by Gary Mintchell | Oct 25, 2017 | Internet of Things
Interesting that just as I was planning my trip to San Francisco to attend GE Digital’s Minds + Machines conference a publicist representing Simon-Kucher, a German-based pricing model consultancy, pitched me an interview with Adam Echter, Senior Director.
First, some context. In our community, we view GE Digital as a supplier. Although GE makes PLCs and other control equipment, it is known for software—Cimplicity, iFix, Proficy, Predix. The company, though, in reality makes its money from large assets—locomotives, power generation, jet engines, and the like.
As Jeff Immelt restructured the company jettisoning some of Jack Welch’s favored, but losing, investments. GE became less of media and finance returning to its roots in industrial manufacturing.
Searching for a better sales and profit model, GE famously began selling thrust rather than jet engines. Or it sold uptime rather than equipment. To do this, it needed to develop its own Industrial Internet of Things ecosystem.
The pricing model is known as consumption-based.
Echter sees us living in a time of transition where the IIoT, which was once the controlled domain of a limited number of ultra-large multinational corporations, will blossom into an uncontrollable ecosystem providing Billion dollar opportunities for hundreds of companies. As the complexity of the IIoT continues to explode and demands for complicated specialties emerge, large players like GE are seeing their pricing power diminish and a plethora of market participants emerging with new and disruptive monetization models. GE monetized their pricing power because they controlled all layers of the system; capital equipment, sensors, communications, data processing and storage.
GE was able to lock all inputs into flat pricing models, then sell their output on an open-ended consumption model. As the complexity of the IIoT scales, it has become increasingly difficult for manufacturers of this first-moving technology like GE to retain control.
What he means by the complexity is that other suppliers are getting into the act. They want to sell through GE the same way GE is selling to its customers. This will take a potentially big bite out of profits.
Meanwhile, Immelt has been replaced by the board.
What are you seeing from suppliers? Or, what are you demanding? Ecosystems? I spent considerable time explaining the ecosystem that MIMOSA is proposing that is totally based on standards. The Linux Foundation, promoted by Dell Technologies and others, has developed an open source ecosystem for the IIoT.
Is this the future?
by Gary Mintchell | Jun 15, 2017 | Asset Performance Management, Internet of Things, Operations Management
GE has a new CEO coming soon. Jeff Imelt led the industrial push that led to Predix and Industrial Internet of Things, services based upon data, predictive maintenance. He spurred development of GE Digital and the transformation into a software company (check out the TV ads).
The company has announced some extensions to Predix. But we need to wonder where the new CEO will take the company. One software entrepreneur I know unleashed on the company in a LinkedIn post hoping that the new guy would trash Predix and build “something better.” We’ll have to wait and see, of course.
First a little context for one of the announcements.
The facility electrical engineer and I were speculating on an idea of linking measurement of electricity usage at perhaps the bus level for different areas of the plant with machine performance. Perhaps he could detect a machine problem through electrical changes. That was somewhere around 1993.
I quoted something, but we never did it.
Here are the high points of the announcements:
- GE Digital announces integration of ServiceMax field service management solution and Asset Performance Management portfolio to transform service operations, reduce cost and eliminate unplanned downtime
- GE Ventures launches Avitas Systems, a new venture that will transform inspection services with advanced robotics, data analytics and artificial intelligence
- GE Power releases Predix-powered ‘Digital Utility’ to connect real-time machine and operations data with energy trading to drive more profitable utilities businesses
The asset optimization organizations within a plant have a variety of new tools to take them beyond maintenance into an enhanced role. Growth of the Internet of Things and analytics capabilities especially leading into predictive and eventually prescriptive strategies are the keys to the future.
by Gary Mintchell | Nov 22, 2016 | Automation, Manufacturing IT, Networking, News, Technology
Last week was GE Digital’s Minds + Machines Conference in San Francisco. This Industrial Internet (or Internet of Things to the rest of us) gathering showcases the latest of GE’s digital portfolio–including GE Automation and Control (the successor to GE Intelligent Platforms, successor to GE Fanuc Automation, whew).
Jim Walsh
Rich Carpenter
I tried to arrange my schedule to make it out there, but there had been too many trips in Sept., Oct., and Nov. for my time and expense budget to make it. So, we had a conference call meeting with Jim Walsh, President and CEO of GE Automation & Controls, and Rich Carpenter, Product GM of Control Platforms also at GE Automation & Controls. We talked about the Industrial Internet, digitalization, and new products.
Included in my news below are additional news from the M+M event including acquisition and product news.
The point most interesting was Walsh and Carpenter discussed the edge device of the network as the controller (PLC). (See the graphic) Almost all of the other companies I talk with are developing an edge device separate from the controller. Carpenter described the closed loop control as “see-think-do”, and then the Industrial Internet plus Predix (GE’s cloud-enabled software product) analytics adds an “optimize” loop to the controller. It can then reflect back on experience and make changes as necessary.
Take for example large pumps in a water/wastewater application. They, of course, are energy consumers. By adding analytics from Predix, the controller could be modified to operate in a more energy efficient manner. One example proved out a $1.5 million per year savings. Another benefit is productivity improvements which Walsh said they had witnessed personally. They referred to the Industrial Internet Control System (IICS), which I will discuss later [Note: much like my Automation Fair update, this one will be long, because there is so much.]
And now, on to the news.
- GE releases new suite of Predix applications and services; introduces the Predix System
- Acquisition of Bit Stew Systems enables efficient data ingestion for industrial applications
- Acquisition of Wise.io strengthens machine learning and data science capabilities for Predix and enables enhanced Digital Twin development
- Meridium acquisition places GE in the lead for Asset Performance Management app development; acquisition of ServiceMax positions GE to lead in service transformation
- Ecosystem expands with independent software vendor program to speed industrial application development; more than 19,000 developers now building on Predix
- Digital orders on track to exceed $7B, a growth of 25%+ in 2016
- Digital thread productivity exceeds $600 million and accelerating into 2017
In 2016, orders from GE’s portfolio of software solutions are on track to climb 25%+ to more than $7 billion. Demonstrating the strength of Predix within GE, digital thread productivity will exceed $600 million, accelerating into 2017.
“The opportunity for industry is now,” said Bill Ruh, Chief Digital Officer of GE and CEO, GE Digital. “The Industrial Internet is profoundly transforming how we operate and our ability to deliver greater productivity for GE and for our customers. Connected machines, coupled with deep machine learning, are more powerful than anything we have seen. These strategic investments in both the Predix platform and our partners continue to attract industrial companies and provide them with tools they need to embark on their own digital industrial transformations.”
EXTENDING PREDIX FROM THE EDGE TO THE CLOUD
GE unveiled a new suite of software and applications.
This release will focus on expanding the platform and scaling development of Digital Twins – virtual representations of physical assets that comprise the world’s industrial infrastructure – through Predix apps and toolkits.
This new set of components can run on a variety of operating systems, devices and form factors – from sensors and controllers to gateways, server appliances and the cloud – making Predix a distributed system for the Industrial Internet and a complete “edge-to-cloud” offering.
GE also launched new Predix-based solutions, designed to help customers harness the power of the Industrial Internet:
Current, designed to analyze and optimize energy use and operational efficiency use across lighting, HVAC and other systems.
Digital Substation, extends maintenance optimization to the electricity grid.
Health Cloud, Cloud-enabled patient outcomes are linking clinical feedback to transformative radiology pathways.
Predictive Corrosion Management, a new Asset Performance Management (APM) solution that provides continuous inspection data and cloud-based analytics of pipe conditions to help operators manage corrosion-related risk.
Digital Power Plant software for gas, steam and nuclear plants, which features new tools to help customers reduce unplanned downtime by up to 5%, reduce false positive alerts by up to 75%, and reduce operations and maintenance costs by up to 25%.
Digital Hydro Plant, a suite of apps combining both software and hardware solutions designed to support Hydro customers globally, helping them get the most out of assets over the lifetime of a plant.
ACQUISITIONS
GE Digital announced it has acquired Bit Stew Systems to bring its data intelligence capabilities to Predix and other industrial solutions. Bit Stew applies its machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to automate the process of data modeling, mapping and ingestion, accelerating time to value for customers, such as BC Hydro, Pacific Gas & Electric and Scottish & Southern Energy. This acquisition will help GE Digital provide a solution to organize large amounts of data through efficient data organization at the edge or at the source of the data – the asset.
GE Digital also acquired Wise.io, a leading machine learning and intelligent systems company. This acquisition will enable GE Digital to further accelerate development of advanced machine learning and data science offerings in the Predix platform. The Wise.io team deepens GE’s machine learning stack and will spearhead innovative solutions in GE’s vertical markets to develop its machine learning offerings.
GE also announced a program dedicated to independent software vendors (ISVs), aimed at spurring development of industrial solutions and extending the reach of the Predix platform. Through these partnerships, GE will share its industry expertise and allow partners to use Predix as the building block for new industrial applications to enhance various components of industrial operations – such as maintenance, content development and asset management.
Inaugural launch partners include: Box, Decisyon App Composer, Entercoms, Ericsson, Mobideo, Nurego, OAG Analytics, Pitney Bowes and Splunk. The addition of ISVs enhances the growing ranks of the GE Digital Alliance Program, which launched in February. The alliance program now boasts more than 270 partners around the world, including major enterprise players such as AT&T, EY, Intel, Microsoft and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
GE’s Industrial Internet Control System
GE’s Automation & Controls business introduced GE’s new Industrial Internet Control System (IICS) at its 2016 Connected Controls Symposium at the company’s Global Research Center in Niskayuna, NY. IICS delivers new levels of productivity for industrial assets and processes by integrating controls with Industrial Internet analytics – at scale yet modular and flexible for industrial settings worldwide.
Early IICS adopters report a +7% gain in asset performance and 22% increase in efficiency. By leveraging GE’s deep domain and controller expertise, the IICS solution empowers customers to improve operational efficiency, optimize production and unlock new revenue opportunities.
The system utilizes GE’s Field Agent technology as the gateway between the asset and the Industrial Internet. Field Agent provides a rugged, pre-configured solution for secure data collection and conveyance from the machine to fuel analytics that improve operations.
GE’s Industrial Internet Control System also includes:
- Industrial Cloud Platform – Provides real time process optimization and control; minimalizes disruption to deployed application; Creates new value over time without having to retrofit
- Secure Cloud Connectivity – Predix ready; Provides secure data collection; Enables advanced analytics; Form factors to meet the need
- Outcome Optimizing Controllers – Real-time control; Defense in-depth security; Decreases time to market; Helps reduce unplanned downtime and enhance system performance
- Mix & Match I/O – Remote, real-time diagnostics; Wide range of communication options; Modularity-simple scalability; Drives improved availability and simplified maintenance
- Professional Services – Real Time control; Security at its core; Decreases time to market; Helps reduce unplanned downtime and enhance system performance
- Intelligent Apps – Real Time Control; Security at its core; Decreases time to market; Helps reduce unplanned downtime and enhances system performance
IICS features dual or quad core configuration which provides safe and secure communication with either cloud-based or locally hosted algorithms and applications.
Two structural innovations make the new solution “future proof” for customers, who want hardware assets to be long-lived but remain optimally functioning.
- Industry-first Hypervisor control technology that separates operations from software so that the software can be upgraded without affecting the physical controller, allowing the hardware to stay in place and up to date.
- ComExpress processor technology that allows the processor to be updated as needed, again without replacing the controller. This is critical to support the growing computational power available from the Industrial Internet, including GE’s Digital Twin predictive model for optimizing assets with minimal interruption.
by Gary Mintchell | Sep 15, 2016 | Asset Performance Management, News, Operations Management
While checking emails walking the IMTS show floor, I found one announcing GE Digital announced acquisition of Meridium, a supplier of Asset Performance Management (APM) software. Leveraging the Industrial Internet of Things for asset performance has been GE’s goal from the beginning, so this one makes sense.
The goal of the combination includes providing a solution to customers that unifies real-time analytics with reliability-centered maintenance best practices. Meridium customers will gain access to GE’s deep domain expertise in real-time data management and advanced industrial analytics.
In July 2014, GE made an initial investment in Meridium for a 26 percent stake in the company. The total acquisition, inclusive of the original investment, was executed for an enterprise value of $495 million.
Leveraging the Predix platform, GE’s APM offering helps deliver on the promise of the Industrial Internet by enabling industrial companies to maximize the reliability and availability of their industrial assets, while minimizing operational cost and risk. APM powered by Predix combines GE’s broad expertise in advanced asset-centric analytics, industrial software and value-added services to offer a unique and complete solution, helping customers deliver targeted asset uptime and performance.
The addition of Meridium’s enterprise software solutions brings additional capabilities and processes focused on asset-centric industries – such as oil & gas, power and chemicals – that complement GE’s existing offerings. The combination of the companies’ technologies helps strengthen the connection between real-time asset performance and reliability-centered maintenance strategies and work processes.
“As we forge ahead in the Industrial Internet journey, APM is clearly the first application that can leverage the Predix platform to help industrial customers benefit from increased productivity,” said Bill Ruh, CEO, GE Digital. “With Meridium joining the GE Digital family, we can immediately complement our existing portfolio with the Meridium expertise in cognitive analytics, reliability centered maintenance, operational risk management and asset health, as well as intelligent asset strategies. Meridium also has a mature software development culture, which will help us enhance our bench of deep technology talent.”
“This move gives Meridium access to GE’s substantial industrial portfolio – and provides a deeper connection to core industrial businesses and GE’s depth of domain expertise in the Industrial Internet,” said Bonz Hart, Founder and CEO, Meridium. “We are excited to join GE Digital and expand Meridium’s capabilities into more industries.”
After GE’s initial investment in Meridium, this acquisition is a natural step in the relationship. As a key area GE Digital plans to expand rapidly on Predix, Meridium’s APM products are already integrated into the Predix platform. The transaction is complete.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 28, 2016 | Manufacturing IT, Operations Management, Software
A manufacturing software supplier must go beyond where they are to keep pace with today’s needs. GE Digital just announced such an extension–to offer decision support capabilities. The new GE HMI/SCADA software offers “comprehensive and best-in-class monitoring and visualization capabilities,” as well as work process management, analytics, and mobility. Based on ISA high performance design principles, this solution enables companies to troubleshoot faster, reduce waste and increase productivity.
“Most SCADA systems are still configured as HMIs – simply a display to indicate status,” said Matthew Wells, General Manager Automation Software for GE Digital. “In developing this new generation solution, we have combined industry standards, GE research and Industrial Internet technologies to exceed traditional HMI/SCADA, increasing operational efficiency and delivering on business outcomes.”
Context-driven navigation and situational awareness
The new GE software features a context-rich HMI that changes as the user moves through the system. Navigation is derived from a structured asset model. Using the model, the software always can provide operators with the most relevant information – in context – and minimize time to response. Additionally, the structured asset model mapped to the SCADA database significantly speeds configuration. Modern technologies such as HTML5 and Web HMI allow for centralized development and deployment, as well as accessibility anywhere in multiple form factors.
“With high performance HMI/SCADA, operators are able to quickly determine an abnormal situation and get to the root causes of many issues,” said Sergio Chavez, Automation Engineer with Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power. “We help operators visualize a process and make alarms very visible. We’re shaving the time it takes for operators to act on a situation.”
To help engineers create the right user experience, GE also provides predefined smart objects and templates designed using efficient HMI concepts. Standard layouts and cards – such as trends, alarms, alarm summaries, and KPIs – are available out of the box, speeding configuration and improving user situational awareness.
Task management and mobility
Additionally, GE’s fourth generation HMI/SCADA portfolio has task management capabilities, triggering the right actions, at the right time, by the right person, in the right place based on alarms or other events. GE’s new Workflow 2.5 and Mobile 2.0 solutions extend the capabilities of Decision Support HMI/SCADA further, helping companies achieve their critical business outcomes with integrated workflows and intelligent alarming, available anytime and anywhere.
“Operator effectiveness allows operators the opportunity to grow professionally,” according to Bill Fritz, Director of Public Works, Waterford Township, Michigan. “They can reinvent themselves and gain new value-added skills. They can take on new roles.”
GE’s Wells explained, “Use technology to improve the operator experience and manage operations for greater efficiency. With just a quick look, operators today should be able to recognize which information requires their attention and what it indicates – which speeds response and drives to business outcomes.”
