GE Intelligent Platforms recently announced new software solutions that address the challenge of making sense of the myriad of data available in business today.
These powerful solutions accessed by simple apps deliver realtime operational intelligence (RtOI) to exploit existing data sets and transform them into actionable knowledge with easy-to-use mobile interfaces coupled with powerful and scalable server-based components.
The first component to help companies achieve true RtOI is Proficy Mobile. This product, designed specifically for industry, will spark customers to drive efficiency with real-time access to operational information, using the latest generation of mobile iOS and Android devices.
It features an easy-to-use standard interface with GE’s patented GEO-intelligence technology that provides situational awareness typically found only in consumer apps like Facebook, coupled with a powerful back-end server that transforms existing raw data into intelligent, actionable information. And, it provides companies with the option of allowing employees to use their own devices quickly, easily and securely.
“Industrial operations need to break free of operating business from within a central control room,” says Daniel Coetsee, GM for MEA, GE Intelligent Platforms.
He says as South African businesses continue to seek optimisation and better efficiency for growth this new software will deliver just that.
“Business and operational personnel can now leverage smart mobile devices that have actionable information in context to physical equipment. By harnessing RtOI, productivity is increased by arming each employee with the right information at the right time in the right place, to make the right decision, faster.”
Proficy Mobile accesses structured information through equipment models that can be configured specifically to a company’s operations, allowing users to find the information they need quickly and easily.
Once data is mapped into the model, users can add intelligence through easy-to-use tools that can outline relationships and connections to multiple disperse systems transforming it to information. And, with GE’s patented GEO-intelligence technology, the system automatically navigates and provides information based on user location, role, and asset condition and context.
“We are excited to bring Real-time Operational Intelligence to South Africa and the rest of Africa. This application is perfectly designed to address the needs of the key industries in the region: Power, District Cooling, Water Treatment, O&G and Mining,” says Coetsee.
“The RtOI concept and specifically Proficy Mobile, add tremendous value to the Oil & Gas and infrastructure businesses. Geographically dispersed assets can be safely monitored and the vast amount of associated data turned into simple, actionable knowledge, available anywhere, anytime.
“Information is delivered by role allowing for reduced travel times, better informed decisions and less execution errors. In some cases, mobile operators have seen their efficiency and productivity up to a level of 20%.”
With a standard downloadable GE app, “point-and-click” server configuration and an extensible analytics engine – systems can be deployed on top of existing systems such as SCADA, HMI, MES, BMS, ERP and Historians.
This capability is essential for industry as new visualisation, mobility, analytics and collaboration tools enable action in real time, in the required locations and with the contextual information operators, engineers, managers and executives need to make quicker decisions.
The structured navigation features of Proficy Mobile provide the ability to map data from existing GE or third-party applications, allowing companies to add the necessary context to existing data no matter the source.
The built-in intelligence foundation allows companies to define applicable key process indicators (KPIs) and equipment relationships forming standard plant/site-wide and asset-level detailed displays accessible from within the app.
Assets and processes are tracked using KPIs to notify users of alert conditions, as well as trends that may be occurring in the plant. This lays the groundwork for future integration to advanced alarming and predictive analytics, both of which are upcoming components GE is planning for 2013 release.
In addition, Proficy Mobile provides aggregated asset health displays intelligently to alert the user to a current condition drawing attention to the most critical information. Health indices alert to pending conditions and alarms with state and severity as an indicator of a process or equipment in trouble.
Proficy Mobile uses technology innovations typically not seen in industry including HTML5, native app code, SSL and RESTful architectures that provide options such as deploying within a traditional non-connected industrial environment or harness private/public cloud Internet-based solutions.
“True industrial mobilisation should really focus on pushing information to users in context to where they physically are. Mobilising existing user interfaces and their associated systems designed for 24/7 monitoring in central control rooms have great value.
“However, the ‘gold mine’ is achieved by adding intelligence on top of existing data elements from multiple systems, to not only transform into real information, but also to control what is accessible by location and role. This provides the true transformation from data everywhere to actionable knowledge anywhere, anytime,” concludes Coetsee.