Microsoft decision support comes to Rockwell shopfloor automation

Doug Lawson, president of Incuity Software, now part of Rockwell Automation, says the new system harnesses his organisation’s technology to deliver automatic access to production information from Rockwell and third-party systems. “In today’s economy, it’s critical to mine data from disparate sources in a way that delivers unique insights into enterprise business performance and key operational metrics,” says Lawson. “With just a few hours of configuration, FactoryTalk VantagePoint LE software can provide users with a cost-effective way to get at that information through intuitive reports, trends and dashboards,” he adds. Lawson explains that the application is going to be offered in several versions, starting with the Line Edition (LE), which combines data produced by Rockwell’s Integrated Architecture and third-party production systems in a configurable, out-of-the-box solution. That gives you standard, pre-configured reports for managing devices, equipment, alarms, events and control loops, as well as batch or production run and shift reports. It also includes trending and dashboard capabilities, using Microsoft Excel.