Wonderware announces top winners in open application contest

IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 26, 2001 — Wonderware Corp. has announced the winners of the company's Wonderware Open 2000 industrial automation application competition. The honorees were selected from among more than 50 entries from around the world and were judged by industry experts, trade magazine editors and members of Wonderware's marketing staff.

The winners in the four application categories were:

** Best Integrated FactorySuite Solution - Fosdick & Hilmer, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based engineering consulting firm, for its utilities automation application at the University of Cincinnati.

** Best Human-Machine Interface (HMI) Process Visualization - Siemens Moore Process Automation, Inc., in Spring House, Penna., for its InTouch HMI application designed for use with the APACS+(tm) process automation system.

** Best IndustrialSQL Server Application - Blue Diamond Growers cooperative, in Sacramento, Calif., for its statistical process control system developed to monitor almond processing quality.

** Best Work-in-Process (WIP) Tracking or Production Management Application - Progressive Software Solutions, Inc., (PS2) of Albany, Ore., for its InTrack WIP tracking and product genealogy system for Tillamook County Creamery Association.

"This annual design competition for FactorySuite automation applications is now in its fifth year, and we're more impressed than ever with the outstanding creativity displayed by these application developers," said Joe Cowan, Wonderware president.

"Every time we raise the bar in terms of the standards for this event we're surprised once more by the excellence our customers achieve. All of these winners should be proud of their accomplishments. We salute them."

Each of the winners will receive the coveted Wonderware Open trophy, an Olympus digital camera, a complementary seat in a Wonderware software training class, membership in the Wonderware Open Hall of Fame on the company's web site - and two complimentary tickets to the Wonderware Showcase trade show & conference in Las Vegas in June of 2001.

The official Wonderware Open 2001 poster and call for entries will be published and distributed in March. Winning entries will be announced at the Wonderware Showcase in June.

The Fosdick & Hilmer application serves as the primary monitoring and control mechanism for three central utility plants at the University of Cincinnati. Together, these plants deliver up to 635,000 pounds per hour of steam energy and 21,950 tons of chilled water to the school and the University Hospital. The system employs multiple components from the FactorySuite, including the InTouch HMI package, the IndustrialSQL Server 7.1 database, AlarmSuite 7.1, ActiveFactory 3.0 and multiple GE, Modbus and Allen-Bradley I/O servers.

The Siemens Moore ProcessSuite(r) Vision user interface uses InTouch, IndustrialSQL Server, the InBatch batch processing software and AlarmSuite plus other vendors' software - all seamlessly integrated within the InTouch environment as a single "window" for process operators to view and interact with data from a variety of sources. This solution allows Siemens Moore to create project-specific HMI solutions for its client companies with out-of-the-box functionality.

The Blue Diamond Growers application utilizes IndustrialSQL Server as the foundation for an in-house designed SPC system for grading and evaluating the quality of a million pounds of almonds processed each day by the grower cooperative. InSQL stores manually-entered QC data as well as collects data automatically from 1,800 data points and from every programmable logic controller on the plant's 70 production lines. By linking InSQL with Northwest Analytics' QA Analyst software, inspectors can call up control charts and histograms to ensure production is within control limits.

Progressive Software Solutions' WIP tracking application for the Tillamook County Creamery Association - makers of world-famous Tillamook cheeses - combines InTrack, InTouch and IndustrialSQL Server to provide a single solution for tracking product genealogy, production consistency, quality control, raw material verification, inventory control and a product recall system (should it ever be needed). About Wonderware

Wonderware Corp. is an independent operating unit of the Invensys Software Systems (ISS) Division of Invensys plc. The company is the world's leading supplier of industrial automation software. Founded in 1987, Wonderware pioneered the use of Microsoft Windows-based, human-machine-interface (HMI) automation software for manufacturing operation systems. Today, Wonderware's mission is to provide integrated software suites that drive the customer's strategic, planning and operational decision-making based on real-time plant floor information.

Recent corporate and product acquisitions have broadened Wonderware's market coverage to range from "sensor to supply chain." In addition to its HMI and manufacturing execution systems (MES) products, Wonderware offers leading enterprise asset management (EAM) solutions as well as strategic consulting services.

Wonderware is based in Irvine, Calif., and has regional sales and development offices throughout North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia to provide support to its network of more than 160 independent distributor offices. Wonderware has more than 180,000 successful software installations in more than 25,000 plants worldwide.

For more information, visit the Wonderware home page at: http://www.wonderware.com. Invensys plc is a global leader in the automation and controls industry. With its head office in London, England, it operates in all regions of the world through four focused divisions - software systems, automation systems, power systems and control systems.

With more than 90,000 employees, the company's products and services range from advanced control systems and networks for automating industrial plants and controlling the environments of buildings, to electronic devices and controls found in residential buildings and light commercial applications, plus complete power systems for the telecommunications and information technology industries.

For more information, visit the Invensys home page at http://www.invensys.com.