MYNAH Technologies, a leader in life cycle dynamic simulation, for operator training and certification and ProSys, a leader in Dynamic Alarm Management have announced a strategic partnership to bring operator training and certification services to the process industries.
This partnership will provide a unique offering of MYNAH’s Mimic Simulation Software and dynamic model engineering services with ProSys operations optimization and training services. This partnership will provide the process industries with unique offerings for certifying operators and improving operations effectiveness.
“With ProSys’ knowledge of process engineering and controls and MYNAH’s simulation platform and process modeling, we are now teamed to deliver operator training solutions that address today’s problems in the process industries”, said Dustin Beebe, President and CEO of ProSys. “Simulations allow us the opportunity to train operators for the operational situations they need most – critical modes of operation like startup, shutdown and process upsets. With this we can train a new generation of operators without having to re-experience all of the incidents of the past 30 years.”
In addition to using the Mimic Simulation Software for training purposes, ProSys plans to utilize Mimic Simulation Software for testing of alarm management within plants. ProSys will be able to utilize Mimic to better predict and eliminate errors in alarm management systems.
It’s a Game Changer! That’s the theme of the 2014 Schneider Electric Software Global Conference in Orlando. I’ve been to more than 100 of these things, but this the first one that kicked off with a high school marching band.
The first news of the conference was the agreement to acquire InStep Software, a provider of real-time performance management and predictive asset analytics software and solutions. Schneider expects this acquisition to deepen its presence in the power and energy market. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2014, subject to customary regulatory and other closing conditions.
“Acquiring InStep Software is indicative of our commitment to delivering game-changing technology and powerful new solutions that improve efficiency, manage risk and drive higher levels of customer value,” said Ravi Gopinath, Ph.D., executive vice president, Schneider Electric Global Solutions, Software Business. “They have a proven, experienced team who are dedicated to helping their customers achieve new levels of value, performance and profitability, and we are delighted to welcome them to Schneider Electric.”
InStep Software will continue to be managed by its existing executive team, adding approximately 70 employees to Schneider Electric’s operations in the United States. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Schneider recently had announced a new extension to the SimSci product line. Now we have an acquisition. I take this to mean that Schneider has seriously decided to become a software company. I’ve never thought of the company as having a commitment to software.
Gopinath just used a word I used some time ago. Stability. These manufacturing software companies (Wonderware, SimSci, Avantis plus Foxboro, Triconex, etc.) under the instability of Invensys were threatened. Perhaps the stability of Schneider Electric will help these grow and prosper.
I finally found an interview subject who was willing to try a video interview. On my MacBook Pro with Skype and Call Recorder I can record both video feeds and present a side-by-side view.
In this interview, John Neeley of Fluke talks about the new Fluke Connect solution that connects Fluke manufacturing measurements devices with an iPhone to put measurements in the cloud. Enjoy.
Mike Bryant, executive director of PI North America-the Profibus/Profinet promotion organization, began day two of the 2014 Annual General Meeting pondering what’s next for Profinet. After 20 successful years, what will propel growth for the next five or more.
A quick poll of the 70+ attendees showed unanimous agreement that the Internet of Things holds great potential for growth. A company, that also happens to be a PI North America member, that is a leading proponent of the Industrial Internet of Things and in fact is the founder of the Industrial Internet Consortium, is GE. Aussie Schnore, principal engineer with GE Global Research, presented GE’s point of view. Here are some of his thoughts.
Industrial Internet building on previous layers
Standards are important because now we have a spec to design from rather than re-inventing something
The GE Intelligent Platforms cycle is connected machines, connected data, connected insights, and connected people
Important trends in the next five years include retirements, 50 billion machines connected to Internet, new employees expect information at their fingertips, and CIOs expect to drive more business insight
Forces shaping the Industrial Internet include brilliant machines, big data, analytics
Challenges facing adoption of the Industrial Internet include performance, cyber security, scale, and interoperability
“Why it matters:” reduction in development time, lower support costs, increase in gross margin, leading to improved asset performance, enhanced customer experience, creation of new service and support models
This is exactly right on. Connectivity is now expected. Now how do we accomplish all the benefits.
This week’s edition of the PI North Americs (formerly PTO) annual general meeting in Phoenix celebrates 20 years of Profibus/Profinet/Profisafe industrial networking in North America.
Chairman and Executive Director Mike Bryant began the session–the largest gathering so far–recounting the people and experiences that contributed to the growth of the organization and the technology over the past 20 years.
Where will the next area of growth lie for Profinet? Bryant and others are exploring the application of Profinet as part of the Internet of Things (or Industrial Internet of Things). As a technology built upon Ethernet, Profinet is an enabling technology for moving data from the “things” part of IoT to the Internet part.
My take on this is that they are on the right track. The IoT is essentially just moving data from the sensor/device level to a level where data becomes information displayed in such a way to enable analysis and decision making. Technologies such as Profinet will be an essential link in the train.
