The Power of Integration

Featured White Papers

The Role of Automation Systems in Management of Change

Similar to changing lanes in an automobile in a winter storm, with change enters risk. Everyone has most likely experienced that feeling of changing lanes in bad weather where you find yourself weighing the risk vs. the benefit that the new lane provides. The same principle can be found when considering making changes to control applications and automation configurations in an industrial plant. In order for the change to have a positive impact as was originally intended, the risk that is associated with making the change must be mitigated. There are multiple ways that risk can be reduced such as following good management of change processes and procedures, personnel training programs and certifications, and having a safety minded corporate culture. However, one of the best assets that those responsible for implementing change has is the automation system itself. Download now.

Assess Complex Process Situations

The concept of Mass Data Displays has been around for quite some time, however usage in the process industries has been limited due to the effort of configuration and calibration. This white paper will provide a summary of the work done at ABB Corporate Research in Ladenburg, Germany to develop and test tools that could provide efficient calibration of Mass Data Displays. Download now.

Transforming your data into actionable information

Since the early 1990s, manufacturers and vendors of automation or manufacturing software have been talking about the value of moving from "islands of information" to a collaborative model in which the right information is available to the right person, at the right time. While progress has been made to help manufacturers move in this direction, the reality is that many are still in a position similar to that of three decades ago. What is the situation in manufacturing today? And what products are available that can be used by a manufacturer as building blocks in a true collaborative environment? Download now.

PAS 55 and Enterprise Asset Management

Many of ABB's clients are involved in asset-intensive industries like mining, energy, public infrastructure and transportation. A holistic, efficient and whole life approach to the management of physical assets is vital to be able to manage costs and risk and align operations with business strategy. Download now.

Improving operations and maintenance with remote optimization

For companies in the power and water businesses, keeping plants running, and running efficiently, is of vital importance. Effective maintenance programs and finely tuned operations are two elements that are critical in achieving this goal. That is why companies are increasingly turning to remote services as a source of cost-effective and efficient expertise. Download now.

Collaborating in a New Dimension

New technology is being deployed into Control Rooms every day; technology that brings significant increases in productivity as well as the ability to troubleshoot and do root cause analysis. Download this white paper to learn more about how the application of 3-D technology at SCA's pulp and paper plant in Sweden enables operators and managers alike to visualize data in a way that is relevant to their job function. Download now.

Benefits of FF HSE with System 800xA

FOUNDATION Fieldbus High Speed Ethernet (FF HSE) has been a technology available to automation system suppliers since 1999, but very few of these suppliers have provided the full features and functionality offered by this technology to their clients. Download this white paper to learn how ABB's System 800xA utilizes FF HSE more extensively than other control systems. See how utilizing ABB's system, results in a true networked system that allows the process owner to design an overall control infrastructure that reflects both the functional and geographic requirements of the process. Download now to learn more.

Collaborative Process Automation Systems

Providing a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art in Collaborative Process Automation Systems (CPAS), this book (published by ISA in 2009) discusses topics such as engineering, security, enterprise connectivity, advanced process control, plant asset management, and operator efficiency. This in-depth reference focuses on the differences between a CPAS and traditional automation systems. Implications on modern automation systems are outlined in theory and practice. This book is ideal for industrial engineers, as well as graduate students in control and automation. Buy Now.

The Power of Integration

In order to be competitive, various plant entities, departments and personnel have to work as one flexible, integrated, collaborative team. For this to be accomplished, an automation platform with incredible connectivity capabilities is necessary. Integration of systems and applications where all actionable information is available for use in the system can be provided to users in a variety of roles. System 800xA Extended Automation is an integration platform with unparalleled connectivity to enterprise and plant systems, applications, and devices that improves operations, engineering, control and maintenance and provides a collaborative environment where real-time decision making is a reality. This is the Power of Integration. Read more.

Key Articles

The Effective Operator

Operator effectiveness is a fundamental element for sustaining the economic value of process control and management. It can be improved by empowering operators through improved situational awareness and better handling of abnormal conditions. Download now.

The Challenge of Device Integration

Fieldbus integration can provide many benefits to users, yet, despite compatibility standards, there are risks that a system will not work correctly with a given device. A key goal of open vendor independent fieldbus technologies is to integrate devices from multiple manufacturers into automation systems. Theoretically, the implementation of fieldbus standards allows "plug-and-play" connectivity between a device and its automation system. Download now.

Integrated Electrical and Automation Systems

As process plants get larger and more complex, automation systems must handle an ever-increasing number of signals. At the same time, the number of electrical consumers increases, making an electrical control system essential. The electrical control system is an automation system in itself providing an interface between the process control and the electrical consumers and actuators. ABB takes responsibility for all these systems and their integration. By letting ABB handle the integration and all the interfaces, customers benefit from faster project execution, reduced re-engineering, higher quality, and higher operational efficiency. Read more.

Power to the Process

A single system for both Process and Power Automation can reduce investment cost by as much as 20%. Read more.

ABB Review: Special Report on IEC61850

Communication is more than exchanging data; it means globally understandable information based on syntax and semantic. This is behind IEC 61850, the topic of this issue of ABB Review Special Report. Download now.

Collaborative Process Automation Systems

ABB's automation system innovations have dramatically improved industrial productivity by expanding traditional automated control to provide a common platform for a plant's entire operations, from engineering to process optimization and asset management. Download now.

Experience the Power of Integration!

Today's technologies provide unprecedented integration capability for much more access to information throughout the plant than ever before; the integration of previously isolated systems offers tremendous opportunities to improve all aspects of the manufacturing operation. The materials in this Knowledge Center discuss the integration possibilities available today, and demonstrate how information from previously disconnected areas can be harnessed and used to improve efficiency and profitability.

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Featured Products

System 800xA - The Power of Integration

Removing the barriers of traditional distributed control systems, System 800xA provides the integrated environment that is required to increase productivity while reducing risk and total cost of ownership.

System 800xA delivers the exact information and collaboration environment necessary for the formation and execution of sound business decisions. ABB's integration architecture, based on Aspect Object technology, relates all of your plant data, the Aspects, to the specific plant assets, the Objects. This architecture enables one click navigation, efficient engineering and presentation of the right information in the right context to the right user. Read more.

Operations Improvement Blog

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Operations Improvement Blog

Podcasts and Videos

Automation and Power Integration

Collaboration between people and systems is necessary to increase engineering efficiency, asset utilization and operator effectiveness. System 800xA was built as an integration platform and has the power to engineer, commission, control and operator control strategies for process, power, electrical and safety in the same redundant reliable system.
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Integrated Information

Having a control system that provides an integration platform, like System 800xA, is central to having an effective alarm management strategy. Information can then be integrated from multiple sources, providing an overall view of the status of the plant. This consolidated view makes operators more effective and productive.
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Operator Effectiveness

Operator effectiveness is more than just one simple solution. It is a combination of products, strategies and programs. The four "pillars" of operator effectiveness - integrated system and applications, high performance design, attention to human factors and operator competency - all contribute to a control system environment that provides optimum operator efficiency.
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The ABB Group ABB is a global leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. Where to find us.