Honeywell’s future of plant control
July 2014
IT in Manufacturing
Honeywell Process Solutions has announced the availability of the Experion Orion Console, an advanced display technology that brings the plant control room of the future to the present by meeting the changing needs of the increasingly mobile plant operator.
The console, which builds on Honeywell’s flagship Experion PKS control platform, features an improved ergonomic design and better displays to simplify control system management, reduce operator fatigue and improve situational awareness.
The Experion Orion Console’s design was based on operator input gleaned from numerous visits to plant control rooms around the world and across industries, in both newer and older plants. The design and capabilities are the result of behaviour observations, as well as insights collected in multiple phases at plants, including process start-ups and during periods of abnormal operations.
“The state of plant control today is like putting operators on a sleepless, 12 hour flight in economy class seating and then asking them to make a critical decision that impacts their company’s production and employee safety,” says Jason Urso, chief technology officer, Honeywell Process Solutions. “Operators need more than just process data to make a decision like that; they need an environment that helps keep them alert, allows them to move about more freely and presents information more intuitively. The Experion Orion Console was designed with all of those factors in mind.”
The console’s features include a flexible, ultra-high definition overview and detailed touchscreen displays that provide clear status assessments of process operations in a single glance for better and more-informed management. This flexibility also enables operators to customise these displays for context-specific process issues, and incorporates advanced alarm management and pan and zoom capabilities. This enables operators to respond to changing conditions and prevent situations that could lead to plant incidents and emergencies.
Aside from the actual information, however, the improved display also reduces operator fatigue by allowing personnel to move about the control room more freely than before. When paired with wireless-enabled mobile technologies, the system also allows operators to view the same displays on hand-held devices in other areas of the plant.
“Plants must be designed and built according to a company’s specific production needs, but the control rooms themselves should be built around the operators’ needs,” explains Urso. “If you meet the operators’ needs, they can manage the plant more effectively and at optimum levels, which ultimately impacts plant safety, reliability and efficiency more than anything else.”
For more information contact Boni Magudulela, Honeywell Southern Africa, +27 (0)11 695 8000, [email protected], www.honeywell.com
Further reading:
Quantum computing and its impact on data security: a double-edged sword for the digital age
IT in Manufacturing
Quantum computing is poised to redefine the boundaries of data security, offering groundbreaking solutions while threatening modern encryption’s foundations. For third-party IT providers, this duality presents both a challenge and an opportunity to lead organisations through one of the most significant technological transitions in decades.
Read more...
Next-generation road-legal race car.
Siemens South Africa
IT in Manufacturing
Siemens Digital Industries Software has announced that Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) will move to the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio of industry software and use it to develop the next generation of its single-seater road-legal race car, Mono.
Read more...
Cybersecurity at a crossroads
IT in Manufacturing
here’s a growing unease in boardrooms, data centres and cabinet offices across South Africa. It’s not just about economic headwinds or political uncertainty, it’s about something quieter, more technical and yet just as dangerous - the rising tide of cyber threats.
Read more...
Enabling a sustainable industrial organisation
IT in Manufacturing
This article explains the top sustainability trends and key actions that you can leverage to become a more sustainable organisation.
Read more...
Navigating discrete manufacturing in South Africa through digitalisation
IT in Manufacturing
South Africa’s discrete manufacturing sector faces mounting pressure from global competition, fragmented supply chains and outdated infrastructure. In this complex environment, digitalisation is a critical lever for survival, resilience and growth.
Read more...
Africa’s pragmatic approach to AI and how data centres are enabling it
Schneider Electric South Africa
IT in Manufacturing
In Africa, the current AI momentum is driven by a fundamental need, building a resilient digital infrastructure that addresses the real-world challenges of the continent’s communities.
Read more...
World first simulation of error-correctable quantum computers
IT in Manufacturing
Quantum computers still face a major hurdle on their pathway to practical use cases, their limited ability to correct the arising computational errors. In a world first, researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have unveiled a method for simulating specific types of error-corrected quantum computations.
Read more...
Platform to accelerate supply chain decarbonisation
Schneider Electric South Africa
IT in Manufacturing
Schneider Electric has launched Zeigo Hub by Schneider Electric, a powerful new digital platform designed to help organisations decarbonise their supply chains at scale.
Read more...
Future-ready data centres
IT in Manufacturing
The white paper ‘Future-Ready Data Centres’ by Black & Veatch outlines how integrating sustainable design principles not only helps meet ESG goals but also ensures reliability, operational efficiency and business continuity in the face of climate change and growing digital demand.
Read more...
Sustainable energy management
Siemens South Africa
IT in Manufacturing
Utilising its innovative ONE approach technology, Siemens provides complete transparency on resource consumption and offers data-driven optimisation recommendations for sustainable energy management.
Read more...