Introduction

As your plant runs, process conditions change constantly. Your operators need to monitor these conditions to ensure that your plant runs safely, and does not waste material or damage equipment.

You can safely and efficiently manage your plant by enabling the iFIX® alarm system. Once you enable alarming, iFIX sends alarms to report potentially harmful process conditions requiring a response. Typically, this happens when process values exceed their pre-defined limits. For example, a tank's fluid level that is too high is an alarm condition to which an operator must respond.

iFIX also sends messages to report non-critical information that does not require a response. For example, when a tank's input valve opens or closes, iFIX sends a message to the operator that the valve's state has changed. iFIX sends messages to inform you when:

• An operator inputs a value.
• A process database event occurs.
• A system-level event occurs, such as when iFIX completes its start-up sequence.

Using alarms and messages, you can create a reliable, flexible, and easy-to-use system that reports potential problems and system activity. As operators respond to alarms, they ensure your process runs in a safe and efficient manner. For example, by responding to an alarm that a tank's level is too low, operators can save you money that you would have to spend replacing damaged equipment if the level was not adjusted.

See Also