Invensys demos integrated enterprise control

A simulation based on actual customers integrating 18 plant-level and enterprise-level applications from six vendors was the centerpiece of an enterprise control system demonstration from Invensys here in May. To launch its new InFusion enterprise control system, Invensys created detailed plant models for the fictional DaCosta Corp.

By Staff June 1, 2006

A simulation based on actual customers integrating 18 plant-level and enterprise-level applications from six vendors was the centerpiece of an enterprise control system demonstration from Invensys here in May.

To launch its new InFusion enterprise control system, Invensys created detailed plant models for the fictional DaCosta Corp. The resulting scenarios and solutions combined capabilities from Microsoft, SAP, and others with Invensys functional and system components including:

Foxboro distributed control, measurement and instrumentation;

SimSci-Essor simulation and optimization software;

Triconex critical control and safety sytems;

Avantis enterprise asset management software; and

Wonderware plant intelligence software.

The demonstrated system used OpenO&M schema based on the ISA S95 model and MIMOSA to integrate DaCosta’s plant-level operations and maintenance departments with corporate planning and operations management departments.

As depicted in the demonstration, DaCosta Corp. is an integrated gas production and chemical manufacturing operation in which natural gas liquids (NGL), a byproduct of the DaCosta gas plant, are used as feedstock for the DaCosta fractionation plant, and n-butane from the fractionation plant is used as feedstock for the DaCosta chemical plant, which then converts n-butane into higher value isobutane.

DaCosta Gas, Fractionation, and Chemical Plants were fully simulated in Foxboro I/A Series automation system control blocks. Two scenarios followed. The first illustrated how DeCosta managers reacted to a potential business opportunity prior to InFusion. The second scenario demonstrated how InFusion enterprise control system opened up an entirely new realm of opportunities, even though actual production, process control, and other assets had not changed.

In the “before” scenario, lack of real-time visibility across the enterprise resulted in a major mistake: the rushed acceptance of a contract that ended up costing the company millions of dollars in penalties, rework, and lost profit opportunity, while straining its credibility with a key customer. Individual plant managers were making the right decisions for their plants based on available information, but not the right decisions for the business as a whole.

Using a 10-foot long video display—the InFusion Collaboration Wall—and other tools, the “after” scenario displayed simulated information from diverse plant, enterprise, and portal applications and showed how geographically dispersed DaCosta personnel could make decisions based on better information.

The Collaboration Wall combined real-time production information and performance dashboards from the control systems displayed in Microsoft Excel; real-time condition monitoring information and maintenance schedules from the maintenance system; raw materials cost data from the ERP system; and commodity futures projections from one manager’s desktop. Increased visibility among individual plants, and among plants and the enterprise, enabled plant and business personnel to work together effectively to enhance business agility in a manner that was not previously possible.

“With InFusion technology, most existing plant floor and enterprise systems can now be cost-effectively integrated into a common system,” according to the company. “In conjunction with a suite of new performance services, Invensys’ InFusion system will help industrial enterprises more effectively align plant operations and maintenance departments with the business to optimize overall asset performance management.”

www.InFusionECS.com