Thursday, September 21, 2006

New model-based software I had a chat with Pavilion Technologies' CTO Don Hart the other day about a new product release that is now official. Although I can't try out the software, the extension of Model-based analytics into such things as performance management and environmental management and control sound very good. Here's a description of the new software. Version 2.0 of Pavilion8T software platform leverages the modeling engine at its core. With version 2.0, the Pavilion8 platform has new modeling capabilities, enhanced web service integration and a new metadata warehouse. In addition, two new Pavilion8-based applications, Real-time Environmental Management and Production Performance Management, will now compliment the existing process optimization and control applications. These Pavilion applications enable manufacturers to improve operational profitability by increasing production capacity, reducing production costs, improving product quality and reducing environmental risk. First introduced in 2005, Pavilion8 is a modular software platform based on a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and implemented in Java2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE). This version enhances the Model Analytic Engine to define and deploy composite models that aggregate and extend existing empirical, first-principle, arithmetic and rule-based models including those from other vendors. The Pavilion8 Metadata Warehouse aggregates and stores time-series data within an operational context to a secure database providing a permanent system of record for production and compliance information generated by Pavilion8 applications. Also enhanced in this release is integration with enterprise resource planning applications, data warehouses, historians and other data sources. Pavilion8-powered environmental applications include Predictive Emissions Monitoring (PEM) and Real-time Environmental Management (REM). Pavilion8 REM is an environmental compliance and reporting application, providing "active compliance" continuously and in real-time. REM provides a flexible, scalable solution to meet a wide range of predictive emissions, emissions monitoring and compliance reporting requirements. Sophisticated data validation and a secure metadata repository ensure all reporting information is accurate and auditable to meet the most stringent regulations. A complement to REM's performance management applications, PEM provides more cost effective emissions monitoring compliance than hardware-based alternatives. Pavilion's Production Performance Management (PPM) applications provide instantaneous and predictive assessment of plant production performance to enable proactive decision making. Leveraging the Pavilion8 Model Analytic Engine, PPM uses production process models that more accurately represent current and future operational performance than simple arithmetic calculation techniques. PPM improves the timeliness and accuracy of decision making, delivering greater profitability through opportunity identification and cost avoidance. Like other Pavilion8 applications, PPM is pre-packaged by industry vertical and can be quickly configured to calculate and store predicted and real-time metrics concerning costs, yields, capacity, quality and margins. Metrics may be visualized by role within the Pavilion8 browser-based interface or via third-party applications such as SAP's xAPP for Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence (xMII). In addition, leveraging the open ISA95 standard, PPM can be bi-directionally integrated with planning systems like SAP's MySAP ERP via the Pavilion8-based web services interface. Other enhancements in version 2.0 include embedded controller performance metrics for all variables, automatic controller parameter change logs and historization of controller trajectories. These provide greater diagnostic and troubleshooting capabilities. 11:48:44 AM    comment []