Internet still eluding process firms
15 Jan 2000
Five of Europe's manufacturing automation companies have joined forces to demonstrate how the Internet can help companies to integrate production processes.
For the last few months, Siemens Automation, Digital, SAP, Microsoft and Intergraph have been taking their `roadshow' around the Continent to show the communication potential of the information superhighway.
They present a `dramatised' example of how a product is sought by a customer, designed by a supplier, then marketed, at low cost.
The companies showcase their packages: Intergraph's Solid Edge, SAP's production control system and Siemens' Simatic WinCC, all supported by Windows software and running on Digital hardware.
Siemens Automation product manager Gert Rohrmann commented: `Generally, manufacturers have been quicker to catch on to this approach than have the process industries.'
