Demand for the ABB IndustrialIT System 800xA has continued to grow strongly with over 2,500 systems sold and installed to date: some example applications in the process industries are explained

Demand for the ABB IndustrialIT System 800xA has continued to grow strongly with over 2,500 systems sold and installed to date. The system continues to extend the reach and functionality of traditional automation systems since its launch in 2001 and now addresses some 9 million I/O channels and accesses some 14,000 controllers. Customers in a variety of process industries have selected IndustrialIT System 800xA because it extends the scope of traditional control systems by including all automation functions in a single operational and engineering environment.

This enables plants and mills to run smarter and better at substantial cost savings since productivity and profitability improvements can be measured more effectively.

Because System 800xA is fully backwards compatible, many customers have added System 800xA functionality to their existing ABB systems.

Some examples of the companies that have benefited by specifying ABB IndustrialIT System 800xA are as follows.

* Schering Plough chose System 800xA when it upgraded its facility in Cork, Ireland, that produced Interferon alfa-2b for the treatment of malignant melanoma, chronic hepatitis B and C, and other illnesses.

Increased global demand for the drug meant that Schering Plough needed to extend the plant and provide continuous production of the drug.

Notes Mike Hennessy, Senior Project Manager, Schering Plough, 'ABB provided a price competitive solution using the latest technology which is easy to support and expand'.

* The world's leading producer and refiner of cobalt, OM Group Inc, selected System 800xA for batch management of a range of speciality chemicals including cobalt.

The system features 880 I/O points and controls the reactors on the facility's main production unit as well as controlling the sequencing of the various production stages.

Rey Duckworth at OMG says, 'With the addition of the batch package the 800xA is a good fit for our requirements'.

* Ranbaxy Laboratories, which ranks among the top 10 generic companies and manufactures branded pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients, chose ABB System 800xA for their CLA/ CILIM facilities at Dewas, in the Central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

The 800xA system includes the fully integrated Audit Trail and Batch Management software that facilitates conformance to FDA regulation of 21 CFR Part 11, a mandatory requirement for exports to Europe and USA.

* Corus selected System 800xA for an upgrade to the Scunthorpe steel works Queen Victoria blast furnace control system order.

Neil Baldwin, project manager for ABB says: 'Management reporting in the new system will be much better.

All data from the controller will be available to management staff, making it easy for them to have overall control of what the blast furnace is doing'.

* The BP Valhall redevelopment project in the North Sea will use the ABB safety and automation system (SAS).

Based on the award-winning System 800xA, the ABB SAS is to be fully integrated with the existing ABB Advant/Master systems on the field.

By specifying System 800xA, traditional control systems are expanded to include any automation component with one simple interface, enabling smarter and more efficient platform management.