Application Development
 

When you create projects for implementation in your business using Tatsoft FactoryStudio your resulting efficiency is increased and your TCO reduced. The power and flexibility of FactoryStudio enables our client companies to deliver pragmatic functionality in a shorter time frame with smaller and more cost-effective development efforts, and more user-friendly interfaces.
 
When applied to a specific vertical market, those Engineering Tools (and some specific functional modules they provide) are defined as Rapid Application Development (RAD) tools, Plant Information System, or Plant Management Information (PMI’s), SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition), HMI (Human-Machine Interfaces), or Plant Performance Monitors.
 
The software technology that provides the foundation for those tools also provides these important capabilities:
 
Synchronization of distributed events and real-time data
Incorporation of easy-to-create advanced graphics
Connection with databases and legacy applications
Interaction with built-in business objects involving extensive features for customization
 

Recent developments in both hardware and software technology have made most of the currently existing tools obsolete. These new technologies, of which FactoryStudio is a leading example, make use of modern architecture and development processes and code, which the legacy applications do not.

The FactoryStudio infrastructure was designed to provide the ideal platform for these applications by using the latest software technologies and by taking advantage of advances in hardware design, providing a common background for both product development and systems projects.
 
Typical Applications
 
Applications for process automation, factory-floor automation, energy management, real-time data management, performance monitoring, automatic data collection, and integration with dedicated control and monitoring devices are core components to modern corporations.
 
Current supervisory systems are the foundation of manufacturing, and perform critical functions throughout the production cycle including control of factory-floor processes from the Machine Panel to Management Business Intelligence dashboard. Typical applications include:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Production Performance and OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness)
 
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and Total Effective Equipment Performance (TEEP) both provide standard methods of measure with which you can determine the overall effectiveness of your production facility. These measures provide an indispensible way to gauge your current performance against ideal performance targets.
 
OEE provides a way to measure the effectiveness of your production unit against its designed capacity and scheduled operations; TEEP measures the OEE against the maximum available time (that is, complete calendar hours).
 

Connecting the factory-floor and control devices with the OEE calculation enables you to “drill” into the underlying metrics for OEE and gather important information to determine where problems may exist or where opportunities for improvement might exist. Information about Loading, Availability or Uptime and Performance for each process component is provided.
 
Total Quality Management
 
Job Tracking and Downtime tracking, quality assurance, defect tracking, all the quality management requirements are easy to setup using FactoryStudio tools. Customizable reports, web displays and reports on the web, mixing external databases queries with realtime factory-floor data are available with very flexible customization tools.
 
KPI (Key Performance Indicators)
 

For reliable operational and production KPIs, it is essential that the data collected from multiple systems are automated as much as possible so that real-time feedback on the metrics is provided. This real-time access to important data will allow for fast, well-informed decision making that can directly, and positively, impact your production lines.
 
With the FactoryStudio platform which integrates multiple database sources with data collected directly from the factory floor devices, you now have the best tool to implement your KPI calculation. The advanced graphical engine, web displays and web reports makes FactoryStudio an easy front-end interface for analyzing the results. OPC, XML and datasets, and web services also allow you to export that information into other Business Intelligence applications.
 
HMI – Human Machine Interface
 
The goal for all applications that involve direct effect of production processes is to provide reliable, effective, user-friendly interfaces so that operators can safely and efficiently operate production processes and machines. Some HMI applications are designed to collect test results and quality control information. Such applications typically require integrated tools (so that no third-party is necessary), excellence on price-performance and flexibility to obtain data from any PLC or control system.
 
The FactoryStudio family, with the Standard and HMI versions for cost effective solutions, has the complete functionality built-in, optional modules or external tools are not needed. The user friendly and powerful integrated screens of FactoryStudio makes it a perfect fit for such applications. The Remote Engineering feature available on FactoryStudio allows for simplified maintenance and services.
 
SCADA
 
SCADA applications require robust distributed architecture and security, easy integration for multiple data sources, local and remote rich User Interfaces for operators, and easy and reliable database integration. Some applications may require data exchange between multiple stations, large number of tags and installation redundancy.
 
The structured real-time database of FactoryStudio, in which you can create your own custom types, drastically simplifies the project development and tasks for modeling your processes.
 
Data Acquisition
 
FactoryStudio works like a real-time hub for factory-floor data. Whether your application is collecting data for storage in SQL databases, performing calculations with streamed data before saving, monitoring remote data or managing multiple protocols, all the standard requirements for Data Acquisition applications are easily handled with built-in modules. Tatsoft’s Driver Toolkit allows for easy development of custom communication interfaces and protocols.
 
Real-time Dashboards
 
There are many existing tools to draw bargraphs and charts, but when you need to easily distribute the graphics across multiple web locations, export to XPS documents, manage security access, collect and synchronize the data in real-time, attach alarms, events and custom business logic, a great deal of integration and customization work is required.
 
FactoryStudio is a comprehensive integrated tool to create business-intelligence applications, real-time dashboards and advanced graphical data visualization. Built-in objects for Data Grids, Alarms, Trends, XPS Report Viewer provide a quick start to project development. Integration with WPF Controls enables the creation of state-of-the-art user interfaces and applications that automatically include distributed web access.
 
BPM – Business Process Management
 
Requirements for manufacturing lines are always increasing. Production lines now are far more integrated with business processes than they were in the past; from the availability of materials to the required line output business and production processes are being linked more and more. Because of this increasing linkage Supervisory Systems must go beyond factory-floor process control and enable the visualization and management of the entire integrated business/production process.
 
FactoryStudio Enterprise, with advanced tracking and security, multi-level structure, tables on the real-time database and tied integration with Microsoft .NET Framework, provides a reliable foundation in which to create BPM class applications that reach the Factory-Floor.
 
PIMs
 
Current requirements for Process Information Management systems demand advanced and rich user interfaces, and must include reliable databases with the capability to integrate data from current and legacy islands of automation.
 
The FactoryStudio architecture, with the NO LEGACY CODE guarantee, provides a long-term reliable platform to act as a central point of data consolidation.
 

Our 20+ years of experience in Industrial Automation application design and process implementation as well as our extensive experience with Communication Driver protocols allows us to provide our clients with a reliable and impressive path to successful and cost effective management of data integration.
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