Frost & Sullivan Applauds GE's Contribution toward Enabling the Vision of Smart Factories by Developing Real-Time Operational Intelligence for Plant Floor Processes

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the human machine interface market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes GE's Intelligent Platforms business with the 2014 Global Frost & Sullivan Company of the Year Award. GE's foresight in using real-time operational intelligence (RtOI) to evolve plant floor processes has enhanced customer value. Frost & Sullivan has acknowledged this as a crucial step toward creating smart factories.

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Industrial customers are increasingly demanding greater functionalities in human machine interface (HMI) systems. Most of the currently available HMIs emulate the plant floor and provide abundant data to customers, but are proving inadequate to power long-term growth. Recognizing the need for fuller features and benefits, GE leveraged mobility and advanced intelligence to launch RtOI. This solution is an extension of HMI/supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), combining mobility, analytics, and geo-awareness to help customers optimize their plant operations.

"With RtOI, GE can enable customers to filter the operational data from the HMI/SCADA systems and transform them into actionable insights that can be accessed anywhere at any time," said Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Guru Mahesh. "This unique value proposition will open new opportunities in preventive maintenance, which can reduce the downtime and associated costs for customers."

GE helps customers make the most of their RtOI solution with its Proficy™ software platform. Through the Proficy platform, GE launched an array of automation software, improving the value proposition for its industrial customers. Frost & Sullivan's research reveals that the customers that adopted GE's RtOI solutions experienced a 70 percent increase in operator productivity, a 25 percent decrease in downtime, and a 45 percent increase in the value offered by the company, far exceeding traditional HMI systems' efficiency.

However, despite the obvious benefits of the technology, end users in several verticals, such as the water and wastewater industry, tend to be slow adopters of novel technologies. To demonstrate the advantages of its system, GE successfully partnered with a medium-sized water treatment facility to mobilize its workforce and increase plant efficiency.

Due to such experiences, the core team realized that providing customers with state-of-the-art solutions will not suffice. In response, it rolled out various training programs that centered on the themes of operation management training, automation software training, and control and communication systems training.

With the RtOI, GE is in line with the Mega Trend of smart factory, wherein factory owners incorporate advanced intelligence and mobile applications to change the way shop floor processes are performed. GE's "Industrial Internet" has aided this movement by bringing together products and concepts of the industrial revolution and the Internet revolution to transform the industrial landscape.

Frost & Sullivan notes that GE was one of the earliest companies to have launched a pilot program for RtOI in a GE energy storage factory in the United States. As a part of this program, employees used  iPads and GE's Proficy software to access industrial data, which alerted employees to possible malfunctions and alarms, helping them take corrective action faster.

Smart phones and tablets have an established presence in the industrial sector, where mobility has become a key theme. Nevertheless, RtOI is not just about going mobile; it is about using advanced intelligence to channel the right information to the right device. This approach has enabled GE to successfully cater to the needs of customers all over the world.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated excellence in devising a strong growth strategy and robustly implementing it. The recipient has shown strength in terms of innovation in products and technologies, leadership in customer value, as well as speed in response to market needs. In short, the award looks at the emerging market players in the industry and recognizes their best practices that are positioned for future growth excellence.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.

About GE's Intelligent Platforms Business

GE's Intelligent Platforms business provides industrial software, control systems and embedded computing platforms to optimize our customers' assets and equipment. Our goal is to help our customers grow the profitability of their businesses through high-performance solutions facilitated by the Industrial Internet. We work across industries, including manufacturing, water, oil & gas, mining, power, defense and aerospace. A division of GE, we are headquartered in Charlottesville, VA. To learn more, visit www.ge-ip.com.

About Frost & Sullivan

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