 40 of the top 100 global refineries, over 30 of the top 100 global chemical companies and by utilities that power more than 64.5 million homes.

www.wonderware.com

Data Acquisition

DT9837A

Data Translation

Portable USB module for sound and vibration with four inputs that are synchronized with a tachometer input to provide data streams matched in time for field or lab use.

www.datatranslation.com

ReDAQ SLX920

Dataforth Corp.

ReDAQ supervisory control and data acquisition software combines with Dataforth’s isoLynx SLX200 data acquisition hardware to provide SCADA solutions for many rugged industrial applications

Dataforth’s ReDAQ supervisory control and data acquisition software was developed to complement the company’s isoLynx SLX200 data acquisition hardware system; combined with one or more SLX200 systems, ReDAQ provides a SCADA solution for factory automation, process monitoring and control, and many test and measurement applications. Establishing a complete SCADA or test system with ReDAQ is exceptionally simple. The core software runs under Microsoft Windows XP Professional as a service. This ReDAQ service sets up the central server, which can connect to many isoLynx SLX200 units via one or more networks. The networks can be RS-485 or dedicated Ethernets, or a combination of the two. Users then access the system via an Intranet or the Internet. No application software is required because the HMI is delivered via Web browsers. Moreover, dynamic real-time graphical displays are generated on the Web pages that were created by the ReDAQ-Designer.

www.dataforth.com

DXAdvanced R3

Yokogawa

DXAdvanced R3 is a network-enabled, data acquisition and display station with universal inputs, secure data recording, and custom display graphics capability.

Yokogawa’s DXAdvanced R3 is the latest generation of the popular DAQStation data acquisition and display station. Widely used for data measurement, display and recording in conventional and nuclear power plant control rooms, the DXAdvanced models include highly flexible networking functions, giving plant management ready access to process information that can be incorporated into plant information systems. The new R3 functions make the DXAdvanced a highly integrated, stand-alone solution to a wide range of measurement and recording applications that demand extreme reliability, easy configuration and flexible connectivity to other products and the PC network environment. The new R3 models add custom screen graphics that allow the user to build application-specific display screens using standard display objects and imported bitmap images. Additional functions include alarm annunciator display modes that provide operators with familiar, intelligent alarm indication that includes real-time data display and recording. A new multi-batch option is also available that supports up to 12 independently controlled recording sessions. New EtherNet/IP protocol simplifies installation on control networks where the DXAdvanced R3 adds expansion I/O, data display and secure data archiving functions to a common PLC. This PLC enhancement requires no costly integration or additional software.

www.yokogawa.com/us

Design /

SolidWorks 2009

Dassault Systemes SolidWorks

SolidWorks 2009 is the fastest and most straightforward 3D CAD software available, helping users transform their innovative ideas into intelligent 3D models ready for manufacturing.

SolidWorks 2009 Premium is the newest version of the most widely adopted 3D CAD software with a documented speed increase of up to 65 percent over SolidWorks 2008. No 3D CAD software is faster or easier to use in helping users transform their innovative ideas into intelligent 3D models that are ready for manufacturing. SolidWorks 2009 enhances what was already among the highest-performing products in the 3D CAD market. The new software reflects an intensive R&D effort focused directly on performance, which company research reveals is designers’ and engineers’ most valued CAD software trait.

www.solidworks.com

Eplan Electric P8 v1.9

Eplan Software & Services

Eplan Electric P8 v1.9 is electrical CAD/CAE software for efficient and accurate controls design and documentation with integration to fluid power and process control design and third party enterprise systems.

In addition to its ability to share design data with Eplan’s other powerful fluid power, process control and enclosure design products, Eplan Electric P8 v1.9 also connects into a company’s processes and enterprise environment furthering the ability to recognize substantial efficiency gains across the complete design, build, commissioning and maintenance cycle by meeting the collaboration needs of different engineering disciplines. Eplan Electric P8 v1.9 includes the Eplan Data Portal, a unique web-based portal which will greatly streamline the integration of device data into the design process, providing users with a one-stop access to up-to-date and certified data from many major component manufacturers. The scope of data contained in the Eplan Data Portal includes macros of components and sub-circuits, assembly drawings, function templates for intelligent device selection, international designations, preview images and entire manuals. Using the Eplan Data Portal not only makes searching individual manufacturer catalogs unnecessary, it also eliminates the need to type in part numbers or create one’s own macros. Thanks to the Internet technology, Eplan users all over the world can obtain all important device information and updates on a just-in-time basis, while the manufacturers enjoy increased product acceptance by providing quality component information in Eplan-ready format.

www.eplan.us

Inplant 4.1 Simulation Software

Invensys Process Systems (IPS)

Inplant software is a steady-state simulator for rigorously designing, rating and analyzing multiphase flow in plant piping networks, from a familiar Microsoft Excel interface.

SimSci-Esscor Inplant version 4.1 provides the power and flexibility to model applications ranging from a depressuring study of a single vessel to the design and rating of a complete cooling water network for an entire refinery or petrochemical plant. Inplant software now incorporates SimSci-Esscor’s SIM4ME Portal, which enables the use of Inplant software via a simple, bidirectional Microsoft Excel interface. This interface lets everyday users improve the efficiency and accuracy of process modeling, saving design time and effort in a range of industries. The communication link in the SIM4ME Portal enables process designers to execute an Inplant simulation from within an Excel software application. This advancement makes it very easy to create custom interfaces in the Excel spreadsheet without having to write a single line of code. Inplant version 4.1 lets users drag and drop multiphase flow model parameters, such as relief valve discharge coefficients, fluid densities, pipeline diameters and solver options, directly into Excel spreadsheets. The ability to access any model parameter easily, change its unit of measure, and determine its status as either an input or calculated value in Excel software, empowers software experts and non-experts alike in simulation data manipulation and integration.

Reference: www.ips.invensys.com/en/products/processdesign/Pages/INPLANT.aspx

www.ips.invensys.com

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