2004 - Partner Year in Review

This year has proven to be a year of significant new product releases.  From software to hardware, our partner companies have raised the bar on competition and redefined the options available to manufacturing facilities surrounding their options for plant systems.  This Q-partner article will focus on re-capping some of the most important releases of 2004.

Wonderware

The Industrial Application Server

The most significant new manufacturing based software offering in years is undoubtedly the Industrial Application Server Version 2.0 which was released this fall (See Q-news Volume 3 October 2004).  As InTouch revolutionized the industry over a decade ago, so Application Server is poised to make the same advances.  With platforms now available in sizes ranging from 250 I/O to 1,000,000 I/O per solution, Industrial Application Server is truly the most flexible, expandable plant intelligence platform in existence.  This capability has been confirmed as IAS sales have accelerated drastically over the past months with over 300 installations and counting.  If you have not already witnessed the capabilities of IAS, please do not hesitate to call Q-mation.  We would be happy to show you how IAS can benefit your business.

The release of Wonderware's panels and tablets

With the idea of enabling customers to standardize on hardware and software throughout their facility, Wonderware began providing Industrial Hardware bundled with InTouch software as a cost competitive alternative to all of the proprietary terminals that exist in the market (See Q-news Volume 2 August 2004).  Released in late 2003, these units (10", 12", 15", 17" Panel PCs along with the new Tablet PCs) have been extremely popular with our customers.  Any system that requires a panel PC and an InTouch license or that requires an off-the-shelf proprietary terminal is a perfect fit for this new offering.  Our customers have realized the benefit of new Wonderware hardware bundle and have begun ordering these systems in increasingly large amounts.  If you have not yet seen one of these units, we encourage you to give us a call.  The benefits are endless for this new bundled offering. 

STRONGARM

Mobile Computing Solutions

2004 was the year of the STRONGARM Mobile Station incorporating wireless computing technology with untethered power systems to allow for flexible mobile operation.  Q-mation has worked with STRONGARM to design a wide range of mobile computing applications for users to measure, test and record information for production, pre-production and QA testing.  Combining industrial computers, sophisticated display technology, scanners, scales, electronic calipers, software, wireless communications and plant floor ergonomics, Q-mation has provided our customers with customized, industrialized, mobile test stations for any application (See Q-partner Volume 3 October 2004).  The proliferation of these new solutions along with huge sales of the more traditional STRONGARM offerings enabled Q-mation to have an incredible year for STRONGARM products.  With well over 20,000 installations and the ability to make any custom system imaginable, STRONGARM is proving to be the definitive leader in ergonomic plant floor systems.

Woodhead

Woodhead and Wonderware Partner for I/O connectivity

This fall, Woodhead and Wonderware announced a partnership (See Q-partner Volume 3 October 2004)  geared at providing hardware and software offerings that tightly integrate the full range of protocols that are supported by WSE’s applicom interfaces, for use with Wonderware’s Industrial Application Server and Wonderware’s new industrial computer product line.  For years, Q-mation has been selling Woodhead's line of Applicom and SST device communication cards for customers connecting to many kinds of industrial networks (Profibus, Modbus, DH+, ControlNet, DeviceNet, etc.).  The new partnership with Wonderware now solidifies Woodhead's communication solutions as the premier device communication platform for the industrial market.  To learn more about Woodhead's offerings, please do not hesitate to call.

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©2003 Q-mation, Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.