In the wake of its recent launch in the United States, Honeywell Southern Africa has just launched Experion PKS - said to be a revolutionary new system approach to business, process and asset management. Three decades of Honeywell expertise have been imbedded into a unified, robust process knowledge system architecture.
The Industry Solutions business of Honeywell in the United States has already reported generating more than $100 million in orders since announcing Experion PKS earlier this year. The Experion PKS system is used in industrial plants and mills to integrate, control and monitor complex processes in many types of industrial settings, including refineries, pharmaceuticals, power and chemical plants, and pulp, paper and printing mills.
Today's industrial businesses are primarily managed around the manufacturing process itself. A Distributed Control System (DCS), pioneered by Honeywell in the 1970s and offered by numerous suppliers today, is designed to control and manage that process with a focus on operations.
A Process Knowledge System is designed to control the entire scope of production, addressing the needs of operations, maintenance, engineering, and business personnel. It incorporates and builds upon best-in-class DCS technology to provide site-wide information, management, and workflow optimisation for all employees regardless of their job function or working environment.
Experion PKS provides this capability through a variety of new and patented technologies including 'industrial' wireless, fault tolerant Ethernet, abnormal event and alarm management, digital video and Human Machine Interfaces.
These technologies enable employees to be productive, allowing them to capture and manage knowledge faster and more efficiently and give them more time for higher-value activities. This knowledge-driven environment ensures that the right people have access to the right information at the right time - to collaborate and make decisions wherever their work takes them.
"Process manufacturing companies are at a crossroads today," according to Dick Hill, vice president of Collaborative Manufacturing Solutions for ARC Advisory Group in the United States. "They need to maximise their return on assets while at the same time be more responsive to their customers' demands for high quality and uninterrupted flow of product.
"With the release of Experion PKS, Honeywell hits the mark by emphasising the importance of capturing and deploying manufacturer's knowledge and the knowledge of their supplier partners. Execution of such knowledge-based systems and solutions will separate the winners from the losers in the coming decade as the industrial world strives to achieve operational excellence."
NonHoneywell and DCS installed base customers can be easily integrated to Experion PKS using the most comprehensive and advanced OPC data, alarm and event suite.
PKSconnect
In another innovative development, Honeywell has also just announced the start-up of PKSconnect, a leading-edge customer feedback system that integrates the voice of the customer into business operations.
PKSconnect combines Siebel CRM software with Six Sigma tools and methodologies to enhance the customer feedback process and improve response time.
A customer can globally enter direct feedback online and track the progress. The system notifies the customer that their feedback has been processed and that a Honeywell representative will be contacting them to set up a resolution plan. By providing enhanced responsiveness to customer needs, Honeywell will increase the delivered value of automation solutions to customers. PKSconnect is expected to strengthen customer relationships and provide an infrastructure for more direct customer interaction with Honeywell.
Established in South Africa in 1969, Honeywell Southern Africa is a leading supplier of high technology solutions for industrial and environmental control applications in some of the country's leading process plants, hotels and commercial buildings. As part of a global controls company, the organisations' mission is to work with customers to help them achieve leadership through technology.
For more information: Roy Botha, Honeywell Southern Africa, 011 805 1201, [email protected], www.honeywell.com
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