Market studies indicate that tens of billions of dollars worth of automation systems in operation today are reaching “end of useful life” economic and functional status. Plants with these legacy systems struggle to keep pace with best-in-class competitors. Upgrading to the latest technologies is essential for improved business results.
The contribution made by automation to a plant’s bottom line has increased significantly since the early days of pneumatic instrumentation and panel board operation. Advances in electronic transmitters, final elements and distributed control helped to improve plant efficiency and product quality. A major paradigm shift came with digital plant architectures which enable tighter integration of field devices and business systems with the control network. Technologies were developed to turn vast amounts of diagnostic data into meaningful decision support information for operations, maintenance and plant business management.
The latest advancements have been to reduce complexity, eliminate unnecessary work and embed essential knowledge into technology. These changes reflect Emerson’s dedication to understanding work processes in order to determine and devise methods to improve the way people work. This area of study is called Human Centered Design (HCD), and its position on the continuum of automation system user experience