Plc Or Dcs

DCS or PLC?
Seven Questions to Help You Select the Best Solution

Distributed Control Systems (DCS) or Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) For manufacturers in the process industries, the procedure for selecting the best automation technology is not as easy as it once was. In the past it was fairly easy to determine whether a PLC or a DCS was right for your application, because theirstrengths and weaknesses were well understood. In recent years this has become more difficult, thanks primarily to the advancement of the microprocessor, which has allowed the technologies to merge. With the trend toward flexible manufacturing in industry, many of the applications in the process industries now share the requirements traditionally thought to be exclusive to either DCS or PLC. These hybridapplications typically require a process control system that can deliver both PLC and DCS capabilities. Thus understanding the merging of PLC and DCS functionality is important for selecting the best system for your company. In this white paper, we will shift away from some of the classic stereotypes of DCS and PLC , such as those shown in Table 1 on page 9, in order to explore seven key criteria,which will help your company select the system that best meets your goals. We will also demonstrate why having a clear picture of the

process
The convergence of PLC and DCS technologies has created a situation where it is more challenging than ever for process manufacturers to select the best technology for their application. A successful evaluation should start by developing a clear pictureof the requirements of your application and the needs of your engineering, maintenance, and operations personnel. To help clearly define these requirements and needs for your company, this paper outlines the seven key questions that will lead you to making the right choice.

White Paper

requirements of your application and the needs of your engineering, maintenance, and operations personnelis paramount to finding the right automation technology for your company. Finally, we will provide you with a simple check list (Table 4) to help you determine what type of system works best for your application. Benefits of Selecting the "Right" Automation Technology In this era of global competition, manufacturers in the process industries are being driven to achieve operational excellence tosecure their place ahead of their competition now and in the future. Selection of new automation technologies impacts this goal. Consequently, the selection process is more important to a company's staying power than ever before. In fact, the importance of the selection of technology far outweighs the cost of the automation investment itself. Selecting the right technology and the right supplier canhelp your company: respond quickly to changing market conditions in a way that creates a sustainable competitive advantage minimize Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) over the life of your plant create a system which is easily maintainable/ upgradeable for the long-term achieve its future goals and vision

Let's Get Technical Stereotypes Out of the Way! Selecting an automation system based on areview of available products is the typical course of action for someone in the market for a new automation system. The problem with this approach is that your perception of which systems "make the cut" is often based on old stereotypes or influenced by the claims of the first salesperson in the door. Let's look at the components of a DCS or PLC based system to see how different (or similar) theyreally are. At first glance, the pictured system architectures look very similar. Both systems share the following components: Field devices Input/output modules Controllers Human machine interface (HMI) Engineering Supervisory control Business integration As you look at the following system architectures, you should note that the technologies used in each system are in fact, very similar; the...