OSIsoft introduced RtBaseline, a core component of OSIsoft’s RtPM (real-time performance management) platform. RtBaseline gathers relevant data from multiple sources and delivers it in a specific context for any role-based user who needs it. The product is powered by PI, OSIsoft’s flagship real-time event management and data historian system. OSIsoft also announced a significant upgrade to PI.
In explaining the RtBaseline product, OSIsoft Marketing Vice President Michael Soucier noted that by bundling many of the company’s tools into one package, RtBaseline will make it easier for customers to obtain and maintain licenses, as well as to understand how various components work together. “Our strategy is to make it easier for customers to do business with us,” Soucier said in an interview with Automation World editors.
RtBaseline unifies all data across the enterprise, adding context and converting the data into meaningful and specific information that stakeholders inside and outside an organization can access and use. Its architecture enables companies to define a frame of reference for data so that information workers can be alerted, perform root-cause analysis or compare operational performance across multiple sites in the way that best suits their roles.
“We saved $50 million over the course of our 10-year relationship with OSIsoft. The RtPM Platform and the PI System is one of the best investments we’ve made in our business with significant payback,” said Barry MacGregor, Global Business Process Manager, Dow Corning Corp. “What happens in the physical world impacts our business every day. The RtPM Platform gets these physical world events into our ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems in an extremely accurate and timely way. Not only can we see a more complete picture of our entire operation, but also our customers can check their orders and get the right answers. Without accurate and timely data, our e-commerce efforts would not be as successful for our customers or as profitable for us.”
OSISoft’s Soucier referred to PI 3.4, the latest upgrade to the company’s PI System product, as a “significant” enhancement. PI 3.4 represents a 10-fold improvement on the performance of the PI System, without a hardware upgrade, he said. The upgrade also accommodates more users and complicated queries without affecting system performance or response times. PI 3.4 supports more than one million data points per PI server, providing support for more than 500 simultaneously connected users and up to 80,000 events per second throughput for archive storage and retrieval. In addition, fully threaded sub-systems ensure timely access for all connected users, no matter how complicated the query.
Meanwhile, OSIsoft and Emerson Process Management announced an agreement to market and implement OSIsoft’s RtPM products for customers worldwide. Working together, OSIsoft and Emerson will provide a comprehensive solution of RtPM software and project services to the chemical, oil and gas, life sciences, power, refining, and water and waste industries. Emerson is OSIsoft’s first Platinum-Level, value-added reseller.
