Swiss engineering conglomerate ABB has released an analytics software and services suite to combine data from information and operation technology (IT and OT). The new ABB Ability Genix product “collects, contextualizes, and converts” data from across industrial operations and engineering functions, along with enterprise-based IT disciplines, the company said.
It reckons most industrial companies only use 20 percent of the data they generate, as it stands, limiting their ability to apply data analytics meaningfully. The convergence of IT and OT in the Industry 4.0 space remains a challenge, with separate repositories and governance rules for each. The Ability platform is presented as a “pre-built, easy-to-use” suite of applications and services, to explode the remaining 80 percent of data out of these silos.
“ABB’s new solution operates as a digital data convergence point where streams of information from diverse sources across the plant and enterprise are put into context through a unified analytics model. Application of artificial intelligence (AI) on this data produces meaningful insights for prediction and optimization that improve business performance,” the company said.
Customers can select a variety of analytics on demand, from a library of applications, as business needs dictate. This speeds up the traditional process of requesting and scheduling support from suppliers, ABB said. The new bundle incorporates, together or alone, ABB’s Ability Edgenius operations data manager, as well, to collect and analyze OT technology data at the point of production.
It supports cloud, hybrid edge-cloud, and on-premise edge-based deployments; it leverages Microsoft Azure for integrated cloud-based connectivity and services.
Peter Terwiesch, president of ABB’s industrial automation business, said: “The place to start a data analytics journey in the process, energy, and hybrid industries is by building on the existing digital technology – the automation that controls the production processes.
“We see a huge opportunity for our customers to use their data from operations better, by combining it with engineering and information technology data for multi-dimensional decision making. This new approach will help our customers make literally billions of better decisions.”
Rajesh Ramachandran, chief digital officer for ABB’s industrial automation business, said: “ABB Ability Genix helps asset-intensive producers with complex processes to make timely and accurate decisions through deep analytics and optimization across the plant and enterprise.
“We have designed this modular and flexible suite so that customers at different stages in their digitalization journey can adopt ABB Ability Genix to accelerate business outcomes while protecting existing investments.”
