Seeing the benefits of using smarter devices

摘要

Smart field devices are playing an important role in the manufacturing process today. Intelligence in field devices can offer a level of information relating to the process which has not been possible in the past. This real-time information then enables companies to better manage their entire manufacturing process. The Arkema Group's Lannemezan facility in France uses a wide variety of field instrumentation, from about ten different vendors, to produce hydrazine hydrate and derivatives. Brands currently used at the facility include Mettler Toledo, Foxboro/Eckardt, Foxboro, Rosemount, Yoko-gawa, Vega, Samson, Masoneilan, Chauvin Arnoux and Siemens. To get maximum benefit from its Invensys I/A series control system, management at the Lannemezan facility made the decision to digitise all of its instrumentation around the HART communication protocol. The company wanted to replace vendor-specific configuration software with a single, standard communications interface.