IEN: What issues are facing today's implementation of e-manufacturing?

Robinson: Some of the problems that are facing today's e-manufacturing include the advent of new technology unfamiliar to the typical control engineer, a reduction in IT staff, security, and reliability.

IEN: What advances do you see in software? Computing and networking devices? What has been the focus of your company's R & D?

Robinson: Some of the advances that have really helped to advance e-manufacturing are the lower cost and size of devices that a company can use to view information on, such as PDAs and Tablets. Being able to view information over a browser has helped the industry tremendously because it opens up the vast information present in a company to anybody that needs to have access to it without burdening the IT staff with additional client-side software maintenance.

Wonderware's focus has been to embed the latest in technological advances in our products while abstracting that from the user so that the products remain very easy to use. Our latest ArchestrA-based products enable companies to improve productivity while increasing reliability, scalability, and reducing engineering costs. Companies need to achieve more with less resources and Wonderware is focused on providing the tools that enable companies to exceed their goals.

IEN: How will the rising intelligence of robots, robotic systems, and e-enabled devices affect manufacturing and the plant floor?

Robinson: It should help to improve the process and quality of the finished products. Operators will be able to manage and oversee more equipment and if they are equipped with PDAs on their belts or thin client terminals on their forklifts, they will be able to view the process from anywhere in the plant. That is really important as very few companies have operators that stand in one place, at the HMI node, all day long. By being able to view and react to plant processes when interaction is needed, the company can reduce downtime, increase productivity, and improve plant efficiencies, improving their overall equipment effectiveness. Robots are very beneficial to the particular processes where repetitive motions are required or extreme environment conditions exist.

IEN: Will rapid prototyping in e-manufacturing become the primary means of mass customization? In what ways?

Robinson: Companies are moving toward more agility in their processes by employing newer software products that enable them to closely monitor and control their manufacturing systems. Industrial environments can quickly switch from consumption to generation of energy based upon customer demand and price. Discrete manufacturers can offer the ability for a customer to choose specific colors or fabrics when ordering products. Process control can optimize systems so that minimal changeover is required. This all results in more customized products at a lower cost, which is what customers are demanding worldwide.

IEN: Has manufacturing really harnessed the power of wireless technology or has it only scratched the surface? What about the web?

Robinson: We have seen an explosion in the amount of users utilizing the web for accessing information. One of the drawbacks that customers encountered in the past was the expense and customization required in order to create a website that would offer them the information they needed.

Wonderware released a manufacturing portal in 1999 that has answered the needs for our customers. By staying true to Wonderware's ease of use philosophy, our SuiteVoyager plant intelligence portal has opened this door to existing customers and several new customers. SuiteVoyager solves the previous problems that manufacturers had by enabling them to use a standard off-the-shelf product that meets their needs and accesses their information. The entire portal product is designed to make it easier, faster, and less expensive for manufacturing customers to access information that they already have. Real-time and historical information that was trapped in various systems throughout the company can now be accessed and analyzed by anyone who needs the information, anytime, anywhere around the world, using only a browser.

This has significantly reduced the amount of cost associated with creation of the website, maintenance, and most customers say that by having access to the information at their fingertips, they are achieving an ROI in resources, such as labor, time, and money, that they hadn't anticipated. By being able to make better decisions about their processes, they have also been able to capitalize on opportunities that were unrecognized before.

Plus there are many new devices on the market that will make the wireless market explode for manufacturers. Tablet PCs, cell phones, pagers, and the lower cost PDAs will mean that no matter where in the plant, job site, or world a person is, they can stay in contact with the processes that are important to them.

IEN: How can e-manufacturing provide a more robust operation overall? Where and how do design and maintenance software fit in? To what degree?

Robinson: E-manufacturing can provide a more robust operation by enabling everyone in the organization to have access to reliable information when they need it. Operators fulfilling their job responsibilities away from the visualization node can still have view and control into the process using handheld devices, plant managers in their offices can view real-time production information, CEOs managing several plants can make critical decisions based upon information regardless of the time zones.

E-manufacturing enables companies to make better decisions because they have access to their own information when they need it. Design and maintenance software plays an important part in e-manufacturing since information about the process is available, experts analyzing the information can make decisions toward preventative maintenance and keep an eye on their OEE (operational equipment effectiveness). Visualization into the OEE number on a daily basis can help an entire company move toward better productivity and spot problems before they result in significant losses.

Wonderware currently has several products that have web components that address these needs. Our DT Analyst product helps a company keep an eye on their OEE and downtime. QI Analyst enables a company to statistically monitor and control their production, and Active Factory enables a company to visualize their information in reports, trends, and spreadsheet format. All of these products have a web component that enables companies to view this information from anywhere in the plant over a browser. More importantly, the expert for each of the software packages still retains control of the information, but now the information is available. SuiteVoyager pulls all the information together into one place. Organization of information with additional security, navigation, and extensive portal features means that when a customer wants to view information from a particular production line or plant, that information is available at their fingertips, all the information they want.

IEN: Is e-manufacturing seeing a trend toward cost-effective user-friendly software?

Robinson: E-manufacturing is definitely leaning toward user-friendly software. In fact, that is one of the number one reasons our customers choose Wonderware software. With a reduction in staff at most companies and technology changing so rapidly, companies want to be able to deploy software packages that are easy to configure, maintain, and use. Wonderware's InTouch HMI software provides the same easy-to-use configuration environment that users are familiar with and also enables customers to deploy their existing applications on handheld devices. This greatly eliminates confusion and training of operators who are already familiar with the look and feel of InTouch. They know how to navigate around the screens, which buttons to press, and how the alarms should look. Wonderware's SuiteVoyager plant intelligence portal also has received high praise from customers for its ease of use. SuiteVoyager utilizes the very latest Internet technologies to acquire and display information, yet has made the process of configuring a portal system as easy as point and click, drag and drop.

Another common request from customers is that they are tired of custom software that cannot be upgraded. With both InTouch and SuiteVoyager, customers know that Wonderware has always provided an upgrade path, so that the applications they develop today will work with software released in the future. That is a big concern with the reduction in IT staff, software administration and management that these two software packages provide.

IEN: Have wireless and web-enabled systems been a hard sell to certain sectors? If so, why the reluctance?

Robinson: Security of information is one of the major concerns that hinders some companies from expanding. At Wonderware, maintaining security of the information and the manufacturing process is of utmost concern when developing products. Authenticating users against NT systems and enabling software configurators maximum flexibility in granting or revoking privileges in software for read, write, visualization, publishing, control, and more are some of the ways that Wonderware makes sure that the information is safe and secure.

IEN: Can e-manufacturing benefit smaller scale operations in the same way it would help large ones?

Robinson: It sure could. Small-scale operations still need to have access to information around the clock and may not have the manpower to monitor every piece of equipment or device in the system. E-manufacturing enables them to do more with less resources. Acquiring the information and having it available means that they can remain lean and agile while being competitive, and as they grow, the systems and procedures will already be in place for efficient production.