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What's FDT good for???
From Larry O'Brien at ARC:
Apparently something.
Hey Walt --
How's your FDT research going? I read Dick Caro's article. Speaking as someone who has gone through the meat grinder on this topic from both sides, there are some interesting resources out there I can point you to. One is a book published by Vogel and Praxis that was handed out at the last Hanover fair that outlines some end user applications for FDT that are pretty impressive. One user from DSM pretty succinctly describes the root problems between EDDL and FDT (which are not, in my opinion, competing technologies). If you get in touch with Scott Bump of Invensys (who is their FDT person), perhaps he can send you a copy or you can order one online here:
http://www.elektronikpraxis.de/publikat
There is one particularly good case study from BASF, which is where, incidentally, FDT got its start back in the mid-90s in Ludwigshafen I think. It was originally specified by BASF so they could have a single interface to devices across multiple networks! I think this is the original plant included in an ABB case study here (see copyright 2002, I think the project actually started in 1998).
http://library.abb.com/GLOBAL/SCOT/scot
So, what do you all think? Is this controversy manufactured?
Walt
Phoenix, AZ—Honeywell has joined the Field Device Tool (FDT) Group, a collaboration of international automation companies that supports advancement of FDT and Device Tool Management (DTM) technology.
Honeywell expects to use the open technology of DTM to improve support for its own and other suppliers' devices. Expanding device connectivity and integration with Honeywell's Experion Process Knowledge System is intended to help users reduce maintenance costs and improve process uptime with the company's asset-management and automation offerings.
"Honeywell is investing in technology and open standards that provide the market with a wide range of choices when interconnecting devices and subsystems with automation solutions," said Paul Butler, Honeywell Process Solutions vice president of technology.
He noted that joining the FDT Group reflects the company's support for technologies based on open-systems standards that benefit the end-user community, adding that Honeywell "remains firmly committed to its investments in DDL technology for HART and FOUNDATION Fieldbus. FDT technology is complementary to DDL technology and holds promise in other areas, specifically around the support of configuration and diagnostics for more sophisticated subsystems, especially in the discrete and hybrid industries. The new FDT Group organizational structure makes it much easier for companies to collaborate on this open technology," Butler said.
Also Schneider, Shell, & Saudi Aramco have formally joined up.