The Modern Automation Problem and What You Can Do About It:

Introduction:

The automation sytem has many facets. It is typically installed to automate the the HVAC/Fire control of a building. It is usually assumed through the initial sales and installation meetings that it is going to be a simple and organized installation job and that there will be perpetual peace after the installation is done. It is typically assumed that X number of dollars will be required and no more and then the system will pay for itself  in another Y number of years.

NOTHING COULD BE FARTHER FROM THE TRUTH!

An HVAC/Fire system is not a piece of candy that you just unwrap and eat it and then that is the end of it. An automation/Fire system is a complex fact of modern life and requires trained personnel, rigorous control, supervision and maintenance. Most installations lack these elements in varying degrees. But the most critical resource is rigorous control. It manifests itself in the mental exhaustion of the manager(s) or the management and appears in the form of a slow degradatoion of whatever system was completed at one time. This mental exhaustion begins to appear because of a number of reasons:

1.     The system is typically not complex as far as each individual piece of  application software written for the site is concerned. The problem is that the volume of hardware/software points is quite large (which in and of itself is not the problem either) so that the number of application programs written to control them under various conditions can be daunting even for the most stout minds and to keep track of all that can be a real problematic affair. That is why there are so many "peace of mind" contracts and contractors offering them. It is a big business and although some of these contracts are a real value, quite a few of them can be just plain ripoffs because the lack of knowledgeable personnel at the cutomer site is freely exploited by the vendors. Another standard argument used is the 'liability' issue when dealing with the fire alarm sytstems. The customer is freely exploited and a lucrative service contract is put in place by striking a goodly amount of terror into the customer via the leagal responsibility argumenmt. For more information on this use this link.

2.     The system has constant problems and there are so many of them, it can be baffling. To show just a few of them:

2.1   One constant problem is the No-Response problem typically for        analog inputs (temperatures, pressures, humidity etc.). This can  be frustr

ating.

2.2    Graphics problems. Graphics are poorly programmed and/or not comprehensively programmed to show all relevant information in a clear single graphic for the relevant control unit.

2.3     Controllers going into no-response for no rhime or reason.

2.4     Where modems or phone lines are used, pray a lot. They almost always do not work. Alarms are constantly coming in or not coming in at all. Phone company blames the automation system installers and the latter blame the phone company.

2.5    Where network or web based systems are used the network is always failing or threatening to fail. The network administrator is almost always never available to set the network straight or does not want to deal with the automation end of it.

3.     Trained personnel are not available or are trained but have no motivation to take on the rigorous control of the automation system.

4.      The typical worker is a lot more comfortable with a volt meter and a wrench rather than the keyboard or the mouse. Also is not interested in balancing a VAV box.

All these and many others are the causes that start the exhaustion and disinterest. That starts the game all over. The management starts thinking and the seller goads them into believing that they "need" an upgrade or a new system which will cure all the problems.  Then the whole cycle repeats itself before anybody has gotten their money out of the system that was installed in the first place.

This is what you find today in various shapes and forms in installation after installation.

I will now show you how we can address this imbroglio and indeed win this game and have a real clean system that not only works but is easy and fun to manage.  More...