NUREMBERG, Germany — Nov. 27, 2012 — Reduced labor costs. Shorter time-to-market. These are more than just goals for modern manufacturers; in the intensely competitive world of global industry, they’re essential for survival. To gain an edge, manufacturers must transform their operations, their approach to building innovative products and processes, and the way they grow their businesses.
Microsoft’s technology, strategic leadership and partner ecosystem empower companies by enhancing interactions among co-workers, customers, suppliers and regulators across their value chain, helping companies meet their transformation needs. This includes intelligent systems that offer a high degree of sustainability and security at reduced costs and reduced time-to-market, aligning industry devices, customizable applications and the cloud to enable machine-to-machine communications for greater business agility and effectiveness.
In the U.S. and Europe, Microsoft is working closely with its manufacturing partners, and providing the technology platform and services they need to develop intelligent system solutions. These intelligent systems connect industry devices to enterprise applications and cloud services across a complex infrastructure, securely fueling real-time data between diverse technologies and locations from the factory floor to decision-makers. Harnessing the resulting data allows companies to uncover strategic business insight for increased agility and productivity.
One such solution is powering productivity for customers of Italian systems innovator ASEM, whose Ubiquity software platform enables the remote monitoring and control of industrial equipment. Utilizing the power of Windows Embedded Standard, Ubiquity allows machine builders to manage remote systems via embedded devices connected to a control center that is compatible with most versions of Windows software, including the new Windows 8. A second component connects the control center to the devices via Windows Azure.
The solution offers ASEM’s customers, including machine manufacturer Breton, greater ease in the remote monitoring of equipment. With a massive fleet of stone-cutting and processing machines to maintain and monitor, Breton credits ASEM’s software with a potential 30 percent savings in total service costs, thanks to the elimination of in-person service calls and greater equipment reliability.
Today at SPS IPC Drives, Microsoft shared its vision for how intelligent systems powered by Windows Embedded benefit manufacturing businesses. Following its recent announcement of a new family of Windows Embedded 8 products, Microsoft said the release preview of Windows Embedded 8 Standard is available now and affirmed it will be generally available in March 2013.
With Windows Embedded 8, Microsoft is extending the value of Windows 8 to industry devices, supporting leaner, more efficient processes and access to critical data. In Europe alone, Microsoft works closely with partners such as ASEM and vertical solution providers to create intelligent systems for customers, including these:
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The Road to Intelligent Business
November 27, 2012
In Italy, equipment manufacturer Giletta SpA built an intelligent road de-icing system on an innovative hardware and software platform based on Windows Embedded CE. The increased accuracy of the system allows the company to significantly reduce the amount of salt used on roads — a major financial and environmental payoff.
Powering Up With Embedded Systems
November 27, 2012
To solve reliability issues common at offshore wind-power plants, Germany’s AREVA Multibrid teamed up with Beckhoff, a leader in embedded industrial automation, to create a fully automated, self-monitoring energy plant. The system, which runs on Windows Embedded CE and motion-control software, allows AREVA to standardize on one software platform, monitoring data flow from the wind turbine in the sea back to onshore databases and systems.
For more information on intelligent systems, visit the Windows Embedded website.