Interview with FORCAM Product Manager Dominik Amann

• What exactly is new about this solution?

  Dominik: Up to now, the industrial production lacked the simple use of applications as we all know them from our private and professional life. Our new connector, FORCE Bridge, is now part of the Microsoft Power Automate app ecosystem. The connector bridges the gap between well-known apps and industrial production. Manufacturing companies can now use the Microsoft application ecosystem with its more than 400 apps and build cross-departmental automated workflows and help transform their organization into a smart factory effortlessly.

• What do factory teams get out of it?

  Dominik: Apps in the Microsoft Power Automate ecosystem include such well-known applications as Excel, Outlook, Salesforce, Skype, Trello, etc. The connector enables factory teams to use these apps to set up smart workflows for various purposes and to automate recurring business processes through simple configuration – without programming effort. For example, factory teams can automatically monitor compliance with key performance indicators and permanently minimize downtime. Teams can therefore work more efficiently and independently.

• An example please.

  Dominik: Example material bottleneck: A worker notices defective or faulty material for a current production order. By clicking on the touch terminal, the person can send an e-mail, a Microsoft Teams message, an online ticket (JIRA, Trello, etc.) to the logistics team members. They are called to a meeting ad hoc. Thus, the automated message transmits all relevant information such as required material, order, machine, and location to the right group of people in real-time, saving valuable time. The logistics team can directly initiate measures to remedy the current material bottleneck and avoid future material shortages.

• Can machines also initiate adhoc workflows?

  Dominik Amann:

  Yes, let’s imagine that a tool breaks on a machine during production. A Trello ticket for maintenance, for example, can now be created automatically. 

  Maintenance and directly involved team members are automatically notified to take immediate action. The result: downtimes are reduced.

  Numerous other automated workflows are feasible, for example:

  • Sensors can send automated reports via selected apps when new material is needed
  • Track key performance indicators with Outlook. Workers can use their e-mail program to keep informed about ‘target versus actual’ or any other KPI
  • Sensors that record process data such as filling levels, pressure, or tension in machines can also trigger automated workflows
  • Sensors can also use selected apps to report when new material is needed.

  The possibilities are merely unlimited.

• How does the connector work technically?

  Dominik Amann: The technological home of the connector is the turnkey IIoT platform solution FORCAM FORCE™. Its central element is the FORCE Bridge platform for real-time analysis in manufacturing. The IIoT platform also forms the bridge to the app universe of Microsoft Power Automate and back into FORCAM FORCE™ and to the shop floor of our customers.