Fun with Wordle: Wonderware Intelligence Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence Software

Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence (EMI) software takes discrete events and relates them, provides context to them, and presents them in an interactive, informative dashboard in the form of Key Performance Indicators, or KPI's.  Companies use EMI software to help them to determine relationships between actions such as energy consumption by shift, or yield and throughput by line or equipment.  It allows for "if then" analysis, to help you make better decisions on staffing, loading, or production optimization. Wonderware Intelligence can connect to any plant source, such as data historians or MES products, and bring key information together for analysis and decision making.  It creates and enforces a plant model for easy data configuration, with templates available for most Wonderware applications, including MES and Corporate Energy Management.

IDC lowers global IT spending forecast to 4.6% this year

http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130813/ADVERTISING13/308139997/idc-lowers-global-it-spending-forecast-to-4-6-this-year&utm_source=bboe&utm_medium=email&utm_content=editorial&utm_campaign=bboe#

A sobering, yet hopeful view of IT market spending.  Net net, although the industry as a whole is flat, there are some glimmers in the cloud, and mobile.  That will drive SaaS (Software as a Service) from a delivery perspective, and also encourage new development of traditional software, such as HMI, EMI, MES, to take advantage of this new model.

Invensys understands this, and has fully embraced both mobility and cloud, bringing the best to our customers from a form factor and costing perspective. You'll see more offerings in cloud (spanning reporting, visibility, information management, workforce enablement) and mobility (reporting, analysis and visibility). Why?  Because, at the end of the day, you need to have software that matches the way you work--and it's exceedingly shown to not be at a desk.  You are at the plant, you are on a line, you are boarding a plane, but the work doesn't stop.  So, your automation software has to bring you that real-time information, regardless of your location and regardless of the device that you choose to use.  We call it "on demand" and it has become a must have means of delivering and using industrial software. We get it, and you'll see a continuing stream of products reinforcing that vision...

Why IT and Automation Go Hand in Hand

I recently responded to a post on LinkedIn in the Automation & Control subgroup. There, a young engineer was asking the question, "if I am in automation, why do I need to know IT." 

That is a great question and over the years that I have been in automation, I've experienced first a chasm between IT and automation (one company I visited 15 years ago had a CIO that had never gone on the plant floor!) to a gradual alignment and now, cross over between the two practices.

Repost: Retailers, CPGs Using Big Data Analytics to Outperform Others

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/top-stories/headlines/national-supermarket-chains/id39544/retailers-cpgs-using-big-data-analytics-to-outperform-others/?icid=homepage

In this story from Progressive Grocer, IBM partnered with Kantar Retail Global to uncover the effectivity of using Big Data for feeding analytics and decision making in supermarket supply chains.  It comes as no surprise that those using Big Data for feeding sales, marketing, IT were more productive and lead in their market standings.

As we've seen from a manufacturing perspective, Big Data can also improve operations performance.  Having a unified view of Key Performance Indicators, fed in real-time, allows management to be more responsive to unplanned events or changes.   That's where Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence fits in--think of it as Business Intelligence (BI) for industry.  Bringing a holistic view of the enterprise, providing actionable information, giving you the capability to become a high performance organization.  There are a host of EMI providers--Wonderware Intelligence notably is a leading brand.

The Mystery of Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence

Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence, or EMI, has been around for over 15 years.  It was created as a way to put more context and meaning around data that was created in oil and gas refining plants--information such as throughput, yields, bottlenecks, and quality.  The value of these reports, to the outside world, wasn't apparent, and even the users themselves referred to the application as "MES" (or, Manufacturing Execution Systems).  But it's not--it's different, it's special, and they are both needed:  MES to govern the transformation of raw materials through finished goods, and EMI to provide meaning and relationships, acting as a Decision Support System for the organization.

Top 5 Automation Applications Your Business Can’t Live Without

There’s a plethora of industrial software applications now available from a variety of vendors, both small, point-solutions based companies to the larger, all-in-one industrial automation vendors.  They offer everything from development environments through IT solutions.  But if you look at your critical needs, it comes down to using 5 applications:

Repost: Device Shipments Up 6% To 2.4B In 2013, Driven By Android Smartphones, Tablets Amid More PC Decline

http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/24/it-device-sales-to-rise-6-to-2-4b-in-2013-driven-by-android-tablets-smartphones-pcs-continue-decline/

If we as an industry aren't paying attention to the tremendous growth seen in the mobile device market, we'll miss one of the most important platform changes since the PC took hold.

In 2013, over 2.3 billion units are anticipated to be shipped.  By 2014, Gartner projects over 2.5 billion units--that's equal to 32% of the world's population!  Mobile access to data has now become part of our everyday life--from shopping to entertainment to work tasks.  The blending of our private and public lives centers on these devices that travel with us 24 x 7.

From an industrial software perspective, it's exciting and challenging. New formats mean reaching new customers, that may not have the legacy associated with PC-based systems.  So it gives us a chance to provide richer, more graphical applications.  The challenge, of course, is that it requires new products, to take advantage of the form factor and expected performance in a mobile device--intuitive, report-ready, simple to operate.

We've already seen startups such as Sarla (SmartGlance) and Transpara offering mobile device-enabled reporting.  But there's so much more!  MES, EMI,  HMI, the list goes on--all are using mobile as an important form factor to reach the increasingly mobile worker. 

How Concurrent Software Licensing Can Benefit EMI Users

Wonderware Intelligence is an EMI (Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence) software application that provides a rich dashboard based on Key Performance Indicators. These KPI's are generated by real-time data coming from a historian, or other plant or business system.  Users can access Intelligence (or other EMI product) via concurrent (non-named) or named user licensing.  I was interviewed by Renee Bassett of Automation World to discuss the differences in these two models.  Follow this link to understand why you should care:
http://www.automationworld.com/how-concurrent-software-licensing-can-benefit-emi-users?utm_source=Healthcare_Packaging&utm_medium=newsletter%20&spMailingID=6292306&spUserID=MzE2NTA4NzY1NzQS1&spJobID=75271026&spReportId=NzUyNzEwMjYS1

Invensys and Callisto Integration Form Alliance

Invensys announced yesterday an alliance with Callisto Integration to provide services and implementation resources for complex operations management projects within the food and beverage and Consumer Packaged Goods industries.

The net of this relationship is to offer customers with a solution, not discrete products that must then be integrated, developed and implemented.  Callisto has many years of experience with the Wonderware "advanced applications" including MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems), EMI (Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence) and Workflow.  For more details, please follow this link:

 http://global.wonderware.com/EN/pages/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=574

Just Released: Wonderware Intelligence Software 2012

Enhanced EMI software improves real-time access to operational decision support information

 

Wonderware Intelligence is Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence (EMI) software with a difference--it not only connects to your plant databases, but ANY database that holds critical information that could be important to the way you monitor and operate your plant.

With the new release of Intelligence 2012, you gain additional mobile functionality, expanded Wonderware application integration, strong support of Wonderware System Platform, and client viewing options. For more information, just click here

Repost: Mobile Usage Is Rocketing Search Efforts

Mobile Usage Is Rocketing Search Efforts

by Gavin O'Malley, Yesterday, 1:24 PM

Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/196826/mobile-usage-is-rocketing-search-efforts.html#ixzz2OwU04vED

Why is mobile device search usage important to the industrial automation industry?  Because it shows us a booming trend in the way users want to access information--and it shouldn't matter if that information is coming from a website, or from a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) or an industrial application such as Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence or Human Machine Interface software. 

People are "joined at the hip" with their smart device.  Can you imagine driving somewhere, or even taking a walk, without your smart phone?  Unheard of.  In the world of industrial automation, it's getting to be the same.  Smart Devices are being fed by information coming from data historians, MES applications, workflow, and corporate energy management software.  It's allowing people to get the information they need, when they need it, to make more effective and timely decisions.

So you are now seeing a growing supply of vendors, large and small, who are providing either complete, or point solutions of mobile device-enabled reporting, visualization, and analytics.  Costs are coming down, to fulfill the single-user need for personalized information.  It's becoming part of the standard product offering, versus a strong differentiator.  For the end user, that's a really good thing.

What’s the Big Deal about Big Data?

Data is everywhere—lurking in our inboxes; languishing in our plant databases; and lingering in BI tools and analytics meant to provide insight, and intelligence to our everyday tasks.  Long ago I did an analysis of how many plant floor software applications a typical large manufacturing plant had—and it was well over 50.  This included legacy, custom, and commercial off-the-shelf applications for a variety of operations, from quality to production to maintenance.  That’s a lot of data hiding in a lot of applications. 

It’s logical to think that this data can be used for more than the sum of its parts—and that’s the foundation for products such as Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence (EMI). EMI puts real-time and near-real time transactional or plant data into context or relationships with one another, allowing users to define Key Performance Indicators that can be measured (or quantified) and monitored.  Think of quality by shift, energy usage by plant.  But is there more? 

The Secrets of Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence

Chr. Hansen is using Wonderware Intelligence as their Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence (EMI) layer.  It provides them with context, analytics, and the ability to monitor & view Key Performance Indicators throughout their operations.  Read more here: The Secrets of Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence

Big Data in Manufacturing

By Michael Schwarz, Invensys, Manager, Advanced Applications Product Marketing

The term “Big Data” describes the dramatically growing amounts of data being generated, transferred and stored. It is overlaid with the increasing use of information technology, global networking, and digital devices to manage, view, store, and control it.

Big Data is not just for consumers.  The same phenomenon is happening in business management, commerce, entertainment and social communications, as well as in manufacturing operations.  Big Data demands storage capacity and computing performance, driving new opportunities for enhanced intelligence and tools to offer users informed decision making.

The next generation of interfaces for process engineering software

http://www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com/Article/3149555/Channel/194955/The-next-generation-of-interfaces-for-process-engineering-software.html

Invensys' Scott Brown discusses new methods of visualization and modeling available for the process engineer.

Tablet users are big spenders compared to smartphone users: report

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/tablet-users-are-big-spenders-compared-to-smartphone-users-report

Work Tasks application from ArchestrA Workflow Software

This is an interesting report, not only because of the purchasing shift to tablets from smart phones, but the opportunity for the automation community to leverage this new format for reporting & analysis applications.

5 Ways to Leave Your MES Vendor

With apologies to Paul Simon for a “borrowing” of his song title, we continually come across customers that may have standardized on a #MES (Manufacturing Execution), #EMI (Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence), #Batch (Batch Recipe Management) or other enterprise automation (#Level 3) application. And then, for various reasons, they start to rethink their current strategy or implementation.  It could be precipitated by a management change; a hot new product line, a line or plant expansion, or a market shift.

So how do you know it’s time to look for another vendor?  Here are some tips that can help you to determine if you and your current provider are heading, or should be heading, for a separation.