In the first three parts of the “Exploring Integration” series, we explored trust, visibility, and communication within the realm of industrial automation, primarily through the lens of the OnPing platform. In this fourth installment, we shift our focus to analyze the roles of strategic partners in industrial settings

Strategic Partners in Industrial Automation

In industrial automation, the fusion of diverse expertise and resources is the bedrock of innovative development. This section shines a spotlight on the process of collaboration, underscoring its essential place in fostering fertile grounds for innovative thinking and solution crafting.

Developers – Innovators:

Developers, equipped with technical acumen and a drive for innovation, bring forward-thinking technologies and cutting-edge solutions. However, their creations often require real-world context to ensure applicability and relevance.

Consumers – Necessary Perspective:

Consumers, entrenched in day-to-day operational realities, hold key insights into the challenges and needs of the industry. Their practical perspective is vital in directing technological innovations towards meaningful applications.

Integrators – Catalysts:

Integrators emerge as pivotal figures in collaborative landscape of industry. They form a bridge between the tech-centric world of developers and the pragmatic realm of consumers. Integrators catalyze the interactions between developers and consumers through translation of needs into technical specifications and ensuring shared resources are directed towards the development of feasible and relevant solutions.

Synergistic Strategy: Collaboration for Impactful, Industry Driven Solutions

Moving from the collaborative process to its outcomes, we can  focus on the resultant synergy – the creation of solutions that are not just technologically superior but also precisely tailored to meet specific market demands.

Outcome-Driven Innovation:

The collaborative efforts culminate in solutions that stand at the forefront of innovation. These solutions are not just technologically advanced but are honed to address the specific challenges and requirements of consumers.

Efficient Development Process:

By pooling resources and expertise, the development process becomes more streamlined and efficient. This efficiency is crucial in a fast-paced industry, ensuring that solutions are not only effective but also timely.

Customized, Practical Solutions:

The most significant triumph of this collaboration is the development of solutions that are customized to the unique challenges of the industry. These solutions, born from a blend of high-tech innovation and practical insights, offer greater applicability, ease of use, and long-term sustainability.

Partners Expand Market and Reach

Strategic alliances in industrial automation lead to better solutions; and they also expand the reach of these solutions to wider markets. Innovative Developers often seek new audiences to introduce their technologies. Conversely, consumers and integrators offer the perfect platforms for these introductions with their established networks and market presence.

The nature of such partnerships is symbiotic. Developers gain access to markets that were previously out of reach – consumers and integrators can offer the latest technological solutions to the toughest problems their industry faces. 

Through effective, strategic collaboration, each entity achieves its individual goals and also contributes to the collective growth of the industry. By tapping into each other’s strengths, they collectively push the boundaries of automation, leading to advancements that reshape the industry and set new standards for efficiency and innovation.

Strategic Partners Drive Industrial Automation

Joint Development Projects:

Projects through strategic partners in industry bring together developers and integrators to work on innovative automation technologies. For example, integrating AI with automation systems to improve predictive maintenance or developing more user-friendly interfaces for complex systems.

Cross-Training Initiatives:

By sharing training resources, strategic partners enhance the skill sets of their teams, ensuring a deeper understanding of each other’s products and services. This approach improves solution implementation and maintenance, benefiting the consumer in the long run.

Co-Marketing Ventures:

Strategic alliances open opportunities for co-marketing, where each party can introduce their products and services to the other’s customer base, particularly beneficial for launching new products or entering new markets.

OnPing – Product of Collaboration

Many of the most impactful tools in OnPing were developed through critical partnerships with users and integrators. Examples include:

• Data Analysis
  • OnPing’s Data Analysis tools are some of the most intuitive in the world of operational technology because they were built in direct collaboration with our Users.
• HMI Local
  • Oilfield and industrial manufacturing user who needed immediate on-site access to equipment data helped tailor our HMI Local features to fit their requirements. Because of these efforts, all OnPing users can stand up site-based HMI for realtime information – even when internet connectivity is severed. 
• Lumberjack Remote
  • An energy infrastructure customer had several wells which were receiving water from various disposals on a short term basis. They needed an alternative channel for well data when the internet was down – but investing in radio infrastructure didn’t make sense for a temporary site. The solution led to Lumberjack Remote. Now, all OnPing Users can communicate data between Lumberjacks, regardless of geographical location.
• OnPing Report Management
  • The Water/Wastewater industries frequently interact with data in a regulatory capacity. OnPings regulatory reports are a direct result of our relationships with Users in this space.
• Event Table
  • Event Tables were made to support industrial food and beverage partners who wanted to compare the history of fault codes with other performance metrics – such as motor RPMs, temperature, etc. Event Tables have broad implications for a swathe of industrial applications in OnPing – yet another product of integrated efforts through a strategic partner.

In Conclusion

The fourth part of the “Exploring Integration” series underscores the importance of collaborative innovation in the automation industry. As we continue to explore the facets of integration, it becomes clear strategic parners are absolutely vital the industrial setting for the development of advanced, efficient, and user-centric automation solutions. Collaboration is pivotal in driving industries toward a more integrated, innovative, and effective future.