Delivering on a promise made almost a year ago, Rockwell Automation this week launched the first two applications for its FactoryTalk service-oriented architecture (SOA), software the company said is aimed at smoothing connectivity between plant-floor and back-office systems and providing a more holistic view of operational performance.
Rockwell has been developing its SOA infrastructure for the past five years. Last December, company officials announced a branding strategy that leveraged the company's recognized FactoryTalk name as the umbrella term for a new modular architecture that encompasses six production disciplines: performance and visibility; production management; quality and compliance; asset management; data management; and design and configuration.
Traditionally, the FactoryTalk product has acted as the connector between Rockwell's controllers and applications. In its new form, FactoryTalk represents Rockwell's SOA, leveraging industry standards and web services technology.
The first two SOA-based applications are FactoryTalk Integrator, which falls under the data management category, and FactoryTalk Portal, which covers the performance and visibility discipline.
Based on the Web services concept, FactoryTalk Integrator supports XML, COM, and J2EE to link manufacturing applications to ERP software through common applications interoperability standards. FactoryTalk Portal pulls together historic and real-time data into a role-customizable dashboard that can be accessed by operators, maintenance personnel, or plant management. Both of these applications use IBM's WebSphere middleware to enable application-to-application connectivity.
The next product in the SOA suite will roll out at the company's Automation Fair next month in Baltimore, according to company officials. Called Production Center, it is a FactoryTalk-adapted version of Datasweep Inc.'s Advantage, the MES application that Rockwell gained when it acquired the company last year.
Other imminent releases include FactoryTalk Gateway, which will enable third-party applications to access the FactoryTalk infrastructure, and Asset Center -- to be introduced early next year -- which is an SOA-based version of Rockwell's Software Maintenance Automation Control Center (RSMACC).
"What you see now is the crystallization of that strategy coming together and these products branded as a suite," said Matt Bauer, director of commercial marketing for Rockwell Software, in an interview.
Most of Rockwell's existing products will eventually move under the FactoryTalk umbrella. The migration, for the most part, is just a matter of updating the applications' look and feel to make them resemble the rest of the FactoryTalk suite, Bauer said. Still, "it's not a light switch we can throw."
However, technology alone is not the solution, Rockwell Software officials conceded. With that in mind, the Rockwell Automation unit is building out a consulting practice, competency centers, and a channel of strategic partners to help create an ecosystem of expertise to ease customers into the new infrastructure.
"We recognize when we integrate manufacturing applications with enterprise applications like SAP [that] it is not the same skill set that might be required to do shop-floor automation," said Scott Miller, Rockwell Software's business manager.
Indeed, Rockwell finds itself in the company of competitors, such as Invensys, that are investing similar time and energy to redefine control architectures. Still, industry analysts feel that Rockwell is making substantial headway.
"Rockwell Automation set ambitious goals when it announced its FactoryTalk strategy last year," said Greg Gorbach, vice president of collaborative manufacturing for ARC Advisory Group, in a statement. "FactoryTalk Integrator and FactoryTalk Portal represent key milestones in achieving that strategy. These two elements within the FactoryTalk production disciplines are critical to improving plant performance."