New automation console from Elsag Bailey uses Microsoft Windows NT

Business Wire, August 10, 1995

WICKLIFFE, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 10, 1995--Elsag Bailey Process Automation has announced a significant new user console for its range of Distributed Control Systems (DCS). Utilizing the industry-standard Microsoft Windows NT operating system, the PC-based series provides a low-cost, Open Systems approach to process automation. The new console series will support both the Company's INFI 90 OPEN and DCI SYSTEM SIX control platforms, as well as its MICRO DCI stand-alone controllers.

Operating from any Pentium or RISC-based personal computer, the new product will allow operators to monitor and control the many analog and discrete devices which form the heart of advanced process control strategies. It will support network standards inherent in both INFI 90 OPEN and DCI SYSTEM SIX, permitting use of the console to monitor and control process variables from either platform -- or to provide simultaneous access to both systems.

INFI 90 OPEN is Bailey's state-of-the-art evolution for compatible DCS systems, and is widely used throughout the electric power, chemicals, oil and gas, pulp and paper, and other industries. DCI SYSTEM SIX, acquired from Fischer & Porter Company in 1994, is marketed widely for flexible batch automation in the fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and food and beverage industries.

Mr. Vincenzo Cannatelli, Managing Director and CEO for Elsag Bailey, comments on the development: ``This new Microsoft-based product demonstrates our commitment to standard, open systems-based tools for process automation. Coupled with Bailey's long-standing pledge of compatible evolution, this new console series will help us ensure that we meet the long-term needs of every distributed system customer.''

The new PC-based unit is a full-function console from which the user can design process graphic displays, change control actions and sequences, format reports, and monitor the status of any component within the automation network. User-friendly features include a library of pre-configured dynamic display templates suited for analog and discrete device monitoring, regulatory control, sequential control, alarm management, and process trending.

Integral display configuration software permits users to develop custom, interactive process graphics without the use of ancillary workstation tools. On-line navigation and Help utilities reduce training time for operators. The industry-standard Microsoft operating system also permits easy integration of other Windows-based software such as spreadsheets, word processors, etc.

Mr. Mike Zaharna, Group Executive Vice President for Elsag Bailey, states, ``We believe the Windows NT and Windows 95 operating systems will play a significant role in the evolution to future generation systems for process automation. Building from this development, we are committed to supporting our customers' needs with a growing suite of Microsoft-based tools for this arena.''

Elsag Bailey Process Automation N.V., incorporated in the Netherlands, is a global supplier of process automation systems, field instrumentation products, and professional services, now sold through subsidiaries, joint ventures, and licensees in 22 countries. The company's technologies are installed throughout a wide range of process industries including electric utilities, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, pulp and paper, water and wastewater, food and beverage, metals and ceramics, and others.

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Note: MICROSOFT and WINDOWS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. PENTIUM is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. INFI 90 OPEN, DCI SYSTEM SIX, and MICRO DCI are trademarks of Elsag Bailey Process Automation.

CONTACT: Elsag Bailey Process Automation, Wickliffe

Brad A. Hoffman, 216/585-3809