New enterprise-level software solution

Emerson announces the launch of its Plantweb Optics Data Lake an enterprise-level data management software solution that helps manufacturers reduce data complexity so that they can fully leverage operations data across a production site or from multiple sites to improve profitability enterprise-wide.

This new advanced data management solution securely identifies, collects and contextualises disparate data, at scale, either on-premises or using cloud technology. 

Today, this valuable manufacturing data is often in different formats and siloed across a plant, posing significant impediments to a company’s digital transformation initiatives. By effectively unifying this data, companies can establish a sound data foundation that can be leveraged by various digital solutions.

For example, Emerson’s data lake software, which is integrated into the Plantweb Optics platform, can seamlessly work with advanced analytics applications powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence – or connect with other providers’ analytics and dashboard toolkits – to drive performance improvement and increase revenue. 

Because this software was designed to serve as a centralised information technology (IT) solution that draws from Emerson’s broad operational technology (OT) expertise, it reduces the need for data science specialists.

“A solid data management foundation is critical to every digital transformation programme,” said Stuart Harris, group president for digital transformation at Emerson. “Most manufacturers say they have lots of data but aren’t able to turn it into valuable business insights. Our Plantweb Optics Data Lake software enables users to collect, manage and contextualise vast amounts of OT data from diverse sources, giving users the power to maximise operational performance by implementing advanced applications on an enterprise-wide scale.”

Emerson’s Plantweb Optics Data Lake runs on various cloud-computing platforms, enabling companies to implement a wide range of use cases from analytics applications that make use of machine learning to KPIs and dashboards, digital twins and other applications for improving reliability and sustainability. Effectively bridging the gap between OT and IT domains, this software seamlessly consolidates manufacturing data from a variety of systems, protocols and data architectures – even legacy systems – across a plant and multiple facilities by moving it into the cloud and ensuring that it is ready for use.

“Many legacy systems at manufacturing sites across the world are already over a decade old, and they’re often isolated from each other, impeding teams from effectively accessing data at scale for operational improvements,” said Peter Zornio, chief technology officer of Emerson’s Automation Solutions business. “Aggregating information between systems without disrupting production is extremely complex and difficult. Emerson’s software allows users to securely manage operational data centrally, scale it easily and gain critical insight into their operations at the enterprise level.”