Elutions takes asset management to new levels

“Whereas we were in the process information to ERP integration business, it’s now everything from energy management to ASP [application service provider] managed solutions,” says Emmanuel Vitrac, marketing director of Elutions and Wizcon Systems. “You don’t even have to spend money up front: we can rent systems to you on a monthly basis so you can see results and benefits in the first year,” he adds. It’s a useful turnaround for Wizcon, which was increasingly a niche player which – although with some 50,000 SCADA licences sold around the world – was no match for the big boys like Rockwell, Siemens, Citect (under GE), Wonderware (under Invensys) and UGS (with what was US Data). And while manufacturing industry remains key, Elutions is already leading the company into systems that manage large infrastructure assets like airports and fleets of vehicles for transportation and construction. Success there is coming from developments of both companies’ technologies and markets – including for example a wireless controller for energy and asset management, with PLC soft logic and communications using GSM. Says Vitrac: “In the past, companies that rented mobile assets could only charge at end of a project. Now, with our systems, they can have an hourly meter and invoice monthly. There can be GPS tracking on board so they can immobilise equipment, set boundaries for its movement, and even action the ignition or handbrake so machines are rendered useless.” And he adds: “This is playing out really well... We’re enjoying 15% growth and seeking double digit growth.” Nevertheless, he insists that Wizcon technology remains at the root of its new business – effectively serving as gateways for plant data to Elutions’ existing systems. “The next generation system will be in spring 2007. Wizcon 9.3 will incorporate a number of new features – like video integration, security with LDAP, support for ActiveX and another enhancements.” He also alludes to WizCAD, providing conversion from AutoCAD files into Wizcon SCADA for designing and managing large site infrastructures. “These types of application change constantly during development and maintenance. Our system works on the graphics animation, and creates a database of all the variables. It saves hundreds of hours of development time.”