IPS strives to make it as easy as possible for clients to keep their systems running at peak performance by providing the best possible lifecycle support. To accomplish this, IPS has defined a Lifecycle Discipline that encourages clients to keep their systems Continuously Current by identifying where products are in their Lifecycle, (Preferred, Available, Mature, LifeTime and Obsolete), offering a cost effective Advantage Upgrade Program and providing world-class support to implement upgrades. This methodology provides our clients with clear insight into the life cycle status of their automation assets.
This discipline takes the guesswork out of how and when products move through their lifecycle by providing a comprehensive view of where products are in their lifecycle, when they will transition, what support is available in each phase, and compatibility between different generations of products. This information, coupled with our long-term technology roadmaps, allows our clients to pre-plan product upgrades years in advance based on their needs and planned outages.
The Advantage Upgrade is one of the programs we use to provide an easy and cost-effective mechanism to improve safety, enhance control, reduce downtime, increase maintainability, and pre-plan upgrades while preserving software, hardware and engineering investments.
The IPS Lifecycle Discipline continues long-term support for products well after they are withdrawn from sale. The length of time that a standard product remains in the Mature Phase is based on product type and is directly related to the degree of disruption to our clients’ processes – the more difficult it is to remove, the longer the duration. However, because of our Continuously Current technology, new Preferred products will have been made available to replace the older products through our Advantage Upgrade program.
IPS Advantage Upgrade Program Offers Cost Effective Trade Ups
The Invensys Process System Advantage Program allows our clients to keep their systems Continuously Current by upgrading components easily and cost effectively. The IPS proven upgrade strategy effectively resists system obsolesce and adds new capability to our clients’ process lines by simply replacing older components with new hardware, software and added functionality. The IPS Advantage program enables the newest capabilities available to work alongside existing hardware and software seamlessly at very attractive prices.
With IPS, keeping your plant running at peak performance is no longer a struggle. The IPS lifecycle policy keeps our clients up-to-date on the lifecycle of their overall systems, allowing them to make production decisions with peace of mind, well into the future. IPS utilizes its industry recognized expertise and know-how to avoid costly system overhauls or downtime through the execution of planned upgrades. This places system upkeep in a manageable annual OPEX domain and not large disruptive CAPEX projects. Our team of experts partners with our clients to offer decades of experience to carefully design a plan according to their industry, unique schedules and challenges.
Because in our industry, one size does not fit all; our clients can rely on IPS to design system upgrade solutions that work for their particular situation, leaving behind concerns of obsolescence that require a “bulldozing approach” of critical areas of our clients’ plants. IPS will design and exhaustively test all parts of the upgrade solution before going live, ensuring that upgrades work smoothly and without disruptions. IPS even offers the benefit to plan and budget for periodic, manageable upgrades through annual service agreements.
IPS Upgrade Services
IPS Upgrade Services are a cornerstone in the Continuously Current Philosophy. As such, we strive to provide our clients with the solution, industry and technical expertise needed to make upgrade projects a success. With IPS, our clients have access to our experts and knowledge base as well as to a comprehensive upgrade approach where budget, time and performance goals are met.
In every upgrade project, a team of experts gathers current system information with a propriety discovery tool that provides accurate system architecture and a base line for future upgrades and improvements. IPS personnel will work with critical team members at the client’s site to insure that the upgraded components are ready and the transition executed smoothly, avoiding costly process disruptions.
Intellectual property, field wiring, control strategy, are some of the elements lost in typical system overhaul upgrades. With IPS, clients save valuable time and money, as our products are built based on interoperability principles. Coupled with industry-leading experts in industry and solutions, IPS can successfully offer a “no surprises” approach to successful upgrades and in maintaining your system continuously current.