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Operations Glossary
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A
The ArchestrA® open-platform software architecture allows system-ready applications to be assembled and by using and reusing a set of standard library components, without the need for any scripting or compiling of code.
ATO
Automatic Train Operation is the non-safety part of a train operation system related to station stops and starts.
ATP
Automatic Train Protection is the safety system which ensures that trains remain a safe distance apart and have sufficient warning to allow them to stop without colliding with another train.
Avantis
Avantis, an IPS brand, offers Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) software, deploying maintenance and materials management products and value-added services to balance the availability and utilization of industrial assets.
C
Invensys Controls is a global provider of control devices for products in residential homes and commercial buildings.
D
Distributed Control Systems split up the major control functions of a plant (controllers, batch historians and displays) into separate areas. This helps to increase the efficiency of production: because the controls are not in a single box, one can fail without production ceasing. Because they use a data network rather than hardwired control points parts of a system controlled by a DCS can more easily be upgraded and replaced.
Drive
Drives are electronic systems used to vary motor speeds. By controlling an input to the drive, which could be voltage, frequency or a number of other factors, drives can be used to speed up or slow down motors as required. Variable-speed drives also monitor and provide feedback on the process.
E
Environmental Health & Safety.
Environmental, Health, Safety and Sustainability - an Invensys-specific term highlighting our commitment to sustainable business performance.
EMI
Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence, a term which applies to the software used to bring a company's manufacturing-related data together from many sources for the purposes of reporting, analysis and passing data between enterprise-level and plant-floor systems.
ERP
Where MES informs decisions at the plant level, Enterprise Resource Planning informs decisions for the enterprise, by integrating data and data management across the back office. ERP software ensures that departments are using the same figures for financial and management accounting, business analysis, purchasing, sales and other functions. ERP software is used to improve the quality of information available to business planners
ERTMS
The European Railway Traffic Management System has been designed by the European railways and the supply industry supported by the European Commission to meet the future needs of the European Railways. It comprises two parts, ETCS and GSM-R.
ETCS
The European Train Control System makes it possible to transmit permitted speed information to the train driver and to monitor constantly the driver’s compliance with these instructions.
Eurotherm
Eurotherm is a global leader in industrial control and monitoring products and services.
F
Field devices and sensors both refer to monitoring devices in production industry. Field devices, including temperature, pressure and flow control valves and analytical instruments, are generally used in continuous process industry, whereas sensors (for example, proximity and positional sensors) are more often found in industries involving assembling products. Field devices and sensors can be connected in a field network, to provide networked production monitoring.
Foxboro
Foxboro, an IPS brand, is a leading supplier of instruments, systems, and services for industrial process automation.
G
The radio system used for exchanging voice and data information between the track and the train.
H
Human-Machine Interface systems provide a graphical representation of how a production process is working - presenting the raw data in a way more suited for a human operator to understand. HMI systems can provide diagnostic information to maintenance personnel, and allow an operator to control the processes it displays.
HVAC
Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning systems.
I
The use of control systems to control and manage industrial machinery and processes, reducing the need for human interventionby automating processes and responses. Industrial Automation solutions help customers to increase process efficiency and profitability, meet statutory and validation requirements and improve their information flow and decision-making capabilities.
InFusion
An Enterprise Control System (ECS) which leverages the ArchestrA architecture and gives users the ability to employ all of their legacy process automation and information systems together - as one unified business system - regardless of supplier or technology.
Interlocking
In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings.
IPS
nvensys Process Systems, a technology, software and consulting firm helping clients take advantage of the real-time convergence of manufacturing and business operations.
IRG
he Invensys Rail Group is a multinational leader in delivering state-of-the- art railway control and communication solutions. Rail Group enables the world’s railways to help meet the ever-increasing demand for rail services by providing a range of solutions that safely increase the capacity of their networks by increasing frequency and maximising operational effectiveness.The Invensys Rail Goup comprises Westinghouse Rail Systems Limited, Westinghouse Rail Systems Australia, Dimetronic and Safetran Systems.
M
Manufacturing Execution Systems are software solutions aimed at giving plant operators the tools to make manufacturing decisions based on data gathered on the plant floor. So, for example, an MES could tell the plant operators where products made at a certain time had been shipped to, or which batches of raw materials had gone into which finished products. Broader MES applications extend to analysing, planning and optimising production.
Motion Controller
Motion Control is a term applied to the control of a mechanical system through electrical power, using drives. A Motion Controller is a device incorporating hardware and software that sits between the PLC and the drive and supports synchronised changes to high-speed mechanical operations.
MRO
Maintenance Repair & Overhaul.
O
Original Equipment Manufacturer.
P
Printed Circuit Board.
PID Controller
A Proportional Integral Derivative controller is a generic control loop feedback mechanism widely used in industrial control systems.
PLC
A Programmable Logic Controller is a standard method of using software to automate a system. The PLC reads data from input devices such as switches and sensors, then applies the instructions of a stored programme to evaluate the data and responds by generating outputs that control production processes and machinery.
Power Controller
A network device that provides and manages power for the servers in the resource pool.
R
Hardware or software which allows the user to record, archive and manage data from various processes.
Robotics
Robotics covers automatic devices used to perform functions previously done by humans, for example on assembly lines. Robotics are extensively used in automobile manufacture and increasingly in other industries, especially in environments which would be dangerous for human workers.
S
Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition. An industrial control system, monitoring and controlling a process by gathering and analysing real-time data.
SimSci-Esscor
SimSci-Esscor, an IPS brand, a global leader in the development, deployment and support of process modeling and simulation software, process engineering services and plant operator training.
T
Triconex, an IPS brand, supplies products, systems and services for safety and critical control applications. Triconex products are based on patented Triple-Modular Redundancy (TMR) industrial safety-shutdown technology
W
Wonderware is the market leader in real-time operations management industrial software which includes: Supervisory HMI, GeoSCADA, Production Management, MES, Performance Management, EMI, and integration with asset management, supply and demand chain and ERP applications.
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