ABB, Accenture, Intel, Microsoft align to help manufacturers connect plant operations to enterprise business systems
3 Mar, 2003 15:14 CET
ABB, Accenture, Intel, Microsoft align to help manufacturers connect
plant operations to enterprise business systems
New alliance enables 'shop floor to top floor' connectivity across
global network of plants to enhance business visibility, decision-
making, financial performance
CHICAGO (National Manufacturing Week) -- March 3, 2003 -- ABB,
Accenture, Intel Corporation and Microsoft Corp. announced today an
alliance to help manufacturers bridge the gap between plant floor
operations and enterprise IT systems. The alliance aims to help
manufacturers by simplifying integration, gaining greater visibility
into their businesses, making informed, real-time business decisions and
enhancing their financial performance.
The four companies will provide a full range of computing diagnostics,
solution design, development and integration services for manufacturers.
The team's joint development work will help customers gain access to
manufacturing automation technology that will work seamlessly in a plant
environment and integrate with a wide collection of enterprise IT
systems.
"Removing the barriers to real-time data synchronization must be part of
the overall business equation for collaborative manufacturing," said
Larry O'Brien, Director of Process Industry Research for ARC Advisory
Group. "No single company today can do this across the enterprise. To
achieve this in a way that yields a common direction for manufacturers
will take the combined efforts of strong companies such as those
included in the Industrial IT alliance."
The collective resources of the alliance members bring automation and
power products, manufacturing solution expertise, robust computing and
networking, and program management and integration skills together to
support a powerful open architecture for enterprise solutions.
The alliance draws upon ABB's Industrial IT, a comprehensive, standards-
based architecture designed for compatibility of diverse manufacturing
components and faster "plug and produce" integration. Each element
within the plant - including equipment, raw material and finished goods
- is represented in the automation hierarchy by a dynamic software shell
called an "Aspect Object" which speeds navigation to critical
information. By simply right clicking on the Aspect Object for any
component, users can directly access documentation, configuration and
connectivity tools to speed up installation, control, troubleshooting
and lifecycle maintenance. ABB has "information enabled" and certified
more than 30,000 hardware and software products to work within
Industrial IT.
Accenture designed and built an integration layer that is based on
Industrial IT and the Microsoft BizTalk Server to help enable the real-
time exchange of data between the enterprise and plant floor systems.
Within the alliance, Accenture also will provide program management
support to help clients with diagnostics, solution delivery, hosting and
large-scale systems integration.
Intel brings standards-based, high-performance microprocessing
technologies and computing platforms to the alliance. Intel Architecture
enables modular IT infrastructure that mixes wired and wireless
communications capabilities with open and scalable Intel-based servers,
networks and storage to generate lower operation costs and increased
flexibility.
The addition of Microsoft .NET technologies enables customers to more
easily integrate diverse legacy systems and business processes with more
current and future technology. Microsoft's enterprise technologies and
products also provide manufacturers greater visibility into the
enterprise, making it possible to optimize and automate business
processes with a faster time to benefit and lower cost of ownership than
with other enterprise IT systems.
The alliance will also provide development, consulting and solution
support to major application providers and independent software vendors
to help them develop and replicate applications that leverage the
Industrial IT architecture and companion technologies from Accenture,
Intel and Microsoft.
About the Alliance Members
ABB (NYSE "ABB") is a leader in power and automation technologies that
enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while
lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in
more than 100 countries and employs about 139,000 people. www.abb.com
Accenture (NYSE: ACN) is the world's leading management consulting and
technology services company. Committed to delivering innovation,
Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them realize their
visions and create tangible value. With deep industry expertise, broad
global resources and proven experience in consulting and outsourcing,
Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills, alliances and
technologies. With more than 75,000 people in 47 countries, the company
generated net revenues of $11.6 billion for the fiscal year ended August
31, 2002. www.accenture.com.
Intel is the world's largest chip maker and a leading manufacturer of
computer, networking and communications products.www.intel.com.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in
software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business
computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services
designed to empower people through great software - any time, any place
and on any device. www.microsoft.com
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Product and company names herein may be the property of their respective
owners.
For more information on the alliance, visit
www.industrialitalliance.com.
For more information, press only:
Brad Hoffman, ABB, (440) 585-3809,
Stacey Jones, Accenture, (917) 452-6561,
Tim Schulte, Intel, (503) 264-8788,
Tony Jacob, SS+K (for Microsoft), (425) 201-2041,