ABB has launched a partner programme aimed at bringing the benefits of process automation to many more applications.
The ABB Automation Solution Providers programme has already grown to 25 specialist process automation partners across the UK and Ireland, with expertise in a wide range of industries including food & beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical, oil & gas, waste to energy, environmental and recycling.
The programme aims to bring DCS functionality to smaller applications than those that would typically be undertaken with ABB's flagship System 800xA Extended Automation system. It will do this by seeking to widen the use of ABB's control products, which range from a small hybrid controller, through Freelance DCS and Compact 800 products up to System 800xA. ABB hopes that this will bring the DCS advantages of faster development, easier support, and affordability to many more applications in a wide range of industries.
"Both the pricing and functionality of our middle ground or hybrid products means they span applications that previously would have attracted a SCADA/PLC solution," says Graham Isherwood manager of ABB's OCS (open control systems) business in the UK & Ireland. "There are a huge range of systems and applications that don't fall neatly into the categories of continuous processes or discrete automation. ABB's portfolio provides a complete seamless set of solutions across the board – breaking down the conventional but artificial definitions of system types.
"The ABB Automation Solutions Provider programme adds another dimension to the way customers can obtain their control products, sitting alongside ABB engineered solutions or a product only purchase supported by training and coaching."