Representative End User Clients
Representative Automation Clients
Representative Software Clients
All industries face issues, such as minimizing unplanned downtime, implementing predictive and proactive asset management, maximizing KPIs, and empowering their transitioning workforce with intelligence via wireless mobile devices. Adopting IIoT, including advanced analytics, can certainly provide end users with value and benefits, but they often seek help as to how to get started within the context of their existing business processes. Since connected, IIoT-based solutions typically enable continuous improvements, cultural changes are often required. This makes effective change management one of the biggest challenges; since it provides a framework to help ensure safety and consistency when adopting new technology.
Rockwell Automation recently used its 25th Automation Fair as a venue to share its vision of extending “The Connected Enterprise” to all production assets. The company defines The Connected Enterprise as “delivering transformational value in productivity, sustainability, and global competitiveness”, which it feels boils down to harnessing data and domain knowledge of operational processes and technology. Rockwell Automation feels it knows where its customers’ high value operational data is and how to use this data and domain knowledge to help its customers define and execute IIoT and IT/OT convergence strategies. This knowledge forms the foundation for The Connected Enterprise, which Rockwell Automation feels enables it to understand its customers’ best opportunities for productivity, integrate domain expertise into technology solutions, and simplify the customer experience when using the company’s solutions.
Should IT or OT Lead the Charge to IT/OT Convergence
Rockwell Automation, as well as the other major automation companies, have traditionally represented the OT side of convergence. Both OT and IT companies have valid arguments as to why they are best positioned to lead this IIoT enablement effort. OT providers offer deep expertise in operational processes and equipment. They understand where the data is, what it means, and have the domain knowledge that enables them to provide guidance for how end users can move toward The Connected Enterprise and the benefits they should expect. Conversely, IT providers lay claim to deep expertise in data management. They understand data across the management continuum. Big Data, governance, security, scalability, and mobilization are core IT competencies. They have a good understanding of how unstructured data fits into the overall IIoT and analytics picture. However, neither side has a perfect claim as to their capacity to lead, rather than enable, digital transformation.
Partners can help ensure successful IT/OT convergence, and the need for an ecosystem in which software companies, infrastructure suppliers, and traditional automation companies need to partner for the good of the customer. Rockwell Automation utilizes key strategic partners, such as Cisco, Microsoft, and Panduit, to best leverage their expertise to the IT side of the equation.
IIoT Supports Knowledge Management and Analytics
Rockwell Automation emphasized that the role of IIoT as a solution to knowledge management and transfer is a critical requirement to capture the knowledge of retiring workers, as well as the benefits of training cost models that rely on augmented reality (AR) instead of traditional methods. The company also emphasized analytics as a key element of knowledge management and transfer. Historic, structured data analytics are becoming common for many analytics providers. Like many other companies with origins from the OT side of business, Rockwell Automation is building upon its roots by adding new uses of these analytics to its portfolio. Newly released Analytics Solutions ranged from devices and equipment builders up to the enterprise. One of these, a new FactoryTalk Analytics for Machines cloud application with Microsoft Azure cloud-enabled capability, provides equipment builders with information from IIoT-enabled assets and machines. This new application provides access to performance analytics from deployed systems. OEMs can embed a FactoryTalk Cloud gateway device onto their machines. Once commissioned, the machines start collecting data. Data from selected controllers is sent to the FactoryTalk cloud application. The equipment builder then has access to real-time analytics and information via prebuilt dashboards. This cloud-based application, provided as a software-as-a-service (SaaS), enables equipment builders to better support their systems and offering insight into performance, states, and events.
“Ask Shelby,” Mobile App, and Connected Services leveraging IIoT
The company provided a preview of “ask Shelby,” Rockwell Automation’s version of asking Siri to access the maintenance status of manufacturing assets. The company featured some self-aware and system-aware assets, such as IO-Link sensors, servo drives and servo motors, and other smart products that can be automatically found on a network to provide critical heath and diagnostic information. Ultimately, this information will help reduce unplanned downtime by proactively addressing problems before they occur or as they are about to occur.
Also showcased was FactoryTalk TeamONE’s collaborative mobile app, once known as Project Stanton. This was designed by a team whose mission is to increase productivity by a minimum of 33 seconds per hour for all its users. The team estimates that doing that for a plant that has 2,000 people, on average, could enhance productivity by about $1.4 million per year. TeamONE is a new product, developed in collaboration with Microsoft. This converts a mobile device into a smart node that can opportunistically sync and keep industrial communications local.
The company also backed up The Connected Enterprise theme by demonstrating a full portfolio of connected services, some of which leveraging IIoT for connectivity. These include product & application lifecycle support, network & security services, asset management & security services, people & asset safety, and remote monitoring and cloud analytics. ARC sees increased demand for these types of connected services, especially leveraging IIoT. Rockwell Automation can use this connected flow of information across assets, people, systems, and tools to capture and integrate knowledge management into its operational processes.
Conclusion
All industries face issues, such as minimizing unplanned downtime, implementing predictive and proactive asset management, maximizing KPIs, and empowering their transitioning workforce with intelligence via wireless mobile devices. IIoT adoption, including advanced analytics, can certainly provide end users with value and benefits, but they often seek help as to how to get started within the context of their existing business processes. Since connected, IIoT-based solutions typically enable continuous improvements, cultural changes are often required. This makes effective change management one of the biggest challenges; since it provides a framework to help ensure safety and consistency when adopting new technology. All this bodes well for Rockwell Automation and it’s the Connected Enterprise vision, as the company continues to use venues, such as Automation Fair, to continue to educate its customers about where and how to further embrace these types of IIoT and advanced analytics capabilities in the context of their own applications and challenges.
Rockwell Automation recently used its 25th Automation Fair as a venue to share its vision of extending “The Connected Enterprise” to all production assets. The company defines The Connected Enterprise as “delivering transformational value in productivity, sustainability, and global competitiveness”, which it feels boils down to harnessing data and domain knowledge of operational processes and technology. Rockwell Automation feels it knows where its customers’ high value operational data is and how to use this data and domain knowledge to help its customers define and execute IIoT and IT/OT convergence strategies. This knowledge forms the foundation for The Connected Enterprise, which Rockwell Automation feels enables it to understand its customers’ best opportunities for productivity, integrate domain expertise into technology solutions, and simplify the customer experience when using the company’s solutions.
Should IT or OT Lead the Charge to IT/OT Convergence
Rockwell Automation, as well as the other major automation companies, have traditionally represented the OT side of convergence. Both OT and IT companies have valid arguments as to why they are best positioned to lead this IIoT enablement effort. OT providers offer deep expertise in operational processes and equipment. They understand where the data is, what it means, and have the domain knowledge that enables them to provide guidance for how end users can move toward The Connected Enterprise and the benefits they should expect. Conversely, IT providers lay claim to deep expertise in data management. They understand data across the management continuum. Big Data, governance, security, scalability, and mobilization are core IT competencies. They have a good understanding of how unstructured data fits into the overall IIoT and analytics picture. However, neither side has a perfect claim as to their capacity to lead, rather than enable, digital transformation.
Partners can help ensure successful IT/OT convergence, and the need for an ecosystem in which software companies, infrastructure suppliers, and traditional automation companies need to partner for the good of the customer. Rockwell Automation utilizes key strategic partners, such as Cisco, Microsoft, and Panduit, to best leverage their expertise to the IT side of the equation.
IIoT Supports Knowledge Management and Analytics
Rockwell Automation emphasized that the role of IIoT as a solution to knowledge management and transfer is a critical requirement to capture the knowledge of retiring workers, as well as the benefits of training cost models that rely on augmented reality (AR) instead of traditional methods. The company also emphasized analytics as a key element of knowledge management and transfer. Historic, structured data analytics are becoming common for many analytics providers. Like many other companies with origins from the OT side of business, Rockwell Automation is building upon its roots by adding new uses of these analytics to its portfolio. Newly released Analytics Solutions ranged from devices and equipment builders up to the enterprise. One of these, a new FactoryTalk Analytics for Machines cloud application with Microsoft Azure cloud-enabled capability, provides equipment builders with information from IIoT-enabled assets and machines. This new application provides access to performance analytics from deployed systems. OEMs can embed a FactoryTalk Cloud gateway device onto their machines. Once commissioned, the machines start collecting data. Data from selected controllers is sent to the FactoryTalk cloud application. The equipment builder then has access to real-time analytics and information via prebuilt dashboards. This cloud-based application, provided as a software-as-a-service (SaaS), enables equipment builders to better support their systems and offering insight into performance, states, and events.
“Ask Shelby,” Mobile App, and Connected Services leveraging IIoT
The company provided a preview of “ask Shelby,” Rockwell Automation’s version of asking Siri to access the maintenance status of manufacturing assets. The company featured some self-aware and system-aware assets, such as IO-Link sensors, servo drives and servo motors, and other smart products that can be automatically found on a network to provide critical heath and diagnostic information. Ultimately, this information will help reduce unplanned downtime by proactively addressing problems before they occur or as they are about to occur.
Also showcased was FactoryTalk TeamONE’s collaborative mobile app, once known as Project Stanton. This was designed by a team whose mission is to increase productivity by a minimum of 33 seconds per hour for all its users. The team estimates that doing that for a plant that has 2,000 people, on average, could enhance productivity by about $1.4 million per year. TeamONE is a new product, developed in collaboration with Microsoft. This converts a mobile device into a smart node that can opportunistically sync and keep industrial communications local.
The company also backed up The Connected Enterprise theme by demonstrating a full portfolio of connected services, some of which leveraging IIoT for connectivity. These include product & application lifecycle support, network & security services, asset management & security services, people & asset safety, and remote monitoring and cloud analytics. ARC sees increased demand for these types of connected services, especially leveraging IIoT. Rockwell Automation can use this connected flow of information across assets, people, systems, and tools to capture and integrate knowledge management into its operational processes.
Conclusion
All industries face issues, such as minimizing unplanned downtime, implementing predictive and proactive asset management, maximizing KPIs, and empowering their transitioning workforce with intelligence via wireless mobile devices. IIoT adoption, including advanced analytics, can certainly provide end users with value and benefits, but they often seek help as to how to get started within the context of their existing business processes. Since connected, IIoT-based solutions typically enable continuous improvements, cultural changes are often required. This makes effective change management one of the biggest challenges; since it provides a framework to help ensure safety and consistency when adopting new technology. All this bodes well for Rockwell Automation and it’s the Connected Enterprise vision, as the company continues to use venues, such as Automation Fair, to continue to educate its customers about where and how to further embrace these types of IIoT and advanced analytics capabilities in the context of their own applications and challenges.