As Karl Walker, automation marketing manager at Omron explains, integration of equipment control systems into high level enterprise management software is simpler than ever. The list of reasons why manufacturers should integrate individual line and equipment control systems into high level enterprise management software is growing. And, as the case becomes more compelling, the technological 'wizardry' to make it happen is not only solid fact (rather than science fiction), it is faster, simpler and more 'intelligent' than ever. As every line manager knows, the trend for manufacturers to monitor operational efficiency in order to optimise profit has been rumbling onwards ever more loudly. However, through increasing regulatory and customer pressure, sectors such as pharmaceuticals, food and automotive have been compelled to log process critical data in ever finer detail and in ways which are fully traceable. The days of 'pen and paper' data collection therefore, are a distant memory. In addition, some of the slower ways of electronically logging information are giving way to much faster, real time collection and processing. The Food & Drug Administration's (FDA's) CFR21 part 11 directive for the pharmaceuticals sector, for example, is now well established, and foresees the collection and storage of production data without the possibility of human intervention. Even in non-critical applications, ad-hoc data collection systems are susceptible to omissions and errors. At the same time, the retrieval of data from traditional modes of storage is at best, unreliable.
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