Managing Automation - January 2008 - (Page 9) turing data model that leverages industry standards, such as S-95. It will deliver ERP data such as item costs, released work orders, and material requirements to plant floor systems. It will also gather transactional data from MES, quality, and other plant floor systems, as well as real-time tag data from systems such as PLCs, SCADA, and DCS plant floor systems. In order to support different types of plant floor devices, Oracle has entered into partnerships with Kepware Technologies and Matrikon, providers of integration software based on the OPC standard, according to the statement. The hub would be targeted at discrete and process manufacturing customers, the Oracle statement said. The statement did not indicate when Oracle plans to roll out the hub. At an OpenWorld session, however, Jon Chorley, vice president for supply chain strategy at Oracle, said the company plans to release the hub during Oracle’s fiscal 2008, which ends in May. The hub will be part of the E-Business Suite 12.1, Chorley said. The statements of direction laid out additional plans by Oracle to enhance its offerings for discrete manufacturing, including: ● Support in the Oracle Manufacturing Execu- Manufacturing for outsourced and “toll” manufacturing, and support for make-toorder and attribute-driven manufacturing and for multiple batch grouping; ● Improvements in Oracle’s Process Manufacturing Product Development modules, including better visibility of formulas from the central product definition; and ● Enhancements to the Oracle Manufacturing Process Planning module, including support for resource batching, forward scheduling independent of demand, and lot genealogy enhancements. The statements of direction did not indicate when the promised improvements would be delivered. Oracle officials declined to discuss the statements of direction. Scan M Back inMA MA JANUARY 2007 anufacturers were anticipating moderate improvements in 2007, much as they had experienced in 2006. What was different heading into the new year was their attitude toward cost reduction. MA’s survey revealed a less intense focus on cost reduction, with attention turning more toward factors that drive growth, such as geographic and market sector expansions, as well as a faster pace of new product introductions. MA JANUARY 2003 utsourcing enterprise asset management (EAM) applications was starting to be viewed as a strategic advantage at a time when capital budgets were tight and IT resources were stretched thin. However, manufacturers, wary of sending data off-site, had to weigh the benefits of lower cost against the risk of losing control of their asset information. EAM vendors were finding ways to reassure potential customers. IBM TO AMPLIFY COGNOS POSITION, OFFICIALS HOPE he highly anticipated union between IBM and business intelligence vendor Cognos is expected to close this quarter, and, with it, IBM hopes to gain a position of strength against the likes of Oracle and SAP, both of which have become heavy hitters in the BI space through acquisitions of their own. But can Big Blue make its BI better than the rest? IBM will have to offer significant value-add if it wants end users to respond with more enthusiasm than the analyst community did when the deal was announced in November 2007. At that time, analysts who had predicted the acquisition based on the duo’s 18-month crossselling arrangement, didn’t bat an eye when the deal was finally announced. “It’s just another major vendor buying a BI performance management vendor because they see the value in that space and they are broadening their portfolio around it,” said Dave Kasabian, an analyst at AMR Research in an interview with Managing Automation late last year. IBM, however, aims to distinguish its BI offering by integrating it into its Information on Demand initiative, a combination of open standards, a service-oriented architecture, and IBM database and middleware technology that can provide immediate access to enterprise data, regardless of where it resides. But the offering also needs applications, which is why the company is on a buying spree. The Cognos deal, O T ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● tion System for Discrete Manufacturing for serialized manufacturing; Shop floor device and test equipment integration; Electronic records and signatures (required by regulations such as CFR Part 11); Labor skill validation for equipment operators; Printing of shop floor documentation; Tighter integration with time and attendance systems; Improvements in Oracle’s Flow Manufacturing module, including an enhanced schedule management tool and improved manufacturing sequencing logic; Improvements to Oracle’s Quality Workbench tool, including tighter integration with the MES for Discrete Manufacturing; and Enhancements to Oracle’s Cost Management module, including a new iterative periodic cost processor. M A J A N UA RY 19 9 8 A s the 21st century loomed, MA’s 1998 software technology forecast pointed to several trends driving demand: the Y2K bug, of course, plus a reassertion of CIOs’ authority following the PC invasion and price/performance advantages presented by client/server applications. MA zeroed in on the advent of Java, ERP solutions for mid-size manufacturers, Internet-enabled e-commerce and supply chain management, and solutions to that ominous Y2K problem. M A J A N UA RY 19 9 3 A editors compiled a Software Guide of more than 200 products in an attempt to put the vast field of manufacturing software into perspective for readers. At the time, software was supplanting hardware as the pre-eminent technology to automate the factory floor. MA looked at products in a variety of areas and at what factors were driving software vendors’ success. M The statement also committed Oracle to certain enhancements to the company’s offerings for process manufacturing, including: ● Support directly in MES for Process Manu- facturing for serialized manufacturing; ● Additional enhancements in MES for Process 9 January 2008
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