As noted in Automation World’s February 2013 article, control room modernization projects are making the most of data integration technologies to improve employee productivity.
Bill Fritz, director of Waterford Township, Michigan Department of Public Works, says that, “ first and foremost, it’s a time saver. By pulling everything into one environment, it allows easier access to information and becomes a one-stop shop to view all of my web-based applications. It allows us to coordinate everything and that makes it a dispatching tool for us.”
Because he is overseeing both water and wastewater operations, Fritz can see if an event on one side of his house affected something on the other side without having to dump data and overlay one program on top of the other. Waterford Township’s Department of Public Works has several applications in view side-by-side, including vehicle locating, SCADA, flow monitoring, security and HVAC.
The enabling technology for Water Township’s operational dashboard is Proficy Vision from Charlottesville, Va.-based GE Intelligent Platforms. The software combines web-based content from GE-IP’s other Proficy visualization products as well as third-party products into one environment. It aggregates and organizes content in the context of the plant structure to deliver a single view of operations.
Proficy Vision can be used wherever there is Internet access. Role-based access allows users only to see what they need based on their log-in credentials. An operator may only be able to see displays for the specific assets they are responsible for, for example, while a manager may have access to all displays for the facility. The data is structured so that all views and relevant displays are associated with the appropriate equipment.
Users also can access an integrated Proficy Workflow solution that provides the ability within the same environment to address standard operating procedures (SOPs). Monitoring process and acting on alarms and procedures in one environment delivers a powerful advantage that drives operational improvements.
A video overview of Proficy Vision is available.
