Software - Diagnostics: AMS Device Manager drives efficient intelligent field device management, helping maintenance and operations sustain the health and reliability of smart devices to avoid production interruptions. This is a Control Engineering 2016 Engineers’ Choice Honorable Mention.
With AMS Device Manager version 13.0, traditional device configuration and commissioning practices are re-envisioned. This typically manual, tedious, error-prone task is automated to help the plant start up more quickly, accurately, and safely.
Instead of spending time setting up individual configurations for thousands of devices, configuration templates can be built once and then simultaneously applied to an unlimited number of devices, in a fraction of the time. This "build once, apply many" functionality frees resources up to perform other critical start-up work and removes the risk of errors that are commonly introduced when configurations are manually created for each individual device.
Built-in validation reports automatically compare configurations and quickly identify when devices deviate from the associated template. When configuration changes are needed after devices are commissioned, simply update the template and apply the new configuration in bulk. Last minute changes will have minimal impact on the start-up schedule and new errors in configurations are not introduced in the rush of change management.
Because thousands of devices are easily managed with a few actions, this new methodology reduces the time required to commission smart devices by 75% to 80%. This methodology can be used for both HART and FOUNDATION Fieldbus devices.
By ensuring configuration accuracy at start-up, intelligent field devices will perform more reliability, enabling Maintenance and Operations to avoid production interruptions.
Emerson Process Management, www.emersonprocess.com
