Representative End User Clients
Representative Automation Clients
Representative Software Clients
Summary
Rockwell Automation held its 18th annual TechED event in San Diego, June 1-5, 2015. Approximately 2,000 people from 45 
countries attended, its largest turnout to date. The event included about 170 presentations of end user and OEM applications and case studies, as well as training and education. In addition, the event offers hands-on labs, demonstration workshops, and vertical industry forums. A primary theme of the event was The Connected Enterprise and how it can improve the KPI's and metrics of an end user and OEM's business.
This theme was reinforced by sessions focused on designing smart machines, mobility on the plant floor, and software solutions, such as reusable libraries and templates for design, engineering, and collaboration. The event addressed the challenges faced by today's manufacturers and other industrial organizations (technology users and suppliers alike) to deploy Connected Enterprise solutions using the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) as an enabling platform.
Convergence of IT and OT 
"With the increase in big data being driven by smart devices and the IIoT, industry is recognizing value from the convergence of the IT and OT infrastructure," stated Frank Kulaszewicz, Sr. VP President Architecture & Software, Rockwell Automation. He described a future world with "everything connected," including homes, cars, and devices, all generating information. "Information is growing fast, and by 2020 the IIoT is projected to be connected to 30 billion devices generating 2.7 zettabytes of information, or 27,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes. "Turning past data into future data, information into knowledge, and knowledge into wisdom will be the key to manufacturing success," he said.
Intelligent connected machines become intelligent connected plants, and these become the intelligent Connected Enterprise by using an integrated architecture along with smart devices and automated solutions. Every major company today has a smart manufacturing initiative. As devices in the field become more intelligent, systems will need to process more information faster and with sophisticated analytics. Smart automated solutions offer richer information, beginning with better diagnostics and information systems that improve asset utilization and availability.
Training Skills that Integrate IT and OT
Due to the convergence of IT and OT, many manufacturers are experiencing a skills gap between operations and the IT professionals. Glenn Goldney, Global Business Manager of Training Services at Rockwell Automation discussed how the company is addressing the need for training that brings OT and IT professionals together. "OT and IT professionals must understand the significant complexities of the converged and Connected Enterprise." Convergence will require both professionals to understand implementation, operation, and networking in each other's domain. Rockwell Automation is addressing this issue with its strategic alliance partner, Cisco, by offering the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) training program. This is designed to help enable companies address convergence and professional development.
Mobility Changes the Way We Work
Mobility is changing the way people work and the way that managers, engineers, operators, technicians and other workers interact in offices and operate their plants. "Many of today's software applications are designed for driving workflows back to the desktop rather than the other way around" commented Kyle Reissner, IA Mobility Platform leader at Rockwell Automation. Being able to create, modify, personalize and access manufacturing and business information on the plant floor, at home, or from any location on a mobile device will have huge productivity returns. By driving workflows to mobile devices, companies can increase their mobile efficiency. Rockwell Automation has invested in extending mobility across its products to help make users of its FactoryTalk VantagePoint, FactoryTalk Batch and Factory Talk View solutions more productive.
Partners and OEMs can also use mobility to offer additional services that require integration. It's not surprising that mobile software is changing the way that workers collaborate and access data. According to Kyle Reissner, IA Mobility Platform Leader at Rockwell Automation, "There's a lot of power in smart devices and this can be turned into manufacturing productivity." Companies want to collaborate across the enterprise whether it's a biotech facility or a global oil & gas company that wants to see its operations around the world. Using smart devices enables users to personalize and access the exact information they need to do their job. The software allows users to create displays of business and process information in the office, at the machine, at home, or on any mobile device.
The Connected Enterprise – A Day in the Life of a Production Order
Rockwell Automation predicts that manufacturing and industrial operations will change more profoundly in the next five years than they have in the past 20 because of the ability to become connected using newer technologies. Rockwell Automation demonstrated The Connected Enterprise using a "Day in the life of a production order," scenario with intelligent assets controlled by intelligent software.
In the scenario, we saw how The Connected Enterprise will enable users to get products to market faster. First, efficiencies can be improved by automating everything that is manual, updating graphics to be more efficient and adding in real-time views to see KPIs, such as OEE. Things that used to take hours can be done with the push of a button on tablets. Tablets can be used to do everything throughout the process from scanning ingredients and all the steps along the way to tracking quality. Smart sensors, automatic notifications, dashboard updates, automated diagnostics and communication with partners and OEMs all support collaboration to enable equipment to work better and longer. Finally, visibility and connected leads to process efficiencies that include quality improvements, easier recalls if needed, and better tracking. "All this leads to increased productivity and competiveness in the changing global economy," commented Beth Parkinson, Director, Market Development, The Connected Enterprise, Rockwell Automation.
Case Studies Focus on Business Value
ARC attended a number of application case studies at TechED designed to convey the business value of implementing automation solutions:
Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a provider of generic medications and contract manufacturing, initiated a new sterile manufacturing facility. Using a PlantPAx system and FactoryTalk software suite enabled the company to pull over 50,000 data tags from sterile compounding and filling to packaging to the HVAC systems. The system will be utilized as the basis for an electronic batch record for compliance and provide real-time insight into production. Control and information integration means there is only one system to manage for validation and security. The company saved over $1.5 million in installation and commissioning costs.
Production engineers in the phosphate division of PotashCorp had been inundated with years' worth of data sheets manually generated from paper logs and foreign system printouts. The company installed FactoryTalk VantagePoint to aggregate various quality and production systems with a role-specific online log sheet application. Eliminating paper and manual data entry in Excel reports, the system reduced time spent on production calculations by 95 percent, replacing it with data entry verification. The base system was built to collect historical data and improve production, inventory and quality numbers.
GrafTech's arc furnace productivity system, Architech, utilizes a cloud-based infrastructure and FactoryTalk VantagePoint software to optimize performance of the company's electric arc furnaces. Architech collects information from furnace control and electrical systems, pulling data on processing time, hydraulic pressures, voltages, wattage, and downtime. GrafTech turns this information into actionable information for operators. Users have reported estimated annual financial savings ranging from $100,000 to over five million dollars.
Beingmate, a Chinese baby food manufacturer, wanted to double production of infant formula in its Heilongjiang plant. After national issues with infant formula contamination, the Chinese government imposed strict regulations to ensure product quality, making rigorous track-and-trace systems mandatory. To meet an annual production goal of 100,000 tons of infant formula and to comply with new regulations, Beingmate installed CPGSuite to integrate with the factory's ERP, WMS, and control systems, automatically catching material error and improving product tracing. Beingmate estimates the system will reduce production cost by 3 percent and increase productivity by 14 percent per year.
Anchor Glass desired a more efficient system to improve furnace performance, longevity, and energy savings at one of its facilities. Working with Stone Technologies, the company deployed a flexible PlantPAx system with FactoryTalk Historian and alarming software. The new system pulled 1,000 data tags, versus 200 in the old system and offers over 2,000 alarms, up from 12 previously. With improved visibility and trending capabilities, operators are better able to control and maintain the furnace reversal, a process that occurs every 20 minutes. The company is saving thousands of dollars in energy use.
A greenfield wastewater treatment plant designed by CH2M Hill for the Denver Metro Wastewater Reclamation District will process 30 MGD with future expansion to 75 MGD. The District needed a process automation system to improve maintenance and optimize operations while meeting compliance goals. The team implemented a virtualized PlantPAx solution leveraging mobile technology and new ISA 18.2 standards for alarming, as well as gray scale graphics. Over 60,000 tags and 6,000 alarms are monitored from an operations center with a video wall providing visibility to the entire 100-acre facility. Mobile access allows operators to monitor and control key processes from anywhere on the site. The solution improved troubleshooting, predictive maintenance, and operator effectiveness.
United Pet Group (UPG) needed more actionable information to help plant operators and management improve business performance. UPG implemented FactoryTalk Metrics to provide real-time visibility into labor hours, process data, changeover time, and downtime by line. The solution helped operators see micro stops that were cutting into productivity and drill down into and address root causes of the stops. Labor efficiency increased by 15 percent and production capacity by 3 percent. The new information also helped operators recalibrate the preventive maintenance program to ease troubleshooting and reduce downtime. The increase in efficiency has helped cut employee overtime by 10 percent.
Conclusion
The Rockwell Automation TechED event was well attended because end users and OEMs are looking for solutions, training, and case studies with documented business value that helps them justify and deploy the latest technologies, such as IIoT, big data, 
analytics, cloud, and convergence of IT and OT. These technologies help provide the right information to help end users and OEMs increase availability, reduce waste, lower costs, and improve efficiencies. Mobility, visualization, analytics, energy management, the cloud, and a secure architecture are key parts of this equation.
As processes get more complex and the global business environment more competitive, companies need to be able to react to changes quickly and make intelligent business decisions based on appropriately presented information and intelligence. With all these devices connected, companies can optimize processes and improve productivity and efficiencies, time to market, and asset utilization. This connectivity requires that end users and OEM leverage the capabilities of their automation partners, such as Rockwell Automation, to help them advance in their connected enterprise journey.
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Keywords: The Connected Enterprise, Mobility, Rockwell Automation, TechED, IIoT, ARC Advisory Group.