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“Along with the relentless pressure to increase productivity and reduce costs, manufacturers are charged with meeting a range of safety standards and regulations,” said Art Pietrzyk, safety program manager at Rockwell Automation. “ControlLogix costs up to 80 percent less than other, specialized SIL 2 controllers. And it’s an off-the-shelf product so spares are readily available and no additional training is required.”

Safety Integrity Level is a number assigned to a system indicating its ability to perform functions for risk reduction. SIL 2 is a designation typically required in process applications for emergency shutdown, fire and gas, spill prevention and other process safety systems. It is a key mark for a variety of industries, including petroleum, chemical, pharmaceutical, power generation and semiconductor.

SIL 2 certification from TÜV Rheinland is based on compliance with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61508 standard — “Functional Safety of Electrical/ Electronic/Programmable Electronic Safety-Related Systems.” The certification also meets several other application-independent and -dependent standards from IEC, the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) and Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V. (DIN).

“Unlike other vendors, Rockwell Automation did not have to create a special line of products to meet SIL 2 requirements,” Pietrzyk said. “Nor did we make any modifications to the design of ControlLogix. This is testament to the fact our products are built with a high degree of sophistication and reliability from the start.”

ControlLogix offers a superior approach to industrial control that integrates sequential, process, drive and motion functionality in a single platform. Selected products in this family are able to meet stringent SIL 2 requirements because sophisticated diagnostics and high levels of reliability — measured by mean time between failure, low mean time to repair and low probability of failure on demand — are standard design in ControlLogix processors, I/O modules and communication products. “The performance of ControlLogix sets new standards for reliability and availability, increasing safety and productivity while reducing downtime, nuisance trips and lifecycle costs,” Pietrzyk said.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK) is a world-leading provider of industrial automation power, control and information solutions that help customers meet their manufacturing productivity objectives. The company brings together leading brands in industrial automation for Complete Automation® solutions, including Allen-Bradley® controls and engineered services and Rockwell Software® factory management software, Dodge® mechanical power transmission products, and Reliance Electric® motors and drives. The company also is a leading provider of contact management technologies and applications that help companies more efficiently manage interaction with their own customers. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., USA, the company employs about 22,000 people serving customers in more than 80 countries.

For more information on ControlLogix SIL 2 certification, please contact the Rockwell Automation Response Center, 10701 Hampshire Avenue South, Bloomington, Minn., 55438, 800.223.5354, Ext. 1590.