Tapping the Power of InSQL

So you deployed InTouch as your human machine interface…  Maybe you set up Alarm DB Logger Manager to log all plant alarms and events to a SQL database…  And maybe you have installed Wonderware’s IndustrialSQL Server plant database to store all this process data...  Your equipment and process operators are reaping the benefits of real-time information to better perform their jobs, making informed and timely decisions resulting in quality and manufacturing improvements throughout the process.  But what happens to all this data once it gets updated on the HMI screens?

Most plants have a wealth of data stored in one or more databases.  In the Wonderware world, chances are that your plant has an IndustrialSQL Server database, and maybe an Alarm Log database.  These databases are storing data that could be used for process analysis and improvement, quality analysis, production reporting, downtime reporting, equipment utilization reporting, and compliance reporting, to name just a few applications.   In order to produce useful reports, it is necessary to consider the following:

• What database(s) exist, and what data do they contain?
• At what frequency (data resolution) is the data being stored?
• Is this frequency sufficient to provide detailed analysis of the process?
• Who needs the data and in what format?
• What is your “unit” of reporting – time based (shift, daily, weekly), batch number, work order, etc…?
• What is the desired report format?  Tabular, trends, summary, etc…?
• How will the report selection (i.e., filtering) be handled, and how will the reports be generated?  Web-based, Excel, Access, Crystal Reports, etc…?

 Q-mation has had extensive experience in helping our customers answer these questions, and in developing add-on reporting solutions to their existing FactorySuite systems.  From stand-alone reporting add-ons, to out of the box data storage and reporting systems (Factory Information Servers), Q-mation uses both Wonderware tools and 3^rd-party products to build reporting solutions to meet your plant’s specific reporting needs.  The benefits of deploying such a reporting system are significant, with little or no risk, and enable the preservation of your existing InTouch engineering investment.

These reporting solutions are typically deployed in a matter of days to weeks, and do not impact your existing plant-floor software or interrupt operations while they are being installed and deployed.  A Q-mation Applications Consultant will meet with you to evaluate your existing HMI’s and data storage systems, discuss your plant’s industrial reporting needs, and develop a proposal to best meet those needs.  The reporting solution may entail a completely out of the box implementation of Wonderware’s IndustrialSQL Server and ActiveFactory reporting website, a completely customized reporting “front-end” and reports, or a hybrid solution which will meet the needs of a wide cross-section of users.

Please contact your Q-mation Sales Engineer to see how we can help you meet your industrial reporting and data analysis needs.

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