adccommunitymod (AutomationDirect) asked a question.
Created Date: August 17,2005
Created By: chris.zeman
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Our AB rep was at our location a couple months ago because he heard that most of my projects had incorporated AD controllers and no AB controllers. (I'm currently working on a project that will use DL-06's in about 15 locations. I have 2 live right now.) I showed him what I had going and what was coming up. I got a phone call the other day telling me their new 1100 (comparable to the DL-06, only with built-in ethernet) is going to list for $550. It looks like AB is starting to see reality on prices. lol
Created Date: August 17,2005
Created by: clasentech
Something similar happened to me 'bout 2 years ago. Back then they still couldn't keep up with pricing and pretty much saw their points were useless.
Created Date: August 17,2005
Created by: chris.zeman
I guess we'll see what happens. We had a good conversation about the large number of systems we build and the reasons I go with AD over AB, financial and functionality for the money. I was told the release of the 1100 was specifically to compete with AD, and for the systems I build around the 06, I will probably go with the 1100 instead. I'll pay a little more to construct my rungs the way I want to, and as a result, dramatically reduce the number of rungs in my programs. I still have a couple applications in which I use the 05 and 205 series, and that won't change.
I don't agree, however, with one of the statements that was made. I was told that AD's support is NOT on par with AB's, and that's a load of you-know-what. AD's Tech Support hotline and forums are great -- and FREE! You shouldn't have to pay for support, no matter what the cost. A company should just support their products. I wonder if we'll ever see the day when AB realizes that.
Have fun!
Chris
Created Date: August 17,2005
Created by: clasentech
Yeah they tried that same tech support b.s. with me too. I find this forum to be the best. I 've looked at other forums specific to individual companies (wonderware for example) and the AD tech's and regular Joe's who contribute simply rock.
Remember back in the day when AD tech support was a 1-800 number. Maybe 8 years ago???
Created Date: August 17,2005
Created by: Tech Guy
Actually it is back. 1-800-633-0405.
Chris, Directsoft version 5 is on the way and has several new features including a lot of new box support. Math boxes, configuration boxes, communication boxes, etc... Plus the GUI has a few newer features as well. More toolbars, tabbed windows, windows that dock/undock, and more! I 've been playing with the beta version for the past week and I must say that I was surprised at how much easier it will be to program with it.
Created Date: August 17,2005
Created by: rrdoyle
Hey Tech Guy, when will DirectSoft version 5 be released? What is AutomationDirect's upgrade policy if you just purchased version 4 (build 25) last month?
Created Date: August 17,2005
Created by: krak
ok i know that pretty much everyone on this forum know how to do almost anything with a plc. me however, i barely use the 06 compared to what it can do. but, in one year i have learned more about plc's then i ever thought i would. and it is all due to this site, the web classes, and the videos. i hear time and time again that in the case of ab you do not always get what you pay for. and unless ab changes a lot ad can count on me to use ad products. thank you ad
Created Date: August 17,2005
Created by: chris.zeman
I'm sure DirectSoft5 is going to be great, but I still think I should be able to construct rungs like the following:
- --- ---( )-
|
- ---( )-
It would save me quite a few rungs in my programs, and I wouldn't be sacrificing organization in my programs. I ended up with at least 100 extra rungs in one of my programs. I'm just glad I'm still at a point with my current project that I can consider an affordable controller that will allow me to do the above.
I would still use the 05's on some smaller scale projects, and the 205's on the larger, but the 06 is perfect for the majority of what I do. Now, I have an alternative.
Created Date: August 17,2005
Created by: chris.zeman
You are absolutely correct. I used to only program AB, but we had a year-old piece of equipment removed that used a DL250 controller. I had a large scale project to do and we couldn't afford the AB, and so I had to learn AD. It took a bit of getting used to, but I got the hang of it fairly quickly. They 're great controllers. The only complaint I have is that I can't construct a rung like the one in the message above.
Originally posted by krak:
ok i know that pretty much everyone on this forum know how to do almost anything with a plc. me however, i barely use the 06 compared to what it can do. but, in one year i have learned more about plc's then i ever thought i would. and it is all due to this site, the web classes, and the videos. i hear time and time again that in the case of ab you do not always get what you pay for. and unless ab changes a lot ad can count on me to use ad products. thank you ad
Created Date: August 18,2005
Created by: Tech Guy
As to when DS 5 will be released, your guess is as good as mine. It is in beta right now, so it might be a month or it might be December. Depends on how many bugs are found and how fast they can be fixed.
As far as the policy goes for a "free " update period, again I have no idea. I typically don't know much about how they intend to do things until they give a firm launch date, usually a few weeks before launch.
Created Date: August 18,2005
Created by: Tom Jenkins
I use a lot of A-B equipment and a lot of AutomationDirect.com equipment.
I still use AutomationDirect.com when I have the choice, and A-B when the customer insists. AutomationDirect.com is still my favorite.
A-B has gotten better in terms of support and pricing, but they still don't provide the overall value that AutomationDirect.com does. My local distributor understands that they had to get more competitive, and they have been able to get pricing to the point that it isn't worth fighting with the customer to get them to change the spec. Because of the distribution model used, I don't think A-B can ever get to the point that they are fully competitive with AutomationDirect.com. They simply have to many steps in the supply chain, each of which needs to get a mark-up.
The tech support issue is also getting more competitve, but only because A-B offloads most of the responsibility to local distributors. Our local guys are good, but not all of the A-B distributors are comparable.
I see A-B holding it's market share, and AutomationDirect.com increasing theirs. Because A-B has responded well they are not going to be circling the bowl for a long long time. I suspect AutomationDirect.com's future gains are going to be coming at the expense of players like GE and Modicon.
A-B benefits from national marketing to specifiers, such as the large A & E (Architectural and Engineering) firms. Only Siemens seems to have caught on to that strategy. AutomationDirect.com is weak in this area, and my opinion is they will stay behind in the specifications race with the large A & E firms. The kind of marketing A-B has is expensive and personell intensive, and is somewhat contrary to the basic mindset at AutomationDirect.com.
On the other hand small integrators and factory automation projects that rely on in house engineering will probably continue to push more projects AutomationDirect.com's way. As the installed base builds, it makes getting my favorite brand into other projects easier.