Community Technology Preview (CTP)
Members of CESMII’s leadership team were recently joined in an online event by select technology partners to show the current capabilities of the CESMII Smart Manufacturing (SM) Platform and discuss its importance in the Institute’s short and long-term plans. This CTP event is a milestone for CESMII, as the SM Platform has been a centerpiece of CESMII’s Technology Roadmap since the Institute’s inception.
The online event was delivered in three (3) 30-minute segments:
Segment 1. SM Platform Overview
Haresh Malkani (CESMII CTO) provided an overview of the SM Platform, reinforcing for attendees why the platform is valuable and unique in terms of what manufacturers want to be able to do with the frictionless movement of information from data sensing to modeling and control. He articulated what technologies are required to empower such information flow and the unique role CESMII owns in driving collaboration and interoperability of industrial solutions. He also presented a market-facing architecture (a ‘Marketecture’) of the future, full-featured SM Platform and introduced the concept of CESMII SM Profiles, which will be of central importance to future CESMII technology releases.
Haresh then turned his attention to the current ‘CTP version’ of the SM Platform, which he defined as follows:
- “…A Community Technology Preview (CTP) is a version of a (software) product that is released to early users and software developers for testing before the start of general availability…” – A well-known software provide
- We [CESMII] see it as an early manifestation of the SM Platform, with a set of core capabilities that is immediately usable by our members…
- …with the understanding that it will evolve into a full-fledged, functionally rich platform.
Haresh closed the opening segment by defining for the audience what functionality and capabilities would next be demonstrated and which technology partners would support the CTP demonstration based on the early-stage efforts they’ve provided to date.
Segment 2. SM Platform CTP Demonstration
Jonathan Wise (CESMII VP of Technology) showed the CTP software, first provisioning a new instance of the SM Platform, as a new software user would to get started with an installation. The demonstration continued, working through the following use case.
Ingestion of data from a compressor into the platform’s data model;
- Detection of an anomaly in the compressor data within the data model, triggering an automated workflow;
- Request for analysis from external solutions and systems; and
- Determination of the anomaly’s impact on downstream material flow.
The CTP demonstration showed the power of the architecture for quickly provisioning a new system capable of leveraging core connectivity, data ingestion & contextualization and the interoperability of multi-vendor SM applications.
Segment 3. Questions & Answers
Mike Yost (CESMII Outreach) lead the final session of the event. He invited Haresh back to explain the value of the SM Platform today for CESMII members with current Roadmap and Application projects, such as Charlie Romberger of ArcelorMittal, who joined and discussed his team’s excitement at the prospect of leveraging the SM Platform for their current Roadmap project. Haresh also laid out the timing and value for future project teams leveraging future releases of the SM Platform.
Mike then read a series of quotes from CESMII members – both manufacturers and solution/technology providers – highlighting their organizations’ excitement for the CTP event and anticipation for future capabilities of the SM Platform. Lastly, Mike welcomed Tom Burke, Strategic Marketing Officer from OPC, to join the Q&A and answer the first question: Does CESMII’s vision for data collection and contextualization complement or conflict with the OPC’s views on the topic? Attendees provided a series of questions related to projects, SM Platform access and myriad technologies, and the team answered as many as possible in the time allotted. Questions unanswered in real time were answered offline and compiled into a document available here.
The online event served to demonstrate the current capabilities of the SM Platform, the value of the platform to current and upcoming Roadmap and Application projects, the roadmap for extended capabilities in future releases, and the short and long-term value of the platform to members of the CESMII community. For additional information, please contact your CESMII Regional Manufacturing Center Director.
Presentation Documents: