AlarmInsight® - Alarm Rationalization Tool
Enabling continuous alarm lifecycle management
ABB has been at the forefront of alarm
management thinking for over 20
years. The methodology developed
has culminated in the development
of the current AlarmInsight® Alarm
Rationalization Tool – ART. It supports
both standalone alarm rationalization
projects as well as onsite integration,
providing a best in class foundation for
continuous alarm lifecycle management.
Main ART Rationalization window
The core benefit of ART is efficiency and simplicity. Sustain
The tool allows the user to safely and effectively manage ART enables continuous alarm lifecycle management proces-
large amount of tags and alarms. The tool has a “rule” and ses. When installed on-site as a web application, ART acts
“copy” feature, which allows for both quickly replicating alarm as a permanent master alarm database. Built in management
settings across similar alarms and for keeping these alarms of change functionality like To-Do lists can be used to guide
synchronized over time. Large rationalization projects see time everyday work between teams. For example, you can create
savings in the order of 30- 50% utilizing this methodology. To-Do lists based on the top-10 bad actor alarms.
ART is a master alarm database aligned with IEC62682 and Some customers have external systems to capture work
ISA18.2 lifecycle recommendations. It incorporates audit tra- permits or plant design information. ART can easily integrate
cking, which ensures full traceability of changes made during with these through the exporting of alarms into Excel sheets,
alarm rationalization. Alarm records can easily be imported which then can be stored in relevant systems.
and exported using Excel.
ABB customers can integrate ART with 800xA control
ART can be used to rationalize alarms from multiple types of systems. This allows for direct coupling between the 800xA
control systems. AlarmInsight Alarm Helper window and operator response text
found in ART. Not only can ART operator response text be
Typical Use cases: displayed in a context sensitive manner on the 800xA ope-
rator console, but comments from operators (as entered into
Implement the 800xA Alarm Helper screen) can be directly reviewed in
ART can be used to review all alarms in the control system in ART.
a systematic and efficient manner. ABB consultants use the
standalone “ART Desktop” version as the basis for implemen- ART can also integrate with AlarmInsight® Alarm Change Re-
ting alarm rationalization projects, which can include advan- corder and create “Difference Reports” which compare actual
ced alarming functions such as grouping, suppression and 800xA alarm attribute values with those documented in ART.
batch processes. From the report the user can import alarms missing in ART
In the design phase of a new plant, ART can be used to
gather alarm and tags and hence rationalize and align alarms
across the plant before implementation in the control system.
and create To-Do lists to manage ad-hoc alarm review proces- Alarm Rationalization is the process of applying the require-
ses. This greatly eases the effort of keeping documentation up- ments for an alarm and generating the supporting docu-
to date and synchronized with the actual alarm implementation. mentation such as the basis for the alarm set point, the
consequence and the corrective action that can be taken
by the operator. Defining the correct alarm priority for each
alarm is one of the important deliveries.
ABB Consulting, UK has been at the forefront of alarm ma-
nagement thinking for over 20 years, advising and assisting
customers to improve or design their alarm systems in a
safe and effective fashion. We have been involved in autho-
3AJE000076-0092/ 3BNP102528_b © Copyright 2016 ABB. All rights reserved.
ring key industry guidance including EEMUA 191 where we
had representation on the authoring committee and were
also substantial contributors to ISA 18.2, and IEC 62682.
Main ART Rationalization window
For more information please contact:
Features in short: Web:abb.com/oilandgas
−− Based on alarm consultants’ experience and developed E-mail:
[email protected] over 10+ years
−− Specialist solution for alarm rationalization exercises
−− Independent of DCS system The contents of this publication are presented for informa-
−− It is a Master Alarm Database. tional purposes only, and while every effort has been made
−− Easy to configure to suit the clients’ standards or alarm to ensure their accuracy, they are not to be construed as
philosophy warranties or guarantees, express or implied, regarding the
−− Excel spreadsheet output products or services described herein or their use or ap-
−− Replication tools aid time savings in excess of 30% com- plicability. All sales are governed by our terms and condi-
pared to Access or Excel variants tions, which are available on request. We reserve the right
−− Can be integrated onsite with ABB 800xA control sys- to modify or improve the designs or specifications of our
tems and AlarmInsight® Alarm Helper and Alarm Change products at any time without notice.
Recorder.
−− Microsoft SQL database based
−− Ease of data import and export
−− Proven in use
