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Nil

Wonderware vs WinCC

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Hi all, Have been using WinCC for some time and we are planning to switch over to Wonderware Intouch. Meanwhile I had Wonderware distributor at my office and few of the following points were confusing and he couldn't conclude properly...... 1) Only PLC tags can be connected to Alarm. Memory tags can't be connected to Alarms .... 2) After 64 tags, the next available is 500. So if my application calls for 100 or 200 tags then I need to invest for 500... So aren't we out of competetion when other vendors have options for 128, 256 ???? 3) Incase of iFix and WinCC, without developer license we can still work for 120 minutes and later close the application. Again open the application and work for next 120 minutes ?? Can something similar happen in Intouch??? 4) Intouch history tag logging is only for half the tag license. For ex: if we procure 64 tag Intouch, then we can have history logging for only 32 tags, like wise for 500 tags we can have history logging for 250 tags... Is this really correct and is this the way history logging is restricted ????? 5) In WinCC we got basic pre-configured report view. We got to link history tags to this report viewer and thats it.... This option seems to be missing in Intouch. 6) Intouch license would be in the form if Dongle .... Doesn't come in the form of Sofykey ... Moreover we are planning to use A2 DCS for few of our projects . Since A2 is combination of Wonderware + PAC , do we have the same kind of restrictions in A2 system as explained above for Intouch ??? Thanx & Regards Nil

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Hi Nil, I've been working with Wonderware software for 15 years. Here are some answers to your questions Re 1: Not true. Any discrete or analog (integer or real) tag can have alarms defined, regardless whether it's an IO tag (connected to the PLC) or memory one. Re 2: True. Wonderware has 64 and 500 tag licenses. This creates some competitive issues in the low end of the market, but that segment may not be the primary focus of Wonderware (right or wrong). Re 3: True. Here Wonderware protects their business. Your option is to get an annual SI consignment license. It's a fraction of the cost of the end-user package, it's a full license and it comes with software maintenance. Talk to your local WW distributor. Re 4: Not true. In your case of 64 tag license, all 64 tags could be historically logged. Even more, with 64-tag license, you also have the right to use 64 tagless remote references which might come in handy (or not, depending on the situation). Re 5: True. InTouch doesn't come with any specific report, your option would be to use HMI Reports (sold by Wonderware) or packages like XL Reporter. Re 6: Probably true, it might be the requirement of your local market. Normally Wonderware comes with a soft license. ArchestrA products are completely different animal. Its structure is different than InTouch, there is some learning curve but I have customer who would never go back to INTouch and who claim ArchestrA is light years ahead of any competition on the market. Good luck. Greg Dubiel Performance Information Technologies Redmond, WA

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Hi Greg Dubiel, I was glad going thru ur replies and thanx a ton... Anyway the last para I mentioned was related to Foxboro A2 DCS. I just heard that Foxboro A2 DCS is a mixture of PAC and Wonderware... and was just worried that I may end up with same kind of restrictions.. But u mentioned something about ArchestrA.. Both ArchestrA and Foxboro A2 are they same ?? Can u give me some feedback about Foxboro A2 DCS .. In Wonderware, memory tags are also counted in the License Tag Count .. Is that true ??? Regards Nil Edited by Nil

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Hi Niel; WinCC can't hold up to wonderware, with or without Archestra. For one, application development time with InTouch is certainly much lesser than ANY OTHER. Here where I work, the joke is "anybody who can wear his own underwear can easily master Wonderware. It is THAT easy. But there's only one downside. Wonderware is expensive. After using InTouch for many years and trying out many other options,(Cimplicity, WinCC, RSView, iFix, ASPIC(Czech, crude & cheap!), Ellipse (Brazil, DLL Based not good) ) we' are now going steady with Citect as distributed by Schneider. It is remarkably useful, robust and very very adaptable. While the graphics are not as good as competition, there are a number of work-arounds to circumvent this limitation. All the same, the range of built in functions & communication drivers is unmatched. There is a little learning curve though, but if you've handled WinCC/iFix you'll adapt to Citect within a day!. Scripting is powerful with Cicode and any body who has a smattering of either C or VB can easily plunge in without learning anything new. Then above all, there is a remarkable hassle-free concept of clustering which makes it easy to configure redundant scada stations for all kinds of servers. Configuring redundant I/O devices for fail-safe systems is easy. For 'REPORTS' no scada will give you the crystal reports kind of output. It is standard practice to lo g tag values to a database such as Access and use it + VB to get high quality reports. Even So, Citect gives you many more ways of creating reports than competition. Regards, best of luck, Raj S. Iyer

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Hello, >For one, application development time with InTouch is certainly much lesser than ANY OTHER. Unless you have tried each and every one on the planet that might be considered hyperbole. ;) Good luck, Mark http://www.peakhmi.com/

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Hi Greg Dubiel Can u just let me know what exactly ArchestrA is ??? Regards Nil

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