Rockwell announces new products, alliances, and marketing initiatives
By Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 12/1/2004 7:00:00 AM
At Rockwell Automation's 13th annual Automation Fair, held October 27-28 in Orlando, the company rolled out a series of software and service offerings called Performance Solutions for Manufacturing that help customers make best use of the real-time data gathered on factory floors.
As part of a general trend in the automation and IT world, the solutions pair pre-integrated software applications with industry-specific engineering services. Targeted at the automotive, life sciences, and consumer packaged goods verticals, the solutions are modular and scalable, addressing issues at the machine, line, plant, or supply chain levels.
Each offering aims at progressively larger footprints for plantwide information systems.
Intended for use with up to five work cells, the base-level Machine Performance Solution captures and reports operating data associated with each machine or piece of equipment being monitored.
Line Performance Solutions are focused on improving the performance of a particular line, and providing increased quality control. Scalable up to 200 work cells, the solutions in this sector include Discrete Line Performance, RFID line solutions, simulation services, weigh & dispense applications, and production monitoring.
Plant Performance Solutions improve visibility, tracking, and control across manufacturing processes by automating the production planning, execution, and analysis functions via track & trace capability, RFID plant solutions, error-proofing, simulation services, and Propack Data PMX enterprise performance management software.
Supply Chain Performance Solutions expand on Plant Performance's planning, execution, and analysis functions to embrace multiple facilities.
Rockwell also pitched hybrid manufacturers—those in food & beverage, brewing, pharmaceutical, cement, glass, chemical, and paper—with its Integrated Architecture, which the company says will ease track & trace challenges.
Among the products Rockwell released in this space are the 1803-LAB solution, which integrates control systems and industrial heating, venting, and air-conditioning systems to monitor and respond to changes in room air temperature; and new process extensions to Rockwell Software's RSView Supervisory Edition to better address HMI requirements for process applications.
The company also previewed a new version of RSLogix 5000 programming software for Logix controllers that will be released in mid-2005. It will feature PhaseManager, a standardized language and framework for phase state logic.
Finally, Rockwell used Automation Fair to announce a collaboration with Intel that resulted in release of Intel's IPX465 chip designed specifically for industrial environments.
