Frost & Sullivan says SCADA systems competitive with DCSes

Frost & Sullivan闡述SCADA系統與DCS競爭

August 4, 2010 - Frost & Sullivan's World Distributed Control System (DCS) Market report says DCS manufacturers will have to be wary of competition from supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, which use PC-based software to integrate programmable logic controllers (PLC) on a network to replicate the functions of DCS.

8月4日消息 - Frost＆Sullivan的全球分布式控制系統（DCS）市場報告表示，分布式控制系統制造商將不得不提防來自監視控制與數據采集（SCADA）系統的競爭，后者使用基于PC的軟件與可編程邏輯控制器（PLC）在同一網絡上整合，復制DCS的功能。

Functions such as redundancy and high fault tolerance, that are conventionally associated with DCS systems, are being increasingly offered by SCADA systems, often at a fraction of the price. While traditional DCS users such as chemical plants and oil refineries are unlikely to switch to SCADA technology, these developments are placing DCS suppliers under pressure to reduce costs.

例如冗余和高容錯等傳統上與DCS系統相關的功能，正越來越多地通過SCADA系統提供，價格通常僅是DCS的一小部分。而化工廠和煉油廠等傳統的DCS用戶，也可能切換到SCADA技術，這些事態發展使得DCS供應商置于降低成本的壓力之下。

Market participants are looking to offset this issue by incorporating new features in their products. "New DCS increasingly offers added functionality, that clearly differentiates it from other controllers as well as enhances value addition for its end-users," notes the analyst. "Additionally, manufacturers have developed powerful software to allow scheduling, monitoring, device calibration, and maintenance alarms, giving further impetus to the uptake of DCS."

市場參與者正在尋求通過在其產品增加新功能來解決這一問題。 “新的DCS提供額外的功能越來越多，這顯然是區別于其他控制器以及提高其對最終用戶的附加價值，”分析師表示。 “此外，制造商已經開發強大的軟件，實現調度、監控、設備校準和維護警報，從而進一步推動DCS系統的采用。”

The report also says investments in power industry controls will sustain DCS Revenues.

該報告還表示，在電力控制領域的投資將維持DCS系統的營收。

The DCS market is relying heavily on retrofit orders from developed economies, which are looking to replace their outdated and inefficient control systems to sustain the percent of nuclear power generation to the overall power-generation capacity. DCS manufacturers can also look to cash in on the capacity expansion drives in the power industries in India and China. Application of DCS reduces downtime and also aids improved production using optimal resources. These obvious benefits, along with a robust migration strategy, are expected to appeal to even the customers that are unwilling to change their functioning legacy systems.

DCS市場高度依賴于發達經濟體的改造訂單，這些國家正在考慮更換他們過時、低效率的控制系統，以維持核能發電占其整體發電總量的百分比。DCS系統制造商也可以期望乘機利用印度和中國電力產能擴張帶來的機會。DCS的應用有助于降低停機時間，也可以實現資源的最優利用，幫助提高生產。這些顯而易見的好處，以及一個強大的遷移策略，預計將吸引甚至是不愿改變其正在運行的老化系統的客戶。

Apart from power, the oil and gas industry is also emerging as a lucrative end-user segment, especially with the rise in exploration activities. This industry has invested significantly in automation of processes and DCS being a vital component of automation systems, stands to gain substantially. Global climate-control initiatives, the pressure to meet regulatory requirements, and the moves to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and imported energy have given considerable impetus to the market. "Optimizing decision making processes is the top priority of every company. The company cannot afford a decrease in productivity, due to the flexibility demanded in production," says the analyst of this research service. "A DCS system has adequate features that collect data from the process and disseminate the information in a way that enhances understanding of the productivity metrics."

除了電力，石油和天然氣行業也正在成為一個利潤豐厚的最終用戶領域，特別是伴隨著勘探行動的增多。這個行業已經大量投資于過程自動化，而DCS作為自動化系統的重要組成部分，大大受惠。全球氣候控制措施、滿足監管要求的壓力、減少對化石燃料和進口能源依賴的舉措已大大推動了這個市場。 “優化決策過程，是每個公司的首要任務。由于生產的靈活性要求，公司無法承擔生產力的下降，”該研究服務分析師說。 “一套DCS系統擁有足夠的從過程中收集數據的功能，并通過增強對生產力標準理解的方式傳播信息。”