On 4 September, 2008, attendees of Rockwell Automation ’s 9th annual RSTechED event in Melbourne last week were treated to an educational forum and business networking opportunity. The ability to contextualise industrial information, then adapt and make strategic decisions based on it, were among the key concepts discussed at the four-day user and partner event, held between August 26 to 29 at the Rydges Melbourne Hotel.
Highlights of the event included several sessions focusing on two new Rockwell Automation solutions: the Incuity enterprise manufacturing intelligence (EMI) software (IncuityEMI version 2.6) and the Cisco/Rockwell Automation co-branded Stratix 8000 managed switch. Both these innovations presented new solutions designed to encourage and support the challenges associated with network convergence between IT and manufacturing.
Rockwell Automation software manager, Dean Tresidder said tight integration between every element of the production control and information system is now essential, including between the plant-floor control and enterprise-level IT systems. Rockwell Automation is looking at various different strategies to facilitate this integration, including partnerships with companies such as Cisco, and acquisitions such as Incuity Software. RSTechED provided the ideal forum to update its users on these developments and demonstrate how they can deliver results in their companies.
Another major focus of RSTechED was Rockwell Automation’s FactoryTalk integrated performance and production software suite, a scalable modular solution-set that provides end-to-end insight into the industrial process. Founded on a service oriented architecture (SOA), FactoryTalk applications run on a common services platform that provides a common set of software services (for example, security, diagnostics, activation) across the entire enterprise, thereby streamlining the user experience.
In total, 46 different labs and presentations were delivered at RSTechED to around 150 attendees. The educational sessions were arranged into two streams of technical sessions and demonstrations, accompanied by another two streams of two-or four-hour hands-on labs that enabled participants to work through a series of exercises on individual computer terminals. These labs included previews of soon-to-be-released versions of FactoryTalk ViewPoint (web-based visualisation platform) and presentations on FactoryTalk Historian Machine Edition (an in-chassis module for high speed data collection).
Dean Tresidder added that the issue is no longer simply to provide access to information, it’s about how the information, generated from many systems, is rationalised across the enterprise into a useful context. Tresidder further related that the aim of RSTechED was to raise awareness and educate attendees on how it can be achieved. Keynote presentations were delivered by Ronald Fons, Cisco marketing manager SONA Asia Pacific and Vangell Rafael, head of Rockwell Software Asia Pacific.