What Customers Say
At Opto 22, we like to hear what customers have to say about our products and service. Here are a few of their comments:
"One of your support people has tried to call me about 4 times and each time I have been out of the office. Thanks for the excellent follow-up!! It is truly remarkable to find such support in this day and age."
"I realized today again how much I like Opto22! I have been trying to program a variable speed drive from another manufacturer. I phoned for technical help, left a message and waited for a call back. About an hour later someone called and one of the first questions was “Are you using the software for programming the drive?” I said no I don’t have the software – I’m using the keypad on the front of the drive. Their response was that it’s so much easier with the software. I asked if the software was available for download and what kind of connection cable do I need. Their answer was, “Oh, we sell it as a setup kit. It comes with a CD and a special cable that you need to connect to the drive”. I thought to myself isn’t that just great – I’m out on a call trying to help a customer get up and running and now I’ll have to buy a special kit ($150 by the way) to complete the job. The support person was not able to tell me how to complete the programming using the keypad and gave me another phone number to call for help.
"I thought to myself: Opto22 gives you the software for free, you use a simple network connection to connect to the system, the support I’ve experienced so far is very good… what more could I ask for?
"Thanks Opto 22 for doing a great job!"
"I was quite impressed with the stellar technical support we received when we encountered a problem with our Opto 22 control system. [You] helped us to initially identify our failure, provided updates during the repair process, and helped us with additional problems we encountered during system restart. It was an absolute pleasure to receive such fine support during a difficult period. The entire technical support industry could use a lesson from Opto 22."
"The subroutines you sent me work perfectly as you sent them. I have been working on a control strategy over 11 and 12 hour days for the past few weeks. When I hit this problem with the subroutines, it stopped me dead in my tracks. This is a crisis project for my company, and you can't imagine how valuable your assistance was. I realize that you're paid to do this work, but as far as I'm concerned, I owe you a favor...
"I am astounded at what powerful tools PAC Basic and Display are -- if you have this, who needs PLCs? I am looking forward to more great projects here at Johnson Controls using this incredible tool."
"I just wanted to let you know that this project was a total success. All of the Opto 22 products worked great....
PAC Basic was easy to use and handled everything I need it to do. We update a SQL Server database by sending a message out the Ethernet port with the counts from the SNAP-PAC-R1... Opto 22 support was great and you guys also pulled someone out of a company meeting one day to help us when we needed an ODC5-SRC module overnight. The system is running great and everyone is very happy with the results."
"You did a fantastic job for me a couple of weeks ago while I was at my customer's site, and also in the past. The whole Opto concept enables me to do things I could not have done otherwise."
"In this day and age of corporate buyouts and discontinued products, its good to see a company that continues to support the classic I/O products, even when a design change is mandated by component availability. This is the fourth version of the classic analogs that [we] have used over the years, and we really enjoy the reliability of the OPTO products."
"I have been integrating Intellution products with the control functions of Cyrano-Factory Floor 4.0. It has not been the easiest to keep up with the Intellution flukes, especially drivers.
"Okay, finally one of my clients wishes to throw out the Fix32 MMI and use the OptoDisplay. I am not the brightest tech around, but persistent. Anyway, I am blown away with the functionality I can get by using the OptoDisplay MMI with OptoControl. It is too easy. Tables in minutes and they actually update no matter what position I hold my tongue. FUN.
"To all engineers, support technicians and sales- Thanks and keep up the good work. This stuff makes me look good with minimum frustration. It functions as literature suggests. I have yet to hear from your support 'Oh yeah, we just did not print that in the reference literature.' "
"These past weeks, I spent a lot of time looking and searching for the right control solution. I knew nothing about Opto 22 and I must admit that I fell on your website almost by accident. However, I was amazed by your large product selection and the very high integration level of your products. Last time I worked in Industrial Automation, I was using a PLC combined with G1-like signal conditioner. When I discovered your SNAP I/O product line, my life has changed (at least the way I was looking at Industrial Automation). Now, our biological waste treatment process is a snap to monitor and adjust. Thanks for developing such good and handy tools."
"I've used Opto22 Ethernet I/O in two different applications so far. In one application, the I/O system is controlling a small punch press station and in the other I'm using the I/O for control and data collection in a tester which verifies an in-vehicle device network. Both applications are PC-based. The reason I chose the SNAP I/O system was the ability to mix digital and analog I/O in the same chassis and small panel space required for the I/O points we needed. My applications are written in Visual Basic and the sample code that is supplied with your free Ethernet I/O Toolkit made the application development go much smoother! Very good support with the OptoLive Help!!!"
"I have been using Opto 22 products for over two years now. The first installation was for a small batch chemical plant. I have experience with larger more costly distributed control systems but these systems were cost prohibitive for this project. Since that first installation went so smooth and needed less routine maintenance, we have expanded the use of OPTO 22 products. About a year ago a second larger plant was built using OPTO 22 B3000 -ENET and Serial brains. The system has worked very effectively to operate the plant."
"We feel comfortable with using the OPTO 22 products and their support team and are thus preparing to use OPTO 22 again for remote monitoring of chemical tanks. We already have one Intranet- based tank monitoring system in place to supply levels and temperatures to a variety of users. I am now working on integrating an OPTO 22 system into our existing DCS system to operate as a backup system."
"We have recently installed a Sputter Cluster Tool for our research clean room that utilizes The Opto 22 control system. This system can be configured to have five process modules for doing thin film deposition of metals and dielectric materials. The process modules are loaded with silicon wafers from a cassette module via a robotic transfer arm. Each module has a dedicated system but they are all programmed to work together. This is my first experience with the Opto 22 system and I like it! Thank you."
"I have implemented an Opto 22 Ethernet I/O system for remote monitoring of the computer room of an internet service center. It monitors the most critical parameters of the room and the service units (temperature, humidity, smoke, power of the computers and routers, tank level and state of the diesel power generator). After the implementation, I was asked to travel to the remote center to change the configuration of this system. However, since the SNAP Ethernet I/O system is accessible via the Internet, I asked them to configure a login name and a password for me. In this way, I could enter into the system and I could make the necessary configuration changes without any travelling, saving myself and my company time and money."
"Our company has 14 G4LC32X Mistic 200 Controllers in use. We also have three SNAP LCM4 controllers currently being installed. We are retrofitting six of the Mistic 200 for LCM4 controllers. I have many years of hands-on experience in several makes of PLCs, and now I am writing about them. I recently discovered the OPTO 22 brand. I am researching the OPTO line and I am writing about the functions of the Mistic 200 and the SNAP LCM4 controller with the M4SENET-100 Ethernet card. I must say the way the flowcharts compare to the ladder logic makes the OPTO 22 system well suited for our applications."
"We just installed 13 Opto 22 systems to monitor engine data. We tried other vendors' products, but never got them working right with our PCs. The Opto systems were up and running in a matter of minutes. I am very pleased with the results."
"We used an Opto 22 control system to control and monitor a Plasma Enhanced, Chemical Vapor Deposition System (PE-CVD). The Opto 22 system provided positive control with alarms and was monitored remotely on the company's ethernet network. OptoDisplay was used to give the operators visual status indication and provided a great way of logging data and monitoring quality. Previously, I have used PLC's to control many automated manufacturing systems and this was the first time we used Opto 22. My experience was a good one and I hope to use more Opto 22 in the future."
"We recently replaced a safety monitoring and control system on a U.S. Navy submersible research model. After examining several other vendor solutions we selected a system using SNAP Ethernet I/O components. Our delivered system uses five remote Ethernet I/O brains which are queried periodically from a central Linux server using a Perl-based Firewire module. Topside Command and Monitoring is provided via a web interface which has proven to be both flexible and robust and provides cross platform access."
"(Our company) has completed two hardware control projects using Opto22 equipment. We are happy with all aspects of the new systems that perform hotel and safety monitoring onboard our underwater test platforms. Running at 600ft below the surface, our Opto22 brains may hold the deepest diving record. We use the IEEE-1394-based interface with a Perl module that works very well for reading data and setting configuration parameters. The interface gives us a convenient way to probe our systems from anywhere on our network. Technical support and product delivery has been flawless. We're pleased that these systems come online quickly and without technical or reliability issues."
"I have been using Opto22 products for over a year now. After taking the course, projects have become simple to develop and troubleshoot. I am working on a position control system that works on various PID loop inputs. Opto22 has made it easy to implement features that we could not do with PLC's thus giving our customers custom apps at low costs and easy to maintain for us. Opto22 on-line support is very handy for quick questions to get results and the support engineers also are very knowledgeable for helping in the start up process. The support is the best I have ever dealt with when rating with similar competitor companies. Because of ease of implementation and design we are changing some of our in-house to OPTO22 also. Thanks Again."
"We have just sold a complete engine and gas compressor monitoring system. Our instruments are designed to be local instruments to shutdown on any kind of critical fault. We have utilized the customer's communication features to communicate to a SNAP LCSX+ inside a control room. On a PC we are using OptoDisplay to display all process pressures, temperatures, and alarms if a reading is about to become critical. This has allowed the user to act on a problem and practically eliminate any down-time because a problem is addressed before becoming critical. Programming the LC to communicate to our instruments was almost too easy. Programming OptoDisplay was even easier. The real treat was using PC anywhere to monitor from just about anywhere. Almost as good as posting on a website. Thanks for making my job so much easier."
"We let our customers decide which options they need. Since they are no longer forced to buy all the features, we have been able to reduce our prices thanks to your reasonable prices. Your off-the-shelf solution got our product ready to ship in record time. The 4KV isolation offered by these modules has also reduced the number of reported field problems. Needless to say, these all add up to a real advantage in a competitive market."
"I have been programming and working on PLC's for about 5 years now, but I've only worked with Opto for about 6 months. I have to say it is by far the easiest to work with. I am now getting into the more complicated applications, things I would dread to do with any other PLC, seem easy with Opto. Sometimes I feel like I'm getting paid too much. Shhhh, don't tell anyone. Our main application deals with converting the Altronic instrument's ASCII COMM into a MODBUS format. We set up the SNAP-LCSX-PLUS as a MODBUS SLAVE to communicate with a PC or SCADA system. In some applications we also incorporate engine controls, such as Air/Fuel ratio and speed controls. In our last application, we used a SNAP-LCSX-PLUS to control valves which open and close pockets on a gas compressor, varying the load to keep the engine at a constant horse power. It worked out quite well. I look forward to working more with Opto22."
"Been using Opto22 products (mainly the SNAP line) for more than a year now and am very pleased at how easy it is to use. Just completed the Opto22 training for FactoryFloor, and found that to be very helpful. The training introduced applications that I have not been introduced to in the shop."
"We made a wise choice when we upgraded from a total pneumatic control system to your Opto 22 system. We control Waukesha 7042 engines with four throw compressors. The system is very friendly to use, and trouble shooting and maintenance is very accessible, the way the control panels were designed and built. I hope we can have more Opto 22 equipment installed in the future. I would put Opto 22 tops in my books, over your competition."
"We have used SNAP Ethernet I/O to implement a supervisory strategy via the Internet in our Automated Controls laboratory at the University of Bio-Bio. The application displays various classic processes, level, temperature, and flow all of which are controlled by Opto 22 equipment. We have also incorporated a video camera with a built in web server that allows us to view our process in real time no matter what web browser we are using."
"During the installation of an air handler for our analytical, and quality control laboratories, it was determined that we positively had to control the output of the air handler to deliver 55 deg. F. air, at a specified static pressure. Though throughout the rest of our facility we use other logic controllers, we found that the Opto products provided us with the best cost/function/maintenance ratio. Though originally installed by a contractor, we found that when the contractor was no longer available to service the unit, that it was simple enough for our in-house crew to program, and maintain the unit with no additional training. It is critical that this unit perform 24/7 and as of this point it has not let us down, I really appreciate the fact that the unit is compact, and has additional room for expansion, we are now writing the specifications to purchase, and install a new Opto 22 controller for a wastewater project currently in the works. Kudos to your products, and I look forward to each additional unit that we can install."
"The product support department of your company is one of the best I have ever run into in my 13 years of engineering. I want to thank your company for its proactive support of our needs. Your people are to be commended."
"I attended the July 2000 Factory Floor training class and would like to say a few words about my experience. IT WAS WORTH EVERY PENNY! Your facility is beautiful…The training atmosphere was impeccable…Alan, the class facilitator, promoted your company and products with high regard and was able to back it up with his experience and expertise in his field. I would like to give special thanks to two of your employees. Rick Knecht, in customer service, exemplifies what great customer service is all about. His knowledge, ability, and willingness to help cannot be beat…I would also like to thank Alexi from the training dept. You could not ask for a better training coordinator. Alexi went out of her way to make the learning environment a very pleasant experience…"
"My company has been using Opto 22 products for one year. We currently have completely automated our Water Treatment Plant, Wastewater Treatment Plant, eight remote Pump Stations, and two water wells with your Ethernet I/O. The future holds integrating the Electric Department, the Gas Department, and a new 30 MGD Water Treatment Plant into the Opto 22 SCADA system."
"After my experience at your facility getting to know your company and products a little better, you can rest assured that you have a customer for life. Thank you very much and keep up the good work."
"We are using Opto22 SNAP Ethernet RS232 modules for a 32-channel production test. The test used to be manual, moving one RS232 connection to each port; that took 45 minutes for each 32-channel unit. Now we hook them all together and run 32 tests all at once. We catch every character sent over all 32 channels and the test now takes close to [just] 5 minutes."
"We use SNAP I/O to control an advanced, instrumented, and fully automated convection oven utilized by a major Midwestern aircraft plant for the manufacture of customized interior panels for large corporate aircraft."
"I am using [an] Opto22 SNAP Control System (LCM4 Controller, B3000 Brain boards, digital and analogue I/O, FactoryFloor) to develop an aluminum production pot control system, and so far I've already accomplished 60% of the project in a very good way. I feel very comfortable working with OptoControl and OptoDisplay, and I think I will be able to finish this project in a couple of months. This was our first automation project using [the] Opto22 SNAP Control System platform, but now we (development group) are using it in several automation projects in our Venezuelan Aluminum sector. We always keep in touch with you through your weekly OptoNews."
“What a change…The program was simple to write with your examples. I'm sold!”
“We use Opto 22 SNAP I/O system on Wastewater/Fresh water treatment plants and installations for controlling the processes along with Opto 22 FactoryFloor SCADA system where ever we can. We like the ease of programming, and the compactness of the I/O modules. We have been using Opto 22 products for a long time and the SNAP I/O system was the next logical step. We feel as if it provides our customers with a solid I/O system, at a reasonable cost, that will do what it is required to do.”
“Future plans to incorporate building security and fire alarm systems into (the SNAP Ethernet I/O system for) monitoring inputs to allow the customer the capability of looking at all building sub-systems via Internet browser.”
“It's easy and works well with our system.”
“As an electric and natural gas utility, we use this equipment to monitor our remote substations and gas gates. We love the FactoryFloor software components. Our long term goal is to get our controllers and I/O brains on our Wide Area Network so engineers can use the Web front end offered by these products.”
“We are a systems integration company specializing in data collection in manufacturing and distribution environments. We had used Opto hardware in the past to bridge between our PC-based applications and PLC-based conveyor controls and print & apply environments. Although very successful in implementation, we needed more flexibility during design, proof of concept, development, and installation. We have since started using Opto's Ethernet products and have developed a PC-based control system around them. This control system allows us to configure each module at startup, control digital/analog inputs and outputs, process RS-232 communications to fixed-mount barcode scanners, label printers, robots, safety curtains, etc. Our system also allows for building scripting logic around the controls without requiring actual programming. We even support database access for validation and transaction generation to most standard platforms and databases (i.e. MS SQL, Progress, Oracle, MS Access, etc.) A current installation involves an automotive supplier where we have linked RF-based data collection devices with our Opto 22 control system to sequence and control the manufacturing and shipping of parts to a major automotive company. With our Opto 22 control system we are processing barcode labels, validating parts and sequencing, performing pick-to-light pick verification for component assembly, directing controls to robots by SKU, verifying safety controls to curtains, palm-buttons, all while generating work-in-process transactions to the customer's databases. Using the collected data we are then verifying that outgoing parts are sequenced correctly using RF data terminals. All of this is accomplished without writing any code. We have several additional sites where we are controlling print applicators, conveyor control, quality testing, etc. using our control module. We have several hardware vendors interested in reselling our control module, which at present only works with the Opto 22 Ethernet modules.”
“We use the Opto 22 Ethernet I/O in detention equipment (jails and prisons) and control system. The Ethernet D64 modules allows us to easily remotely locate I/O brains and tie in touch screens across an Ethernet hub.”
“I am using the SNAP-B3000-ENET, with analog VRMS and ARMS modules to monitor energy use and power (208VAC/120VAC) quality for a building.”
“[We are] using the ENET Brain and Digital I/O rack. We created a monitoring solution for a large phone service company switching site. This [system] monitors our switchgear and controls for the emergency generator, UPS system and HVAC system. Future plans are to incorporate the buildings security and fire alarm systems into the [system], monitoring inputs to allow the customer the capability of looking at all building sub-systems via a Internet browser.”
“[We use SNAP Ethernet I/O for] data collection from cotton gins, including wireless Ethernet from plant to office. Soon to come: data placed on a Web server so the individual producer can track crop production and classing results all from the privacy of their home.”
“Manufacturing Execution Systems for HVAC industries (monitoring, testing, critical component validation, etc.) assembly operations.”
“Remotely monitor and control power supply, charger, battery, two generators, LP tank, air system, and PC reset.”
“Plant-wide data collection system using SNAP Ethernet IO with Opto 22 display, connect and control [software].”
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About Opto 22 Systems
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