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Product category: Business management systems, including SCADA, assets, projects
News Release from: Rockwell Automation | Subject: Business software solutions
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial Team on 12 January 2001

Software covers financial and
manufacturing needs

It is a tough world for manufacturers and the impact of e-business is increasing the pressure. Rockwell Automation offers comprehensive solutions for financial and manufacturing management.

It is a tough world for manufacturers and the impact of e-business is increasing the pressure It is easier for customers to find and use competitors and they demand instant response to questions and changes

Manufacturers have to offer greater flexibility in order to cope with smaller batch runs and frequent specification changes.

But ultimately, results have to be assessed in financial terms, with Return on Net Assets or Return on Capital Employed, the key measure.

Powerful industrial automation hardware has been available for many years and, with the added benefits of modern control and configuration software, is highly efficient.

Rockwell Automation is now adding significant new dimensions to its portfolio of services.

These will enable it to offer the comprehensive solutions that manufacturing industry needs to improve financial, as well as manufacturing, performance.

Manufacturers looking to improve performance can see how the complete range of Rockwell Automation products and services could help them maximise the returns on their investment at the extensive demonstration facilities that were recently opened at its Milton Keynes headquarters.

These include the Solutions Centre, an interactive product display and demonstration area, and the Business Solutions Suite, demonstrating shop floor to top floor business solutions, in a 'virtual factory' environment.

In recent years, manufacturers have spent a lot of money on supply chain management, with sophisticated enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply chain planning (SCP) systems, for example, becoming increasingly popular.

As competitive pressures continue to increase, however, many manufacturers still find that their financial performance is not what it should be.

A significant reason for this is the gap between the efficient automation systems on the factory floor and the equally efficient ERP and other IT systems at the corporate level.

With its command of the automation systems and considerable expertise in the software field, Rockwell Automation is uniquely placed to provide the solution.

There are two main areas that fall within this gap.

First, the assets themselves and how they can be better deployed and second, how the best productivity can be obtained from these assets.

When companies are deciding how best to deploy manufacturing assets and get the best return from them, efficient simulation, scheduling, tracking and management can help.

This is an area ripe for improvement, as it is often only 20 - 50% of what it should be.

Simulation can take out some of the guesswork and allow a more accurate prediction of the outcome of changes to business operations.

Automated scheduling provides a better method of managing production orders and increases the visibility of current and future scheduling activities.

Tracking involves the collection, analysis, viewing and reporting of production data, allowing the management of all compliance data and presentation of audits.

To get the best productivity from the assets deployed, three main areas need to be addressed: Condition-based maintenance; computerised maintenance management; e-procurement.

Condition-based maintenance predicts the deterioration of assets, allows the planning of maintenance actions more effectively and monitors the effectiveness of the maintenance programme.

Computerised maintenance management systems optimise the deployment of all MRO resources, such as people, spare parts, tools and facilities, and allow the creation of a planned maintenance programme for all assets.

E-procurement allows the replacement of stock with information and offers direct access to spares at lowest cost.

Rockwell Automation has been able to offer the hardware and software necessary to achieve superb results from automation and asset deployment for some time.

Now it has added comprehensive enterprise management services and asset management solutions.

These will help clients obtain the best from their systems by having them all working together for increased productivity and so will usher in the era of e-manufacturing.

Rockwell Automation has also forged a strategic alliance with Systems America, a leading e-business solutions and ERP implementation service provider, to develop products that will link plant level applications directly to ERP applications.

The successful application of e-manufacturing must be a partnership between supplier and customer.

Lessons must be learnt from the implementation of ERP and automation systems with regard to the required integration.

The key is to work closely with a supplier that can provide the right services to implement the systems well, from audit, strategy, through system integration, implementation and training, to full plant services.

Successful companies are responding positively to the challenge of e- business and e-manufacturing.

Solutions to these challenges exist and are being used now.

Complete solutions are services-led, but require advanced integrated business systems.

Rockwell Automation is determined to lead in the e-manufacturing environment and has already demonstrated this by forming the RA consulting group and investing vast sums in software development.

It is also acquiring companies that complement and complete its capabilities in the field, such as ETG, Systems Modelling and, more recently, the batch software and services business of Sequencia Corporation.

Rockwell Automation, for many years a leader in complete automation, is also a leader in e-manufacturing and set to increase this lead as the techniques develop.

Rockwell is a $7 billion electronic controls and communications company with global leadership positions in industrial automation, avionics and communications, and electronic commerce. Request a free brochure from Rockwell Automation ...

The company employs approximately 40,000 people at more than 450 locations serving customers in more than 80 countries.

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