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Rockwell Automation acquires ICS Triplex


Rockwell Automation has acquired ICS Triplex, expanding its automated process, safety and critical-control solutions.


Rockwell Automation has strengthened its process control offerings with the recent acquisition of ICS Triplex, a leading global supplier of critical-control and safety solutions. The coupling of the two industry leaders provides the global industrial sector with simplified access to the pair’s comprehensive portfolio of automated process, safety and critical-control solutions.

Boasting over 40 years experience, ICS Triplex designs and supplies turnkey fault-tolerant safety and critical-control systems across a variety of industrial sectors, including oil and gas, petrochemical, power generation and pharmaceutical. Headquartered in Essex, UK, ICS Triplex has more than 500 employees located in regional offices in the US, Canada, France, Italy, China, Mexico, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Australia.

“With their extensive industry expertise and strong customer relationships, ICS Triplex provides an important strategic fit for our rapidly expanding process control and safety solutions business,” said Keith Nosbusch, chairman and chief executive officer of Rockwell Automation. “ICS Triplex customers in the oil and gas, and other process industries, will benefit from the breadth of Rockwell Automation’s product portfolio and solutions capabilities.”

Critical-Control Combination
The initial stage of the acquisition has seen ICS Triplex’s Australian operation incorporated into Rockwell Automation’s Perth office in early July, 2008. “Combining ICS Triplex’s specialised technology and expertise, with Rockwell Automation’s experience as a leader in industrial automation control and information systems, provides users with a valuable resource,” said Lee Scott, ICS Triplex Australia engineering and services manager. “We’re looking forward to working alongside the Rockwell Automation team to deliver optimised safety and critical-control solutions to Australia’s oil and gas sector and beyond.”

The strengthening of Rockwell Automation’s process control and safety solutions capabilities provides project management companies, engineering consultancies and large engineering houses with increased choice of process control technology suppliers. “These days, it is not uncommon for large engineering firms to have a preference for sourcing their project’s entire process control solution – from design and supply, to installation and commissioning – from a single vendor,” said Scott. “There are only a handful of process control providers that can offer this service. The Rockwell Automation/ICS Triplex team is one of them.”

According to Scott, ICS Triplex is a safety expert. It develops technologies that provide safe reliable process control solutions engineered to protect people, assets and the environment, while at the same time minimising application downtime. ICS Triplex solutions aim to maximise the availability and reliability of a variety of critical control applications, including emergency shutdown (ESD), fire and gas detection (F&G), burner management systems (BMS) and turbo machinery and compressor control (TMC) systems.

Trusted TMR
The company’s flagship solution, the “Trusted™” fault-tolerant safety controller, is one such technology. SIL 3-rated, the Trusted system features a Triple Modular Redundancy (TMR) architecture, and employs RunSafe™ 3-3-2-0 fault-tolerant control to virtually eliminate spurious trips caused by fleeting field contacts. The hardware voting (HIFT) technology unique to ICS Triplex technology sets the Trusted™ system apart from competing technologies. It features the highest test coverage of potential faults, tolerance of multiple failures, and no time-repair restrictions. The Trusted™ system also boasts a minimised footprint and simplified operation.

ICS Triplex is one of the world leaders in providing TMR-based fault-tolerant systems. “It also allows us to incorporate ICS Triplex’s high-availability, fault-tolerant technology into the Logix architecture, extending the reach of this technology into discrete and hybrid process applications,” said Nosbusch.