DataWorks Systems Introduces Incuity EMI Product That Unites Disparate Data Sources for Enhanced Decision-Making.

MISSION VIEJO, Calif. -- DataWorks Systems, developers of the popular ActiveFactory(TM) program for viewing and analysis of real-time manufacturing data, today introduced its second-generation enterprise decision-support system, the Incuity(TM) Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence (EMI) solution for use by discrete manufacturing, batch and continuous process production companies.

Incuity integrates plant floor production data and enterprise business information from disparate sources everywhere in a company and provides context for the data so that better business decisions can be made at any level in a company, from plant floor to executive offices. Incuity can access information over any network, using standard browsers, and process it as requested so users can analyze it from within the application software they already use to do their jobs -- whether it's automation control systems, word processors, spreadsheets, graphics, data mining or other programs.

"Manufacturing companies today are under tremendous pressure to enhance their profitability or they won't be competitive in a global economy," said Doug Lawson, DataWorks president and CEO. "A key to improving the bottom line is not to generate more data but to better understand and deploy the information they already have in multiple applications dispersed throughout the company.

"For years our customers have been asking for tools with the ease of use and friendliness of ActiveFactory but with the power to access data from the many different, often proprietary, data stores that contain the information their people need," he said. "The problem has been that the information contained in these myriad applications is usually trapped in silos, with no realistic way to aggregate it in a central data repository and distribute it easily over the Internet with the business context that makes it more understandable. This results in a serious disconnect between the real-time operations being conducted on the plant floor and the enterprise-level business systems -- which makes it difficult to close that loop and optimize performance and profitability."

Incuity is the first of what are now being referred to in industry as "federated" data systems. It has been built from the ground up to solve these issues and eliminate the disconnect. Incuity collects and aggregates the data from disparate sources without delay and delivers actionable information in interactive reports and dashboards. Using this information, company staff can recognize opportunities and problems earlier, can react swiftly, can easily communicate the issues and can make the decisions that will enhance bottom-line profitability.

"This encourages use by a broader base within any enterprise, which in turn fosters more creative solutions," Lawson added. "Users are empowered to create their own content from known valid data, and IT departments don't have to worry about deploying client-side software on every PC in the company."

Universal Open Architecture

Incuity can provide this new level of capability because its open architecture is built atop industry-standard technologies -- such as Microsoft's .NET platform, online analytical processing (OLAP), Web Services, OPC, SQL and XML. It also makes extensive use of the ISA S95 standard data model, which defines the essential elements required for linking production and enterprise systems. Incuity's open architectural approach means users can continue to use their existing databases and application systems, yet they gain the benefit of having all information available from all of these systems, all the time, for any user in any department.

"This is important because instead of just being able to access data from a control system historian, Incuity can provide access to and from data contained in multiple sources, including popular human-machine interface (HMI) and distributed control systems (DCS); plant historians; programmable logic controllers (PLCs); computer maintenance management systems (CMMS); laboratory information systems (LIMS); asset management systems; manufacturing execution systems (MES); and enterprise resource planning (ERP) and scheduling systems," Lawson explained.

"The other half of the issue is that the presentation and analysis of the information occurs without users needing new tools and skills," Lawson continued. "Incuity can produce intelligent reports that offer alert detection through live data connections and can automatically drive user attention towards exception conditions, missed targets and plan deviations. All of this information arrives via the applications that are very familiar to end users -- anyone using Microsoft Excel, Outlook and Internet Explorer can rapidly find information and understand the manufacturing issues in the context in which they need to use the information. Event detection and alert propagation are delivered using familiar Office applications, which gives users instant awareness and prompts them to drill down for the details and intuitively analyze conditions to take advantage of early problem elimination and discovery of opportunities. In addition, users can create their own content and portals using familiar Microsoft Office applications.

"Incuity's rich database views and data transformations are usable with existing data warehouse and data mining software products, so users can continually evaluate real-time production information to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and better understand events surrounding issues such as product quality or machine downtime," Lawson said.

Highly Scalable ROA 

Incuity enables users to gain an immediate return on assets. It's architected and priced to deploy easily in configurations that match each company's needs. Incuity offers unlimited scalability, from a handful of users in a small company or a departmental system, all the way up to thousands of users throughout an enterprise. It can be deployed from the bottom up, growing from a single production line system that might cost only $10,000, up to an entire plant or to an entire company or supply chain. It can be used as an extension of existing ActiveFactory installations -- for use with standalone plant historians such as Wonderware's IndustrialSQL Server, Intellution's iFix historian or the OSIsoft's PI historian, as examples -- and it's scalable to virtually any size to provide access to multiple data sources across an entire enterprise.

DataWorks Systems has been conducting beta testing for the Incuity EMI product with major customers in the energy management, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and pipeline industries. Initial product shipments will begin in early July.

About DataWorks

DataWorks Systems, an Incuity Software Inc. company based in Mission Viejo, is the creator of the ActiveFactory(TM) plant data management system for data reporting and analysis in manufacturing and process companies. More than 45,000 "seats" of ActiveFactory have been installed since 1998, in 13 languages and in more than 40 countries around the world. DataWorks Systems has continued to develop and support the ActiveFactory product, which is licensed to Wonderware and is sold through its distribution network. In addition to its headquarters operations in California, the company has a regional sales office in Nevada and maintains an advanced solutions development group in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.

For additional information about the company, please visit its Web site at http://www.incuity.com.

Editors: For more detailed technical and industry/market information about the new Incuity EMI product, please visit: http://www.incuity.com/index_site.php.