Monitoring software handles multiple users

GE Fanuc Automation has announced the immediate availability of Proficy HMI/Scada - Cimplicity 7.0, the company's award-winning supervisory monitoring and control software.

GE Fanuc Automation has released Proficy HMI/Scada - Cimplicity 7.0 supervisory monitoring and control software.

It has been designed to handle complex, multi-user applications on multi-tasking operating systems.

Today, Cimplicity is installed in companies around the world and is controlling processes in automotive, electronics, power, food and beverage, oil and gas, water/wastewater as well as other industries.

It is involved in every aspect of automation, from discrete to process.

GE Fanuc will continue to invest in Cimplicity, a key component in its HMI/Scada portfolio, ensuring customers receive a continued stream of new features and benefits.

"The development of Cimplicity is driven by feedback from industry-leading companies around the world", said Bernard Cubizolles, European Product Manager for the GE Fanuc Proficy Suite.

"This release features four major themes: tighter integration with the Proficy software family of products, enhancements for developer productivity, operator productivity, and serving additional customers with added CNC connectivity".

Cimplicity helps companies improve their business performance through integration with other products in the Proficy family.

Each Proficy component, when layered on top of Cimplicity as a HMI/Scada solution, extends the range of applications that can be addressed.

Proficy Change Management, integrated with the Cimplicity Workbench, is a powerful solution for file version management and automated backup.

Proficy Real-Time Information Portal provides a web-based solution that integrates all on-line and process-based systems with plant-wide connectivity, analysis and web-based visualisation components.

Integration with Cimplicity delivers portal displays as a component of a Cimplicity operator display.

Login and display selection is automatic, allowing operators to gain business insight from all plant data enabling decision support and continuous process improvement.

Proficy Historian integration augments Cimplicity's relational database-centric archiving, delivering unsurpassed performance coupled with the lowest administration requirements in the industry.

Historian provides fast archiving and data retrieval, with sustained throughput rates of more than 100,000 samples per second.

Proficy View - Machine Edition integration delivers a logical progression of functionality from a dedicated HMI to the broader client/server and Scada capabilities of Cimplicity.

Cimplicity easily aggregates data, alarms and events from Proficy View products.

Proficy View displays can be hosted, without change, in a Cimplicity display.

Cimplicity is the natural solution for higher levels of data analysis and archiving of data originating from Proficy View stations around the plant floor.

According to Craig Resnick, Research Director, ARC Advisory group, "Manufacturers today require change management functionality as a key component of their HMI/Scada software packages".

"They seek seamless management and tracking of software changes at the component and application levels, as well as the ability to track specific change histories within the development environment".

"Change management software also plays a critical role when managing a multitude of software applications that always seems to be in need of upgrading and patching due to issues such as security, monitoring, and optimisation".

Developer and operator productivity enhancements include improving OPC connectivity and configuration, enhancing security with password rules, and adding flexibility through right mouse menu actions.

Cimplicity 7.0 supports OPC-DA version 3.0, which adds several new specifications including access to tag properties, tag browsing and a "keep alive" feature.

In addition, a new user interface has been created for OPC Client device communications making it easier and faster to configure OPC-based point.

The configuration of OPC communications has been greatly enhanced by a new OPC browsing and configuration user interface.

This allows users to browse any node for a list of OPC servers installed on that node.

Additionally, the OPC Servers in Cimplicity 7.0 are OPC Foundation-certified.

"HMI/Scada software based on open standards is the best way to ensure that interoperability will be achieved", said ARC's Resnick.

"Manufacturers should specify that their HMI/Scada software be OPC-certified, as this is the only assurance that their HMI/Scada software is reliably interoperable with their existing installed base of products and solutions".

"And, providers of HMI/Scada software should strive for their solutions to achieve the highest level of OPC certification that is available from the OPC Foundation".

Cimplicity provides connectivity to Fanuc CNCs.

These include the 160i, 180i and 210i Model B along with the series 0i.

Additional support has been added for extended backup memory and tool management for the 300, 310 and 320iA controllers.

GE Fanuc will continue to provide Productivity Packs to HMI/Scada customers on the GlobalCare support programme.

Productivity Packs, delivered quarterly when there is no major HMI/Scada product release, provide new tools, utilities and enhancements for Cimplicity, independent of a Cimplicity product release.

When high availability is a requirement, Cimplicity 7.0 delivers hot backup redundant server functionality and support for operation in a Microsoft Cluster environment.

Cimplicity will monitor the server and process health, and automatically trigger a restart on another computer in the cluster as necessary.

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