November 12, 2013 "We have thousands of assets that provide all kinds of data, but how much of that data are we actually using?" Rockwell Automation Chairman and CEO Keith Nosbusch posed the question to a global audience of media and analyst representatives during a speech at Automation Perspective. It also opened the annual Automation Fair in Houston the following day.
November 12, 2013 "We have thousands of assets that provide all kinds of data, but how much of that data are we actually using?" Rockwell Automation Chairman and CEO Keith Nosbusch posed the question to a global audience of media and analyst representatives during a speech at Automation Perspective. It also opened the annual Automation Fair in Houston the following day.
Rockwell Automation employs more than 22,000 people in 80 countries and generated fiscal 2013 sales of $6.35 billion. This year marks the 110th anniversary of the Allen-Bradley brand, and Nosbusch attributes the company's long-term growth and success to its integrity, passionate work ethic and deep industry knowledge. However, he added that "the constant emergence of new technologies is gradually changing the market landscape".
As Ethernet/IP applications become more common in discrete and process automation, connecting people, processes, devices, and data, producers increasingly value the business value of processing the right information at the right time within the enterprise. High visibility of production data and supply chain information will be a competitive advantage for manufacturers in the future.
"We believe we have reached a turning point in history brought about by the integration of the Internet of Things and connected enterprises," Nosbusch said.
The global population is about to surpass 8 billion, millions of people need to escape poverty, and a growing middle class is creating a strong demand for goods such as food, housing, and transportation. This is not only a demand for manufacturers, but also increases the pressure on infrastructure, water and raw material supplies. Growing demand for scarce resources will drive manufacturing to eliminate lagging productivity factors, with an estimated $1 trillion invested in resource efficiency improvements, Nosbusch said.
Building a truly connected enterprise can increase global competitiveness because manufacturers can extract business value from real-time data from the vast number of Ethernet connected nodes and connections in the industrial ecosystem. As a smart, secure, and network-enabled architecture evolves to help transform this data into useful information that guides action, factories and supply networks will be further optimized to give businesses a sustainable competitive advantage.
"We believe we have reached a historic turning point in the integration of the Internet of Things and connected enterprises," said Keith Nosbusch, who is optimistic that Rockwell Automation can use the next generation of control, information and networking technologies to help customers improve productivity and profits.
In order to provide enterprises with production data that they can use to generate business value, Rockwell Automation is committed to breaking down existing barriers and combining manufacturing automation with enterprise systems to create a connected enterprise. The connected enterprise will integrate cloud technologies, mobile technologies, big data and analytics, intelligent systems and security features to bring us safer, more accessible food and other products and reduce waste in the production process.
Cloud technology can achieve remote access to equipment and information, mass information storage and computing power for complex analysis. Mobile technology is not only for devices, but also means that people can access relevant information anytime, anywhere, making information security even more important. Big data and analytics capabilities facilitate collaboration, and "manufacturing generates more big data than any other field," Nosbusch says.
The "Internet of Things" can improve asset utilization, increase employee productivity, facilitate supply chain/logistics development, enhance customer experience and innovation, so Cisco expects iot technology will bring $14.4 trillion in value over the next 10 years, and global profits could grow by 22% by 2022.
"By letting employees know what's actually going on in the business, connected businesses can turn data into information, then into knowledge, and ultimately into wisdom, creating real customer value," Nosbusch said. This process requires a common, secure Ethernet infrastructure to consolidate control and information.
