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FDT Technology Recognized as ANSI/ISA Standards

ControlGlobal.com
08/04/2011

The FDT Group and the International Society of Automation (ISA) have announced that the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) formally approved Field Device Tools (FDT) Technology standards, which were previously adopted internationally as IEC 62453 and approved in the United States by the ISA103 Field Device Tools Interface (FDT) committee. These U.S. standards will now be designated as ANSI/ISA standards.

The ISA103 Field Device Tool Interface Standards Committee, formed in 2006 to consider the adoption of existing FDT Technology standards as ISA standards, has worked to make the IEC 62453 international standards available as approved standards in the United States.

"FDT standardization based on the IEC 62453 standards—known as ISA-62453 in the U.S.—is occurring globally with user demand serving as the driving force," said Glenn Schulz, managing director for the FDT Group. "We're excited to hear that ISA is moving U.S. support and adoption of FDT standardization forward."

Chaired by Ian Verhappen, the ISA103 committee represents a cross-section of industrial automation industry professionals including users, designers, implementers, educators and suppliers. This effort by the ISA103 committee brings to the U.S. marketplace technology that allows any fieldbus, device or sub-system-specific software tool to be integrated as part of a universal lifecycle management tool in a plant automation system
"We are very pleased that this exciting technology is now part of the suite of ANSI/ISA standards, so that it can be effectively used by U.S. industry. The ISA103 committee worked hard to reach this point, and we look forward to coordinating our efforts with forthcoming IEC maintenance activities on these documents during the next round of updates," says Verhappen.