Rockwell Automation expands its manufacturing intelligence software suite

Photo by Olympus Industrial Systems Europa

From maintenance personnel to executives, the workforce in industrial enterprises is increasingly on the move. Rockwell Automation is expanding mobile capabilities within its enterprise manufacturing intelligence software suite to bring customers the information they need the way they want to see it. The company announced today the release of a new FactoryTalk VantagePoint Mobile App made to work natively for Windows 8.1, taking advantage of the new features in Microsoft’s latest operating system update. The app will be available in December in the Windows Store.

A first of its kind for enterprise manufacturing intelligence, the FactoryTalk VantagePoint Mobile App offers a native Windows 8.1 experience where users can access FactoryTalk VantagePoint centralized reporting and analytics from the Rockwell Software FactoryTalk software suite. Within the app, users can view key performance indicators (KPIs) – such as energy usage, operational equipment effectiveness (OEE), or mean time between failure/to repair (MTBF/MTTR). By touching the KPI gauge or chart, users can dive deeper into the FactoryTalk VantagePoint portal for full, detailed reports and trends driving those metrics.

Users can also pin a KPI to a live tile so the metric is always visible from the Windows 8.1 start screen. Collaboration is made easier with this app, as users can send KPI information to coworkers by simply swiping to bring up the Windows share charm. The selected KPI is then ready to send to anyone in their contact list.

“The true value of FactoryTalk VantagePoint software goes beyond offering a view into production data, it enables users to make faster, better decisions,” said Mike Pantaleano, business manager, Information Software, Rockwell Automation. “Extending its mobile reach with a Windows 8.1 app drives further collaboration and innovation among users working via mobile phones and tablets, turning plant-floor data into a powerful tool, usable from any location.”

Microsoft is a strategic alliance partner within the Rockwell Automation PartnerNetwork program. The two companies have worked on the integration of FactoryTalk VantagePoint with SharePoint, Excel, SQL Server Reporting Services and more. The latest offering provides users with additional opportunities to improve data-driven decision making and increase collaboration between employees, divisions and locations.

“We are in the business of helping customers unlock actionable data from disparate manufacturing and business systems, enabling their teams to collaborate and effect real change in their organization,” said Dave Patterson, owner, Grantek Systems Integration Inc. “We leverage manufacturing intelligence solutions from Rockwell Automation to accomplish this, and this new app from Rockwell Automation and Microsoft truly arms everyone from executives to manufacturing personnel on Windows 8.1 devices with immediate information, providing a simple presentation of complex data.”

The FactoryTalk VantagePoint Mobile App was publically previewed at the Automation Fair event hosted by Rockwell Automation on Nov. 13-14 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Booth 1123.The app allows simple but powerful visibility for FactoryTalk VantagePoint customers, and includes a demo mode for potential customers.

For more information, please visit http://www.rockwellautomation.de.

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