Product category:
Plantwide control
News Release from: Rockwell Automation
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 01 April 2002
Complete automation solutions in action
Rockwell Automation has opened a business solutions suite serving the north of the UK as well as commissioning a specially built mobile process solutions suite.
cFollowing a major investment in its UK manufacturing support facilities, Rockwell Automation has opened a business solutions suite serving the north of the UK as well as commissioning a specially built mobile process solutions suite The two new units build on the success of Rockwell Automation's Solutions Centre, which opened in summer 2000 at its UK headquarters in Kiln Farm, Milton Keynes and has already been visited by more 1500 people from 400 companies
The new northern business solutions suite is permanently located at Rockwell Automation's Crewe office, an ideal location which is easily accessible for OEMs, systems integrators and end users in the north of England, Scotland and Wales.
The suite provides a practical demonstration of the company's complete automation approach, which integrates automation hardware and software on the factory floor with the enterprise's management systems.
"Many of our customers have made productivity gains from automating their plant operations, and may also have invested substantial sums in ERP systems to automate their planning processes", says Mark Crawford, solutions architect at Rockwell Automation.
"Few, however, have fully integrated their operations with the supply chain to produce a truly optimised manufacturing enterprise - Rockwell Automation delivers the tools and expertise to do just that".
The solutions suite brings this approach alive, enabling visitors to experience a "virtual factory" and see for themselves how Rockwell Automation's products seamlessly integrate with a typical ERP system and a range of third party automation hardware.
The highly interactive business solutions suite is split into five separate but interlinked areas representing a typical manufacturing enterprise.
In the office and admin area, visitors can enter orders into the business systems and schedule production in the plant.
the control room monitors and controls production, and demonstrates how alarms received are acted upon and data is logged.
In the product focus area, the hardware used to control the production process can be seen in operation, sending and receiving data via digital networks.
The engineering area highlights the software tools used to develop, simulate and maintain control systems, showing how they reduce maintenance costs, downtime and time to market.
Finally, the boardroom shows how production data is turned into valuable information and made available across the enterprise via the web.
"Our solutions suite provides a practical demonstration of complete automation, which is designed around the Microsoft 'DNA for Manufacturing' framework to enable the connections to be made between business and automation systems", says Crawford.
To take the Complete Automation message even further afield, Rockwell Automation's new mobile process solutions suite has been designed to be set up at exhibitions, hotels or customer sites anywhere in the UK.
Focusing on Rockwell Automation's "eProcess" integrated solutions for process industries, the mobile unit can take up to 15 people at a time on a virtual tour of an enterprise wide process control solution.
Including control, engineering, maintenance, IT integration and decision support tools, the tour covers PLCs, SCADA and DCS solutions, data integration, condition monitoring, simulation and integration with ERP systems.
Tours can also be supplemented by on-site seminars.
Rockwell Automation sees its solutions suites as an ideal way for existing and potential customers to see for themselves how the company's products can improve the efficiency of their manufacturing or process enterprise, before making a purchasing decision. Request free introductory details about products from Rockwell Automation ...
(This was Engineeringtalk's Top Story on 29 March 2002).
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