Showing 0 products
Frequently Asked Questions
What actually decides which controller to buy?
What it has to talk to.
Existing plant already speaks something.
A controller that cannot read it becomes an island.
Islands mean separate screens and separate logins.
Processing power is rarely the constraint.
Survey the existing estate first.
Standardise on one protocol, or bridge several?
Simplicity against freedom of choice.
One protocol reduces the support burden.
It narrows which plant can be bought.
Bridging keeps equipment choice open.
Gateways add cost, latency and a failure point.
Most real estates end up bridging something.
Why does the programming tool matter commercially?
It decides who can maintain the building.
Proprietary tools are held by few contractors.
That is a commercial position, not just technical.
Establish at purchase who else can open the program.
Ask what happens if the relationship ends.
Documentation should exist outside the device.
What happens when the network fails?
It depends how the strategy was written.
Well-designed controllers hold local control.
Plant keeps running on its last known strategy.
Poorly designed ones stop with the network.
Ask explicitly rather than assuming.
Test it during commissioning.
How much capacity should be bought?
More input and output than today needs.
Buildings acquire plant continuously.
A controller at full capacity blocks the next addition.
Spare points cost little at purchase.
Expansion modules cost far less than replacement.
Count against a plant list including future work.
Does the management system come from the same vendor?
It does not have to, and often should not.
Open protocols allow mixed estates.
That preserves negotiating position at renewal.
Single-vendor systems integrate more smoothly.
They also concentrate the dependency.
Decide it as procurement policy, not by default.
What should be handed over at completion?
The strategy, in a readable form.
Point schedules and network topology.
Programming files and any licence keys.
Passwords held by the client, not the contractor.
This is routinely omitted and rarely recoverable.
Make it a condition of final payment.