GE Fannuc

Good day all,

In our factory most of our machine opperate with ABB (S, S+, T300, AC31, KT93) or Siemens (S5, S7) PLC's.

For some obscure reason our Dept. Manager wants to switch over to GE Fannuc!!

I don't seem to hear them mentioned much - is this because they're
more reliable or not that good?

Much appreciate any feedback.

Ive heard the new PAX(RX3I and RX7I) systems from GE Fanuc are pretty awesome, comparable to CLX. And they can use 90 series I/O so there plenty of I/O options for it

The PAC's System RX3i AND RX7i Are super! And the 90-30 is just simply a WorkHorse !! The Quipanel interfaces work really well. And the PLC and HMI programming is all done inside one Software package. Prophecy ME. A Real time saver !
Just finished a 16 AXIS servo machine using the RX3i rack with 6 DSM324 FSSB servo modules. PLC based motion, Motion Made Easy !!!

I use 90-30's RX3i and a few VersaMax I/O's
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6" 12" and 15" Quikpanel View/Control units.

Are they Cheaper? NO !

Are they better? Opinion: Better at what than what ?

I have very little problems with any GE Fanuc Products. But then I am a little bit Partial to them !!!

The one main Seller for the GE systems are the software packages. You can develope the logic, ST, UDFB, Scripting,etc. and all the View screens, HMI stuff and even run a simulator, all from inside one piece of software. with one Database for everthing !!
You can also export the Database to an excell spreadsheet, Setup all the variables in excell then import it back in !!
Thats a very usefull tool !!!

80% of what we use are GE Fanuc plcs, mainly 9030's, but we are slowly brining in the RX3i, and we have a bunch of versamax and micro's around as well.

They work, I like their software, it's easy to get around, and for the most part it makes sense. But it IS buggy. I don't know many times Proficiy just crashes, or my navigator tab just freezes up.

But it is nice to not need another program running in the background to communicate. Give Proficiy the IP or tell it to use com1 and it always talks to the PLC.

GE Fanuc RX3i

I think that your department manager is making a wise decision. The RX3i PAC is an outstanding control platform. I recently switched from Allen Bradley to the GE RX3i PAC and VersMax PLC and have found the equipment to be superior to the AB equipment in many ways. Not only are they more powerful than other PACs/PLCs in their category, they are generally less expensive. Typically, I can do a project for about 3/4 of the cost of a similar Contrologix implementation.

The Proficy programming software is certainly not as good as RSLogix 500 or 5000, but it is very good software. Purchase the GE Global Support and you will get a CD package that contains all of the necessary documentation for their hardware and software and it is way less expensive than the $18,000.00/year price tag that AB places on TechConnect.

Regards

KP_EENG said:

I think that your department manager is making a wise decision. The RX3i PAC is an outstanding control platform. I recently switched from Allen Bradley to the GE RX3i PAC and VersMax PLC and have found the equipment to be superior to the AB equipment in many ways. Not only are they more powerful than other PACs/PLCs in their category, they are generally less expensive. Typically, I can do a project for about 3/4 of the cost of a similar Contrologix implementation.

The Proficy programming software is certainly not as good as RSLogix 500 or 5000, but it is very good software. Purchase the GE Global Support and you will get a CD package that contains all of the necessary documentation for their hardware and software and it is way less expensive than the $18,000.00/year price tag that AB places on TechConnect.

Regards

Click to expand...

He said ABB, not AB, have to read plus state the facts as they are. I am highly sceptical that you had to pay 18K a year for AB (which was not under discussion by the original poster) and know that GE has similar aspects when it comes to support.

It has been stated before that GE can be had for 1/10, now 1/3 of the cost of AB, I doubt it can be an apple to apple comparison. The cost, like many vendors, can be relevant to the bulk (monthly) business done with them. AN Example: w.w.Grainger has a book with list prices, the more you buy each month the bigger the discount.

Deal with ABB then talk about AB and their pricing or software.

You are entitled to your opinion. I realize that he was talking ABB, but he was also discussing GE. I have 12 years of experience programming AB, including the Contrologix, and it is an apples-to-apples comparison. I also am the Automation & Controls engineer for two large facilities and our processor count, which AB bases the cost of its Techconnect support on, is quite large. I signed off on the quote for the IT department to purchase the support contract in July. The amount was very close to 18k; and for another 3k, I could get four free hours of AB tech support per quarter, which I would lose if not used. Oh, the GE Global Support came with the purchase of the software. AB will not do that anymore.

Also, I said that I can do a GE project for 3/4 the cost of the Contrologix solution. read plus state the facts as they are.
Regards

Sorry, I stated four free hours of AB tech support per quarter above... That should read "four hours of AB field support per quarter". My AB vendor described it as "free" tech support, but it is certainly not "free".