Today's Automation News Headlines from Automation.com

March 28, 2011— Rockwell Automation released FactoryTalk Historian Machine Edition (ME) version 2.2 software with native connectivity to the OSIsoft PI System. With the latest release, PI System users who employ Allen-Bradley ControlLogix controllers from Rockwell Automation now have an off-the-shelf, machine-level historian application that can easily transfer historical data to their on-site or enterprisewide PI System.

The native connectivity means that FactoryTalk Historian ME can automatically communicate with the PI System, allowing users to easily integrate their PI System with Rockwell Automation products to access a new level of visibility into production operations. Such scalable, historian applications allow manufacturers to rapidly tap into manufacturing intelligence and make process improvements by leveraging granular, real-time and historical production data to improve product quality, speed time-to-market and support regulatory compliance.

FactoryTalk Historian applications build on industry-leading technology licensed from OSIsoft and include additional capabilities inherent in the FactoryTalk software suite to provide premier integration with the Rockwell Automation Integrated Architecture. Rockwell Automation designed the FactoryTalk Historian ME application to work as a stand-alone, rack-mounted historian or to roll-up into a larger plant or enterprise historian systems. Data is accessible from different locations where users can view and analyze role-appropriate historical information.

With a modular historian, manufacturers can collect data in remote or hazardous locations and when speed and reliability is crucial, such as oil and gas, mining, pharmaceutical or water treatment applications. Additionally, machine builders can apply FactoryTalk Historian ME to pre-qualify the data collection of their machines, reducing the time required for on-site installation, configuration and validation efforts. In highly regulated industries, the application helps machine builders provide continuous uptime and reliability. Because a machine-level historian is directly connected to the application controller, network connections are not necessary to data collection. As long as the system has a power supply, data gathering is assured.

Users also have more control over when data is transferred, which can save time and reduce costs. Transferring data can be expensive and every communications medium has usage limits. A machine-level historian can be programmed to transmit data to avoid peak-usage hours, or can be remotely directed to halt and recommence transfer if vital information needs to be prioritized. Once communication is reestablished, information from the period of isolation is immediately accessible.

“Integrating data from a machine-level historian with data from a plant-level historian allows operators to locate and correct sources of inefficiencies more quickly to improve manufacturing consistency, energy use and first-pass quality,” said Frank Kulaszewicz, senior vice president, Architecture and Software, Rockwell Automation. “Through its added connectivity to the PI System, FactoryTalk Historian ME can now feed historical production information to more systems adding additional value to customers whether they’re using FactoryTalk Historian Site Edition or the PI System. A plug-and-play historian that automatically configures with existing equipment and effortlessly feeds additional and more granular data into these systems is a cost-effective way to gather more actionable manufacturing data to improve operations.”

“FactoryTalk Historian ME version 2.2 is a logical extension of the PI System infrastructure,” said Ron Kolz, senior vice president of Sales and Business Development, OSIsoft. “This new release ensures smooth and flexible data collection for the PI System and is a solution that will ultimately provide users with better access to their operational data.”

Rockwell Automation,  the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and information, makes its customers more productive and the world more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., Rockwell Automation employs about 19,000 people serving customers in more than 80 countries.