Honeywell recently announced its new product, the Experion LS control system, which provides the power of a distributed control system (DCS) in a small and flexible solution. It manages all continuous process control applications and optimizes batch and sequence-oriented applications typically found at specialty chemicals, pharmaceutical, food and beverage and consumer goods producers.
Because it requires less engineering effort to configure and is easier to maintain than a PLC or large DCS, Experion LS can help plants save up to $20,000 per year in support per system, according to Honeywell.
"Smaller manufacturing operations tell us they need DCS functionality, such as the system reliability and greater flexibility that PLCs can't offer, but many leading DCS systems are just too big for their operations," said Harsh Chitale, vice president of strategy and global marketing, Honeywell Process Solutions.
Experion LS features Honeywell's S88 compliant and scalable solution for batch automation that can be fully redundant. The system minimizes engineering costs with drag-and-drop configuration, pre-built algorithms, a global database, pre-configured displays and out-of-the-box batch functionality. Operational advantages are gained by being able to make automation configuration changes without stopping production and offering operators a run-time view of control strategy and sequence status.
