by Gary Mintchell | Nov 14, 2016 | Automation, News, Operations Management, Software, Technology
I put on the pair of magic glasses. Immediately I was transported to a magic land of another reality. I saw things floating in front of me. I could walk around objects and view them from every angle, but I couldn’t touch them.
There was a white dot. I focused on the dot and brought my hand up to eye level forming a fist with fingers on top. Then I opened my fist like a jasmine bud you drop into hot water to make fragrant tea. And a computer screen appeared before my eyes. I raised a finger, pointed to a button, brought my finger down and then back up as if clicking. And a machine started.
No, I had not smoked something. (Although people suspect that in my days at university… well that’s another topic for another day!)
Perhaps you’ve seen the TV ads for the Samsung phone with Virtual Reality (VR) goggles? I was wearing a real product–the Microsoft Hololense. This is Augmented Reality (AR). I could see people walking through the first machine. I could see the actual machine in the second scenario. I controlled the fan speed of the real machine without touching anything. People watching would only see me waving my hand.
Yes, this was last week in Atlanta at Automation Fair sponsored by Rockwell Automation. At a stand called modestly enough The Future of the Connected Enterprise, they showed these working examples of AR in a manufacturing setting.
Innovation
Let’s be honest. In 20 Automation Fairs I’ve attended, I’ve never felt like I’ve seen the bleeding edge of technology. Cool new products? Sure. Rockwell kept advancing with the times. The Logix engine was an advance in the state of the art followed by Studio 5000. But that has been some time ago. This year just felt differently.
First there was a live demo during the media day that included information solutions. Next was the Innovation Zone demo of AR. Finally was a dive into Information Solutions–something initially highlighted by new CEO Blake Moret.
First an admission and some definitions. I stole the headline of the piece from both ControlGlobal and Automation World. I think I saw it in both places on the Web last week. Now the description–Rockwell calls “Software” its software for HMI, programming, and the like. What really has been building is “Information Solutions.” More accurately, the headline should have been, “Rockwell Automation, An Information Solutions and Services Company.”
An Information Solutions Company
Information Solutions and Process Solutions are headed by the same VP/GM, John Genovesi. Process had been growing for several years, but it seems to have leveled off lately. Information Solutions was front and center featured this year. My industry research this year revealed that IS accounts for the bulk of revenue increases within the “Connected Enterprise” strategy. And that makes sense.
One of the deep-dive interview opportunities offered me this year was the Information Solutions group. Spokesperson Khris Kammer told me that there were four pillars to discuss this year–Scalable MES, Scalable Analytic, Connected Services, and Collaboration/Teams. I’ll have more detail on product releases from the first two. Connected Services was touted by Moret during our interview.
The traditional challenge for MES has been its monolithic nature. If you want MES, you must buy a big chunk. Rockwell has been working on this customer challenge and barrier to entry. Rockwell introduced “suites”, but that did not address the entire problem. Now are “fit-for-purpose” apps–quality, production, performance. Read more below.
Analytics became the domain of data scientists through “Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence” (EMI) which was a spin-off from enterprise Business Intelligence. Rockwell partners with Microsoft PowerBI, but it also worked on the scalable aspect to bring customers in a little at a time. Built upon existing products Historian and VantagePoint, developers built Analytics for Devices and Analytics for Machines–a cloud-based broader solution. Read more below.
Connected Services blends service in networks, security, and managed services. This has been a growing part of Rockwell’s business and now receives the attention and focus of landing as part of the Connected Enterprise strategy.Collaboration features a Web-based, HTML5 app called TeamOne. The team demonstrated it to media in perhaps the first live demo at a Rockwell keynote. Figuring that pretty much everyone already brings a smart phone to work, this app is IT-friendly and allows chatting, information access, video capability, and more among selected members of a team. These personnel may be in the same area, scattered around a facility, or even remote if necessary.
Scalable Analytics
“Our Connected Enterprise vision has always had analytics and collaboration at its core,” said Genovesi. “As we expand our Information Solutions offerings, a primary goal is to make analytics more approachable and right-sized for the customer. New analytics solutions help our customers move ahead on their Connected Enterprise journey, no matter where they are today.”
The new offerings expand capabilities for analytics across the plant floor for devices, machines and systems, as well as throughout the enterprise. In this approach, analytics are computed and gain context closest to the source of decision at the appropriate level in the architecture to return the highest value – from edge devices to the cloud on a variety of new appliances, devices, and on- or off-premise cloud platforms.
FactoryTalk Analytics for Devices appliance provides health and diagnostic analytics from industrial devices. It crawls your industrial network, discovers your assets and provides analytics by transforming the data generated into preconfigured health and diagnostic dashboards. The system also delivers “action cards” to your smartphone or tablet if a device requires attention.
At the machine level, FactoryTalk Analytics for Machines cloud application provides equipment builders access to performance analytics from deployed systems to help support their customers via the FactoryTalk cloud. For manufacturers, this capability capitalizes on connected technologies to help drive higher availability and output while reducing maintenance costs.
Rockwell Automation now provides a predictive maintenance solution that can predict failures before they happen and generate a maintenance work order to avoid costly downtime.
Scalable MES
Rockwell Automation has released the following applications, with more to come in the future:
FactoryTalk Production Application a scalable MES solution that addresses the challenges associated with enforcing processes in manufacturing. This application integrates with ERP, and tracks the order and recipe parameters necessary for production.
FactoryTalk Quality Application allows manufacturers to easily and efficiently model and enforce their plant’s in-process quality regimens at a scalable rate. Manufacturers can use the Quality application on a project basis and scale up when value is proven.
FactoryTalk Performance Application is a modular application that assists manufacturing companies with factory efficiency and production improvement. By providing visibility into the operations performance, this application allows for lean and continuous improvement, preventive manufacturing, improved asset utilization and operational intelligence.
Each expanded MES application is implemented on thin clients for a modern user experience and reduced, IT infrastructure cost. Users can add on each application to their current framework, helping protect their current investments while realizing these additional benefits.
by Gary Mintchell | Jun 9, 2016 | News, Productivity, Workforce
Industry and manufacturing leaders recognize the trend to the next step in the evolution of enterprise effectiveness and success. The industrial digital revolution is an overnight sensation that has been 30 years in the making. We began with digital controls then adding human interface and then information handling.
Internet of Things with its proliferation of sensors and other smart edge devices, IP networking, data science, and advanced analytics (business intelligence) combined take us to a whole new level of enterprise effectiveness.
The trite question from marketing people often goes, “What’s keeping our customers awake at night?”
Well, are executive worried about the capability of technology?
Two research reports just came my direction recently from a couple of my go-to sources for what’s happening with the thinking in the industrial/manufacturing executive suite. One is from PwC, What’s Next in Manufacturing: Building an Industrial Digital Ecosystem, and the other from Accenture Digital Skills Gap Slows Manufacturers’ Push to Build Digital Factories.
No, it’s not technology that worries them. First it’s people and culture. Are there sufficient people with digital skills? Will the culture make the transition? Then, of course, they worry about how large the investment might become and what the return will be. It’s people and economics.
PwC Digital Industrial Survey
In this report, PwC shares results from a survey of global industrial products companies, shedding light on what manufacturers are doing now to build out their digital operations and what bottom-line benefits they expect to yield through those efforts.
Buying into digital: manufacturers plan to ramp up investments
In the last two years, US manufacturers invested an average 2.6% of their annual revenue in digital technologies. In the next five years, they expect to lift that investment to 4.7% of revenue—for an estimated $350 billion in investments in digital operation technologies across automotive, industrial production and manufacturing industries alone.
Venture capital funds flowing, too
Since 2011, some $3.6 billion has poured into VC-backed start-ups across a selection of digital technology sub-sectors, with investment rising at a 47% clip–more than double the annual growth of total VC funding (18%) in all sectors over the same period.
“Digital deals” have comprised 15% of all US M&A activity since 2012
According to a PwC/Strategy& analysis, more than $6.0 billion has been invested on “digital deals” in North America alone since 2012, comprising some 15% of all M&A deals over that period.
The greatest challenge to a “digital vision” is cultural
In the context of embracing digital operations technology, three of the top 10 challenge areas identified by surveyed companies relate to organizational readiness and financial concerns. Some companies anticipate high investment requirements with unclear return on investment, and lack of digital standards and issues related to data security and intellectual property are also noted.
Monetizing digital operations sought through cost reductions, revenue generation
Nearly two-thirds of manufacturers expect that adopting digital manufacturing technologies will translate into lowering operating costs by at least 11% mostly via efficiencies through automating processes and production. Meanwhile, over half of these manufacturers expect such adoption to boost revenues by at least 11%.
How digital technologies drive bottom-line results Manufacturers are just scratching the surface of monetizing digital manufacturing. Some key drivers to achieving cost-cutting and revenue uplift from digitization with the introduction of smart, connected manufacturing technologies and products and services include:
- Lowered “price of variability” across production and processes
- Moving from analogue products to “connected, digital products”
- Manufacturing data…and new business models
- Software-enabled upgrades to products
- Pay-as-you-go model
Building a digital manufacturing strategy
Building a digital strategy requires a thorough self-assessment to determine a company’s “current state” of its digital evolution—and, just important, defining its “target state”. This means tailoring digital operations solutions to a business’ assets and making the right moves at the right time—from ramping up data analytics capabilities, to monetizing product data to considering a “digital deal”.
PwC concludes, “The future of digital manufacturing holds many “what-ifs”. But, if it unfolds as dramatically as our survey indicates, most all manufacturers will be altered to some degree. And, for every “what if”, there are choices manufacturers ought to consider.”
Accenture Researches Industrial Digital
Take a look at some of the results of Accenture’s research. Although the majority ofmanufacturers have implemented digital platforms, more than half (51 percent) lack the skills to operate digital factories. The more successful manufacturers have advanced talent strategies in place to digitally enable the workforce of the future.
Cracking the Code on the Digital Factory, a report based on a global study of 450 manufacturers, found that a growing skills gap is one of their biggest concerns – a situation that has worsened in recent years as manufacturers have transformed their operations using new technology, analytics and mobility capabilities.
Fifty-five percent of manufacturers, up from 38 percent in 2013, reported a skills gap among skilled trades laborers, who need to operate increasingly advanced digital machinery and equipment, such as 3D printers or modeling and simulation tools on the plant floor. Likewise, 60 percent of manufacturers, up from 31 percent in 2013, cited a shortage of maintenance workers skilled in the use of predictive maintenance analytics that leverage data from embedded sensors in a machine-to-machine environment.
“For manufacturers to realize the full potential value of digital factories, they need to redesign their workforce to include new manufacturing skills, such as analytical reasoning and data-driven decision support,” said Russ Rasmus, managing director, Accenture Strategy. “Developing a comprehensive talent strategy inclusive of new digital skills is an imperative for today’s manufacturers.”
Digital Factory Leaders
The research identified a small group of manufacturers (8 percent) that outperformed their peers by increasing production and profitability by more than 10 percent since 2013. These “leaders” are more likely than their peers to understand which new skills they need for future growth and success, and have a more effective strategy to attract, develop and retain this new breed of manufacturing talent.
A majority of these leaders (73 percent) more frequently reported already having the requisite digital skills, as compared to 49 percent of other manufacturers, and they were nearly 50 percent more likely to report a higher degree of visibility into what skills they needed. That has allowed most of the leaders (81 percent) to achieve greater internal workforce mobility in roles involving digital, enabling them to match employees with managers who need those skills.
Barriers to Success
While these digital factories are enabled with rapidly developing technology innovations, the technological aspect of their implementation is not the top barrier to success. Seventy-five percent of the deployment challenges cited by survey respondents are related to skills, organizational change or structure, and the talent within the organization.
Chief obstacles that hinder manufacturers’ digital adoption.
“Manufacturers must aggressively manage these non-technical barriers as they deploy their digital factory capabilities. These include the ability to create new processes, lead teams made up of workers and machines, and constantly update training programs,” said Rasmus.
by Gary Mintchell | Feb 5, 2016 | Automation, Internet of Things, Marketing, News
Following yesterday’s news about support for start-ups doing crowd funding, today we have news of an accelerator for start-ups in the Internet of Things space. Only a couple are specifically industrial, but there are interesting ideas.
These technology accelerators were big in Silicon Valley, of course, but then there’s Beta Works in New York City. This one I have written about before settled in Colorado. The business accelerator is TechrIoT (pronounced “Tech Riot” ). Colorado’s first Internet of Things (IoT) entrepreneurial collaborative, announced the 11 finalists for its inaugural IoT‐focused business accelerator called TechrIoT XLR8 (pronounced “Tech Riot Accelerate” ).
The 11 companies were selected from more than 100 applicants by TechrIoT’s advisory board comprised of technology industry veterans, entrepreneurial visionaries and Colorado business leaders.
Internet of Things Era
“The IoT era will reshape the way technology is integrated into our daily lives,” explained Suzy Gutierrez, Co‐Founder, TechrIoT. “The inaugural XLR8 cohort of 11 companies is front and center in that revolution and will have the TechrIoT advisory network behind them as they take the next steps in their business development.”
Five Colorado companies will be part of XLR8’s inaugural contingency: GoFire LLC , LockState, Place Global, QB Labs, and U Grok It . “As a leading IoT smart lock provider to the vacation rental and Airbnb markets, LockState is excited to be partnering with Arrow, Denver South EDP, and Innovation Pavilion as part of this TechrIoT program to pioneer and promote new disruptive IoT applications” said Nolan Mondrow, CEO of LockState.
Companies participating outside of Colorado include: Envivo Systems (Calgary, Alberta,Canada) Knocki (Houston, TX), MyOrbii (Houston, TX), Ombitron (Kansas City, MO), Smart Office Energy Solutions (Chapel Hill, NC), Tailio (San Diego, CA).
Check out all of them, but pay especial attention to Ombitron. It is the one specific industrial startup. It provides Business Intelligence for the Industrial Internet of Things enabling business intelligence for the real world in real time. The Ombitron Intelligence Engine Platform enables operational efficiency applications that were heretofore cost and complexity prohibitive. Knocki also has an interesting concept.
Internationally recognized IoT pioneer, Matthew Bailey adds, “TechRiot XLR8 is a bleeding edge
IoT innovation framework that helps IoT businesses to optimise their proposition for success and activate their leadership to the fullest potential. XLR8 levers best in class strengths from the Colorado tech eco‐systems which combined with its visionary IoT innovation framework makes it a world‐class initiative.”
XLR8 applicant organizations submitted business plans that were reviewed by a team of judges who rated their inventive business solutions through an online scoring rubric. Executive advisors then selected the finalist XLR8 companies based on a set of criteria addressing market validation, hardware design and groundbreaking IoT innovation.
Jennifer Maskrey, Co‐Founder at QB Labs, “We are thrilled to be a part of this IoT accelerator and look forward to polishing our company’s vision and products over the next few months”.
XLR8 companies will collaborate in a fast‐paced, business accelerator‐type environment without the usual fees, investor equity expectations or relocation restrictions. “As a start‐up, being included in such a prestigious program with validation and assistance from businesses and experts will be invaluable to our success.” Alan Johnson, CEO Place Global.
Each company will receive supply chain financing from Arrow Electronics and introductions to anchor customers and channel partners. The IoT accelerator will culminate with two investor pitch opportunities, one in Denver and one in Silicon Valley in late Summer 2016.
TechrIoT is a community of Internet of Things (IoT) entrepreneurs, executives, manufacturers, investors, engineers, suppliers and academics that aims to accelerate the adoption and growth of the IoT economy in Colorado‐‐establishing Colorado as a global hub for innovation in one of the fastest growing segments of the technology industry.
Launched in June 2015 by Innovation Pavilion, Arrow Electronics and the Denver South Economic Development Partnership, the TechrIoT community includes more than 1,500 members from the Denver Metro area and across the U.S. TechrIoT is based in the Innovation Pavilion in Centennial, CO.
by Gary Mintchell | Jan 4, 2016 | Commentary, Internet of Things, News, Operations Management
Following on to last week’s quick post of PTC’s Internet of Things acquisition of Kepware, I’ve gone a little deeper into the build up to and the strategy of the acquisition.
First off, the Internet of Things is a strategy. It isn’t a “thing.” PTC management seems to “get it.” As you’ll read further down, PTC is not pursuing a simple bolt-on strategy such as what several companies have come to me to help justify. This appears to be a serious attempt to assemble a complete ecosystem / platform going beyond a simple IoT play to offer a business solution to customers.
Warning note. PTC is acquiring software companies and attempting to blend their technologies into a coherent whole. We’ve witnessed many of these seemingly simple processes go south quickly. But PTC has done this before in its core market, then again in the services market. I have confidence the company will show the way in a complete solution.
PTC is paying a large premium for Kepware–Up to $120 million for a company with about $20 million in annual sales. It obviously thinks there is a tremendous upside to its IoT business.
From the press release: PTC announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Kepware, a software development company that provides communications connectivity to industrial automation environments, for approximately $100 million, plus up to an additional $18 million based on achievement of certain strategic initiatives and financial results. The acquisition will enhance PTC’s portfolio of Internet of Things (IoT) technology, and accelerate the company’s entry into the factory setting and Industrial IoT (IIoT).
Founded in 1995 and located in Portland, Maine, Kepware serves customers in more than 120 countries in such industries as manufacturing, oil and gas, building automation, and power and utilities. The company’s flagship product, KEPServerEX, connects disparate devices and control systems, providing users with a single source of industrial data.
Kepware’s KEPServerEX will become a strategic component of the PTC ThingWorx IoT technology platform. Once the companies’ products are integrated, machine data will be able to be aggregated into the PTC ThingWorx platform, integrated with a wide array of internal and external information, and then automatically analyzed using ThingWorx machine learning capabilities. The integration will allow organizations to gain enterprise-wide insight and to proactively optimize mission-critical processes – enabling them to improve operational performance, quality, and time to market.
In its June 2015 research report, entitled The Internet of Things: Mapping the Value Beyond the Hype, the McKinsey Global Institute identified the factory as one of the largest sources of potential value to be realized from the adoption of the Internet of Things. PTC has established a dedicated business segment and has formed a strategic alliance with GE to pursue this brilliant factory opportunity. The acquisition of Kepware is intended to complement the alliance with GE.
Kepware and PTC share many common customers that will be able to realize value from the acquisition. Industrial environments already leveraging Kepware technology will be able to benefit from the added breadth of capabilities available in the PTC ThingWorx IoT technology platform. The acquisition of Kepware will also provide a fast-to-value connectivity option for PTC customers to gain visibility into data from a vast range of industrial controls and production equipment, enabling them to kick-start their smart, connected factory initiatives.
“PTC is committed to helping manufacturers, infrastructure operators, and others realize the enormous value inherent in the Internet of Things,” said Jim Heppelmann, president and CEO, PTC. “With this acquisition, we will gain entry into heterogeneous factory and operating environments with robust technology, an impressive list of customers, and a high-quality, profitable company with incredibly talented employees.”
“Kepware and PTC share a common vision of helping organizations realize the potential of the Industrial Internet of Things,” said, Tony Paine, CEO, Kepware. “We believe this acquisition will benefit our customers, partners, and employees – and ultimately drive software innovation for industrial automation markets. We are excited for the opportunity to become part of PTC.”
Over the past 12 months, privately-held Kepware generated approximately $20 million in revenue. PTC expects to draw on its credit facility to finance this transaction and expects Kepware to be neutral to its FY’16 non-GAAP EPS. The transaction is expected to close in early 2016, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval. PTC intends to maintain the Kepware partner ecosystem and to continue developing and enhancing the Kepware technology, once acquired.
PTC Internet of Things Acquisitions
2014
Thingworx
The acquisition of ThingWorx positions PTC as a major player in the emerging Internet of Things era.
Axeda
The acquisition of Axeda allows PTC to leverage its core IoT technology to enable companies to establish secure connectivity and remotely monitor and manage a wide range of machines, sensors, and devices.
2015
ColdLight
The acquisition of ColdLight’s Neuron automated predictive analytics platform will enrich PTC’s technology portfolio and extend PTC’s position as a leader in the Internet of Things (IoT) market.
GE Alliance
GE and PTC announced that the two companies are partnering to deliver an innovative manufacturing solution that will be available within GE’s Brilliant Manufacturing Suite. This new GE-branded manufacturing solution leverages the capabilities of PTC’s ThingWorx Industrial Internet of Things application enablement environment. The result is an industry-hardened solution that features flexible dashboards and powerful data analytics integrated with GE’s software capabilities on the manufacturing plant floor.
ThingWorx IoT Platform
- ThingWorx Composer
ThingWorx Composer is an end-to-end application modeling environment designed to help you easily build the unique applications of today’s connected world. ThingWorx Composer makes it easy to model the things, business logic, visualization, data storage, collaboration, and security required for a connected application.
- Codeless Mashup Builder
ThingWorx “drag and drop” Mashup Builder empowers developers and business users to rapidly create rich, interactive applications, real-time dashboards, collaborative workspaces, and mobile interfaces without the need for coding. This next-generation application builder reduces development time and produces high quality, scalable, smart connected applications which allows companies to accelerate the pace at which they can deliver value-add solutions, resulting in greater market share against new and existing competitors.
- Actionable, Correlated Data from People, Systems and Things
ThingWorx is the only platform that can store and correlate data from three dimensions: people, systems, and connected things. This capability allows companies to make business sense of the massive amounts of data from those three dimensions – making the data useful and actionable. The platform supports scale requirements for millions of devices, and provides connectivity, storage, analysis, execution, and collaboration capabilities required for applications in today’s connected world. It also features a data collection engine that provides unified, semantic storage for time-series, structured, and social data at rates 10X faster than traditional relational databases.
- Search-Based Intelligence
ThingWorx SQUEAL (Search, Query, and Analysis) brings search to the world of smart connected devices and distributed data. With ThingWorx SQUEAL’s interactive search capabilities, users can now correlate data that delivers answers to key business questions. Pertinent and related collaboration data, line-of-business system records, and equipment data get returned in a single search, speeding problem resolution and enabling innovation.
- Collaboration
ThingWorx dynamically and virtually brings together people, systems, and connected equipment, and utilizes live collaboration sessions that help individuals or teams solve problems faster. The ThingWorx data store becomes the basis of context aware collaboration and interaction among the systems users, further enhancing its value. Additionally, the tribal knowledge exposed during the process is automatically captured and indexed for use in future troubleshooting activities.
- Flexible Connectivity Options
ThingWorx “inclusive” connectivity strategy maximizes market opportunity and minimizes integration efforts. ThingWorx supports connectivity to devices via several methods, including 3rd party device clouds, direct network connections, Open APIs, and AlwaysOn connectivity.
KEPServerEX Overview
KEPServerEX is a communications platform that provides a single source of industrial automation data to all of applications. The platform design allows users to connect, manage, monitor, and control diverse automation devices and software applications through one intuitive user interface.
KEPServerEX leverages OPC (the automation industry’s standard for interoperability) and IT-centric communication protocols (such as SNMP, ODBC, and web services) to provide users with a single source for industrial data. Designed around the four product pillars of Proven Interoperability, Centralized Communications, On-Demand Scalability, and Industrial Strength, KEPServerEX is developed and tested to meet our customers’ performance, reliability, and ease-of-use requirements.
Product Features
KEPServerEX provides critical technical features that are centralized around accessibility, aggregation, optimization, connectivity, security, and diagnostics.
Accessibility
OPC
OPC is the leading standard for industrial automation connectivity. KEPServerEX supports the OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) specification and many of the OPC Classic specifications, including OPC Data Access (OPC DA), OPC Alarms and Events (OPC AE), and OPC Historical Data Access (OPC HDA).
Automation Interfaces
KEPServerEX has preferred access to leading automation software, including iFIX by GE Intelligent Platforms (NIO) and InTouch by Wonderware (SuiteLink/FastDDE). KEPServerEX also supports preferred access to Oracle MES and MOC solutions through their proprietary API.
IT Interfaces
KEPServerEX supports multiple interfaces for integration with IT applications, including ODBC for logging information to a database and SNMP for providing information to a Network Management System (NMS). With the advent of IoT and Big Data applications, KEPServerEX now includes the ability to communicate with Splunk software and cloud services via the Industrial Data Forwarder for Splunk.
Cloud Interfaces
With the IoT Gateway, KEPServerEX can seamlessly stream real-time industrial control data directly into Big Data and analytic software for Business Intelligence and Operational Excellence. Its customizable data format supports most MQTT and REST applications—enabling users to choose the vendors and communication methodologies right for their system.
Exporters
Some applications require information to be made available from a file or database. This information is typically exported at a predefined rate and includes both current and historical data. KEPServerEX has the ability to export historical Electronic Flow Measurement (EFM) data (via the EFM Exporter plug-in) or historical trend data (via supported drivers) to files and/or databases.
Aggregation
Centralized Platform
KEPServerEX is a communications platform that can support connections to thousands of data sources and provide information to hundreds of applications. The platform design simplifies the configuration of the connected applications by providing a single point of entry to all information. KEPServerEX also enables troubleshooting and issue diagnosis, provides control to the access of information based on user roles, and the ability to restrict the frequency of communications over bandwidth-limited telemetry-based environments.
Unified Configuration
KEPServerEX provides a unified configuration for managing connectivity to any data source. Anything can be added, configured, or deleted while the server is on-line and operational. Users can configure projects manually using a step-by-step wizard or programmatically through the export and import of XML and CSV files.
Data Storage and Retention
KEPServerEX is capable of archiving the real-time data it collects to local storage. By leveraging the Local Historian plug-in, applications can access this historical data (via OPC HDA) for future analysis. KEPServerEX can also store information in any ODBC-compliant database using the DataLogger plug-in, which has a store-and-forward capability for when a database is unreachable or unable to process the information fast enough.
Optimization
Data Conditioning and Reduction
In addition to providing raw values to connected applications, KEPServerEX can perform linear or square root scaling, perform basic arithmetic expressions, or apply deadband calculations on raw data and provide its aggregate. This provides minimal bandwidth and resource utilization by providing only the most critical updates.
Redundancy
KEPServerEX is used in critical applications where highly-reliable systems are required for maximum uptime. It includes the ability to define redundant network paths, primary and secondary data sources, and applicable failover criteria.
Load Balancing
In large networks that have many devices and applications requiring information, flexible control is necessary to allow for customized load-balancing of data collection and information flow. KEPServerEX provides tools to schedule the frequency of communications and throttle the demand across the network.
Communications
KEPServerEX optimizes communications with devices by aggregating identical requests from different applications whenever possible. Multiple demands on data can be batched together into the fewest requests possible. These optimizations are unique to each protocol, and are designed to reduce network overhead and device processing.
Machine-to-Machine Linking
In a typical industrial automation network, devices and controllers must communicate with one another even if they are not from the same manufacturer or do not support the same protocol. KEPServerEX provides the ability to establish links between data values in different data sources, allowing Machine-to- Machine (M2M) communications as close to the device as possible.
Connectivity
Driver-Based Access
KEPServerEX offers the broadest range of drivers available, supporting devices across various verticals within the Industrial Automation Industry. While most drivers act as masters that initiate requests, there are many drivers that can emulate a device where communications are driven by a controller. KEPServerEX drivers also support a variety of wired and wireless network mediums for Ethernet, serial, and proprietary networks. Although most drivers connect directly with hardware devices, some are designed to connect with other applications—such as databases, custom software applications, or other OPC servers.
Telemetry Environments
Industrial automation equipment can be deployed in a dry and heated factory, but it can also be installed inside a vehicle, on a remote pipeline, or in a well or pump station. In these remote environments, there are often a variety of telemetry solutions in use like cellular, radio, or satellite modems. KEPServerEX supports these telemetry configurations and provides additional ways to optimize communications through virtual networks, timing parameters, device demotion, and by scheduling communications across devices.
Rapid Deployment
As automation networks have grown from ten controllers to thousands of controllers, tools that aid and accelerate deployment are critical to a solution’s success. KEPServerEX provides many tools that speed the deployment of new devices, including Automatic Tag Generation (ATG) and Device Discovery (when supported by the device and communication protocols). Users can also export, manipulate, and import an XML project file to programmatically define the configuration.
Simulation
As systems are configured, components must be implemented and tested before the entire system becomes available. KEPServerEX allows any data source to be placed into simulation mode prior to deployment. In addition, the Memory Based driver can be configured to create a range of static and dynamic data points. The Advanced Simulator driver can leverage a database and its contents to drive application-specific simulation data into connected applications.
Security
Configuration
Access to the KEPServerEX configuration can be restricted through the User Manager. This tool allows the administrator to define user groups and users with restricted access to certain project configuration tasks, and also provides the ability to disconnect client applications.
Runtime
There are various tools available within KEPServerEX to control user access to the server, data source, or data values. The Security Policies plug-in limits access based on OPC UA user credentials while supporting default handling for anonymous users (both OPC UA and other client interfaces). The ability to dynamically address information can be disabled, limiting user access to tags defined within the project. KEPServerEX supports a number of secure client standards including SNMP (v3 security), OPC UA, and OPC DA (DCOM security) to further restrict access to the server, as well as a number of secure device protocols to meet the requirements of DNP3, SNMP, and OPC UA data sources. Secure data tunnels can be configured by leveraging multiple KEPServerEX instances at remote endpoints to pass data through firewalls and meet authentication and encryption requirements across the Internet.
Diagnostics
OPC Diagnostics
OPC Diagnostics provide a real-time and historical view of OPC events between any OPC client and the server, including method calls made by the client or callbacks made by the server. The ability to view actual communications and responses is invaluable when troubleshooting client accessibility. The diagnostics tools within KEPServerEX greatly speed deployment and reduce downtime.
Communications Diagnostics
Communication Diagnostics provide real-time capturing of the protocol frames transferred between the server and any device, as well as indications on the driver’s performance. All read and write operations can be viewed or tracked directly in an OPC client application using built-in diagnostics tags. This is useful when modifying key communication parameter settings (such as baud rate, parity, or Device IDs), because corrections are immediately visible.
Third-Party Diagnostics Integration
Diagnostics information can be viewed within KEPServerEX and by third-party applications. Diagnostics information is provided through system-defined tags and accessible to the same clients connecting to the data sources. KEPServerEX logs event information, which is accessible within the configuration tool or to any application that supports the OPC Alarms and Events specification.
by Gary Mintchell | Dec 19, 2015 | Data Management, News, Operations Management
Big Data comes with all that data transported by the Internet of Things. Big Data has little value unless you can tap into it for the information that you need for that decision you need to make in the next hour or two.
Anodot recently contacted me about a new analytics solution it has developed. For most of us, it is sufficient to know that such solution exists. Others may want to see what it’s up to.
The company just exited stealth mode introducing its real-time anomaly detection solution, which the company maintains will disrupt the static nature of today’s Business Intelligence (BI) with patented machine learning algorithms for big data. Pinpointing performance issues and business opportunities in real time, Anodot enables its customers to increase operational efficiency and maximize revenue generation.
The company also announced it closed a $3 million Series A funding round led by Disruptive Partners, bringing total funding in the company to $4.5 million. The company will use the funding to accelerate its product roadmap and expand its sales activity, focusing on the ad tech, e-commerce, IoT and manufacturing industries in the U.S. and EMEA.
Founded in June 2014, Anodot is the only analytics and anomaly detection solution that is data agnostic and automates the discovery of outliers in all business and operational data. Anodot’s platform isolates issues and correlates them across multiple parameters to surface and alert on incidents in real time.
Data analysis lag problem
“I experienced the data analysis lag problem first hand as CTO for Gett,” said Anodot CEO David Drai. “As a mobile taxi app, SMS text orders were dropped by the carrier, but it could take up to three days to spot critical issues and fix them, costing tens of thousands of dollars per incident. That’s where I got the idea for Anodot—to employ the latest advances in machine learning to detect performance problems automatically and in real time, eliminating the latency.”
Data-centric organizations share a common problem—they collect mountains of data, but deriving business value comes long after the actual event and requires data modeling experts using homegrown custom tools in a static and time-consuming process. The resulting delays in getting business insights can cost companies millions of dollars in lost revenue or production.
“There is a huge opportunity to disrupt the BI market by enabling automated and real-time insights into big data pools of metrics and KPIs,” said Tal Barnoach, Anodot board member and general partner at The Disruptive Fund, a privately held Tel Aviv/New York-based venture fund. “We have been with Anodot from the beginning. The team and the technology are terrific, we are impressed with the progress they have made to date and are excited to be participating in this next stage as they scale upward.”
Anodot is led by a proven team of three co-founders with strong credentials as entrepreneurs and technologists with deep experience in data science and global-scale SaaS infrastructures. CEO David Drai was co-founder and CTO of Cotendo for four years when it was acquired by Akamai for $300 million.
Chief Data Scientist Dr. Ira Cohen held the same position at HP Software where he led research and development in machine learning and data mining techniques. R&D VP Shay Lang has led engineering teams for more than 10 years at leading technology companies. On the board of directors, the team also includes Anthony Bettencourt, president and CEO at Imperva and a board member at Proofpoint, and Ben Lorica, O’Reilly Media’s chief data scientist and a top influencer on Twitter, as a board advisor.
Anodot is already being used in production by dozens of organizations, including Avantis (not the one that is part of Schneider Electric Software) that develops the most advanced desktop tools and monetization platforms in the world and Wix, a leading cloud-based Web development platform with millions of users worldwide.
Important issues missed
Before using Anodot, Wix said vast amounts of metrics and KPIs were measured and analyzed manually by data analysts, yet despite spending a great deal of time, important issues sometimes took days to identify.
“With Anodot we are able to detect changes very early and make decisions that have a direct impact on our business,” said Mark Sonis, monitoring team leader at Wix. “We are able to investigate issues in minutes, not hours, and it does its magic every day with little effort on our side. Anodot has become an essential solution across many of our teams including BI, R&D and DevOps.”
According to Doron Ben-David, CTO, VP R&D, Avantis, “Our vision is to enable publishers to focus on creating content, applications and media, while we provide the revenue mechanism. Fulfilling that promise means our core business revolves around numbers—the impressions, downloads, ad shares and other metrics that feed revenues and bottom lines. Anodot gives us the BI tool to track all of the metrics and KPIs that are essential to our success in real time and alerts us to issues as they happen so we can immediately respond before it impacts our customers.”
The use of solutions like Anodot’s with advanced and predictive analytics, including machine learning, will grow 65 percent faster than those without predictive functionality, according to IDC.
Unique features and advantages of Anodot Anomaly Detection include:
- Operates in real time
- Works with any type of metric or KPI and scales to any big data volume
- Uses proprietary patented machine learning algorithms
- Correlates different metrics to help identify root causes of problems and eliminate alert storms
- Simulation capability optimizes alert planning and reduces false positive alerts
- Eliminates the need for time-intensive manual analysis
- Enables non-specialists to gain the insights they want and delivers fast time-to-value
- Provides clear visualizations that help any user to understand what the data is showing them
