Reviewer details
Name: Details at request
SI details
Name: Ivan Booysen
Designation: Manager IA delivery
Company: Yokogawa SA
Phone: +27 (0)11 831 6300
E-mail: [email protected]
Product details
Product name and version: FAST/TOOLS 9.0.1
Vendor: Yokogawa Electric Corporation
Phone: +27 (0)11 831 6300
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: www.yokogawa.com
Application details
Industry: Chemical
Location: Secunda, Mpumalanga
Application: Manufacturing
Server OS: Windows XP
Client OS: Windows XP
Application statistics
Tag count: 8000 points
Front ends: 1200 I/O across four front-end devices
Licences: 1 FAST/TOOLS scada licence – 8000 tag; 5 FAST/TOOLS client seats
End–user responses
General
Q: Briefly describe the application including information on any pre-existing control system.
The project comprised the upgrade from a Texas Instruments PLC incorporating the running of the plant on semi-auto plus the introduction of a supervisory system with trend and Web-based capabilities. This 1000+ I/O point plant was changed over on a weekend with minimal loss of production.
Licensing, maintenance and support
Q: What licences have been purchased for this application?
Standard 8000 bundle scada licence plus 5 seat client licence.
Q: What upgrade agreements are in place on this application?
No upgrade contracts are required but rather advised from time to time or when deemed necessary.
Q: How is the after-sales support handled on this application?
Incorporated in the Annual Assistance Support fee. Support includes on-site and remote desktop/telephone support.
System architecture
Q: Is the scada system integrated onto an intranet or the Internet? If so, what level of remote monitoring and control is configured?
The scada operates on the plant network. A plant decision was taken to not use available web functionality. Five concurrent seats are available for monitoring purposes.
Q: Do you run the scada in conjunction with any third-party application software (Other than MES)?
No.
Management reporting and integration
Q: Does the application include data archiving/historian capabilities with an historical data reporting system?
The system provides trending and analysis which are used for monitoring the plant process and when required during specific events such as plant unrequested shuts and night-shift process.
Q: Is the system integrated with an MES/ERP or other management reporting or control system? (eg, Baan, SAP, SYSPRO…)
No.
Q: Have any production benchmarking tools been configured as part of the scada system?
No.
Q: Has any asset management functionality been configured in the application (for software assets, control system assets or for plant assets)?
No.
Q: Has any GIS (geographic information systems) functionality been configured in the application?
This is in the planning stage.
Q: Are you currently using tablet PCs or mobile phones to interact with the scada system?
No.
End-user conclusion
Q: In the procurement decision making process was the total cost of wwnership (TCO) considered?
Yes. TCO is a pre-requisite for making investment decisions in our company.
Q: What was the predominant feature (or features) that made you decide to purchase this product for this application?
Ease of configuration, Web-based architecture, real-time cpu, trending capabilities, data archiving, flexibility and expandability for a growing plant. Design aspects borrowed from proven stable DCS technology.
Q: What single feature most impresses you about the product now that it is in operation?
Trending.
Q: What impresses you most about the architecture?
System scalability and architectural flexibility. The system can be used from as little 200 I/O all the way to 1 million tags.
SI Responses
Project details
Q: Approximately how many man-hours did the scada configuration take?
80 man-hours.
Q: For the graphics development process did you use standard library images, or did you have to draw images from scratch?
The FAST/Tools standard Applications Library was used.
Q: How would you describe the library of graphic images?
It uses the latest in extensive Xml technology and Vista, looks very impressive.
Q: Did you use any ‘special’ images (eg, photographs, 3D images, specialised dashboards, etc.)?
No.
Q: Did you use any video or multimedia technology used in the application?
No.
Q: What specific custom code or scada scripts were written for this project?
None.
Security and data protection
Q: How have authentication, authorisation and role management been configured?
Integrated in the OS.
Q: Does the design make provision for a DMZ and firewall segregation of process (scada) network and business networks?
The system is connected to the local LAN network and is firewalled.
Q: What intrusion detection has been incorporated on the plant network(s) on which this scada system exists?
Information withheld.
Q: What configuration backup and data archive backup methodologies have been adopted?
Information withheld.
Q: Did you use any integrated or third party configuration control system for the scada configuration during the engineering of this application?
Information withheld.
SI conclusion
Q: How would you rate the ease of use of the historical reporting system?
It integrates seamlessly in the OS (Windows running XP). Very flexible and functional.
Q: What impresses you the most about the engineering/configuration aspects of the product now that it is in operation?
Wizards that aid configuration and well supported Portfolio Libraries for drafting drawings.
Q: What impresses you most about the architecture?
It is highly flexible, with the possibility of adapting to any plant’s requirements.
Vendor responses
Product
Q: Vendor comments on product/modules?
All modules are standard product package of Fast/Tools. Customisation is offered by a dedicated department at Yokogawa in Japan.
Operating systems/VMware
Q: Vendor comments on OS?
Fast/Tools is platform independent supported under a wide range of OS including Windows, SunSolaris, Unix and Linux.
Licensing, maintenance and support model
Q: What sort of licensing agreement options are offered?
Licences are based on tag count.
Q: Are licences sold outright or subject to periodic (eg, annual) renewal?
Licences are a once-off purchase for a particular version of the software.
Q: What upgrade agreements are offered?
Patches are free, version upgrades are partially covered by an annual product support fee or maintenance contract when applicable.
Q: What after-sales offerings iro support and maintenance are available, and which technologies are used to deliver them?
Yokogawa offers maintenance, tuning, upgrade and cyber security services.
Technology incorporated
Editor’s note: FAST/TOOLS is Java-based and does not utilise or rely on Microsoft proprietary technologies.
Management reporting and integration
Q: What native historical data reporting options are available?
Fully native and extensive historical data reporting functionality is included. Reports can be generated in HTML.
Q: What product specific interface does the product have iro well-known MES packages?
Generic XML, OPC and ODBC are available.
PLC configuration and programming
Q: What capabilities does the scada offer in terms of generation and/or management of PLC configuration files or PLC application code?
This is incorporated in the application.
Security and data protection
Q: If the scada system generates application files that are transferred to the PLC, how are Stuxnet style PLC virus attacks prevented?
N/A. No application files are transferred from the scada software environment to the PLC. All protocol drivers for PLCs are hardened and may be encrypted.
Q: What authentication, authorisation and role management models are available?
Incorporated in the application and seamlessly integrated with the OS.
Unique selling proposition (USP)
Q: List the top five feature/benefit pairs that contribute to this product’s USP.
* Quick load utilities: Reduce engineering and maintenance efforts/cost.
* Low footprint: Provides high performance using COTS equipment.
* High reliability: High availability.
* Highly scalable: The same application can be used for projects 50 I/O to 1.000.00+ I/O.
* Platform independent: Can run on Unix, Linux, Windows.
Vendor submitted question
Q: What differentiates your product from others?
• Fast/Tools incorporates a full blown Alarm Management module (normally hundreds of thousands dollars if bought separately) with sequence of events, best of class filter capabilities, counters, 10 most bad actors and playback function.
• Media and protocol independent communication which can be tuned per device per channel per protocol per media (wireless, fibre-optic, radio, satellite ...)
• Very powerful Process/Fast for building applications, generating tags automatically and building object-oriented templates for re-use.
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