Integrating legacy equipment with state-of-the-art solutions

Transcript

Stan Miller: Hello everyone and welcome to ROK Studios.  I’m Stan Miller, I’m the PR and Analyst Relations Manager for Rockwell Automation, in the EMEA Region.  And I’m joined by Feby Mohammad.  He is Business Leader and Regional Director for Europe, Middle East, and Africa for Business Development for ProSoft Technology.  Feby, welcome to the studio.

Feby Mohammad: Thank you, Stan.  Happy to be here.

Stan Miller: So, we’re here today to talk about integrating legacy equipment with state-of-the-art solutions, and I’m really excited to get into this topic.  But before we do, could you just give us a few words on ProSoft as a company and what ProSoft does?

Feby Mohammad: Thanks, Stan, that’s a great question, actually.  So, ProSoft Technology has been a technology partner to Rockwell Automation for more than 30+ years and it’s based out in the US, with regional offices all over the world.  So, ProSoft does industrial communication solutions for networking to connect different subsystems into the Rockwell ecosystem, that’s what ProSoft has been doing.

Stan Miller: Perfect. All right.  Well, let’s get into connectivity.  Why is connectivity so integral to a successful digital transformation journey?

Feby Mohammad: That’s again a great question, actually.  So, my view of connectivity is digital transformation starts with connectivity.  Or in other words, over the years, industries and machine manufacturers and manufacturers in general have been having different kinds of systems installed in their facility, and these systems include legacy systems, obsolete systems, and also different manufacturers that have been putting their systems onboard. 

What happens in digital transformation is an end user or a customer needs to have control of data, and for getting the data, you need to have connectivity, and that’s where ProSoft brings connectivity into the Rockwell ecosystem.  

Stan Miller: You’ve touched on it a little bit, but let me follow up and let’s speak about – like you mentioned, why is integrating existing equipment so important into enabling connectivity?

Feby Mohammad: Exactly.  So, as I mentioned, data is a critical piece.  So, when you talk about legacy equipment, you need to make sure that those data are available onto the digital dashboard for future – for digital transformation decisions.  And when you look at it, there are different ways of integrating data; and when you look at data, you can do a phased migration for legacy systems.  You can also have third party interface modules to get data from other systems into the Rockwell ecosystem.  And these two actions, specifically bring data into a Rockwell ecosystem, which could give control for the customer to create more actions based on the data.

Stan Miller: Got it.  What are some of the cost benefits that come with this approach?

Feby Mohammad: So, I look at that in two different ways.  When you look at integrating legacy equipment into the state-of-the-art machinery, so we can do two different approaches. One is a phased migration approach, and one is a rip and replace approach.  So, ProSoft is very strong in a phased migration approach and the cost benefit that Rockwell or the customers have is basically not to have a big CAP expand, have to have a low OP expand.  And having the low OP expand and doing a phased migration approach also helps the production to be up, rather than killing the production and doing a rip and replace kind of application.

Stan Miller: That makes perfect sense.  Well, let’s talk a bit about how this accelerates a digital transformation journey and potentially future-proof an organization?

Feby Mohammad: Yep.  So, again, I start with data.  So, you need to have data transferred securely, seamlessly to different networks.  And the way ProSoft does – the way ProSoft is partnering up with Rockwell Automation in this digital transformation journey is we go into an end customer, we work with Rockwell to understand the end customer’s expectation in terms of digital transformation journey, and the first point is to get connected to the machinery.  And connecting into machines becomes a challenge for manufacturers because there are a lot of different vendors that have placed implements over the years.  So, to provide you robust connectivity to all different kinds of subsystems, ProSoft actually helps to get those data, get it to either an IP or for Rockwell Automation.  And that brings value to do the next step of data transfer to the data link and to do cloud-based analytics on top of it.

Stan Miller: That’s a great answer.  So, let’s follow that up a little bit, because you’ve talked about collaboration.  How do you see Rockwell and ProSoft helping manufacturers ensure that the connectivity is both robust and flexible enough to support growth?

Feby Mohammad: I think this starts with the long-term partnership with Rockwell Automation, to start with, as I said, in the beginning, we have been working with Rockwell Automation for more than 30+ years, and the whole team within ProSoft ecosystem and Rockwell ecosystem has been trained to understand how Rockwell control systems work.  And that actually brings added benefits for ProSoft Technology in manufacturing new solutions for Rockwell Automation. So, that would be our first step, to do the collaboration.  The next step is to work hand in hand regionally and globally with Rockwell Automation, especially with the technology teams within Rockwell, the sales team within the Rockwell organization, and also the support-level teams within Rockwell organization as well.  So, that kind of collaboration actually engages ProSoft into a different level of technology partnership agreement, which makes it beneficial for both ProSoft and Rockwell technology to make the digital transformation journey easier.

Stan Miller: Feby, thank you so much for joining us in the studio today.  It’s been great.

Feby Mohammad: Thank you very much, Stan.

Stan Miller: And thank you for watching.  If you’d like to learn more about Rockwell Automation and ProSoft, visit www.rockwellautomation.com.