Rockwell Price Madness

celichi

Lifetime Supporting Member
Join Date
Apr 2008
Location
Greater Toronto Area
Posts
415
Hello,

I just received large price increases from Rockwell, Tool Kit, Hardware and software. Some of my pricing has jumped 30%.

I think they have lost their mind.

I can not justify $5700 for an HMI Software license, PAX or no PAX, that is crazy.

I am an OEM, so a lot of copy/paste programming.

Recommendations for HMI software and possible control hardware?
95% North American Market

Looking for alternatives to the the following...

No Motion
32 AI
24 AO
32 DO
32 DI

L33ER / L36ER

PanelView Plus Performance

Thanks,

P
 
My vote is for Weintek and EasyBuilder.
Very capable, very price friendly! Goes hand and hand with Studio or CCW very nicely.
I'm a Rockwell all day guy but I can't afford to play with FTV or Studio outside of my employers realm. So, Iv brought Weintek in to play a bit on his equipment as well as our trusty old Rockwell stuff. So for, so good!
 
My vote is for Weintek and EasyBuilder.
Very capable, very price friendly! Goes hand and hand with Studio or CCW very nicely.
I'm a Rockwell all day guy but I can't afford to play with FTV or Studio outside of my employers realm. So, Iv brought Weintek in to play a bit on his equipment as well as our trusty old Rockwell stuff. So for, so good!

Thanks for the reply, I have used Maple Products, and EZ Builder.

Correct me if I am wrong, is EZ Builder Plus just a re-branded Weintek.

I really appreciate your time to reply Pie Guy.
 
EasyBuilder Plus is the software used to program a Weintek.

I'm finding the use of the Indirect Window function and the ability to use multiple indirect windows on one screen very useful.
No limit on number of screens!
Only just the smaller IE series stuff Iv been using.... I have used them for harvester machine, a few greenhouses and now I'm doing a decent size mixing room with one.
I would love to try a larger system with a nicer higher series Weintek HMI.

If they could do something like parameter passing so I could re-create my FTV global objects to use with my existing AOIs and UDT, they could leave Rockwell in the dust!
 
My vote is for Weintek and EasyBuilder.
Very capable, very price friendly! Goes hand and hand with Studio or CCW very nicely.
I'm a Rockwell all day guy but I can't afford to play with FTV or Studio outside of my employers realm. So, Iv brought Weintek in to play a bit on his equipment as well as our trusty old Rockwell stuff. So for, so good!
+1 for Weintek.
I've used their hardware for a bunch of odd projects, solid.
Drivers for pretty much everything included.

Easy Access, VNC and all that extra stuff build in if you order the right model.
Can't beat the pricing.

It does work with RS5K tags or Studio or whatever they call it nowadays!.
 
Sorry, I should clarify, we are an OEM and we hold a Tool Kit already.

This HMI software is for resale on our skids.

Before jumping ship, what impact will switching from Rockwell have on your customer base? A lot of people complain about Rockwell's prices and yet they are still the largest Automation supplier in North America and while there is a lot of other products out there, some of which are very good products, nothing is as easy to find support for than Rockwell. Switching PLC and HMI brands might be a reason for some of your customers to "shop around" and once you've opened that door it could be very difficult to close it. I'm not saying you shouldn't change, just pointing out something that I see get missed all the time. Yes it may be easier (and cheaper) for you, but what about what your customers expect?
Just my 2 cents
 
I'm sure your local Siemens guy would love a call. They even have a tool that could do part of the conversion for you. It isn't a GREAT conversion, but its a nice place to start.



Here in the Detroit area, I'm starting to see a fair number of customers using Comfort panels paired with AB PLCs. Better functionality than a panelview and a lower price, but still the support level of a major player.
 
Last edited:
I'm sure your local Siemens guy would love a call. They even have a tool that could do part of the conversion for you.
Not to derail the thread but MK42, the Weintek does tag based S7-1200 & S7-1500 up to TIA 15.
I'm sure they will come out with support for TIA 16 shortly.
Though, my Siemens projects are nothing but Siemens hardware, just saying!
 
Not to derail the thread but MK42, the Weintek does tag based S7-1200 & S7-1500 up to TIA 15.
I'm sure they will come out with support for TIA 16 shortly.
Though, my Siemens projects are nothing but Siemens hardware, just saying!


There are a few companies that do, I think. Wonderware was the first I had heard of, they grab the tags straight out of the PLC.


Appreciate the info tho, for sure :)
 
C-more software from Automation Direct is really good for doing basic HMI pushbuttons, lights, etc. There are a couple tricks you can learn to animate objects onto screen using bitmap images. Pass word protection available on buttons, screen changes, etc.

If your HMI programs are not complicated, look into getting the EA9 panel from Automation direct. Software (C-more) is free download. You can find 15in color HMI with usb and ethernet for $1,300.

Very easy to communicate with SLC / Compact / Control Logix PLCs
 
Without knowing the details of your application, I would hope your local distributor would work with you on reviewing your application and see if it makes sense to update your machine controls design to newer platforms.

I'm not going to pretend that other alternatives exist. However, there are still companies within our area that still expect an AB control system when they open the cabinet. Because of that I've had to work with OEM's to look at the Micro 800 platform from a standpoint of being more cost competitive. I don't particularly like that solution, especially when you take a Studio 5000 user to the CCW platform.

In your case, your distributor could help your CompactLogix to the 5069 platform and your PanelView Plus to the PanelView 5000. If you have other requirements like NAT, the Dual IP support of 5069 can negate the need for a NATR module and that could help drive down the cost of your control system.
 

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