industrial//industrial ecosystem//system integrator

A system integrator is the company that joins equipment of different manufacturers into one working system: a Siemens PLC with ABB drives, Endress+Hauser sensors and an Ignition SCADA. It programs, configures communications, builds HMI and SCADA screens and carries out commissioning.

A system integrator is the company that joins equipment of different manufacturers into one working system: a Siemens PLC with ABB drives, Endress+Hauser sensors and an Ignition SCADA. It programs, configures communications, builds HMI and SCADA screens and carries out commissioning.

Its knowledge is precisely the seams: which protocol each box speaks, which register map the meter uses, how a KUKA robot controller handshakes with a Rockwell PLC (industrial Ethernet).

An integrator does not necessarily program the SCADA and disappear. It can design the automation, commission it, and then stay five, ten or more years under a maintenance contract for PLCs, DCS, SCADA, networks, program changes, migrations, new machines, spares and 24/7 support. That turns an initial hardware sale into a very long aftermarket relationship.

It buys from vendors, works for plants, EPCs and OEMs, and negotiates with a sophisticated buyer that knows what its hours are worth.