The Foxboro Automation unit of Invensys Process Systems has announced a campaign to identify the control room in a North American process plant that is most in need of a complete design and equipment makeover.
The winning company will receive a "TV-reality-show-inspired" makeover. This will include professional control room design by User Centered Design Services (a consulting company focused on effective control room design and operations); a conceptual design solution walkthrough videofrom Smith LaRock(a professional services firm that provides planning, architecture, and interior design services); a new operator console from Wright Line(a manufacturer of consoles, enclosures, and other furniture for technology-intensive environments); Foxboroworkstation and monitor upgrades; plus appropriate Invensys engineering, alarm management, and training services, with a total estimated value of up to $350,000.
"The control room is the critical operations nerve center in a process plant," said Paul Steinitz, marketing director at the Foxboro Automation unit of Invensys Process Systems. "Here, the operators routinely make decisions that impact plant safety, availability, and performance. With this in mind, it's surprising how many control rooms are so obviously in need of an upgrade, either because the ergonomics are poor, the environment is not conducive to good decision-making, the control system is obsolete, the alarm sub-system needs to be rationalized, or a combination of these problems.
"While we're certainly trying to have some fun by launching this TV-reality-show-inspired 'makeover' campaign, we also hope to draw attention to the above situation and encourage North America's brownfield process plants to take the necessary steps to empower their operators by upgrading their control rooms."
Potential candidates are encouraged to send photos of their control rooms, along with a control room description and their specific "makeover" goals and objectives to Foxboro, where an expert team of judges will choose the control room most in need of a functional and cosmetic upgrade.
For more information, or to submit an entry, readers should visit www.foxboro.com/crm2. Foxboro will announce the winner of the control room makeover at the 2005 ISA Show in Chicago, October 25-27, 2005.
