Thursday, January 5, 2006

Safety Networks News One of the hot races in industrial circles these days is with safety networking. That only used to be an oxymoron. Networking designers have been working diligently to provide safety systems with good networking options. In today's news, The Fieldbus Foundation announced that TÜV Anlagentechnik GmbH, Automation, Software and Information Technology, a global, independent and accredited testing agency, has granted Protocol Type Approval for the Fieldbus Foundation Safety Instrumented Systems specifications. The specifications are in compliance with International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61508 standard (functional safety of electrical/electronic/programmable electronic safety-related systems) requirements up to, and including, Safety Integrity Level 3 (SIL 3). With the TÜV Protocol Type Approval, Foundation fieldbus technology has been extended to provide a comprehensive solution for Safety Instrumented Systems in a wide range of industrial plant applications. The specifications enable manufacturers to build FOUNDATION fieldbus devices in compliance with IEC 61508. Third-party test agencies such as TÜV will certify that these devices are suitable for use in safety instrumented systems. End users will be able to choose devices meeting the requirements of IEC 61511 (functional safety: safety instrumented systems for the process industry sector) from multiple suppliers, instead of being restricted to devices designed specifically for a proprietary safety system platform. IEC 61511 is also available as an ANSI/ISA Standard: ANSI/ISA-84.00.01-2004. The Safety Instrumented System project was initiated by end users and approved by the Fieldbus Foundation's board of directors in October 2002. Companies participating in the project include: ABB, BP, Chevron, Cooper Crouse-Hinds GmbH, DuPont, Emerson Process Management, E+H Process Solutions, ExxonMobil, Fieldbus Diagnostics, Fieldbus Inc., Flowserve, HIMA, Hirshmann, Honeywell, ICE-Pros Inc., Invensys/Triconex, Magnetrol, Metso Automation, MTL, Relcom, R&M Industrieservice, Rockwell Automation, Rotork Control Systems, Saudi Aramco, Shell Global Solutions, Smar, Softing, TopWorx, TÜV, Tyco/Westlock and Yokogawa. The development team achieved its first major milestone at the end of 2003 with TÜV approval of the overall system concept. The development team met with external experts at a meeting hosted by Shell Global Solutions in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in March 2004 to review the initial specifications. Comments from this review were resolved and the management team developed the top-level project plan for laboratory validation testing. During the lab test phase, conducted at the R&M Industrieservice facility in Frankfurt, Germany, each prototype supplier independently implemented the foundation[base ']s safety instrumented systems specifications. In parallel, the test team separately developed test cases and prepared expected test results. According to the Fieldbus Foundation[base ']s director of technology development, David A. Glanzer, extensive laboratory testing and application analysis has verified that the foundation[base ']s safety instrumented systems technology meets the needs of industrial end users, who regard these systems as critical to their overall plant operating strategy. [base "]TÜV Type Approval will help meet the growing worldwide demand for commercial, standards-based, safety instrumented system products incorporating Foundation fieldbus technology,[per thou] said Glanzer. [base "]End users can now adopt the powerful diagnostics available with Foundation fieldbus, and at the same time, maintain the protection in a SIL3 environment. No changes were required to the existing H1 protocol to add the safety instrumented systems protocol extensions, clearly indicating the value of the comprehensive, forward-thinking design of Foundation technology.[per thou] 12:52:58 PM    comment []

Language support For my Chinese reader (OK, there's probably more than one), Invensys Avantis enterprise asset management (seems to be a trend today) Avantis.Pro 4.1 software now supports "simplified Chinese." 10:06:59 AM    comment []

More software company consolidation Infor to acquire Datastream Manufacturing enterprise resource planning supplier Infor is continuing its aggressive growth-through-acquisition strategy with a planned acquisition of Datastream Systems. This action continues a trend of consolidation in the software market (see my post on Rockwell's acquisition of Datasweep from last November). I just received the news, so I haven't had time to get someone on the phone. While this appears to be a good move for Datastream stockholders and allows Infor to tout its growth, my interest--one that I'm sure is shared by users and prospects--is whether Infor can integrate its various acquired products into something resembling an integrated offering or whether it'll just offer a smorgasbord of somewhat related products. Under the terms of the agreement, Infor has agreed to pay $10.26 per share in cash to Datastream stockholders. The plan has received unanimous approval from the Datastream board of directors and the board of directors of the Infor subsidiary which is a party to the acquisition agreement. The transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including Datastream stockholder approval. Infor has commitment letters for equity and senior debt financing necessary to fund the purchase price of the acquisition. The parties will work to close this transaction as soon as reasonably possible but it is expected to be completed in the second calendar quarter of 2006. Larry Blackwell, Datastream's chief executive officer, remarked, "By joining with Infor, our employees will have the opportunity to work with one of the leading software providers focused on world-class enterprise applications. Our customers will benefit from a combined entity that will continue to support and improve Datastream's industry-leading products. After a thorough review, Datastream[base ']s Board of Directors has concluded that this transaction maximizes value for our stockholders." Infor delivers integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply chain solutions designed for manufacturers and distributors. The company notes that given the asset-intensive nature of its customer base and target markets, Datastream[base ']s asset performance management solutions will address a key business need. "Infor is changing what customers expect from an enterprise software provider by assembling and integrating best-of-breed solutions and professionals with deep industry knowledge that is unrivaled in the industry," said Jim Schaper, Infor[base ']s chairman and chief executive officer. "We are filling a void in the market for customers that want one source for all of their industry-specific enterprise applications. Our explosive new customer growth is proof that our model is working." Schaper continued, "Both Datastream and Infor are committed to future innovation using a services oriented architecture (SOA) that will enable those customers with asset-intensive maintenance requirements the ability to combine maintenance and asset information with production and operations data to uncover new performance management capabilities affordably from one vendor. This development architecture will also enable customers to benefit from easier upgrades and future product integration." 9:50:56 AM    comment []