MARKET REPORTS from ARC

Analyst ARC has been busy recently looking at worldwide markets for both SCADA and Ethernet. Industrial Networking and Open Control has been talking to the authors of the reports

The worldwide scada systems market for the oil and gas, and Water and Wastewater industries, which exceeded $650 million in 2000, will reach almost $780 million by the end of 2005, growing at 3.5 percent per annum, according to a newly revised study by ARC Advisory Group, SCADA Systems Outlook for Oil & Gas and Water & Wastewater Industries Market Analysis & Forecast Through 2005.

"The North American market accounts for almost half of worldwide SCADA revenues," says Russ Novak, Director of Consulting at ARC and author responsible for the SCADA report. "But the European market is about half that size and the top four suppliers account for over 40% of worldwide revenues. The majority of top SCADA suppliers offer a full range of products and services but there has been a noticeable shift towards suppliers offering additional software and services as a critical differentiator. SCADA business growth is led by the services sector, which includes projects and maintenance."

The SCADA marketplace is being transformed because of new technology and significant changes in the way companies are streamlining business processes. ARC recommends strategies for suppliers of SCADA systems and components so they can take advantage of opportunities in this changing marketplace. "Users are showing more interest in integrating their SCADA with corporate IT," says Novak. "As energy companies become more focused on their supply chains, systems that were once the exclusive domain of operations now need to be integrated with more enterprise-level systems. With privatisation of water and wastewater companies, integrating the SCADA system to other business systems has become relevant in that industry as well.

"One of the more complex and highest revenue offerings from a supplier to an end user is the concept of collaborative asset management," he continues. "The basic idea of providing support services throughout the life cycle of a sold product works well with either hardware or software. For the user, asset management is a way to improve process efficiency and enhance ROA (return on assets). For suppliers of SCADA products, asset management is an opportunity to exploit strengths in their products and services. The revenue streams are continuous, renewable, and can be transferred to new technologies as they evolve."

Ethernet adoption

In another report, Ethernet at the Device Level Worldwide Outlook, industrial Ethernet emerges as a common network architecture applied throughout the manufacturing enterprise. ARC's forecasts for Ethernet adoption include analysis of the rate of penetration for each major device segment. Similar to the experience with other emerging technologies, third party suppliers were among the first to provide Ethernet-based I/O devices and similar products for use at lower levels of the automation hierarchy. Unlike the experience in other segments, however, many of the larger automation suppliers have also been quick to announce new products in this area.

"On the discrete side of the automation business the major suppliers have already lined up in competing Ethernet camps," says Chantal Polsonetti, Vice President and author of the recently updated study. "Global PLC market leader Siemens is promoting the ProfiNet specification while a united Rockwell Automation and Omron team are moving forward with EtherNet/IP and its sister CIP-based DeviceNet and ControlNet interfaces. Schneider Electric has long been associated with the Modbus TCP technology widely adopted in third party Ethernet products but does not incorporate a true application layer. It is now positioning itself for the future by allying itself with the iDA organisation which is moving beyond protocol standardisation to incorporate distributed architecture, safety infrastructure, and real-time operation. GE Fanuc has assumed the same 'pull' stance used in the device network realm, waiting to see what the market."

As a reversal of the prior Fieldbus landscape, the process industries will likely end up with a single Ethernet standard - Foundation Fieldbus HSE. Unlike the H1 version of fieldbus, HSE is not rated for intrinsically safe operation. In spite of that, HSE will probably be the version of Ethernet most widely supported by process industry suppliers. While HSE is designed mostly for use at the control network layer, some PAS/DCS suppliers are likely to extend the network into the field for use with their own devices.

"End users looking to Ethernet as the panacea for proprietary automation environments must recognise that divergent upper-level protocols remain obstacles to truly open environments," says Polsinetti. "The Ethernet-IP combination enables even low-level devices to have web capability and suppliers will be pushed to providing embedded web server functionality that enables cost savings in areas like remote monitoring and diagnostics. With Ethernet emerging as the common network medium, network configuration and management will become a primary means of differentiating products."

• ARC: Ethernet Report
  Email c111@industrialnetworking.co.uk
  
• ARC: SCADA Report
  Email c112@industrialnetworking.co.uk