OMNITROL Networks Inc., founded in 2004 to address the problem of lost assets along the assembly line, is the developer of OMNITROL, an application network appliance that combines business intelligence and real-time operational visibility. The proliferation of wireless devices, sensor-based and Wi-Fi networks, and RFID has spread intelligence throughout the factory, and OMNITROL acts as an integration device to reconcile work orders and parts, and track material through production.
"The next real-time process in manufacturing is assembly," says company founder and CEO Raj Saksena. The intelligent edge device, as the OMNITROL product is described, is an emerging category that mixes new applications with mature architecture technologies, he says.
OMNITROL includes two layers: A multiprocessor network appliance, including real-time application servers and database; and the Edge Applications and Services Engine (EASE) that performs workflow and edge service creation, business process integration, and device and service management provisioning.
Major manufacturers, such as Boeing Co., have identified the ability to track parts within the assembly process as the most direct way to improve product yield and overall efficiency.
The next step, Saksena says, is to integrate supply networks. Boeing is working with OMNITROL to figure out how it can better manage its supplier pipeline and is tapping the technology for an internal effort called "the cognitive factory," based on intelligent network-centric manufacturing. "Once an OMNITROL network is created, information can be sent between people within the company as well as partner companies," Saksena says.
- YEAR FOUNDED: 2004
- PRODUCT NAME AND CATEGORY: OMNITROL/real-time operational intelligence
- INDUSTRY SEGMENTS SERVED: Aerospace & defense
- KEY PROBLEM SOLVED: Using an event-processing engine, this application networking device tracks data routed from a variety of control points and then applies business intelligence for a real-time view of the assembly line.
- DIFFERENTIATION: Removes dependence upon people to monitor and track what is happening on the factory floor to eliminate inconsistent or inaccurate reports of work in progress
- TOP CUSTOMERS: Boeing, U.S. Department of Defense, National Science Foundation
- FUNDING: Privately funded by founder and financial backing from Westlake International Group