EcoStruxure Foxboro DCS - distributed control system
EcoStruxure™ Foxboro™ DCS is an innovative family of fault-tolerant, highly available control components, which consolidates critical information and elevates staff capabilities to ensure flawless, continuous plant operation, and support the digital transformation of processes.
A distributed control system (DCS) is the brain controlling the processes in energy-intensive, process-heavy facilities. This digital automated industrial control system achieves this by using geographically distributed control loops throughout a plant or machine. A modern distributed control system will increase safety and efficiency and is vital in making operations profitable in the coming decades.
Features
Packed with state-of-the-art OT technologies like dynamic SAMA, engineer anywhere and control anywhere capabilities, visualisation and situation-awareness functionalities, and the latest IT technologies in mobility, cloud and analytics.
Architecturally optimised for smart design and flexible engineering reducing capital and operating expenses, protecting operational integrity while enhancing decision-making, problem resolution, and workflow.
Provides a powerful platform to turn your industrial automation into a universal automation of your business, driving measurable operational profitability safely.
When coupled with open, IEC 61499 standards-based solutions, like EcoStruxure Automation Expert and our other offers, the Foxboro DCS provides customers with even more choice and flexibility, so they can:
Leverage and adopt advancements in technology and hardware much faster, and not the 18 months to two years it takes in the current model.
Adopt technology that IT has been leveraging for years.
And more quickly address emerging and new critical challenges.
Future-proof technology preserves your investments
Optimised for smart design and flexible engineering using state-of-the-art OT technologies
Drives measurable operational profitability at every level of the industrial enterprise
Take control of industrial digital transformation
63% of current control systems are only somewhat equipped to support their company’s digital transformation. We commissioned Omdia to survey 250 global business leaders to capture essential perspectives and specific challenges they face on their journey toward digital transformation.
The Foxboro DCS family of fault-tolerant, highly available components collect, process, and disseminates valuable information to every corner of the plant. With flexibility and scalability in mind, the Foxboro DCS offers multiple types of controllers and I/O options to optimise cost, space and functionality requirements.
Reduce the indirect costs associated with marshalling and significantly reduce your total cost of system ownership with our intelligent marshalling solution.
Foxboro Compact 200 Series fieldbus modules (FBMs) feature an innovative design for significant footprint, weight, and volume savings in your system installation.
The 100 Series FBM upgrade programme provides a cost-effective upgrade path to the EcoStruxure Foxboro DCS system’s latest fieldbus modules — the 200 Series FBM product line.
Enclosures
A broad array of control system enclosures helps protect your automation system and components against intrusion or environmental effects.
Intelligent enclosures provide an integrated solution designed to be flexible and distributed. Designed for use outdoors or indoors (including hazardous areas), universal I/O field enclosures provide the flexibility to distribute I/O where and when required.
The Foxboro DCS features state-of-the-art, multi-purpose workstations and servers which are versatile and robust, with different options catering to different plant environments and operation requirements.
Workstations and servers
Pre-configured on secure, state-of-the-art, multi-purpose workstations and servers.
The Foxboro DCS control networks and interfaces provide scalable, robust connections between field, plant and business systems that put critical information in your hands to make timely decisions that impact your business.
Control network
Control network leverages advanced commercial communications technologies in robust industrial configurations.
The Foxboro DCS is equipped with advanced features and elevated human elements of the human machine interface (HMI), which deliver intuitive configuration, accelerate fault-finding, speed up engineering and consolidate critical information, ensuring flawless, continuous operation.
Operator performance HMI
Operators no longer need to sacrifice their panoramic views of production activities to interact with them digitally.
The most comprehensive system management solution used for system configuration, alarm management, operator action analysis, and overall documentation.
The historian provides a robust, single-software infrastructure for enterprise-wide collection, storage, and retrieval of historical process information. Designed and optimised for use with the Foxboro DCS historian client, it enables trend analysis and reporting that guide intelligent troubleshooting and help identify opportunities for cost savings.
Historian
A single-software infrastructure for storing and reporting industrial data.
Improve plant uptime with real-time, highly contextual device diagnostics and predictive maintenance capabilities, plus faster time-to-production with simplified device commissioning and replacement with our asset management solutions.
EcoStruxure Maintenance Advisor
IIoT platform for condition based maintenance and decision support, enabling profitable operations.
Improve productivity and profitability for the production, manufacturing, and infrastructure industries. Our advanced application software and solutions help you deliver sustainable performance with flexibility and agility to address evolving market requirements.
AVEVA™
Industrial information and operation management solutions.
2023 Innovation Days – reimagining automation for Foxboro DCS
Watch how Foxboro DCS Leader Michael Martinez kicks off 2023 Innovation Days.
2023 Innovation Days – process control highlights
The conference offered engineers and plant operators knowledge of the latest innovations, industry challenges, and heavy-process application demos.
Digital transformation in the automation world
EcoStruxure Foxboro DCS Leader Michael Martinez leads a panel discussion on digital transformation and its influence on industrial companies’ future way of working.
Futureproofing DCS technology
Discover how EcoStruxure Foxboro DCS future-proofs its technology to offer customers a return on investment and interoperability in their distributed control system.
Solutions to aging DCS
Replace your aging DCS to improve reliability and avoid production interruptions or plant shutdowns. Keep your current wiring and cabinet in place.
Digital transformation in industrial process automation. How to break the barriers?
Explore our digital and in-person courses, specially designed to ensure the technical skills of your automation workforce are future-ready. Or request a custom learning solution to address your unique training needs.
Migrating and upgrading your DCS doesn't need to be a costly and time-consuming process. Learn how our DCS migration programmes can benefit your business.
Submit and manage cases online, use self-help tools, browse extensive product-related content, download software releases, and more with global customer support.
Maximise your business infrastructure in order to face increasingly stringent demands on productivity, safety, equipment availability, and performance optimisation.
Do you have questions or need assistance? We’re here to help!
1. What is a distributed control system (DCS)?
A distributed control system (DCS) is a computer-based control system with a primary goal to monitor and control the manufacturing process, industrial process, and some other operations. Usually, these are network computers, sensors, and controllers that we can use in a plant or a factory.
Components that encompass DCS systems have specific purposes, and they are responsible for such tasks as data collection, data storage, or control processing. The system serves well in continuous-process plants and in a wide variety of industries. It includes chemical processing, oil and gas, power, water treatment, and more.
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of distributed control systems?
Traditional control systems are not as efficient and reliable as DCS solutions. These devices play a critical role in the modern industrial world since they offer safety, efficiency, and reliability. Distributed control systems are easily configurable, making them an ideal option for almost every type of plant or factory. What is more, they are less likely to fail because there is more than one controller, so in the case of a single-point failure, the other controller can take over. Also, they are not as centralised as traditional control systems, and because of that, it is much more difficult to gain access to the entire system.
Still, we need to remember that distributed control systems are not ideal. Though they are more cost-efficient in the long run, the initial costs can be high. What is more, these are more complex systems. Therefore, they are more difficult to install.
3. Why is it a good idea to pick Foxboro DCS - distributed control systems digital technologies?
These products make use of modern OT technologies like, for example, dynamic SAMA, or engineer anywhere and control anywhere. Besides that, the products feature visualisation and situation-awareness functionalities, making industrial automation and control smooth, efficient, and safe.
Furthermore, the highly optimised architecture can reduce capital and operating expenses without risking operational integrity. At the same time, our products enhance decision-making and problem-resolution.
