Safran Serves as Global Supplier to Emerson for Critical Infrastructure Distributed Control Systems

History

Safran has been working with Emerson since 2013, providing resilient timing and synchronization solutions for their plant automation systems. The Safran-Emerson relationship has expanded over the years, encompassing many business units and spanning multiple continents. Safran has supplied hundreds of GPSGlobal Positioning System is a navigation satellite system. See also/GNSS time server products for integration with Emerson’s DeltaV™ and Ovation™ distributed control systems.

After a comprehensive product test process, Safran’s SecureSync® time and frequency reference system was validated by Emerson’s product specialists and specified as the time sync solution to provide precision time stamps for Emerson’s Ovation and DeltaV systems. These systems control a myriad of operations inside many of the world’s oil refineries, power, and water stations. SecureSync provides the heartbeat, synchronizing controllers , process historians, valves, alarms, cameras, and sensors, among other critical systems.

A Trusted Partner

Emerson was seeking a higher caliber of product support and appreciated Safran’s unique approach to product security, along with our sustaining software support and five-year warranty. Safran understands the inherent risks of connected network devices and prioritizes product security: We developed the first network time server to receive DISA (Defense Information Systems Agency) Department of Defense Information Network (DoDIN) cybersecurity approval.

We believe that security protocols providing authentication, authorization and accounting should be built-in capabilities rather than add-on, purchased features. With the ever-evolving cyber landscape, it is important to stay ahead of any areas of potential exposure that could become easily exploited.

At Safran, we continuously scan against CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) and issue routine software update releases with safeguard protections. We make our firmware free to all users for the life of our products. These benefits − coupled with our industry-leading warranty and helpful technical support, which come standard with Safran solutions − provided Emerson with the outstanding value and alleviated many past frustrations. Safran’s focus on product support, along with the flexibility offered by our modular, configure-to-order form factors, gave Emerson the confidence needed to integrate an off-the-shelf timing product within their customer focused automation solutions.

Growing Together

Safran is now a global supplier for Emerson. What started as a simple bundled time server kit for a single business unit has expanded into a global master supply agreement, supporting 16 business units and spanning 12 countries. In addition to supporting Emerson directly, Safran works with Emerson’s network of authorized business partners, supplying the essential timing elements for their project installations.