It’s easy to forget that the IT industry is still very young.

With the semiconductor less than 70 years old, and what we now would recognize as a microchip less than 50, implementing information technology into older industries sometimes feels like attempting to fit a square peg into a round hole.

Some industries, like mining, are nearly as old as the hills. Utilities and manufacturing have been going on as long as civilisation itself. Leveraging technology into these areas has its particular challenges. Thankfully, Rockwell Automation, the largest global provider of industrial automation products, produces technology and solutions which are aimed specifically at these types of industry — not just new “industries” that have emerged in the last few years (though those are catered for too).

The fully-connected industrial internet of things (IIoT) has a major role in a popular catchphrase: Industry 4.0. The growing needs of industry, manufacturing, utilities, healthcare, etc., require support from a company as they strive to become connected. One of industry’s best support provider on the journey is Rockwell Automation.

With a broad range of experience covering industries as disparate as automotive, chemical, water, manufacturing, marine & life sciences, and oil & gas, new generations of intelligent, connected, IIoT devices are providing enormous amounts of empowering data to organizations.

Source: Rockwell Automation

While the flow of information is a powerful tool which can increase processes’ efficiencies and overall work practices in the business, raw data as of itself lacks any value unless it is correctly treated.

Rockwell Automation provides systems that allow connected information solutions on the plant floor and across the enterprise to communicate, manage, validate, and optimize production.

From manufacturing execution systems (MES) to intelligence and analytics applications, Rockwell Automation offers a broad range of information-driven services which accelerate digital transformation (DX) and maximize the benefits of so-called “big data.”

The proliferation of smart devices such as sensors, actuators, controllers, and monitors means that IIoT data has to be given context and spread in meaningful ways throughout the enterprise. Careful management of data is needed to verify that it flows to the right places, in the right format, at the right time.

By converging operational and informational technology (OT & IT), collaborative execution systems can improve workflows, tracking products as they move from suppliers, down the supply chain, across the shop floor, and on out of the factory gates.

History and experience in different areas of industry means that Rockwell Automation is able to apply the correct solution with knowledge of each customer’s specialist requirements and works with a range of organizations to deliver genuinely value-driven solutions.

Collaborative tech solutions confirm that all areas of the enterprise play an informed role in improving productivity and decreasing costs. Allowing the organization a much more agile way of doing business, the technology’s speed and power mean that competitors attempting to resist digital transformation (or just make cursory steps) are left by the wayside.

By joining up different elements like quality management, regulatory compliance, performance management, proactive maintenance, and business intelligence, the entire enterprise can gain from technology that empowers, rather than IT that dictates direction of change.

Find out how the enterprise resource planning (ERP) integration gateway from Rockwell Automation provides synergy between MES, ERP, and DCS systems, or help with DX from scratch. Out-of-the-box configuration and connection options mean operators and engineers know captured data is the very latest, allowing them to optimize production as their specialisms dictate.

Now no longer the sole remit of so-called disruptive technology start-ups, “The Connected Enterprise” is becoming a reality for traditional industries. To learn more about how Rockwell Automation, the industrial internet of things and tech can take your business to the next level, get in touch with a representative today.