Starthis and Information Builders partner for real-time plant floor visibility

Starthis , an industrial automation middleware company, and Information Builders , a vendor of enterprise business intelligence and real-time Web reporting software, have announced a strategic alliance focused on providing real-time connectivity, integration, and reporting from the plant floor throughout the manufacturing enterprise.

The companies offer an integrated technology set that collects data directly from manufacturing floor controls using iTapestry, a Starthis product., iTapestry then distributes the data to existing enterprise resources using iWay Software, and creates reports using WebFocus, both Information Builders products. Using this combination of software, users can generate real-time reports from real-time plant floor data for delivery to the appropriate people throughout the manufacturing enterprise on demand.

Starthis claims to be the first industrial automation software developer to directly connect to disparate plant floor controls from Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) platforms through standards-based industrial networks. Information Builders’ WebFocus reads Starthis data using its integration company’s technology, iWay Software, then creates reports on the data collected directly from plant floor PLCs and sensors. The resulting solution allows rapid identification and resolution of manufacturing inefficiencies and/or problems.

“Two reasons why Starthis and Information Builders can offer this new level of insight are the increasing acceptance and implementation of Enterprise Java and industrial networks in manufacturing,” says David Naylor, CEO of Starthis.

—David Greenfield, Editorial Director, Control Engineering, dgreenfield@reedbusiness.com

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