Rockwell Automation 发布FactoryTalk集成软件套件

作者：全球MRO综合服务商    仪器仪表行业新闻来源：全球MRO仪器仪表交易网    点击数：    更新时间：2007/5/23

—— 该套件包括设计与组态、生产管理、数据管理、性能和可视性、质量和兼容性以及设备管理

By Craig Resnick, ARC Advisory Group

Rockwell Automation recently briefed ARC regarding their FactoryTalk Integrated Suite. The briefing detailed Rockwell Automation's plans for expansion of its plant-wide information software that includes extending its manufacturing execution system (MES) offerings, deploying a service-oriented architecture (SOA), and bringing together the company software product offerings into a single integrated suite known as Rockwell Software FactoryTalk.

One of Rockwell Automation's primary objectives for FactoryTalk is to design an integrated plant-wide information suite that extends and leverages their Logix architecture and delivers interoperability and open connectivity via the use of standards-based data models. Another objective is to offer an off-the-shelf multi-industry platform with vertical application templates, a cross industry suite with vertical extensions, rather than an entire platform for a single industry. Rockwell Automation also wants to provide additional value to their installed base, offering a controller-based data model that is not intrusive and complex, and will extend to the controller -- allowing for incremental, extensible, scalable, and simplified deployment or configuration. In addition, Rockwell Automation will offer Premier Integration to their installed base, using integrated architecture to connect the FactoryTalk multi-disciplined production platform to their Logix multi-disciplined control platform.

The FactoryTalk integrated production management and performance suite is broken into six primary disciplines that Rockwell Automation will continue to build out: Design and Configuration, Production Management, Data Management, Performance and Visibility, Quality and Compliance, and Asset Management.

Design and Configuration involves establishing an integrated environment for creating, modeling, and programming production processes, with software tools that perform automation control programming, set up and propagate reusable equipment, order and define products, and allow for process development, simulation and deployment. Current software offerings targeted for rebranding under the Design and Configuration discipline include Arena Simulation, RSLinx Enterprise, RSLogix Architect, PhaseManager, and RSLogix.

Production Management involves the real-time coordination across plant-wide production processes such as order scheduling and execution, tracking and genealogy, resource management, and multi-site production synchronization. Software offerings destined for the Production Management discipline include RSBizWare Batch, RSBizWare Scheduler, RSAdvantage, RSBizWare eProcedure, and RSBizWare MaterialTrack.

Data Management involves the tools and methods to use for collecting, transforming, and integrating production information, including event, process, or master data collection and storage, integration and workflow across disparate systems, tools to organize, synchronize, archive and aggregate data, and both automated and manual data collection. Future product plans include historians that offer multi-layered data collection and storage functionality. Current software offerings which will be rebranded in the Data Management discipline include RSHistorian, RSSql, RSOPC Gateway, as well as future conversions of Propack Data PMX Recipe and SkillTrack MES modules. FactoryTalk Integrator, a new offering targeted for Spring 06 release, addresses enterprise business integration needs by leveraging IBM websphere technology.

Performance and Visibility involves the products that enable the creation of windows into the process so manufacturers can make decisions, such as reporting and analysis tools, and role-based operator interfaces and dashboards that provide situational displays at the machine, line, plant and enterprise levels such as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Current software offerings to be included within the Performance and Visibility discipline include RSBizWare PlantMetrics, RSView Machine Edition and Supervisory Edition, as well as the soon to be released FactoryTalk Portal (spring 06).

Quality and Compliance involves the tools that ensure that operational processes and procedures meet standards or specifications, simplify regulatory compliance and reporting, enhance product and process consistency, and improve first-pass quality by providing an automated, proactive quality environment. Current software offerings that will fall under the Quality and Compliance discipline include RSAdvantage Quality, and Propack Data PMX EBR MES.

Asset Management involves the tools that optimize maintenance and plant operations to improve resource availability, audit operator actions and device health, perform diagnostics, device configuration, calibration and real-time monitoring, and provide risk mitigation and change management procedures. Current software offerings that will be branded within the Asset Management discipline include RSMACC's Change Management, Entek Emonitor, and, Network Health, Defender, and AAM. FactoryTalk AssetCentre will be the first new addition to the discipline in spring 06.

Rockwell Automation also detailed the FactoryTalk Focused Applications Library, an integrated and pre-packaged assembly of application software templates. These can be configured and extended, to deliver specific solutions to a particular business issue within a manufacturing industry or functional process. A Focused Application contains Rockwell Automation commercial products, or a combination of Rockwell Automation and other third party commercial offerings. Some attributes of Focused Applications are that they be packaged, modular, configurable, scalable, secure, maintainable, and extensible. The business benefits of Focused Applications include minimal customization due to the use of proven, granular, prepackaged domain content in prefabricated application template bundles. They can be deployed in a more modular, incremental, functional, simplified and scalable manor across both control and information disciplines.

Focused Applications in the Food Industry include Track & Trace, Schedule Management, HACCP, and Weigh and Dispense. Focused Applications in the Beverage Industry include Track and Trace, Schedule Management, and Production Execution. Focused Applications in the Automotive Industry include Error Proofing and Andon. Focused Applications for Discrete Manufacturing Industries include Shop Operations, Quality Assurance, Supplier Management, CAPA and Complaint Management, RMA Management and Repair, Operator Certification, ECO Manager, and Discrete Line Performance.

FactoryTalk Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) Services were also detailed by Rockwell Automation. These include Directory, Security, Live Data, Diagnostics, Audit, and Activation, with Alarms and Events coming out later in 2006. Directory allows defining plant-floor resources once, such as tags, displays, alarms, users, etc., and then allows simultaneous access to those resources across system boundaries. The Directory design emulates Internet methodology, meaning that it is ederated? This implies that the data remains distributed in its original, native environment. Federated data is not duplicated, it is distributed and not centralized, and can reside directly in automation devices without being replicated. FactoryTalk Directory offers a common address book of resources, the functionality of a single database in a distributed environment, location transparency with no embedded physical location or machine information, and a common namespace for multiple servers, databases, and third party OPC servers.

The Security design allows multiple authentication providers and is compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. FactoryTalk Live Data client extends OPC-DA to provide fault tolerance and redundancy, seamless connect/disconnect/reconnect between clients and servers, elimination of long DCOM timeouts. FactoryTalk Diagnostics provides the ability to log errors, warning, and information to a central location. The Audit service maintains a comprehensive record of any changes made to the manufacturing system, and Activation provides common software license management for all products. These services access the core data which is based on FactoryTalk's Unified Plant Model, or UPM.

ARC feels that Rockwell Automation's primary challenges for FactoryTalk are to meet the scheduled module release dates planned over the next several years, to provide preferred integration to their large non-Logix installed based of PLC-5's and SLC's that are not going away anytime soon, and to demonstrate competitive differentiation. This market has solution offerings from companies ranging from the traditional full line automation suppliers, to niche MES companies, to HMI software suppliers, and even some ERP suppliers. MES solutions are also being offered by the PLM suppliers as a part of their design/build/support solution set. Being inherently tied to product development and manufacturing process design has positioned the PLM suppliers in the traditional MES space for some time now. Rockwell Automation must document and communicate FactoryTalk's business benefits to their installed base, and leverage their Premier Integration differentiation.

ARC is encouraged that FactoryTalk offers an extremely broad portfolio of modules and solutions and can be a single source solutions provider for plant-wide information software. ARC feels that Rockwell Automation should strongly promote FactoryTalk's Focused Applications Library, and position FactoryTalk as a multi-disciplined information platform that is analogous to Logix's multi-disciplined control platform. Logix has been tremendously successful for Rockwell Automation, and if that model is followed for FactoryTalk and accepted by the marketplace in a similar fashion, FactoryTalk should also be poised for much success. The company抯 investment and focus on the plant-wide information space is now paying dividends in the form of a unique strategy and real progress.

Greg Gorbach, ARC Vice President of Collaborative Manufacturing, commented, "Rockwell Automation has embarked on a challenging and ambitious course, but there is no doubt it is the right course. Their customers will begin to see some benefits in the short term, with much more to come as the roadmap comes to fruition."