Today's Automation News Headlines from Automation.com

October 23, 2011- ARC Advisory Group says the DCS (distributed control system) market in 2010 rebounded from 2009; the overall market for DCS increased by 3.3 percent, ARC forecasts that market growth, while improved compared with 2009, will not reach peak 2008 levels until next year, and then will resume normal slow but steady growth.

The increase in new projects in the heavy process industries such as oil & gas and petrochemical, as well as a resurgence in power generation projects, helped to drive global demand for DCS in 2010. Many of the larger projects that contributed to 2010 growth were booked throughout 2009.

The report also notes that the DCS business has continued to be primarily a services business over the past few years, with combined project, engineering and operational services accounting for more than half of total revenues. In particular, the Main Automation Contractor (MAC) approach, in which the automation vendor manages the overall project and includes a strong project execution and services component, continues to grow stronger and expand in scope.

ABB booked a number of large process industry and power generation orders, which included major greenfield projects as well as system upgrades and expansions for existing installations. ABB retained its leading worldwide market position in this core automation market.

 Innovation, quality products, extensive industry knowledge and application expertise has enabled ABB to establish a large and loyal customer base,  said Barry Young, Principal Analyst at ARC and author of the report.   ABB brings together a product, system and service capability that allow them to deliver complete automation and production solutions across a broad range of industries.

According to the study, ABB was also the regional market share leader for Latin America, Europe/Mid East/Africa (EMEA), and the worldwide leader in key global verticals including Upstream Oil & Gas, Pulp and Paper, Mining and Metals, and Cement and Glass.

ABB s deep process industry knowledge, extensive global and local resources, and world-class services organization provide the project execution capabilities needed to successfully manage complex projects as the Main Automation Contractor,  said Veli-Matti Reinikkala, head of ABB s Process Automation division.  In addition, we offer our customers a diverse portfolio of DCS solutions to help any process perform better, from the smallest operation to large integrated operations.

ABB s portfolio of DCS includes its flagship System 800xA Extended Automation platform, Symphony Plus control system, Freelance process control system for small to medium process applications, as well as its prior generation systems. All ABB control systems offer a secure evolution path forward to next generation technologies to protect and enhance the control system investment over its lifetime.