Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces that it has developed Process Data Analytics, an application program that can detect a decline in quality or productivity at an early stage of the manufacturing process by analyzing process data, facility status information, operation history, and other data. Used in combination with Yokogawa's analytical services, this software is a quality stabilization solution that can help companies stabilize and continuously improve the quality of their products. This software will be released for sale in March 2017.

While working to quickly respond to a diverse array of market needs, manufacturers face a growing need to stabilize the quality of the products coming off their production lines. Product quality is affected by factors such as fluctuations in the quality of raw materials and the aging of manufacturing facilities. Even when the raw materials supplied by different contractors vary in composition, the need to ensure high quality in the final product remains unchanged. To improve quality in each production process and thereby improve the quality of their final products, manufacturers must analyze various types of data. The effectiveness of such analysis has largely depended on the knowledge and expertise of the workers at each production site.

As a solution to such challenges, Yokogawa began offering a process data analytical service to its customers in 2008. To date, more than 100 contracts for this service have been concluded with companies in Japan's chemical industry and other industry sectors, and these companies have come to rely on this service.

Based on the insights that Yokogawa engineers gained by providing this service to their customers, the company developed an analytical tool to improve its efficacy and thereby help its customers maintain and improve product quality. This software makes use of the Mahalanobis Taguchi (MT) method*1, a pattern-recognition technique that is employed in multivariate analysis. The company is now preparing for the commercial release of this software.

Features of This Software

1. Early detection of abnormalities in production processes
2. Fail-proof quality inspection
3. Extensible via integration with MATLAB®*2
4. High speed and accuracy through use of AngleTry Associates' proprietary technology

National Instruments, the provider of platform-based systems that enable engineers and scientists to solve the world’s greatest engineering challenges, announced today TestStand 2016. This latest version of the industry-leading test management software focuses on helping the more than 10,000 current users to further increase their productivity while also helping to ensure the initial success of new developers.
TestStand 2016 continues to deliver features that drive faster development, deployment and maintenance of automated test systems through:

• A redesigned Property Loader for importing/exporting test sequence variables, limits, properties and more
• Additional right-click options and a native enumeration data type to help increase productivity when developing and modifying test sequences in the TestStand Sequence Editor
• Simultaneous execution and development of multiple independent applications through TestStand Environments

As product quality, time to market and cost pressures continue to rise, leading companies task their test departments with increasing test coverage to ensure product reliability with fewer resources. When compared to the development and maintenance costs inherent in building an in-house test executive, commercial off-the-shelf test management software can help users drastically shorten overall time to market. Developers can take advantage of out-of-the-box functionality for common tasks like sequencing, parallel test execution, report generation, database logging, operator interfaces and system deployment, and customize each functionality per their requirements.

“Environments in TestStand 2016 have greatly simplified and sped up the development of my suite of universal test benches. Between off-the-shelf features, such as parallel test, and customization available through plug-in architectures, TestStand is the tool that allows me to develop my complex test sequences faster,” said Elaine Ramundo, senior development engineer in the Mobile Device Division at Qorvo. “Coupled with superior support and integration with the NI toolchain and other vendors, TestStand continues to be the premier choice in a test executive rather than building and maintaining my own.”

National Instruments, the provider of platform-based systems that enable engineers and scientists to solve the world’s greatest engineering challenges, announced today that SparkCognition is partnering with NI and IBM to collaborate on the Condition Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance Testbed. The goal of the collaboration is to deliver an unprecedented level of interoperability among operational technology and informational technology as organizations search for better methods to manage and extend the life of aging assets in heavy machinery, power generation, process manufacturing and a variety of other industrial sectors.

In a new age of Big Analog Data™ solutions, users can take advantage of machine learning to harness value from information. They can collect raw data and derive insights to improve operations, equipment and processes. Users can also realize huge cost savings and competitive advantages as artificial intelligence-driven prognostics warn of component failures before they occur, identify suboptimal operating conditions and assist with root-cause analysis.

NI’s open, software-centric platform creates the foundation of the Condition Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance Testbed, which delivers on the opportunities present in machine learning. Customers can apply SparkCognition’s cognitive analytics to proactively avoid unplanned equipment fatigue and failure of critical assets; thus, enhancing system capabilities by gaining advanced insights into equipment health and remediation solutions. These capabilities help increase operational efficiencies and safety, and decrease maintenance costs.

“With IIoT technologies driving vast sensorization of industrial equipment, and massive amounts of data being collected on those assets, the collaboration between NI and SparkCognition powers the complex and intelligent processing of information to produce valuable insights,” said Stuart Gillen, director of business development at SparkCognition.

“We are excited that our platform can acquire the data and extract the features to drive SparkCognition analytics for IIoT solutions,” said Jamie Smith, director of embedded systems at NI. “Combined with existing technologies in the testbed, the addition of SparkCognition presents new ways to help automate the process of turning sensor data into business insight.”

With this software-defined approach, viewing, managing and refining a broad range of assets stands in direct contrast to the traditional, fixed-functionality methods of the past, which often take too much time, rely on hard-to-find talent and require custom model building for each type of asset.

Kepware Technologies, a PTC business developing industrial connectivity software, today announced the release of KEPServerEX® version 5.21. The release extends the connectivity options available within KEPServerEX and expands interoperability with the ThingWorx® IoT Platform, further enabling the rapid development and deployment of smart-connected solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT).

KEPServerEX version 5.21 introduces the new ThingWorx native client interface, a fully-integrated solution built to provide rapid connection to industrial things—including PLCs, RTUs, PACs, DAQs, controllers, and more. The ThingWorx native client interface extends KEPServerEX and leverages Kepware’s library of 150+ communication drivers to provide real-time, bi-directional industrial controls data to the ThingWorx IoT Platform.

“This latest product release improves upon what is already the industry’s strongest solution for IoT connectivity and rapid app development,” said Tony Paine, Platform President, Kepware. “The integration provided through the new ThingWorx native client interface gives customers and ThingWorx application developers access to even more options for connectivity and control—streamlining operational efficiencies and delivering better results.”

The update also features a KEPServerEX Extension for the ThingWorx IoT Platform, which allows users to quickly and easily connect and configure ThingWorx-developed applications to KEPServerEX. The extension automatically configures a KEPServerEX remote thing template within ThingWorx and provides services to browse, read, write, and interact with the configuration. It is provided free of charge with the KEPServerEX installation or through the ThingWorx Marketplace.

“At PTC, we are firmly committed to ensuring that the solutions across our entire IoT portfolio are intuitive and highly interoperable,” said Rob Gremley, Group President, Technology Platform Group, PTC. “Customers who choose to standardize on technology from PTC can trust that we are going to provide a seamless experience. This latest release from Kepware is a testament to that commitment.”