GE Invests in Sight Machine's Future, Cisco and Rockwell Drive Success for Daimler Trucks

GE Invests in Sight Machine to Build out Big Data and IIoT Capabilities

GE Ventures, the start-up collaboration division of General Electric, has invested $13.5 million in Sight Machine, a manufacturing analytics solution provider with customers in the automotive, life sciences, and consumer goods industries. The move comes as part of the industrial/IT giant’s initiative to gain more data from factory floor machines and assets, and as a part of its larger strategy to shift toward a digital company at the forefront of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), which was signaled in its September 2015 announcement of the GE Digital business segment. Other investors include Jump Capital, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, and Two Roads Group.

“Sight Machine is developing the technology that will bring us closer to the realization of the brilliant factory,” said Karen Kerr, GE Ventures’ senior managing director of advanced manufacturing. Commenting on the significance to GE’s strategy, CEO Jeff Immelt said the investment “…will make GE a digital show site and grow our software and analytics enterprise from $6 billion in 2015 to a top-10 software company by 2020.” Click here to read more.

Cisco and Rockwell Automation Power Truck Manufacturing Through the Digital Transformation Framework

Daimler Trucks Norther American (DTNA), the largest heavy-duty truck manufacturer in North America, has implemented pervasive wireless connectivity to better deliver customized products, increase agility, and control costs in its Portland, OR facility.

An early success story of IIoT capabilities in a highly competitive and dynamic industry, DTNA partnered with Cisco and Rockwell Automation to implement a converged IT/OT infrastructure to enable better innovation on the plant floor, support for Big Data and analytics, process optimization, and new tool and applications.

Dieter Haban, CIO at DTNA characterized the project not just as an improvement on today’s manufacturing capabilities, but to best position the company for the future. “We needed a new network environment that could support our current and future manufacturing processes, and provide reliable, flexible, and secure devices delivery,” he said, adding that the implementation of the Cisco/Rockwell Automation IT/OT project has fundamentally transformed the information and availability of information collected from the plant floor across the company. “We produce and collect a massive amount of data to understand where we are during the assembly of the truck,” he said. “Now we can provide dashboard information to management, stay informed about any parts shortages, and know the status of the vehicle in real time, any time.” To read the full success story click here to access the case study.

Volkswagen Stressed for Time to Settle Emissions Scandal

In an update from last September’s revelation that Volkswagen intentionally defeated laboratory emissions to put vehicles non-compliant with EPA regulations on the road, attorneys for the automaker are expected to reveal the company’s stance on fixing nearly 600,000 diesel cars into compliance following the scandal.

Regarding the penalty that Volkswagen faces, Judge Charles Breyer of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, California has issued a one month extension for Volkswagen and the federal government to come to an agreement, as Volkswagen faces a $46 billion fine. If a settlement has not been reached by April 21, 2016, Judge Breyer will allow the case to go to trial this coming summer. To read more about the latest Volkswagen emissions scandal click here.

Metrics That Matter Webinar with LNS Research and MESA

In the last iteration of the joint LNS Research and MESA International Metrics that Matter Study, we looked at 28 specific metrics across 8 general categories, including quality, responsiveness, efficiency, inventory, compliance, maintenance, flexibility & innovation, and profitability. In this two-year update, the research has expanded to how the development of the IIoT Platform is altering and influencing how manufacturers receive and distill information today into the metrics that are reflecting and advancing strong performance. The successes forged by these KPIs will be a key step in moving toward Smart Manufacturing and providing Assets as a Service – two goals on the distant horizon that will require plenty of strategic investments, deployments, and performance measurements.