GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms Launches Advanced Analytics Software Solutions Utilizing Process Intelligence To Maximize Plant Performance

Enhancements and additions to GE Fanuc software portfolio strengthen the foundation of the Proficy® operations excellence platform for plant and enterprise data-driven performance management

Charlottesville, VA, GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms, a unit of GE Enterprise Solutions, today announced advanced analytics solutions for its software portfolio that are designed to maximize the information that already exists in production operations, extract knowledge from that information and identify the opportunities to solve potential production issues before they impact the process. The introductions of Proficy® Troubleshooter and Proficy Cause+, the updated release of Proficy Historian version 3.5, and the market leadership position of Proficy’s HMI/SCADA products combine to provide companies with unprecedented intelligence they can use to enhance process performance.

This powerful combination of solutions enables:

* better understanding of the causes of variation and problems in the process as well as the real-time impact of the process on production assets
* learning the relationships between disconnected data, extracting knowledge and building business cases with benefit estimations
* preventing unnecessary conventional ‘alarm bursts’ with more intelligent alarms that work in multivariate space, indicating causes of problems and providing corrective actions
* expert knowledge capture for making modelling and expert system technology available to all users.

“Everyone not only needs some method for archiving plant data and a system for supervisory control and data acquisition, but also an effective way of doing rapid process troubleshooting and other continuous improvement initiatives utilizing its real-time plant data,” said John Leppiaho, Product General Manager for GE Fanuc’s Operations Management Software. “GE Fanuc’s Proficy Historian is already proven in industries all over the world for collecting, storing and retrieving mission-critical data. The addition of Proficy Troubleshooter and Proficy Cause+ gives users advanced analytics and control of their processes to drive operational excellence.”

These solutions provide essentially a three-step process for advanced analysis starting with Proficy Historian 3.5, a powerful plant-wide data historian that collects, archives and distributes tremendous volumes of real-time plant floor process information at extremely high speeds. Built specifically for production and process data acquisition and presentation, Proficy Historian enables users to leverage increased process visibility for better and faster decisions, increased productivity and reduced costs. Proficy Historian is built to store, and more importantly, retrieve production/process data in the way companies need it. This capability enables better responsiveness by quickly providing the granularity of data needed to analyze and solve intense process applications.

The second component of the advanced analytics process is the new Proficy Troubleshooter product. Proficy Troubleshooter is an off-line, value-add product to Proficy Historian that analyzes process variation. It is used to identify causes for production problems and identify the opportunity for preventing these problems in the future. Proficy Troubleshooter acts as a bridge between Proficy Historian and Proficy HMI/SCADA obtaining relationships between process variables and preparing benefit estimations for real-time deployment.

Proficy Troubleshooter packs powerful multivariate modeling and data-mining techniques, which is appealing to a broad user base of historian users and process engineers. It does not require a background in advanced statistics or modeling. It also provides a clear path to real-time solutions for the user – deploying insights as a real-time intelligent monitoring and advisory solution in Proficy Cause+, with outputs displayed in Proficy HMI/SCADA and web-based reporting.

The components of Proficy Troubleshooter are:

* Proficy Continuous Wizard for troubleshooting time-based and/or continuous process data
* Proficy Discrete & Batch Wizard for troubleshooting generic index-based, discrete and/or batch process data
* Proficy Architect for data preparation, simulation and solution development

“In the past, we have had reporting tools that gave us an information baseline,” continued Leppiaho. “Now we can apply analytics to that data and do ‘what-if’ scenarios to model the process for a solution more effective in driving real process improvement.”

After Proficy Troubleshooter models the solution, the next logical step is to put the process into production. Proficy Cause+ wires in the real-time data and introduces alarms based on causal relationships within the process. It extracts more value from real-time data, in the form of likely causes of process or asset-related problems and variation in real-time, with pre-configured corrective actions to the operator if alarm-conditions are triggered.

Proficy Cause+ is a value-added decision-support solution to the Proficy HMI/SCADA iFIX and CIMPLICITY products that also provides reporting on causes over specified periods of time for production management and process engineers. It enables real-time causes of process problems (e.g. bad batches), real-time corrective actions to address process problems, wizard-based and custom development and simulation of a real-time solution before deploying it within Proficy HMI/SCADA, model- and rules-based cause identification, web-based reporting of causes over user-defined periods, causes-based intelligent alarming, and capturing of expert knowledge for real-time expert system use.

Proficy Cause+ enables production engineers, and process specialists, to generate real-time causes for production process deviations. During such real-time Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) deviation, in-depth process knowledge is delivered to an operator to provide specific actionable message guidance for correction. It is a real-time application by which production process variation is identified, and whereby root causes for such variation is visualized. Proficy Cause+ is a value-add component, which is deployed directly in existing HMI SCADA/DCS systems. Proficy Cause+ is therefore mostly used by plant Operators.

“Progressive companies are achieving even greater benefits by extracting and applying knowledge from historical and real-time data with advanced analytics,” said Tom Fiske, Senior Analyst ARC Advisory Group. “Traditionally, the use of advanced analytics required high domain expertise to apply effectively. This is no longer the case. Solutions such as those offered by GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms brings the power of real-time visibility and advanced analytics to the masses.”

The core Troubleshooter and Cause+ software were developed by CSense Systems, headquartered in Pretoria, South Africa, and are sold and supported globally by GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms. According to Derick Moolman, President of CSense Systems, “GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms has collaborated with CSense Systems to address current market requirements. Our solution is achieved through providing a new more intelligent Historian and HMI/SCADA, aimed at the general broad user base, providing off-line and real-time analytics with the option to scale to Advanced Process Control for ready clients, all on an integrated technology platform.”

About GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms

GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms, a joint venture between General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) and FANUC LTD of Japan, is an experienced high-performance technology company and a global provider of hardware, software, services, and expertise in automation and embedded computing. We offer a unique foundation of agile, advanced and ultra-reliable technology that provides customers a sustainable advantage in the industries they serve, including energy, water, consumer packaged goods, government & defense, and telecommunications. GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms is a worldwide company headquartered in Charlottesville, VA and is part of GE Enterprise Solutions. For more information, visit www.gefanuc.com.

About GE Enterprise Solutions

GE Enterprise Solutions elevates customers’ productivity and profitability with integrated solutions using sensors and non-destructive testing; security and life safety technologies; power system protection and control; and plant automation and embedded computing systems. Enterprise Solutions’ high-tech, high-growth businesses include Sensing & Inspection Technologies, Security, Digital Energy, and GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms. The business has 17,000 problem-solving employees in more than 60 countries around the world.

Proficy is a registered trademark of GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.