The latest business solution available from Rockwell Automation is the powerful IncuityEMI version 2.6 ‘enterprise manufacturing intelligence’ (EMI) software.

This software tool is specially designed to access the data from many disparate sources throughout a manufacturing facility, then organise, analyse and present that information via user-friendly web browsers or similar remote interfaces.

Founded on a standard data model, the IncuityEMI software unifies normally incompatible information – such as the time-series data generated on the plant floor and the transaction-oriented data contained in enterprise business systems – and enables decisions to be made.

According to Rockwell Software Asia Pacific head, Van Rafael, the standard data model, known as the ‘unified production model’ (UPM), forms the heart and soul of the IncuityEMI solution.

“It provides information to end-users in everyday language, in the context they require it,” he said.

“You don’t need a sea of IT consultants to generate reports. The data model organises the data from all the different sources and presents it with relevance to the data surrounding it. It’s extremely powerful.”

Demonstrating inherent flexibility, the UPM can utilise a custom-designed or pre-defined data model (such as ISA S95).

IncuityEMI treats the various data sources as ‘silos’ of information. Such sources could be plant-floor controllers, SCADA and historians, plus laboratory, batch and maintenance systems, as well as manufacturing execution systems (MES) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

The UPM references this information without extracting or storing it, then combines and correlates the real-time data in the context of recreational and transactional business data, such as business goals, supply chain requirements and compliance parameters.

According to the company, the real-time data is presented simply in the form of web portals or dashboards, plus can be exported to Microsoft Excel. In this way, IncuityEMI provides a holistic view of production, empowering decision-makers.

The IncuityEMI version 2.6 software tool complements Rockwell Automation’s FactoryTalk integrated production and performance software suite. Each of the modular FactoryTalk modules – such as FactoryTalk View (an HMI) FactoryTalk ProductionCentre (an MES), FactoryTalk Historian and FactoryTalk AssetCentre – can be accessed and analysed by the IncuityEMI software.

“One of the key benefits of IncuityEMI is its ability to leverage existing infrastructure,” Rafael said. “It bridges all existing systems so businesses don’t need to change what they already have in place, plus it’s easily expanded to accommodate additions.

“Moreover, it is a zero-footprint application: once loaded on a nominated server, any computer terminal with the right security authorisation can access the tool via a web interface, and reports are stored in a centralised repository. It’s a true thin client.”

The true power of IncuityEMI lies in the juxtaposition of the industrial and IT worlds: it simplifies and rationalises all data within a plant to provide a single source for all production information needs, with all data visible and actionable.

By coexisting with both control systems and business applications, IncuityEMI presents a holistic picture of a company’s manufacturing business, providing real-time intelligence for business decision support.

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