SECOND-TIER SYSTEMS REFUGE LEGACY CONTROLS - Got an old control system? Look to second-tier control system vendors for a replacement

摘要

Periodically, we cover the Second Tier of process control system vendors. As you will see in the this issue's Top 50 article, the hierarchy of control system vendors consists of a clumping of eight "Big Boys" at the top (Emerson, Honeywell, Invensys, ABB, Siemens, Rockwell, Schneider and Danaher) followed by a huge gap to the Second Tier companies gathered below, Last year, the gap was USD400 million in annual sales. The Second Tier companies are not separated from the Big Boys just by sales figures. Their philosophies are different. Their approach to marketing is vastly different (because of their often amateurish attempt at marketing, you probably never heard of some of the lower 42 in the Top 50), And, their product offerings tend to be narrower and more niche-oriented, The Big Boys tend to spread out across the product continuum, offering everything from field instruments to process controls to asset management software, while the Second Tiers appear to concentrate on doing a few things very well, This can consist of serving specific industries, such as power or paper, providing specific kinds of HMI/SCADA software, "adding on" capabilities to other systems, or providing general-purpose, lower-cost solutions.