A Software Revolution Is Changing the Way You Work

The industrial software revolution underway now is as big as the leap from DOS to Windows, and this is happening as the underlying hardware infrastructure is changing as well. As makers of HMI/SCADA software and other tools rewrite their products to make the most of these technologies, Automation World’s Industrial Mobility Guide will provide a place for early adopters to tell their stories.

蕾妮·巴塞特（Renee Bassett）Managing Editor

Aug 21st, 2014

Do you think smartphones, big data and cloud computing don’t apply to your plant or machine shop? Think again. A behind-the-scenes shift by software developers is transforming the way people interact with industrial machines, and creating systems that are as quick, intuitive and responsive as the best smartphone applications.

“I believe there is an optimism about manufacturing,” said Helmuth Ludwig, CEO of the Industry Sector at Siemens USA, speaking at ASME’s Advanced Design and Manufacturing Impact Forum in Buffalo, N.Y. “We are on the verge of a new era in manufacturing. Thirty to 40 years ago, it was about mechanics and hardware-driven advances. Then the electronics came in. Now it’s all about the software. With software, the U.S. can lead the transformation of manufacturing worldwide.”

Speaking at the same conference, Russ Agussa, founder, president and CEO of Iconics, a maker of HMI/SCADA software, said, “Software is driving innovation in mechanical systems, and a lot of software is behind the scenes. Sensors are everywhere and we need analytics. You want to mobilize people to act on information.” That leads to today’s “megatrends in manufacturing,” he said, which are “big data, analytics, mobile, enterprise social [networks] and cloud computing.”

HMI/SCADA软件供应商Tatsoft的首席技术官Marcos Taccolini表示，他的公司刚刚完成了一项为期五年的数百万美元投资，用于使用最新技术来重写其FactoryStudio软件。他说，重写是必要的，因为“ 20年前设计的基础设施无法正常工作。您再应用一个补丁，再加上一个补丁，然后得到弗兰肯斯坦。”

Taccolini说，现在正在进行的工业软件革命“与DOS到Windows一样大。” Taccolini说。“我看到了vax到dos，dos到Windows，现在是.NET，Java和Cloud的Windows。”这是随着基础基础架构的变化而发生的 - 多核处理器的一个CPU，网络速度速度快100倍，以及各种形状，尺寸和移动能力的用户界面设备。

Makers of HMI/SCADA software and other tools are rewriting their products to make the most of these technologies. For example, every month more industrial automation vendors provide apps that run natively on iOS, Android and Microsoft Windows tablets and smartphones, as well as on other types of mobile hardware. And the range of industrial mobile apps already in use is quite large (see “Industrial Mobile Apps—Who’s Using Them and Why,” on page 40).

Mike Hake, senior facilities technician at an electronics manufacturer in Bohemia, N.Y., uses a compact operator interface running on his Android smartphone to securely monitor and control facility compressors, lighting, air conditioning units, pumps, ovens and other equipment at the manufacturing facility. Hake says that the operator interface makes essential information and important controls immediately available no matter where he’s located.

Hake使用Opto 22的GROOV创建了运行智能手机的操作界面，用于构建基于Web-Browser的操作员界面。他使用Android的Android智能手机上的界面使用Android的GROOV视图应用程序，并将界面提供给了几位同事，他们在Android和iOS智能手机上都使用了它。GROOV视图应用程序均设计为希望通过云从移动设备访问其自动化系统的最终用户，以及希望使用现成的移动设备作为操作员界面和数据收集设备的机器构建器机器。

帮助工程师、技术人员和业务管理rs find industrial mobile apps like groov, Automation World is creating The Industrial Mobility Guide (awgo.to/MobilityGuide). Part online directory, part testimonial to the benefits of mobility, the guide will be a compilation of descriptions, links and use cases like Mike Hake’s that show how industrial users are finding success with mobile applications today.

The new era in manufacturing really is all about the software—software that makes essential information and important controls immediately and securely available no matter where a person is located or what device he is holding. How is that going to change the way you work?