2007-05-07 - MicroSCADA Pro Partners’ Club 2007 gathered substation automation and network control specialists to Helsinki in April to listen to the latest news on the MicroSCADA Pro product family. MicroSCADA Pro is a system product for substation automation applications, "small" network control and SCADA DMS applications. The meeting also celebrated the latest product release SYS 600 version 9.2. and DMS 600 version 4.2.
Nearly 100 participants from about 30 countries represented 70% of the ABB's SA Systems project units. On the whole, MicroSCADA Pro projects are executed in about 40 countries worldwide. MicroSCADA worldwide is the most sold system in its class with nearly 5000 registered licensees.
Think big
Mats von Essen, Manager for MicroSCADA Pro product family, presented the capabilities of the system for utility, industry and railway applications. Further, MicroSCADA also suits non-electrical applications, e.g. district heating, water and wastewater and oil and gas applications. The OPC access servers enable non-electrical systems, e.g. in process automation systems, to be integrated with MicroSCADA Pro. This gives ABB a great advantage over most of its competitors when dealing with large projects including both Process as well as Substation Automation.
Partnerships pave the way to success
The meeting also gave the participants the chance to get acquainted with our partner suppliers whose equipment is essential in advanced substation automation systems. The presence of RuggedCom, Advantech, Satel and Dell with their presentations and exhibition demonstrations gave participants important information and the possibility to discuss applications face-to-face.
"We have experienced the Partner Days as very successful and we are looking forward to increase this partnership", Sjoerd van Unen, the ABB Key Account Manager of Advantech says. "The exhibition set up was a good idea as we were able to answer many technical questions, even quotes. System integrators generally want us to tell them what to choose and we are willing to save them the time to find the proper equipment. If possible we would like to receive information about future Partners’ Club-meetings", he continues. Advantech with headquarters in Taiwan has regional offices to take care of the rest of the world.
Benefits of a regular partners club
Steven Kunsman, Head of Global Product Management for Substation Automation Products (SAP), encouraged the participants "to learn the product and aggressively promote the new features and capabilities of the entire portfolio, as the importance of subtransmission applications is growing".
The MicroSCADA team announced the top three system project units on the basis of their business growth compared to their previous year’s sales. ABB Russia won this competition. ABB Taiwan, India and Switzerland were also awarded for their excellent sales.
According to Marco Berardi of ABB Brazil, the best thing with the meeting was to "learn about new features and improvements of MicroSCADA Pro that can be accomplished to serve our customers in a more efficient way by reducing internal development costs. It was possible to expand my contact network with other ABB system colleagues, and the main benefit was to get new ideas of applications, exchange experiences on successful projects and open links for exchanging experiences in future projects."
"Meeting fellow ABB colleagues from around the world and sharing experiences was the best thing with the MicroSCADA Pro Partners Club meeting", says Stuart Michie of ABB South Africa. "Also, my interaction with the MicroSCADA team was rewarding as this is the first time I met these people in person", he continues. "The presentations were informative. There was a good overview of the latest changes to MicroSCADA Pro and, more important, the application of these changes. I collected some interesting business cards. I always find it beneficial to meet other ABB colleagues, as we can always learn from each others experiences!"