In the latest coupling of an IT specialist and an industrial automation vendor, Cisco and Emerson Process Management announced an agreement through which the two will deliver an extensive wireless architecture that expands the breadth of applications available to process manufacturers.
The duo has conducted extensive testing between Emerson's Smart Wireless mesh network for field device communication and Cisco's Unified Wireless Architecture, which includes industrial-class wireless access points, controllers, and network management software. In addition to validating that the technologies works together, Emerson has also been elevated to the rank of Cisco Solution Technology Partner, allowing the industrial giant to resell Cisco products.
For customers, the Emerson-Cisco alliance means they can collect instrumentation data from Emerson's low-bandwidth, self-organizing field sensors, which leverage the wireless HART protocol, and seamlessly transition to high-speed open standards in the plant network — including Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and IP — to run voice over IP communications, surveillance video, and asset tracking systems.
"Customers are looking at wireless in their plants and thinking of the big picture, which is the point of our alliance," said Peter Zornio, Emerson Process Management's chief strategic officer, in an interview with Managing Automation. "We have all the bases covered. You can start wherever want, but no matter where you start you're not going to hit a dead end. If you want to put in a wireless transmitter, eventually you can expand to a wireless Wi-Fi network and it's all a pre-tested system that can work together," He explained.
Emerson rolled out its Smart Wireless network a year ago with the intent of providing faster and more effective communication throughout the plant. The Cisco agreement represents the next step in Emerson's strategic offering.
The alliance is Cisco's second major partnership in the automation market. The company has a similar agreement with Rockwell Automation that focuses on converging IT and manufacturing networks and promoting open industrial Ethernet standards. The deals are not exclusive. Cisco's customers drive the company's decisions when it comes to industrial partnerships, according to Bob Tinker, Cisco's director of business development for the wireless business.
"We have lot of mutual customers and our customers are starting to see the business and process organizations intersect," Tinker told Managing Automation. "The natural effect of that is they wanted Cisco and Emerson to work together. But the second piece is that this is part of [Cisco's] evolution from being a product company to the solution company. We intend to deliver more customized relevant solutions to customers in specific vertical markets, and industrial is an important market for us," he said.
The two companies have developed a service plan that details installation and support of wireless networks. Emerson will take the lead as the value-added reseller to the process industry, leaning on Cisco for its expertise when needed.
"Customers are looking for ways to alleviate risk when going to a wireless architecture," said Emerson's Zornio. "This partnership is a way for them to feel comfortable with the lowest risk... Together we can accelerate the overall wireless adoption in the process industry."