E-opportunities knock on instrument makers' doors

InTech, Oct 2001 by Strothman, Jim

News

Emerging communications technologies to automate manufacturers' supply chains will require new instruments to help monitor and control streaming e-commerce transactions and related data-opening business opportunities for instrument makers, software networking experts agree.

For example, "with our software, which helps companies locate inventory throughout their supply chain, you enter demand-side information, and the data has to stay within a certain range," explained John Ruark, chief technical officer for Optiant in Somerville, Mass.

"The question is, how do you know when [the data] goes out of range? How do you notify the system that demand is up, say, 10%? There is a huge opportunity for automating that. What are the key metrics that need to be observed, and how do you go about observing them?" Ruark asked.

Ron Sielinski, Microsoft's industry technical evangelist for manufacturing and supply chain, said he also sees opportunities for "traditional instrument vendors" by embedding Web services into Microsoft CE-based instruments.

Sielinski said he wouldn't be surprised to see the Universal Plug and Play Forum, an association of more than 350 primarily consumer electronics companies, extend its standards-making role into the automation networks area so devices such as programmable logic controllers can more easily network with one another. -Jim Strothman