IEN - March 2009 - (Page 34) IEN / MARCH ’09 PAGE 34 IEN’s WebReviews: Process Controls Welcome to IEN’s WebReviews, formerly OnSite. We’ve made the ratings areas easier to understand by using a simplified ratings chart and assigning a clear overall percentage rating by site. Each month our editors review a different product or market segment. This month it’s Process Controls. details, along with direct links, are available at www.ien.com/webreviews A s we reviewed websites that focus on Process Controls, several key points emerged. The first is a subtle yet noticeable contrast between old-guard leaders who entered a world without television, and the younger bucks born digitally into the world of the Internet. In at least a couple of cases, the wiser, more experienced companies have a lot to learn from the kids. A shot to the old guys? No. They know how to serve a market on the phone or in person better than anyone else. They have the extensive product lines, relationships, and global breadth. The younger set, however, gets more clearly that one big reason industry uses the Internet is to obtain product information. Also illustrated this month is a disconnect between designers and IT. Some of the sites Highest Rated Site of the Month you’ll find here do a great job of design—designs that underlying databases are too weak to support. In others, you’ll find just the opposite – strong databases, but inefficient designs. New company or old, designers or IT pros, one thing is very X-Files-like: The truth in terms of great websites is out there for those who simply pay attention. About Our Rating System Only sites that are considered Good or above are included in IEN’s WebReviews. Nine areas are analyzed for each site. Individual areas are rated Good, Better, or Best. The overall site percentage takes into account the individual scoring and the judgment of the reviewer. Good vVV Better vvV Best vvv COMPANY/RATING Automation Direct WEBSITE/IN BRIEF www.automationdirect.com: Attention industrial marketers: Look at this site. This is the way to do it. www.divelbiss.com: Plenty of helpful features including a parametric search and shopping cart function, but is lacking in style. www.abb.com: Impressive site that won’t disappoint, though product configurators and online purchasing would be of value to some visitors. www.mksinst.com: Easy to navigate. Lots of info, but juicy stuff locked behind registration wall. www.redlion.net: Content here is worthwhile, but could be more consistent across product lines to better serve users. www.yokogawa.com/us/: For access to the Industrial Automation & Control portion of the site, users must click on “Our Businesses” on the homepage. www.blue-white.com: Nicely organized with lots of data sheets and manuals. Steer clear of company’s earlier primitive site still floating around on Web. www.rockwellautomation.com: Expansive site is packed with information and tools, but good luck finding them. www2.sea.siemens.com: One of the most technically complete sites we’ve seen, but organization could be better. www.emersonprocess.com: Bounces among company divisions where content options vary. Generally a very good site. www.hbm.com: Major product areas and applications clearly marked. Nicely done. www.factorymation.com: What this site does, it does very well. It could do more. www.fmipump.com: Menu bars clear and useful. Good related links to catalogs and accessories. www.ashcroft.com: Good site with good content. Homepage makeover and deeper content needed. Online purchasing would work very well. www.dynatrolusa.com: The site masterful handles the basics, but could use downloads and whitepapers to beef up the content. www.dartcontrols.com: A good, meat-and-potatoes site that could fairly easily be greatly improved. www.ttco.com: Products can be found easily, but site has few bells and whistles. Won’t work with Firefox. www.ametek.com: To access the Process Instruments area of the site, users must click on the “Process Instruments” icon on the homepage. GENERAL WHITE ENGINEERING/ DOWNLOADS/ REGISTRATION EASE of USE/ PRODUCT PAPERS & KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERING TECHNICAL FRIENDLY NAVIGATION INFORMATION CASE STUDIES TOOLS BASE CONTENT SUPPORT/ USER FORUM PURCHASING INFO/ ASSISTANCE 94% Divelbiss Corp. vvv vvv vvv vvV vvv vvv vvv vvV vvv vvv vvv vvV vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvV vvv vvv vvv vVV vvv vVV vvV vvV vvV vvv vvv vvV vvv vvv vvV VVV vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvV vvv vvV vvV vvv vvv vvV vvV vvv vvV vvV vvV vVV vVV vvV vvV vVV vvv vvv vvv vvV vvv vvV VVV vvV VVV vVV vVV VVV vVV vvv vvV vvv vvV vvV vvv vvV vvV vvv vvV vvV vvV vVV vvV vvV vvV vVV vVV vvv vvv vvV vvV vvV vvv vVV vvv vVV vvV vVV vVV vVV vVV VVV vVV vVV VVV vvV vvV vVV vvV vVV vvV vvV vVV vvV vvV vvV vVV vVV vvV VVV vVV vVV VVV vvv vvV vvv vvv vvV vvV vvV vvV vVV vvV vVV vVV vvv vvV vVV vVV vVV vVV vvv vvv vvV vvv vvv vVV vvv vvv vvV vVV vVV vvv vVV vVV vVV vVV vvV vvV 90% ABB 89% MKS Instruments 89% Red Lion Controls 88% Yokogawa Corp. 88% Blue-White Industries 87% Rockwell Automation, Inc. 86% Siemens Energy and Automation, Inc. 86% Emerson Process Management 84% HBM 84% FactoryMation 83% Fluid Metering, Inc. 83% Ashcroft Inc. 82% Automation Products, Inc. 82% Dart Controls 82% Tri-Tronics Co., Inc. 79% Ametek, Inc. 76% http://www.ien.com/webreviews http://www.automationdirect.com http://www.divelbiss.com http://www.abb.com http://www.mksinst.com http://www.redlion.net http://www.yokogawa.com/us/ http://www.blue-white.com http://www.rockwellautomation.com http://www2.sea.siemens.com http://www.emersonprocess.com http://www.hbm.com http://www.factorymation.com http://www.fmipump.com http://www.ashcroft.com http://www.dynatrolusa.com http://www.dartcontrols.com http://www.ttco.com http://www.ametek.com http://ien.com/blogs
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.