Safeguarding your installed equipment

You’ve invested in your automation system. Now you need to protect that investment.

Our unique policy enhances what you already have. 

The system hardware, application software and engineering tools that make up your DCS may take huge amounts of capital, but they’re invaluable to your plant. We provide support to protect and enhance your control system and your intellectual property. We combine highly trained and experienced engineers, technicians and operators, as well as the creation of site-specific control strategies, procedures and graphics to create a unique, constantly developing system.

ABB’s life cycle management strategy

ABB has one of the world’s largest installed bases of distributed control systems. We’ve been evolving it for over 30 years, and now we’ve taken it to the next level.

We can meet the requirements of all types of power generation and water treatment plants, wherever they are. We fulfil maintenance and operations, engineering, IT and management performance objectives, and address key focus areas of the power and water industries: plant productivity, energy efficiency, operation security, plant safety and cost of ownership.

The main components of our solutions include state-of-the-art HMI offerings that suit all of our customers’ needs. Other new functions and technology updates include rack and DIN rail-mounted I/O modules, process controllers, communication modules and system configuration tools. 

Evolution versus ‘Rip and replace’

We’re committed to ‘evolution without obsolescence’. What does that mean for you? It means you can avoid the costs and risks associated with ‘rip-and-replace’ upgrade and instead, seamlessly extend the operating life of your control systems. This, in turn, improves investment profitability. Rather than upgrade your DCS according to component obsolescence, we give you flexibility to upgrade according to your business and plant operational needs. 

Our evolution program supports a step-wise approach. We upgrade your components or process areas individually and as required, either during normal operations or as part of scheduled maintenance activities while leaving the rest of your system undisturbed. Benefits of our evolutionary approach include: 

  • Utilizing your system to its full potential
  • Alleviating the need for large capital investment (and the resultant cash flow impact) associated with a full-scale ‘rip-and-replace’ approach. No major outage and cost-intensive engineering, design, and construction efforts.
  • Mitigating risks including poor design quality, resource allocation, plant trips, lost generation, project overruns and commercial/legal issues.
  • Read this white paper to learn more about the advantages of ABB’s evolution approach compared to the rip-and-replace alternative: Lowering Control System Life Cycle Costs and Risks through System Evolution
  • Click on the image table below highlighting the advantages of ABB’s evolution approach compared to the rip-and-replace alternative.

    Table_Evolution advantages versus ‘Rip-and-replace’ risks

Collaborative evolution planning process

What are your business goals? This is what we base your evolution program plan on. Our account managers and technical experts work closely with you to address your individual needs. We understand the need for good planning in any incremental, step-wise evolution, and our collaborative approach results in the best strategies. 

Regardless of when you invested in it, your installed automation system is a vital and sustainable part of the business and manufacturing strategy. Evolution without obsolescence provides you with a platform to help maintain and enhance your existing automation system. Seamlessly integrating new technology with your existing system lowers your ownership costs, increases the value your system provides and extends its life.

Once we have worked with you to ascertain the main drivers in your business and have completed a comprehensive audit of your existing system, we will:

  • Submit a three- or five-year plan. This can be reviewed and revised as necessary: our incremental approach supports flexibility.
  • Identify and target which plant areas are at greatest risk for production loss, and which have the greatest potential for increased production.
  • Provide value assessments and return-on-investment support for consideration, in order to facilitate successful project appropriation requests.
  • Review your long term plan periodically and update as required. This takes the guess work out of the budgeting process.

Get the industry advantage with:

Optimization of control system life cycle costs and extending the life of your existing control system

No more unplanned production losses due to system interruption

Maximized physical and intellectual system investments and assets

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