Plant Floor Visibility solutions for manufacturing
The plant floor is the heart of any manufacturing business. Even small improvements in high-volume production processes can have a huge impact on time to market, customer satisfaction, and the business’s bottom line.
Microsoft and its industry partners understand the need for real-time information about the plant floor that is easy to access, easy to understand, and easy to act on. And Microsoft also knows that plant floor automation has traditionally been built on a variety of hardware systems, technologies, and proprietary protocols. That’s why Microsoft has developed platforms that integrate and enhance the investments manufacturers have already made, as well as providing a foundation for future improvements and driving business performance.
Vendor solutions based on Microsoft’s industry standard software and services not only provide the plant floor visibility that production managers need. They also integrate with the enterprise’s complete suite of business systems to create a comprehensive picture for strategic as well as tactical decision-making.
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Benefits
With the largest group of leading-edge software developers and service providers worldwide, Microsoft can deliver solutions that enable manufacturers to:
| • | Improve productivity and return on assets by exposing and quantifying each step in the production process in real-time. Plant floor visibility means that managers know exactly what is happening when it happens, and can respond quickly and effectively to problems when they occur. |
| • | Drive production efficiency by systematically gathering and merging data about past and present production runs, including the performance of suppliers and subcontractors. Microsoft and its partners offer the analytical tools to pinpoint bottlenecks and inefficiencies—no matter where they are. |
| • | Increase product quality and customer satisfaction by generating an accurate listing of every part—and its source—and each piece of equipment used in every step of every production run. |
| • | Create a comprehensive vision of the business, including the complete investment requirements and profit margins for each product for each customer, by seamlessly integrating plant floor data into enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. With a true vision of the business, companies can make strategic decisions for future growth and profitability. |
Case studies
To learn how manufacturing companies have benefited from plant floor solutions delivered by Microsoft technologies and Microsoft partner solutions, read these recent case studies:
Technologies
The following Microsoft technologies form the foundation for secure, scalable product data management solutions in manufacturing:
| • | Windows Vista, Microsoft’s new operating system, provides the platform for tomorrow’s state-of-the-art applications and services. |
| • | Microsoft .NET establishes an integrated infrastructure to quickly build, deploy, and manage connected, security-enhanced solutions with Web services. |
| • | Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 extends the power of the world’s most popular desktop productivity suite to help people collaborate and work with information efficiently, regardless of location or network status. |
| • | Microsoft SQL Server provides the database engine for highly scalable, cost-effective solutions. |
| • | Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 comprise an integrated portfolio of collaboration and communication services to connect people, information, processes, and systems. |
| • | Windows Workflow Foundation, integrated into both Windows SharePoint Services and the 2007 Microsoft Office system, helps to support and automate business processes through custom forms and workflows. |
| • | Microsoft Excel Services, a shared service included in Office SharePoint Server 2007, enables users to load, calculate, and display Microsoft Office Excel workbooks in a secure environment. |
| • | Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 provides out-of-the-box business scorecarding, analytics, and planning to help companies more effectively manage their operations using the familiar Microsoft Office environment. |
| • | Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 is a business process management server that enables companies to automate and optimize business processes. |
Partners
A myriad of Microsoft partners offer tailored solutions to automate the plant floor and to extend plant floor data for management decisions. A few of these industry-leading companies are:
ABB
ABB's Industrial IT (information technology) is an integrated suite of applications, control hardware, and field devices that enable manufacturing, process, and power industry customers to achieve continuous and sustainable productivity improvements.
ActivPlant
Activplant is a scalable Web-based enterprise manufacturing intelligence (EMI) solution designed to collect data from almost any source on the factory floor and integrate the information with business logic, reporting capabilities, analysis, and intelligent discovery through alerts.
AspenTech
AspenTech’s Plantelligence suite of products and services help optimize the design, operation, and management of process plants and their supply chains.
GE Fanuc
GE Fanuc supplies industrial automation solutions that collect, distribute, control, and visually present information from the plant floor throughout the enterprise.
Invensys
ArchestrA from Invensys helps companies create products, applications, and services to operate both old and new manufacturing plants more efficiently and profitably.
OSIsoft
OSIsoft solutions are based on Web services that help connect a wide range of systems throughout the enterprise including vendor-managed inventory systems and product life cycle management systems.
Rockwell Automation
The Rockwell Software unit offers industrial automation and production management software. Its RSView32 is an integrated, component-based human-machine interface for process monitoring and automation.
Siemens
Siemens offers a wide range of process automation and industrial control solutions for the plant floor that can now be integrated with customer relationship management (CRM) and ERP platforms for comprehensive business management.
Next steps
