Development of Distributed Control Systems

Abstract

The development of Distributed Control Systems requires management teams integrated by Marketing, Design and Development Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering Departments. These teams plan, organize, and control company resources to provide users with cost-effective systems, more reliable and useful than centralized integrated configuration.Marketing Engineers are responsible for product management, which includes product planning, functional specifications, cost monitoring, evaluation of sales forecasts, and product support. Subjects to be resolved include product warranties, spare parts, service and maintenance, training of vendor and user personnel, marketing plans, and project management of systems sold.Design and Development Engineers are responsible for applying proven technology and investigating new technology trends. Engineering designs the product to marketing specifications maintaining a degree of autonomy in matters concerning system architecture, data base structure, communication protocol, software development, components selection, logic design, and testing of engineering prototypes.Manufacturing responsibility includes production planning, inventory control, machine shop loading, product quality, testing, and directing material purchasing.Because Distributed Control Systems are intended to be manufactured, installed, and serviced worldwide, the product development strategies become even more complex.The objective of this paper is to provide the reader with an overall understanding of the considerations that must be taken into account in the development of a Distributed Control System.