"We take the imaginations of people and combine it with the potential of technology to help the world work better, and to help the world recover." Rockwell Automation CEO Blake Moret kicked off the company's Automation Fair At Home event from the company's Milwaukee headquarters.
It’s been a year of challenges “like we’ve never seen before,” said Blake Moret, chairman and CEO, Rockwell Automation, as he kicked off Automation Fair At Home, a primarily virtual edition of the company’s annual user event, from the company’s Milwaukee headquarters on Nov. 16. “But it’s also been a year of opportunities to increase resilience, agility and sustainability.” This year’s conference theme was, “Your Next.”
“We’re going to share with you what’s next for Rockwell Automation, and we hope what we’ve learned can help you as you create your own next,” Moret said. “Throughout all this change, our strategy has remained the same: bringing The Connected Enterprise to life, and doing it with 117 years’ experience in solving customer problems.”
For example, Roche needed to transform three facilities to manufacture COVID test kits. Using PharmaSuite MES, Rockwell Automation engineering experts worked shoulder-to-shoulder with Roche “to help the world recover” from test-kit shortages, Moret said. Rockwell Automation also helped Johnson & Johnson enforce social distancing by using mobile robots to orchestrate a plant floor with safe spaces.
“We do it with great technology, partners and acquisitions,” Moret said. “One of my favorites is Kalypso.” Founded in 2004 to accelerate digital transformation, Kalypso believed better software products would improve business results. “As a Rockwell Automation company, it’s accelerating innovation and maximizing productivity,” Moret said.
Rockwell Automation also acquired ASEM in Italy, providing industrial PCs and software to machine builders throughout Europe but mainly in Italy and Germany. “We also extended and deepened our PTC partnership with increased orders and new technology,” Moret said.
The company extended and expanded its five-year-old Microsoft partnership with cloud-native solutions to increase the ability to take data and increase productivity through information and insights. RSLogix 5000 and Studio 5000 Logix users can integrate files from different versions, different virtual machines, or from one massive drive. Users can process any files they choose, or all at once if they prefer, to gain time and efficiency (coming in 2021: visit rok.auto/ournext).
“Our partner ecosystem in the best in the industry,” Moret said. “With our technology and domain expertise, no one is better positioned to add value at the convergence of information technology and operations technology (IT/OT) for our customers.”
The result is increased resilience with fewer single points of failure and better traceability, remote operations and monitoring, flexibility, motion control, software and sustainability. “Sustainability is at the forefront of our mind and those of our customers, including a commitment to a carbon-neutral future, increased energy efficiency, recycling and renewables.”
Along with the positive business outcomes and ROI customers expect, “Our promise is to expand human possibility. We take the imaginations of people and combine it with the potential of technology to help the world work better, and to help the world recover.” Moret welcomed session participants to join in the Bold Conversations track this week to learn more about what the company is doing. “It’s a chance for all of us to learn what is next.”
As of the last “live” day of the conference on Nov. 20, Automation Fair At Home had attracted more than 40,000 registrants. The presentations and other interactive features of Automation Fair At Home will remain available until June 2021.
