The human identity is constructed around many different elements, and yet there is nothing that defines us better than the desire of ours to grow on a consistent basis. This desire to get better, no matter the situation, has empowered us to hit upon some huge milestones, with technology emerging as a major member of the stated group. The reason why we hold technology in such a high regard is, by and large, focused on its skill-set, which realized all the possibilities for us that we couldn’t have imagined otherwise. Nevertheless, if we look beyond the surface, it will quickly become clear how the whole runner was also very much inspired from the way we applied those skills across a real world environment. The latter component, in fact, did a lot to give the creation a spectrum-wide presence and start what was a full-blown tech revolution. Of course, this revolution then went on to scale up the human experience through some outright unique avenues, but even after achieving a feat so notable, technology will somehow continue delivering the right goods. The same has grown to become a lot more evident in recent times, and assuming a manufacturing-related development shakes out just like we envision, it will only turn that trend into something much bigger and better moving forward.

Aegis Software, a global provider of Manufacturing Operations Management Software, has officially announced some new capabilities across the latest versions of its famed manufacturing solution, FactoryLogix. Talk about what all is included in this update; we start from a specialized PLC Gateway, which is designed to facilitate a seamless connection and data transformation into standards-based IIoT between PLC equipment and any software system. Beyond that, the stated gateway can also discover PLC tags and then promote them to a contextualized IIoT data standard. This, in particular, should help managers and operators with their pursuit of realizing greater visibility across the entire factory floor, therefore positioning them to take more accurate decisions. Next up, the update delivers at your disposal an upgraded Composable Operator Interface. By leveraging this interface, users can have access to an expansive library of ready-to-use applets for creating a personalized interface. Interestingly, the latest version of FactoryLogix even boasts integration with PLC Arena, an integration which automates data transfer between Arena PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) and FactoryLogix. Such a transfer should weed out any duplicate data entries, reduce errors and inconsistencies, and create a seamless digital journey from product design to production.

“Our customers know that Industry 4.0 success hinges on collecting and contextualizing data from all factory sources, both human and machine. Efficient data from operators require user interfaces tailored to each specific process and person, which means it must be composable. On the machine side of the data equation, connecting with smart machines is relatively easy. Contextualizing data from the endless PLC-controlled factory assets in the world and making that standardized and useful has been a time-consuming and sometimes difficult matter,” said Jason Spera, CEO, and Co-Founder, of Aegis Software.

Hold on, there are still some bits left. The development in question further brings forth the option to conduct inventory creation at point of material loading/scanning. Conceived around bolstering efficiency, the stated new feature will minimize the steps required to load new material at a station while validating barcode content.

In case you are not aware of FactoryLogix, it is a comprehensive solution that produces highly configurable modules to support and execute a manufacturer’s strategy. On a more actionable note, the platform manages for you the entire manufacturing lifecycle, including steps like product launch, material management, manufacturing execution, and quality management. With powerful analytics, and real-time dashboards also in the mix, you have the ultimate channel to accelerate product introductions, streamline processes, improve quality, reduce costs, and gain greater visibility for gaining competitive advantage and profitability.

“With our latest release, we’ve solved the challenge of connecting to and standardizing data from PLCs. Now, a factory full of custom PLC-driven assets can easily transform all that low-level data into contextualized standard IIoT data streams and add those to the vast data acquired from factory operators interacting with FactoryLogix through its new citizen-composable user interface. We have truly completed the IIoT information fabric of a factory,” said Spera.