Rockwell lands $2.5 million contract

Nyrstar Hobart, a global multi-metals company, has awarded a contract worth more than $2.5 million order to Milwaukee-based Rockwell Automation Inc. and its Global Solutions team.
Rockwell will replace a distributed control system (DCS) at Nyrstar Hobart’s zinc smelting operation in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia with the Rockwell Automation PlantPAx process automation system.
"Our current DCS would be cost-prohibitive to upgrade. Hardware was failing and repairs were becoming expensive and requiring longer lead times. The Rockwell Automation solution provides us with better integration between different process areas, improved diagnostics, maintaining plant uptime and delivering improved plant performance reporting," said Jeremy Kouw, general manager, Nyrstar Hobart.
Rockwell Automation won the order by developing a three-year phased integration with a back-up option that uses custom input/output cabling to ensure process continuity, coupled with technical support for the existing installation.
"This win represents a milestone for us given the size and complexity of the DCS conversion," said Terry Gebert, vice president and general manager, Rockwell Automation Global Solutions. "We won the order over two major process automation companies, based on the excellent support we provide for the existing operation and a clear vision of control conversion to a long-term sustainable operation. The order includes project management, application engineering, system cutover engineering, hardware and software. Our experience, domain expertise and global resources will help Nyrstar Hobart in this critical conversion from a legacy DCS system."