Alarm Management and Graphics Projects. Pros and Cons

Overview:

No doubt everyone who has a DCS has encountered alarm management issues and User Interface overload. Why is that you may ask? Well, DCS arrived in a market place that had enforced restrictions of alarms due to physical space limitations and an instrument panel that allowed pattern recognition of process changes. To do anything with raw alarm was almost impossible; the only feature found in the electro-mechanical alarm annunciator box was first-up alarm indication and the ability to suppress the alarm by removing the electronics from the box.

Although a lot of alarm management projects start and fail due to poor understanding of the scope of the probelm, lack of resources or money, loss of momentum, and no identifiable return on investment, the real key to success is to establish responsibility.