Starthis, an industrial automation software company, has released the second version of its Enterprise 2 Factory Floor (E2FF) manufacturing information system, which is said to provide real-time data connectivity tools for enterprise IT and operations personnel.
Starthis , an industrial automation software company, has released the second version of its Enterprise 2 Factory Floor (E2FF) manufacturing information system, which is said to provide real-time data connectivity tools for enterprise IT and operations personnel.
E2FF is an open standard, platform- and device-independent productivity software package that includes a new connector architecture, I/O library, IEC standards data library, and human machine interface (HMI) builder software, as well as customizable tools for integrating E2FF with a variety of enterprise business systems.
The software’s new connectors are used to communicate with plant devices using industrial network protocols, such as EtherNet/IP or Modbus/TCP. Industrial automation protocol connectors are compliant with the enterprise Java connector architecture (JCA). The connectors also can communicate with the plant devices using their native automation protocols.
The new I/O library incorporates a new management model for all I/O plus Java management extensions (JMX) to manage and monitor all the resources being used. JMX allows visualization of resource usage, management tools, and optimization techniques for all system I/O including memory, bandwidth, and packet control. JMX also is used to maximize performance of the E2FF resources, such as connectors, to move data at maximum rates.
IEC data library provides compatibility with the IEC 61131-3 standard for data types. As a result, E2FF can provide uniform and well-defined data presentation no matter which vendors’ devices are used in the plant.
HMI builder is a drag-and-drop development environment for display, monitoring, and operator control of plant floor data. The product is a non-programming tool for the creation of operator information and control displays. Built with scalable vector graphics, the run-time operator screens are accessible through any Web browser. The symbol library includes essential HMI tools, including light towers, gauges, meters, stop and start buttons, tag editors, and digital displays.
E2FF is licensed on a per server basis rather than a per seat arrangement.
—David Greenfield, editorial director, Control Engineering, [email protected]
