RS Components' U.K. division headquarters is a purpose-built 800,000 ft² (74 000 m²) complex (equivalent in size to five football fields) in central England. The site consists of administrative offices, calibration laboratories, call centers, and warehouses, the tallest of which boasts the most level floor in Europe to prevent stacking vehicles from toppling at their full height extension. The main areas of the site are operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The company installed various control systems to help its plant and services department engineers to run the site efficiently. However, using different manufacturers’ controllers meant the department had to operate a different PC operator workstation (OWS) for each vendor. With the site expanding and more controls being fitted, a decision needed to be made regarding which controls manufacturer to standardize on in future projects.

Various manufacturers were considered, and the facility engineers attended trade shows to research the latest technologies. After discussions with several suppliers, the plant and services management agreed that all new plant equipment and controls installed on the site must be native BACnet.