GE RtOI wins Frost & Sullivan award for evolving plant floor processes

Jan. 16, 2015 – Based on its analysis of the human machine interface market, Frost & Sullivan has recognized GE’s Intelligent Platforms business with the 2014 Global Frost & Sullivan Company of the Year Award, saying the company’s foresight in using real-time operational intelligence (RtOI) to evolve plant floor processes has enhanced customer value.

This annual award is presented to a company that has “demonstrated excellence in devising a strong growth strategy and robustly implementing it” and maintains best practices that are “positioned for future growth excellence.”

Industrial customers are increasingly demanding greater functionalities in human machine interface (HMI) systems, noted frost & Sullivan, adding that most of the currently available HMIs provide abundant data to customers but are inadequate to power long-term growth.

According to GE, it leveraged mobility and advanced intelligence to launch RtOI, describing it as a solution that is an extension of HMI/supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), combining mobility, analytics, and geo-awareness to help customers optimize their plant operations.

Through the company’s Proficy platform, GE launched a range of automation software with the intent to improve the value proposition for its industrial customers.

“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 Guru Mahesh, Frost & Sullivan research analyst. “This unique value proposition will open new opportunities in preventive maintenance, which can reduce the downtime and associated costs for customers.”

Frost & Sullivan research found that customers who have adopted GE’s RtOI solutions experienced a 70 per cent increase in operator productivity, a 45 per cent increase in the value offered by the company, and a 25 per cent decrease in downtime.

PHOTO: Matt Wells from GE accepts the Frost & Sullivan Award. Photo © Frost & Sullivan