Applied System Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1986 as an employee owned company. The founding engineers had many years of prior experience together developing process computer systems and software for very demanding and quality conscious applications. This experience included the design, implementation, and commissioning of large computerized process monitoring systems for use in nuclear power plants throughout North America. From this activity, ASTEC engineers learned the comprehensive software development and test methodologies required to produce the very highest quality software applications. For obvious reasons, these programs had to be the ultimate in reliability. These critical software development practices were brought forward to the new company and used to produce the highest quality instrument management software available today.
In the late 1980's, ASTEC used these development skills to design and build systems and new standard software products for companies like SAIC, IBM, Hughes Network Systems, Racal Datacom, Rockwell Switching Systems, and others.
In 1989, ASTEC recognized the need for a Windows based PC software product as a computer based configuration tool for the new HART field instrument communications protocol. A prototype of the Base Station software was demonstrated at the ISA show in 1990 to assess market reaction and refine the product's requirements. Enthusiastic customer input led to the expansion of the Base Station concept into a comprehensive instrument management system combining an instrument database with configuration, calibration, record keeping, and reporting functions to help customers meet their needs for effective quality management of their process instrumentation and related equipment. To signify its place of importance for instrument shops, the Cornerstone trademark was coined for use with our integrated family of instrument management software products.
At the same time, it became apparent that the process industry needed its configuration and calibration software to be able to support instruments and calibrators from many different manufacturers, not just one. This led directly to ASTEC's unique concept of "The Open Platform for Instrument Management". The Cornerstone design features plug-in software modules, called Cornerstone Libraries, to provide the specific logic needed to interface the customer's chosen field devices, communication equipment, and smart calibrators.
In 1992, Rosemount Inc. recognized ASTEC's Cornerstone technology by entering into an agreement with ASTEC whereby they exercised a non-exclusive right to market and sell Cornerstone software products worldwide. Rosemount carried the Cornerstone products for the full five year term of the agreement, from 1992 through 1997.
In 1993, ASTEC introduced the low cost Cornerstone Configurator software to fill the need for an inexpensive PC based replacement for hard to use HART hand held communicators. Configurator was developed as a subset of the Base Station product so that customers could easily upgrade from Configurator to the more comprehensive software package.
In the mid 1990's the Cornerstone open platform architecture was expanded to create the first on-line HART field instrument management station. To connect networks of field instruments to the central Cornerstone station, communication interface libraries (ComLibs) were developed for HART multiplexer equipment from Arcom Control Systems, Rosemount, MTL, R. Stahl, Pepperl & Fuchs, Elcon Instruments, and Allen-Bradley. In 1995, on-line Cornerstone instrument management systems began to be installed worldwide to drastically reduce process system commissioning and maintenance costs and to enhance the customer's product quality and regulatory compliance.
At the same time, our strategy to "plug in" interface modules to connect intelligent process calibrators directly to the Cornerstone software was realized with the development of "CalLibs" for calibrators from Hathaway/Beta, Rochester Instruments, Beamex, Druck, and DH Instruments. For many years now, the Cornerstone family has had the most extensive support for process calibrators of any instrument calibration software package.
By the mid 1990's there were hundreds of Cornerstone installations in operation. The market continued to confirm the need for asset management software tools that could interface a wide variety of manufacturer's products while affording the user a single common database and a single source for software training and support. Customers were demonstrating substantial cost savings by concentrating their technician training and their record keeping facility in a single software platform. At this time there began a marked expansion of the availability of intelligent process calibrators with memory features for recording instrument calibration data and uploading that data to a PC. ASTEC responded with the addition to the Base Station product of a new Docking window. This new window provided a facility for user definition of calibration "routes" made up of instruments already described in the Cornerstone database . Through the Docking window, test procedures for the route are downloaded to the "docking" calibrators. Calibrations are then conducted in the field using the portable calibrator. Upon returning from the field, the calibrator is "docked" to the PC and the results are uploaded back to the Cornerstone database for archiving, reporting, and maintaining schedules for future calibrations.
In late 1995 a new Cornerstone product called Cal Station was first introduced. This program was specifically designed to concentrate on calibration and docking calibrator management, without the additional complexity required to provide specific configuration support of HART instruments. Since its introduction, Cal Station has been enhanced to provide new time-saving features, adapt to the newest Windows operating systems and to expand support for the newest documenting process calibrators from Fluke, Druck/Unomat, and Transmation.
On a continuing basis, ASTEC develops new or updated HART instrument libraries, calibrator interface libraries, and HART multiplexer interface libraries. In 1998, ASTEC expanded the Base Station and Cal Station products with the release of multi-user capability for installation on PC networks.
ASTEC maintains a comprehensive database of customer requested software enhancements and new features. We draw on that continually as a steady source of product improvements. New Cornerstone options, modules, and releases are always cooking.
