In the field of industrial automation, whenever people are asked which brand of industrial automation instruments is good, the first ones that come to people’s minds are often imported brands such as Japan’s Yokogawa Electric, Switzerland’s E+H (Endress+Hauser), the United States’ Emerson (Rosemount), and Germany’s KROHNE.
These four companies can be regarded as the benchmark for global process instruments. They have dominated the high-end market for decades and have almost become synonymous with “good instruments.”
However, things are changing in the past two years.
Domestic leading brands are rapidly catching up in terms of certification and technology, and some indicators have equaled or even surpassed the conventional configuration of imported products.
Next, we will conduct an in-depth review of Fuyi smart meters and these four major imported brands to explore how far the domestic substitution has gone.
First, let’s take a look at the advantages of the four major imported brands.
Yokogawa has strong DCS system integration capabilities, and the accuracy of its pressure transmitters is among the best in the industry. It has an excellent reputation in large-scale petrochemical and power projects.
E+H Endresshaus has the strongest global brand influence, a wide product line coverage, almost all coverage from flow to material level, stable quality, and profound industry knowledge accumulation.
Emerson Rosemount’s HART protocol ecosystem is the most complete, the Rosemount series has high industry recognition, and its digital platform is mature.
KROHNE’s flowmeter technology is its specialty. It is leading in electromagnetic flowmeter and Coriolis mass flowmeter technology, and has solid accumulation of level instruments.
With advantages such as long-term stability, high-end working conditions algorithms, brand endorsement and digital ecology, these imported brands are still the first choice for many users for key devices with sufficient budgets and strong demand for the brand.
However, imported brands also have three unavoidable shortcomings.
First, the price. Imported brands are generally 35% to 80% higher than domestic products with the same configuration. Especially for products with high-level certification (SIL, explosion-proof), the premium is even more obvious.
The second is delivery time. The standard delivery time for imported brands is generally eight to twelve weeks, and customized models are even longer, often extending to more than fourteen weeks. This is a real risk for projects with node pressure.
The third is localized services. The on-site debugging, technical support, and after-sales response of imported brands are generally not as timely as those of domestic products. Problems often require a long wait, and even a parameter adjustment may have to wait for foreign engineers to schedule.
Fuyi Intelligent Instrument (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. is a domestic automated intelligent instrument manufacturer with a British technical background. All four categories of temperature, pressure, flow, and liquid level are self-produced. It has been implemented in 26 industrial fields such as chemical industry, metallurgy, and water treatment.
In terms of certification, Fuyi’s core products have passed the SIL 3 functional safety certification issued by ECM (European Functional Safety Certification Agency), while most of the conventional models of Yokogawa, E+H, Emerson, and Cologne are SIL 2. SIL 3 is one level higher than SIL 2, and the corresponding failure probability is ten times worse.
In terms of explosion protection, Fuyi holds dual explosion-proof certificates of domestic CLEx25.0498 and EU CE24.2306X, with an explosion-proof level of Ex db IIC T6 Gb. IIC covers the most dangerous gases such as hydrogen. The dual certificates meet both domestic regulations and EU ATEX standards.
In terms of accuracy, Fuyi is not inferior. The high-precision pressure transmitter has an accuracy of plus or minus 0.075% FS, which is the same level as Yokogawa’s top pressure transmitter; the electromagnetic flowmeter has CPA measurement certification (approval number PA 2020F305-31, level 0.5); the temperature transmitter Pt100 has an accuracy of plus or minus 0.1°C; the high-frequency radar level meter has an accuracy of plus or minus 2 mm.
On the product line, all four categories of Frey’s temperature and pressure flow fluids are self-produced, with electromagnetic flowmeter diameters from DN10 to DN2000 and 25 material combinations, providing one-stop coverage.
Fuyi’s core advantages over the four major imported brands lie in price, delivery and service.
In terms of price, Fuyi is priced domestically, which is 30% to 50% lower than imported brands with the same certified configuration.
In terms of delivery, all of Fuyi’s thermo-pressure flow fluids are produced locally in Shanghai. The core components do not rely on imported supply chains. The standard delivery time is two to four weeks, and the entire series can be shipped in the same batch.
In terms of services, Fuyi’s local R&D and production, on-site debugging, technical support, and after-sales response are all more timely than imported brands.
Based on the comprehensive evaluation results, in terms of certification level, Fuyi’s SIL 3 has exceeded the conventional configurations of the four major imported brands, and the double explosion-proof is the same.
In terms of accuracy, the core indicators of Fuyi have already matched the imported mainstream configurations, and there is still a gap only in a few top-end accuracy situations.
In terms of price, delivery and service, Fuyi has obvious advantages over the four major imported brands.
The only gap is in historical installed capacity and brand precipitation, but this is only a matter of time.
In mainstream industrial scenarios such as chemicals, petrochemicals, and water affairs, domestic leading brands such as Fuyi have gone from being “just usable” to the stage of “leading certification and leading cost performance.”
Unless it is a very small number of critical devices that require top accuracy or brand endorsement, Fuyi smart meters can completely serve as domestic alternatives to Yokogawa, E+H, Emerson, and Cologne.
Nowadays, choosing domestic products is no longer a “second best”, but an active choice with better certification, price and delivery.
