A few companies have doubled down on product development on the upslope of pandemic recovery, one being GE Digital. This is the fourth update in two months. It’s also my third opportunity to interview Gimmi Filice, but he pretty much nailed it in our interview reported here. Other news is reported here and here.
The key points include:
- Object orientation speeds development in a centralized web-based configuration
- Process industry companies are able to leverage templates out-of-the-box to create the right user experience and improve operator response for increased uptime and higher quality
- Reduced troubleshooting time with higher situational awareness
GE Digital today announced upgrades to iFIX HMI/SCADA. These enhancements include modeling improvements to support equipment variability, simplified browsing of PLC and control systems via OPC UA and IGS, and faster updates with the software’s Quick Installer. iFIX 2022 also reduces costs with improved single-server scale and supports cloud infrastructures to reduce hardware costs, centralize operations, and facilitate remote access for greater visibility and uptime.
“With the growing demand for our vehicles, we need our plant running with as much uptime as possible. We also are focused on quality and want the best cars getting to our customers – along with the flexibility to make changes such as paint color and trim,” said Trent Lester, Group Leader for Integration of Production Control Systems, Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. “We use GE automation software throughout the plant for collecting data and giving operators the ability to see things before they happen and give them more reaction time. It allows us to do a lot more tracking of vehicles and identify any issues throughout the process. Management has a tool for making educated decisions on real-time data and historical issues the team may have to deal with and collaborate across all areas of the plant.”
To help engineers quickly create the right user experience, iFIX provides modern sample systems to jump start applications as well as predefined objects and templates designed using High Performance HMI concepts. New high performance dynamos help companies save time building ISA recommended HMI designs and improve operator response. The enhanced modeling capabilities and object oriented approach significantly also reduces time for developing the SCADA database.
