FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are some of the questions that Core Automation personnel (i.e. engineers, technicians, fabricators, sales, and office staff) seem to field on a daily basis. Most of the questions are generic in nature and can apply to a broad spectrum of industries and trades.

A control system integrator is a company that takes a problem that has some type of general specification (written preferred, but most of the time the project is defined verbally) and/or requirements and provides a complete and integrated solution to the problem, including engineering, documentation, custom software development/configuration, hardware procurement, installation, electrical wiring (power and controls), off-site testing, and commissioning (on-site testing).

Generally, control system integrators do not sell a product. Control system integrators do purchase, and most of the time, configure this purchased material into an system that performs the actions required by the process and/or client. The control system integrator uses what meets the requirements to solve the problem. This means that if Vendor X provides the best solution to the problem, Vendor X will be used. Vendor X may or may not be the best solution for the next project. This is a major advantage to the client of the system integrator over a single source vendor who must fit the problem into the solutions that only the vendor offers.

A control system integrator is not a distributor, nor a manufacturers representative, nor a consulting engineer, nor a contractor, a control system integrator combines features of all of these.

A project is a set of Specific, Measurable, Attainable, and Realistic Tasks (SMART) that have a definite beginning and end. This is an overly simplistic, but accurate, definition. Projects need to have a scope of work or definition (Specific), do we know when the task(s) are complete (Measurable), can the task’s objectives be accomplished (Attainable), and finally, is the task a representation of what is real, not abstract (Realistic).

Core Automation has been building systems for our customers since 2001.