Dashboard views of multiple lines or devices have been a hot technology trend in manufacturing for some time now. The issue with many of these dashboard systems has been the difficulty in getting the various disparate systems in a plant to connect into an aggregated dashboard system. GE Intelligent Platforms says they have addressed this issue with the release of Proficy Vision operational dashboard. Proficy Vision reportedly brings together Web-based content from other Proficy software solutions as well as third-party displays into one environment to deliver a single view of operations.
Because Proficy Vision, which itself is accessed via a Web browser, is capable of pulling in any data accessible via URL, a user can display structured data (such as from ERP, MES and SCADA systems) as well as and unstructured data (such as social business sites, spreadsheets and news feeds). GE says that by using Proficy Vision there is no need to have multiple visibility products for operators or executives to access various systems or devices.
“Any software whose data is fed to a user interface level via URL can be accessed by Proficy Vision,” says Don Busiek, general manager of manufacturing software at GE. “[With Proficy Vision] we’re not trying to build underlying integration between systems. Basically, Proficy Vision allows a mashup of all your displays so that you don't have toggle between different systems. The idea being that you never have to leave the dashboard to view any data or interact with any system.”
Though nearly every automated device and its related software released in the past decade can be accessed via URL, what about the older systems that are still commonplace in many plants?
According to Busiek, “Connection to Proficy Vision is possible for older systems through the use of software like GraphOn or Citrix, which permit you to render a client-server system over the Web.”
Though Proficy Vision was officially released at the first of the year, there are already customers up and running with it. One of these customers is Waterford Township’s water and wastewater operations, which has connected several applications using Proficy Vision including vehicle locating, SCADA, flow monitoring, security and HVAC.
Bill Fritz, director of Waterford Township, Michigan Department of Public Works, says that by using Proficy Vision he can see if an event on one side of his facility affected something on the other side without having to dump data and overlay one program on top of the other.
“It allows us to coordinate everything and that makes it a dispatching tool for us,” Fritz adds.
Despite the software’s extremely recent vintage, Busiek says that GE has been using Proficy Vision for four years. He says GE’s internal use of the software permitted the company to optimize the package with a focus on easing installation, configuration and use.
In many manufacturing facilities “there are still a lot of green screens and SAP displays pushed down to plant floor,” Busiek says. “To optimize Proficy Vision, we hired people who focus only on user experience to learn how people used the software so that data is pushed to you rather than requiring you to find it. The focus for this whole project has been: The operator matters.”
Security for Proficy Vision can be addressed via Proficy’s own built-in security or it can adapt to corporate IT security requirements. “We’re seeing more CIO and IT influence on the selection of plant systems and related software. In response to this, using LDAP integration you can tie Proficy Vision into a corporate directory structure for user IDs and passwords.”
Other features of Proficy Vision include:
• After creating a specific view of a system, as user can make a decision as to whether that view is specific to them or available to anyone in their group. If available to all, the customized mashup can be pushed out to others in the group who are notified via the Proficy Vision interface.
• Users can perform free form searches. “You can search by display types you have created or by specific equipment,” says Busiek. “You could use the ISA 95 model to establish terminology or your own proprietary model.”
• The typical hosting model for Proficy Vision is on premise, but Busiek notes that it can be cloud-based.
See the GE Intelligent Solutions video describing Proficy Vision below
