hello all,

help please, i am desperately need any suggestion from anyone to convince my boss that it's more cheaper and useful to purchase an Hart Modem or a Multiplexer attached to our field bus link than buy a hand held communicator for HART.

I have already give him a brief summary about the simatic PDM or the open source pactware and also give him the brochure and some papers about the benefit about the field device configurator software but he still insist and distrust me about the compatibility of the software (he is an old fashioned engineer if I can tell you).

Unless I have some proof of such as success stories about it he will never change his mind (unless in some case he is resign and take a permanent retirement) so is there some one out there can share me their stories. very much thank you.

 

Use this link, plenty of success stories by using on-line system:
http://www.emersonprocess.com/optimize/custinde.htm

 

Hello,

Thanks for the replies I have tell my superior about the success stories, but my boss still little bit confused, is there any more interactive source like presentation that I can use?

Thank you

 

Both handheld field communicators and laptop software using USB modem are equally interoperable. Both use EDDL www.eddl.org technology to ensure that the devices are displayed in the software/handheld the way the device manufacturer wants so that you can do setup/calibration and diagnostics etc.

A solution of computer+software+modem is unlikely to be cheaper than a handheld communicator if you take the price of computer+windows into account. This is even more so if you look at a ruggedized laptop. If you already have the computer, and it is not tied up in other tasks, then software+modem may perhaps be cheaper.

The initial cost of multiplexer system and software will be definitely be higher, but in the long run you can achieve maintenance savings you don't get with a laptop/communicator, so it is really worth considering.

In fact, a laptop may be the least suitable compromise. A laptop is kind of clunky to bring to the field. You can't hold it with one hand (for very long) and there may not be a place to put it, it runs out of battery, it is more fragile (even the ruggedized ones have moving parts inside). The handheld communicator is splash-proof, can be operated with one hand while you key in data with the other, has longer battery life, and is lighter, and has hazardous area approvals etc.

For work in the field, a handheld communicator is best. A laptop is OK for workshop bench.

That is, ideally you want to have a centrally located device management system, as well as a handheld.

Cheers,
Jonas