Automation Today Issue 62: News and Events

Rockwell Automation and Accenture Industry X.0 Combine Forces to Create Digital 
Solutions for Industrial Clients

Rockwell Automation and Accenture’s Industry X.0 announced plans to team up to develop a digital offering to help industrial clients move beyond existing manufacturing solutions to transform their entire connected enterprise. 


The engagement is designed to capitalize on the expertise of both companies 
to deliver new capabilities for greater industrial supply chain optimization. By providing customers with a single, trusted provider of digital solutions, the collaboration will enable clients to more effectively leverage the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and ultimately drive measurable growth outcomes. 


Encouraged by initial industry feedback to these types of digital offerings, the two companies have begun working together to develop solutions and services that create value along the industrial value chain. To date, the collaboration has yielded, among other early-stage successes, a prototype for supply chain management designed to deliver supplier cost optimization and an improved ability to track the exact movements of products – two particularly important areas of investment for industrial companies seeking growth. 


“Our customers are looking for measurable business outcomes when they invest 
in our software, products, and solutions. Together with Accenture, we will be able to help industrial companies quantify the financial benefits of their investment and to capture this value at speed and scale,” said Blake Moret, Rockwell Automation Chairman and CEO. “By teaming up, we reduce complexity, reduce risk, and achieve better results with comprehensive enterprise-wide expertise.” 


Rockwell Automation will provide leading industrial automation technology and domain expertise, including FactoryTalk InnovationSuite IIoT software, and analytics solutions. It will also bring network services, operational technology security, and application development, installation, integration and support. 


Accenture will provide enterprise business and technical capabilities, including consulting, analytics, application development, systems integration, change management and support. 


“Industrial companies that want to grow need faster and more efficient production and operations processes. These processes also need to allow them to develop new 
types of products and services,” said Mike Sutcliff, group chief executive of Accenture Digital. “Our collaboration with Rockwell Automation will offer digital solutions and services that will go a long way in helping our clients achieve this enterprise transformation.”

Rockwell Automation Named a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Manufacturing Execution Systems for the Second Consecutive Year

Company improves position on both axes compared to the previous report

Rockwell Automation announced its recognition as a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) for the second consecutive year. Since the 2018 report, Rockwell Automation improved its position in the Leaders quadrant in both its ability to execute and completeness of vision. The report evaluated 16 vendors across criteria spanning 15 different elements.

“We believe that Rockwell Automation’s recognition as a Leader for our MES solution in this year’s Gartner Magic Quadrant validates our vision and innovation for supporting digital transformation in the industrial sector,” said John Genovesi, SVP of Enterprise Accounts & Software at Rockwell Automation. “As a company, we are highly focused on supporting our customers’ diverse digital journeys, enhancing how they leverage operational data to empower their teams and transform factory floors into highly optimized and scalable production management environments. We’re very pleased to receive this recognition and hear the positive statements from our vast global customer base.”

FactoryTalk InnovationSuite was launched to accelerate the fast-growing Industrial digital transformation market, offering MES/MOM, analytics, IoT, augmented reality and AI in an integrated, modular fashion.


Learn more about the Rockwell Automation position as a Leader in the 2019 Magic Quadrant for Manufacturing Execution Systems here.

New Strategic Partnerships announced at Automation Fair 2019 as Rockwell Automation launches Digital Partnership Program

Record attendance celebrated at Rockwell Automation’s 27th annual Automation Fair, championing leading innovations and solutions to bring The Connected Enterprise® to life

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK) unveiled its Digital Partner Program to delegates at Automation Fair 2019, hosted jointly with members of its PartnerNetwork, on 19-20 November in Chicago, Illinois. The industry leading Partner Program will streamline Rockwell Automation’s customer offering, elevating its digital expertise and transformation capabilities.

The new program is strengthened by collaborations with new partners announced at Automation Fair including Accenture, ANSYS and EPLAN, as well as enhancing the existing strategic alliances with Microsoft, and PTC. The collaborative approach of the Digital Partner Program enables clients to more effectively leverage the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and drive measurable growth outcomes for their businesses.

Through the Program, businesses can consult with industry advisors to create roadmaps for their digital initiatives and learn how industrial IoT concepts like digital twin, the factory of the future and a connected workforce can improve their uptime and efficiency. During implementation, businesses will have access to integrated hardware, software and turnkey systems from industry leaders that improve business performance leveraging their existing assets.

“Seamlessly connecting all levels of a business and turning raw data into powerful insights happens when devices are integrated and data is standardized,” said Blake Moret, CEO and chairman of Rockwell Automation. “No one vendor can do this alone. Instead, companies need an ecosystem of proven partners with the right mix of expertise and technologies to expand what’s humanly possible. We’re proud to expand our work with existing strategic alliance partners like Microsoft and PTC, and add new partners like Accenture, ANSYS, and EPLAN in this effort.”

The event also celebrated record breaking attendance from industry stakeholders, coming together to collaborate, network and learn about the latest innovations in industry automation. Across the two-day event, over 19,000 makers, builders and innovators came together from across the globe to hear about the latest technological developments and discuss industry trends impacting today’s manufacturing climate such as digitization, cybersecurity, the skills gap, and STEM.

In addition, to launching the Digital Partner Program, Rockwell Automation reflected on a string of recent announcements, including the acquisition of Indian integrator, MESTECH.

Joe Sousa, president, Asia Pacific, Rockwell Automation, commented: “Expanding human possibility is the driving force of Rockwell Automation, and that is reflected in the investments we make and the partners we collaborate with. We have unrivalled relationships with our partners and are always exploring opportunities to expand our work together, as well as add new partners to our ecosystem. Unlocking potential and productivity through automated and connected innovation is what we do, but by combining the technology and expertise of multiple stakeholders we can accelerate this process for our customers.

Particularly in a region as diverse as Asia Pacific, our partners are integral to our ability to create the most efficient and productive solutions for our customers. While we have partnered with MESTECH for a long time, our recent acquisition of the business further expands our capabilities. We have ambitious plans for 2020 in Asia Pacific and the acquisition of MESTECH brings new expertise to the table, reaching even more customers and bringing solutions to life even faster.”

The Digital Partner Program is part of the Rockwell Automation PartnerNetwork program.

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