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Automation Today Issue 68

News and Events

This section of Automation Today reveals the most recent and upcoming news and events for Rockwell Automation in the Asia Pacific region.

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Rockwell Automation and Comau Partner to Simplify Robot Integration for Manufacturers

Collaboration offers industrial customers easier, smarter, and more productive ways to design, deploy, and manage robot applications

Rockwell Automation and Comau, a global leader in industrial automation and robot manufacturer, announced that they are joining forces to give businesses worldwide vital tools to maximize manufacturing efficiencies through unified robot control solutions.

“Industrial companies are looking for efficient ways to integrate robotics into their operations for process optimization and agility,” said Rockwell Automation Chairman and CEO Blake Moret. “Rockwell Automation’s collaboration with Comau will simplify programming and lifecycle management, accelerating time to value for our customers.”

Moret said this expansion of robotic applications is rooted in Rockwell’s broader strategy to help industrial companies save time and improve performance with unified robot control, ultimately providing long-term value for their business. The partnership is a collaborative development and selling model that offers the unified robot control product to both companies’ customers.

“Comau’s robotics and industrial automation expertise, as well as its reputation for high performance, reliability, and quality, combined with Rockwell Automation’s global capabilities and experience in automated material handling, food and beverage, household and personal care, and life sciences, gives customers the incremental value of an integrated robot solution,” said Comau CEO Paolo Carmassi.

Engineers will now be able to program their entire machine in one environment, including Comau robot arms directly controlled through Rockwell Automation’s Logix-based controllers. Rockwell Automation’s Studio 5000® automation system design software provides relief from the time-consuming and often difficult task of trying to coordinate traditionally separate machine control and robot systems to work together using two different software tools.

Machine builders, system integrators, and others will gain development and deployment efficiencies through the use of digital engineering tools like Rockwell’s Emulate3D digital twin software, which creates digital models of production lines, auto-generates machine control code, and has built-in capabilities for Comau robots.

The combined Rockwell and Comau solutions will also offer benefits beyond enhanced integration. For example, end users can use analytics and digital twin tools to gain deeper insights into machine performance and potential production optimization. They can also use safety and security solutions to reduce business risks.

Operators on the manufacturing floor who use Rockwell’s FactoryTalk® software suite will benefit from being able to see both line and robot control systems on a single interface. In-plant and remote technicians will only need to learn and maintain one architecture to monitor both systems. They can also leverage Rockwell’s augmented reality (AR) tools to improve lifecycle and service cycle maintenance.

Unleash New Possibilities with LifecycleIQ Services

Expanded professional services portfolio combines knowledge and technology to holistically address needs across the industrial value chain and improve business sustainability

To help companies innovate faster and improve efficiencies during the age of digitalization, Rockwell Automation is evolving its service and solutions capabilities and launching a new brand: LifecycleIQ Services.

The new brand represents the expanding ways that customers can engage with Rockwell Automation technology and highly trained professionals to improve their performance and reimagine what’s possible across their industrial value chain.

LifecycleIQ Services provide the transformative partnership that customers need and expect today. By combining digital technologies with expansive human know-how, the services help companies work faster, smarter and with greater agility at every point in their business cycle. The services can help companies realize the power of a Connected Enterprise during the design, operations, and maintenance stages in greenfield and brownfield facilities.

“LifecycleIQ Services create a more intimate customer engagement model, one that can help companies not only solve problems, but also see new possibilities in production and transform them into reality,” said Frank Kulaszewicz, senior vice president, Lifecycle Services at Rockwell Automation. “We’re investing in providing a wide range of holistic services to help companies be more productive, safe and secure anywhere in a product, process or plant lifecycle.”

Inbavanan Rathinam, senior director, Solutions & Services, Asia-Pacific at Rockwell Automation, said: “One challenge faced by many industrial players in Asia-Pacific is how to adopt smart manufacturing technology quickly whilst seamlessly integrating legacy equipment and machinery. LifeCycleIQ Services help to address this unmet need holistically, enabling enterprises to be future-ready by incorporating agility and flexibility in both infrastructure and processes.

“Driving efficiencies also continues to be increasingly important to businesses across every sector in the region, with growing attention on sustainable operations. LifeCycleIQ Services enables our customers to better plan and service every aspect of the plant, from design to safe operations, enabling reduced energy usage, minimized wastage, and maximized output.”

Industrial companies can use LifecycleIQ Services to achieve outcomes like: Capturing more value from digital transformation initiatives, reducing risk with comprehensive cybersecurity support and improving workforce support.

To improve customer experiences, LifecycleIQ Services is also introducing a new way to receive multiple services in one contract. An Integrated Service Agreement allows companies to select a package of offerings to simplify their support needs and have just one number to call to access experts and receive priority service. Companies can get 24x7 technical support, repair services, reports and analytics, field services and more, all in one integrated contract.

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Rockwell Automation Donates Arena® Simulation Software to Support COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts

Rockwell Automation announced that it is donating its Arena® Simulation Software to nonprofit organizations, governmental organizations, and public health partners to plan COVID-19 vaccination clinics in their communities. The software can be used to monitor patient flow, staffing, shift changes, and maintenance of social distancing guidance for patients in queue.

A nonprofit health system will use the donated software to help manage more than 30 vaccination clinics with several planned in Wisconsin, and a public health department will use the software to plan future vaccination efforts in northeastern Ohio. Conversations with other healthcare providers are ongoing.

“We recognize this software is a potential game changing tool in helping our healthcare partners to better address supply and staffing needs, and ultimately help expedite the vaccination process,” said Patricia Contreras, vice president of public affairs for Rockwell Automation. “We look forward to joining forces with more hospitals, health departments and other community organizations to help as many people as possible get vaccinated safely, efficiently, and quickly.”

At the start of the pandemic, Northwell Health in New York, and ChristianaCare in Delaware both used Arena® to manage COVID-19 inpatient care. The software is ideal for vaccine clinic planning because it helps decision-makers understand the flow of systems and the constraints of resources in an environment where every day might bring a different scenario.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of Friday, March 12, more than 100 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been administered, with 13.5% of adults U.S. population now fully vaccinated.

As vaccine supplies change and more people gain access to schedule a vaccination, better and more efficient tools will be needed to support vaccine distribution.

DiversityInc Honors Rockwell Automation

For the fourth time, we’re a Noteworthy Company; for the first time, we’re #15 for Employee Resource Groups

​DiversityInc, an organization that strives to bring education and clarity to the business benefits of diversity, recently announced that Rockwell Automation is named a 2021 DiversityInc Noteworthy Company.

For the fourth time, we were among the select 42 U.S. companies named to this list, which includes companies whose data indicates they have the potential to make The DiversityInc Top 50. And for the first time, this year we were named #15 for Employee Resource Groups.

Now in its 20th year, the DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity competition had more than 1,000 companies participate last year. Their survey is the most comprehensive, data-driven diversity and inclusion analysis of some of the largest U.S. employers. It is a metrics-driven evaluation based on 2020 company-submitted data in these six key areas:

  • Leadership Accountability
  • Human Capital Diversity Metrics
  • Talent Programs
  • Workforce Practices
  • Supplier Diversity
  • Philanthropy

Our employees are our greatest resource, and these two designations are strong indications of Rockwell’s continuing commitment to creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive work environment​ that enables employees to bring their whole selves to work and contribute their full potential.

We’ve made progress in operationalizing that commitment ​as we want to be the place where people can and want to do their best work. We continue to seek out and apply best practices to accelerate the diversity, equity and inclusion of our organization and our industry. Our 14 Employee Resource Groups help employees create a sense of belonging that crosses over functional and geographic boundaries. Visit ERG Central to learn more​.

We are proud and honored to be among those 42 companies named to the DiversityInc 2021 list of Noteworthy Companies and the 25 companies named to the DiversityInc 2021 list of Top Companies for Employee Resource Groups!

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