Rockwell Automation Offers Project Scio, A New Scalable Analytics Platform for IIoT Applications

Rockwell Automation has released Project Scio, a new scalable analytics platform for IIoT applications that is designed to help further enable advanced analytics for manufacturing. The platform opens access to ad-hoc analytics and performs advanced analysis by pulling structured and unstructured data from existing sources in the enterprise. It can also fuse related data, delivering analytics in intuitive dashboards called storyboards that users can share and view. Users then have the ability to perform self-serve drill downs to help make better decisions, which can reduce the time to value.

Key attributes of Scio Scalable Analytics Platform

Device Auto-Discovery

The Project Scio platform can auto-discover Rockwell Automation devices and tags, as well as third-party device data, to help reduce risk and save time. This can help users replace having to do manual mapping software to each plant-floor device, which can be a time-consuming and error-prone process. Additionally, the auto-discovery process gives users access to more detailed information than is typically available through manual mapping, such as device name, line location and plant location.

Leave Isolated Analytics Behind

The Project Scio platform brings data into a centralized location and can continually refresh that data instead of leaving data at its source and taking database snapshots. Additionally, connections to data sources only need to be established once. This connection allows users to create custom analytics and refresh them at their preferred rate without the support of a data scientist.

Flexible Machine Learning (ML) 

The Project Scio platform is configurable to support many common industry algorithms, including SparkML, MLLib and Python, helping users choose the correct ML algorithm for the appropriate use case.

Closed-Looped Analytics 

The Project Scio platform can monitor operations and automatically trigger control adjustments if processes start to fall outside allowable parameters, using either ML or predefined settings. This can help users further optimize control, improve product quality and consistency, and reduce scrap and waste.

Applications Marketplace

Rockwell Automation will introduce an applications marketplace for applications developed in-house and by third parties. The ability to access data sources and create custom analytics for each user’s application is a central feature. However, users can also leverage pre-engineered FactoryTalk Analytics applications from Rockwell Automation. These applications allow users to monitor common KPIs, such as OEE and quality, in a standardized way without configuration.

Open Platform

This open-architecture platform is scalable and designed to be extended to a full ecosystem of IIoT data sources, which is important since industrial producers cannot be expected to rip and replace all their legacy control and information systems before gaining value from analytics. Quick connection to the range of systems that feed data into a Connected Enterprise includes controllers, MES software and edge devices.

In addition to these Information Solutions, Rockwell Automation offers a range of Connected Services which helps to provide customers the ability to better ensure network integrity, security, infrastructure design and maintenance, and remote monitoring of equipment, including predictive maintenance. These services can help customers with many aspects of their Connected Enterprise journey, including developing an IIoT infrastructure and strategy, and providing remote monitoring and analytics.