LEADING ENGINEERING CONTRACTORS ATTEND FIELDBUS FOUNDATION EVENT IN LONDON, UK
28 July 2005 - Fieldbus Foundation

As the adoption rate for FOUNDATION fieldbus-based control systems has skyrocketed and end users have standardised on FOUNDATION technology for a wide range of control and instrumentation projects, most of the attendees at the event had already successfully executed fieldbus projects, and had identified many more opportunities for adopting the technology. The speaker programme for the day ensured that extensive FOUNDATION fieldbus applications experiences could be shared with attendees.

Dr. Bindert Douma of Shell Global Solutions presented a paper entitled 'Engineering Contractor Awareness of FOUNDATION Fieldbus Technology.'

With projects so far using 150,000 fieldbus devices, Shell has adopted FOUNDATION fieldbus technology as the standard for new-build and re-instrumentation projects. Shell has seen significant capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operational expenditure (OPEX) savings from adopting fieldbus. According to Dr. Douma, 'Fieldbus is not difficult, it is just different. Therefore it is important for contractors who are adopting the technology to change their work processes'. He added, 'These fieldbus events are a great way for contractors to share their experience and adopt best practice in fieldbus implementations.'

Mike Sharpe, C&I Chief Engineer for Foster Wheeler, presented 'FOUNDATION Fieldbus, Foster Wheeler's Experiences.'

This presentation covered the practical experience of successfully implementing several fieldbus projects and emphasised the need to agree the detailed fieldbus specification as early as possible in a project's lifecycle. This helps to avoid rework during the detailed engineering phase and also ensures that the right equipment is purchased.

Mr. Sharpe advised, 'FOUNDATION fieldbus provides significant space savings in cabinet design and reduction in field cable terminations on a project. To maximise FOUNDATION fieldbus-related savings, changes in work practices are required, for example, testing of typical fieldbus segments and configuration checks of devices prior to installation, which can save time doing loop checks on site.'

Bareld Bruining of STC Brielle, one of the Fieldbus Foundation's European training centres, presented the industry's experience with 'FOUNDATION Fieldbus Project Handling.'

This presentation compared the stages in a project using 4-20mA I/O to those for a fieldbus project. Mr. Bruining commented, 'Engineering contractors who have invested in fieldbus training at the start of a project have achieved capital savings using fieldbus compared to using conventional technology.'

The London event was sponsored by key suppliers of fieldbus equipment: ABB, Emerson, E+H, Honeywell, Invensys, MTL Instruments, Pepperl + Fuchs, Rockwell, Softing, Yokogawa, Hawke, Smar and Turck. Additional support was provided by the Institute of Measurement and Control.

Roger Highton, Director of End User Councils, Fieldbus Foundation, EMEA was delighted with how well the day's programme was received by attendees, 'This was a very successful first event organised by the Fieldbus Foundation to support engineering contractors in the adoption of the technology. We have also arranged engineering contractor events to be held in The Netherlands this September and in Italy in November. Events in Germany and France will be held early next year.'

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