Industrial automation is not a new topic, but it’s certainly gained more traction in recent years in light of labor challenges and new technological advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Human-machine interface (HMI) technology sits at the forefront of many of these trends.
In a fast-changing industrial landscape, it’s critical to work with a solution purpose-built to adapt to an evolving technology landscape and arm your organization to be future-ready. System integrators (SIs) and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) today are often challenged to piece together solutions from disparate components that don’t always play well together. As a result, the equipment may lack flexibility and systems may need to be completely overhauled when requirements inevitably change.
Rockwell Automation’s FactoryTalk® Optix™ portfolio offers a new way to approach HMI, focused on extensibility and openness. With this portfolio, you can build versatile solutions that meet varied customer requirements today, while also having the flexibility to evolve for tomorrow. From new feature additions to new integration needs, the FactoryTalk Optix portfolio is built to adapt. What is FactoryTalk Optix? Let’s look look at some key features to get you better acquainted.
The FactoryTalk Optix Portfolio Advantage
The FactoryTalk Optix Portfolio AdvantageThe FactoryTalk Optix portfolio includes both hardware and software to form an HMI solution where all the pieces are designed to work in harmony. And with FactoryTalk Optix, you’re not limited to just Rockwell Automation technology. The versatile portfolio is designed to support broad interoperability, including full OPC UA support. You can connect with third-party components in the broader environment and address an extensive set of use cases and customer requirements.
The FactoryTalk Optix portfolio also includes a new option for HMI hardware: the OptixPanel™ graphic terminal. This purpose-built HMI appliance is more cost-effective than a traditional industrial PC and helps you meet specific needs and budget requirements. With FactoryTalk® Optix™, you’ll enjoy runtime licensing based on the requirements of your application, so you only pay for the features you need.
Innovative Equipment + Faster Design Time
One of the most attractive benefits of the FactoryTalk® Optix™ portfolio is that it brings together a variety of features tailored to making the design process easier and more collaborative. It also offers unmatched flexibility to tailor your application to meet customer needs. Support for C# and other modern programming options enables you to build highly customized applications. Multi-user collaboration empowers your team to work together from anywhere in the world. You can deploy several team members to work in different parts of an application, with integrated version control ensuring all changes (as well as previous versions) are captured. Stakeholders can design and review easily, without needing to install the software thanks to the web-based design of FactoryTalk Optix.
Rockwell Automation offers an abundance of assets and tools to accelerate your time to value, including pre-built recipes, localization, datalogging and style sheets. Build your own library of IP, creating objects and code that you can reuse again and again. And responsive graphics that sense and adjust automatically to screen size free you to develop an HMI without being tied to specific display hardware.
There’s a whole host of flexibility and design options in the FactoryTalk Optix portfolio that empower you to equip operators with modern and intuitive interfaces.
Future-Ready Flexibility with FactoryTalk Optix
As manufacturers confront volatile market demands and rapidly evolving technology, they will increasingly rely on integrators and machine builders to advise them on how to remain agile. With the FactoryTalk Optix portfolio, making changes doesn’t require a complete overhaul. It’s a solution designed to be flexible and capable of evolution over time. Deploying your designs at scale with this versatile HMI solution enables you to support diverse hardware and customer requirements. Apply your expertise from customer-to-customer and maintain high standards without having to start from scratch with each customer.
The FactoryTalk Optix portfolio enables you to unlock powerful insights about how your equipment is being used and how it is performing. You can seamlessly collect real-time data for diagnostics, laying the foundation for predictive analytics.
HMI Technology That Will Grow With You
Interested in learning more about how Rockwell Automation’s FactoryTalk Optix portfolio by Rockwell Automation could impact your solutions? Reach out to your Agilix Solutions Account Manager to get connected with our team of specialists on Rockwell Automation’s entire suite of products and services.