New DCS release offers flexibility and reliability

Rockwell Automation has released the FLEXHA 5000 I/O family that offers high availability and continued evolution of the PlantPAx Distributed Control System (DCS).

Process customers will see more flexibility and reliability, enabling integrated control for their Connected Enterprise production system, while decreasing total cost of ownership and enhancing productivity through reduced downtime and time to engineer.

The new FLEXHA 5000 input/output (I/O) module, is a cutting edge I/O platform that helps reduce hardware complexity and cost by using a more conveniently integrated design. FLEXHA 5000 I/O modules enhance communication with 1 Gb EtherNet/IP network connectivity, offering higher speed and increased bandwidth. Reducing both downtime and engineering time while limiting costs, this platform is designed to be a smarter, more efficient I/O solution.

“Process customers are looking for a modern, reliable and flexible I/O solution to satisfy their basic and process safety control needs, while reducing downtime, minimizing engineering and simplifying configuration and maintenance,” said Dan DeYoung, vice president of product management at Rockwell Automation. “With the range of options this platform offers, customers can see more consistent operations, reduction in downtime and optimized footprints that maximize the return on their assets.”

The FLEXHA 5000 I/O platform in conjunction with PlantPAx allows for integrated control in your Connected Enterprise production system in three key ways:

Ready for process applications: The FLEXHA 5000 I/O platform helps customers achieve more efficient engineering time through tight integration with an instruction set in the PlantPAx system. Customers can gain support for ControlLogix 5580 controller redundancy in high availability applications from Studio 5000 Logix Designer software (version 35 or later) and deliver more consistent operations with increased reliability.

Flexibility in design and maintenance: The FLEXHA 5000 I/O platform helps customers to optimize their footprint by enabling them to mount up to 24 I/O modules on a single node, vertically or horizontally, and in any module sequence. A reduction in downtime can also be achieved with simplified Removal and Insertion Under Power (RIUP) and easy online changes.

Available universal I/O option: FLEXHA 5000 I/O modules contain a universal card option that allows for flexibility in I/O choice. Universal I/O simplifies field wiring, reduces spare module requirements and reduces maintenance time. This I/O choice is configurable per channel during runtime as analogue (HART capable) or discrete, input or output. Modules can also be configured in simplex or duplex.

“The PlantPAx 5.20 system release builds on our 5.0 platform and features the FLEXHA 5000 Universal I/O, which allows our customers, integrators and OEM partners to leverage our DCS platform in more dynamic ways,” said Jim Winter, global director of process at Rockwell Automation. “The high availability universal I/O improves manufacturing flexibility, reduces cost throughout a project’s lifecycle and provides flexibility for spare parts management.”

In the future, the FLEXHA 5000 I/O platform will allow for integrated safety I/O and base process control I/O to be conveniently mounted in the same rack, which reduces hardware complexity and cost of the PlantPAx system.