Portable Access First Step in Mobility Journey

Rockwell Automation takes seriously the needs of its users to access information when on the go. For years now, they've offered the ability to send text or email notifications to mobile devices or replicate in-plant or desktop user interfaces on portable screens.

But the true power of today's mobile technology lies not in its ability to provide simple information access on a tablet or smartphone, said Kyle Reissner, Rockwell Automation product manager and mobility platform leader, in his presentation to RSTechED attendees this week in Orlando, Florida. "Mobility isn't just a consumption-of-data tool," Reissner said. "It's an enabler of new possibilities."

Reissner pointed to the iPhone as an example of a mobile technology that really didn't take off until Apple realized and played up its ability to do new things in new ways. The vision of the first iPhones was for users to interact with the outside world through a Web browser, Reissner explained. "But once it was optimized for apps, it was no longer a device that did something better. Instead, it transformed how we interact with our devices."

Don't Just 'Give Me My Screens'

Such is the productivity revolution promised by mobility in manufacturing today. People focus too much today on security, on IT compliance, on other roadblocks to mobile technology, Reissner believes. "Once you find the new applications that increase productivity not by 1 or 2 but by 10 percent, these other issues will take care of themselves," he said. "If you show you can grow productivity, you'll find a way to provide secure network access."

Mobility isn't just a consumption-of-data tool. It's an enabler of new possibilities.

—Kyle Reissner, Rockwell Automation product manager and mobility platform leader

To further illustrate the transformative potential of mobile technology, Reissner described three personas--each of whom was enabled by the platform's native capabilities. Joe, a maintenance supervisor, created an end-of-day production report mash-up on his tablet. He tweaked it up on the fly to exclude a few invalid data points then shared it with his boss. Later, that same report was available for further sharing or manipulation on his desktop portal.

Nate, a young engineer out on his lunch break, received a smartphone alert based on his responsibilities at the plant. He suspected he knew the cause and used his smartphone to attach a voice memo to the alert describing what would happen next if he was right and forwarded it to the plant operator. When the operator confirmed Nate's prediction, he created a new business rule on the fly (again on his smartphone) that would directly inform the operator what to do if this combination of conditions happened again.

Scarlett, a manager at her desk, received a high-priority quality alert via email. She connected directly to the in-plant HMI and was able to analyze the situation through a portal view of operational data, displayed in terms with meaning to her. She remembered hearing of a similar situation at another plant, video-conferenced in the other plant's remote expert and local operator, who together solved the problem. The operator, in turn, shared the incident and proper corrective action with other shift operators.