DATA, a natural by-product of automation processes, can be transformed into insights that unlock an additional level of productivity.
That’s according to Rockwell Automation USA Chairman and CEO, Blake Moret who said it is not enough to know how to meet your production goals. “Our industry is traditionally conservative. There’s a need to be more agile than ever before, to act more rapidly and be a first mover to capture share.”
He added that the influence of information technology (IT) was causing the automation industry to pick up the pace. The need for speed was simply not as urgent in the past. In today’s environment, speed really is of the essence.
Against this background, the recently concluded strategic partnership between Rockwell Automation and Boston-based software and services company PTC Inc. would help companies realise the full potential of digital transformation. “Companies yet to recognise the impact digital transformation will have on production will now have this capability within reach.”
According to Moret, automation and information technologies transform how, when and where value gets created in the operation. They establish a digital foundation that allows machine builders and end users to more effectively compete.
“Our investment in PTC is one of our biggest moves to ensure that we can accelerate the pace and offer more innovation as part of the Connected Enterprise,” he said,
“When you combine the imagination of people with the power of machines, anything is possible.”
The partnership with PTC would, he said, enable integration with data from multiple plant-level applications to drive enterprise-level insights.
“In a manufacturing environment, linking people, machines and data across an entire business is how machine builders and end users become more effective and productive. For machine builders, the focus is on future-proofing an end user’s investment. For end users, it’s about leveraging new smart, connected capabilities to be better able to take advantage of the innovations to remain globally competitive.”