| | March 20151CIOReview | | JUNE 20151CIOReview

MANUFACTURING TECH SPECIAL

JUNE 30 - 2015 CIOREVIEW.COM

FORCAMDriving Productivity: Digital DNA for Your

Smart FactoryFranz E. Gruber,Founder & Chairman

Tim Walsh, CIO, Bridgestone Americas

Big Data Impact In ManufacturingIN MY OPINION

| | March 20152CIOReview | | March 20153CIOReview | | JUNE 201510CIOReview

COVER STORY

Franz E. Gruber,Founder & Chairman

When Erich Buehler, Dipl.-Ing. (Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science) accepted

his new role as IT Project Leader at Daimler-Benz AG, he imagined a system that would monitor the thousands of machine tools within the powertrain division. He developed a prototype, but there were a few glitches that left Buehler disgruntled. And it still required significant human intervention.

Disappointed, Buehler took note of a few machines connected to a system provided by FORCAM, a Germany-based technology firm for manufacturing businesses. FORCAM’s technology was already able to relay the same productivity information automatically and in real time.

Erich Buehler was impressed with the offerings and initiated a project rollout to deploy FORCAM’s then-current product suite, FactoryFramework™, to more than 5,000 assets worldwide. Since then, Daimler has witnessed double-digit growth in shop f loor efficiency.

FORCAM was founded when Franz E. Gruber, a former IBM manager and SAP executive, identified a need for managers in manufacturing to gather data and integrate operations on the shop f loor. Today, the company has grown to become a shining example of how a small team can make a big difference in the manufacturing sector. Pioneering the use of cloud-based in-memory technology on the shop f loor, FORCAM has become a one-stop shop for plant managers and is empowering manufacturing organizations such as Daimler with analytics and intelligence that have become a necessity in the industry. “Our award-winning Manufacturing Execution System (MES) technology measures and visualizes the output of machines and systems of Daimler via a web-based real-time application, creating the transparent factory wherein downtimes and waste can be eliminated immediately,” affirms Gruber.

“The global rollout of FORCAM’s technology solutions across all the 5,000 assets of Daimler was a momentous event,” notes Gruber. “It was our first project that not only opened the f lood gates for numerous reputable references—such as Audi—within the first six months of inception but also paved the way for numerous accolades such as the recent ‘2015 Manufacturing Leadership Award as Technology Provider for GKN Aerospace Newington, Connecticut’ by Frost & Sullivan, amongst others,” he adds.

| | JUNE 201510CIOReview | | JUNE 201511CIOReviewCIOReview | | June 201511CIOReview

When Erich Buehler, Dipl.-Ing. (Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science) accepted

his new role as IT Project Leader at Daimler-Benz AG, he imagined a system that would monitor the thousands of machine tools within the powertrain division. He developed a prototype, but there were a few glitches that left Buehler disgruntled. And it still required significant human intervention.

Disappointed, Buehler took note of a few machines connected to a system provided by FORCAM, a Germany-based technology firm for manufacturing businesses. FORCAM’s technology was already able to relay the same productivity information automatically and in real time.

Erich Buehler was impressed with the offerings and initiated a project rollout to deploy FORCAM’s then-current product suite, FactoryFramework™, to more than 5,000 assets worldwide. Since then, Daimler has witnessed double-digit growth in shop f loor efficiency.

FORCAM was founded when Franz E. Gruber, a former IBM manager and SAP executive, identified a need for managers in manufacturing to gather data and integrate operations on the shop f loor. Today, the company has grown to become a shining example of how a small team can make a big difference in the manufacturing sector. Pioneering the use of cloud-based in-memory technology on the shop f loor, FORCAM has become a one-stop shop for plant managers and is empowering manufacturing organizations such as Daimler with analytics and intelligence that have become a necessity in the industry. “Our award-winning Manufacturing Execution System (MES) technology measures and visualizes the output of machines and systems of Daimler via a web-based real-time application, creating the transparent factory wherein downtimes and waste can be eliminated immediately,” affirms Gruber.

“The global rollout of FORCAM’s technology solutions across all the 5,000 assets of Daimler was a momentous event,” notes Gruber. “It was our first project that not only opened the f lood gates for numerous reputable references—such as Audi—within the first six months of inception but also paved the way for numerous accolades such as the recent ‘2015 Manufacturing Leadership Award as Technology Provider for GKN Aerospace Newington, Connecticut’ by Frost & Sullivan, amongst others,” he adds.

FORCAMDriving Productivity: Digital DNA for Your Smart FactoryBy Yeshwanth H.V.

| | JUNE 201511CIOReview

| | JUNE 201512CIOReview

Leading by Example“FORCAM’s philosophy is to help customers achieve outstanding and sustainable improvements in productivity,” affirms Gruber. “And to accomplish this mission, we provide cutting-edge technology, along with extensive training and tutoring to support our customers.”

FORCAM empowers companies to monitor and analyze shop floor equipment and interface this data with any ERP system, allowing its customers to deliver the right information to the right person at the right time. FORCAM educates its customers through the FORCAM Academy—the company’s internal consulting body. The academy provides holistic after-sales solutions to ensure that clients continue to use data effectively and maintain global competitiveness.

Improving the Next Generation of Manufacturing“We at FORCAM follow a golden rule—act respectfully, at all times,” reveals Gruber. “We strongly believe in our values and give utmost importance to accountability, courage, curiosity, patience and freedom in our workforce,” he explains. The company lays strong emphasis on listening to customers, a trait that took center stage during vie hours of the 2008 financial crisis, a time when there was huge cry for a solution that

provided the ability to monitor any equipment regardless of location, time-zone or operational language.

Developed during the height of the recession with inspiration from Warren Buffett’s maxim, “Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful,” the company recently launched its latest software release and flagship offering—FORCAM FORCETM. This manufacturing intelligence solution was developed with current industry needs in mind, including key functions such as in-memory technology, cloud-ready Java-based J2EE architecture, track and trace technology, energy management, complex event processing (CEP), and multi-lingual (Unicode) and multi-time-zone support. “Using our flagship offering, a machine in Germany using Deutsch can be compared with a similar machine running in China using Mandarin in respective time zones with FORCAM FORCETM,” says Gruber.

Technically speaking, FORCAM FORCETM consists of a suite of modules that deliver a factory-wide, cross-industry solution that combines the collection of machine data, visualization, production data management, alerts, labor tracking, and ERP integration. These core modules, working together to monitor and inform, promote a deep understanding of Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), a

"FORCAM’s philosophy is to help customers achieve outstanding and sustainable improvements in productivity

Franz E. Gruber,Founder & Chairman

| | JUNE 201513CIOReview

key performance indicator that is used globally by manufacturers to monitor and benchmark operations.

FORCAM’s latest software release, FORCAM FORCETM, works at the individual machine level, enabling manufacturing order data to be streamed from the top floor to the shop floor. Production can easily be monitored and live data gathered during actual operation. This data is not only fed back into the ERP system but can also be accessed from any mobile device or tablet. Senior Management can correct any deviation from the target in real time and ensure a more efficient and leaner production process.

Teaming with Next-Gen TechnologiesFORCAM is widely acknowledged for being a pioneer in Industry 4.0—an initiative that aims to usher in the next

generation of manufacturing—and is transforming its customers’ factories into true cyber-physical systems (CPS).

These systems mirror the factory and its equipment virtually and in real time to any mobile device, collecting data during operation from any machine CNC or PLC and any IT system, including SAP. Powered by these technologies, FORCAM has successfully deployed its solutions across automobile, aerospace, defense, medical device, oil/gas, and many other manufacturing domains globally. “Our solutions meet the needs of driving productivity at any discrete manufacturer. Over 60,000 machines are already connected globally,” says Gruber.

FORCAM offers flexible machine connectors and powerful plug-ins to ensure seamless integration of all PLC and CNC equipment. These tools enable the collection of signals relating to many

aspects of machine operation—alarm, tool allocation and transmission of NC files— to be captured and streamed with objectivity and accuracy, a level of interoperability that was previously unknown in the industry.

Unlocking InnovationFORCAM has a vantage point that sets it apart from its competitors. The company’s Return-On-Investment (ROI) strategy employs an outcome-based pilot program, proposing at least 10 percent growth in productivity based on the data collected from the installed systems. FORCAM’s solutions deployed at Audi AG showcase these proven methodologies, as the automobile company witnessed a 20 percent rise in overall productivity in the first year of deployment. Through FORCAM’s Advanced Shop Floor Management solution Audi was able to monitor its production and infrastructure in real-time allowing for detailed analysis, thus enhancing general productivity. GKN Aerospace, another company utilized FORCAM’s Shop Floor Management System tool for improving manufacturing productivity, making it incredibly easy for GKN Aerospace to achieve unprecedented improvements in their production.

“We are a true pioneer of the Industry 4.0,” says Gruber. “And we don’t really have a competitor that does everything we do.” Going forward, FORCAM aims to continue to develop solutions and build on the existing suite of offerings. “We aspire to have a global footprint. The global rollout of FORCAM FORCETM and negotiations with international technology vendors and distribution partners to speed up this roll out are a step in this direction,” claims Gruber. “Acquiring a subsidiary in China, developing an offshore development site in India and attempting to enhance our presence in the U.S. are some of the other initiatives that will help us become a ‘True Global Company’,” he concludes.

"Our solutions meet the needs of driving productivity at any discrete manufacturer. Over 60,000 machines are already connected globally

| | March 20156CIOReview

CIOREVIEW.COMJUNE 30 - 2015 MANUFACTURING TECH SPECIAL

T h e N a v i g a t o r f o r E n t e r p r i s e S o l u t i o n s

20 Most Promising Manufacturing Tech Solution Providers 2015

Company:FORCAM,

Description:Providing analytical solutions to complex manufacturing industries through innovative Shop Floor Management technology.

Key Person: Franz E. Gruber, Founder and Chairman

Website:www.forcam.com

FORCAMrecognized by magazine as

An annual listing of 20 companies that are in the forefront of providingManufacturing Tech Solution and impacting the marketplace

Editor-in-ChiefPradeep Shankar

As the insatiable urge for newer products is increasingly becoming a consumer trend, manufacturers are searching for new ways to increase agility and reinvent strategies.

Operational efficiency, speed, and the ability to keep a track on the current as well as future market trends are now a top priority for manufacturers. In such a scenario, they are finding silver lining in the latest technologies that are not only helping them in gaining new opportunities but also in bringing innovative products.

As the manufacturing industry is eagerly embracing this transformation, the technologies such as 3D printing and Internet of Things are becoming a common sight even in SMBs. These technologies are benefitting manufacturers not only on the production floors but also in the entire production-to-market processes.

To help organizations find the best-of-breed manufacturing solutions that suits their business needs, in this issue of CIO Review, we present the 20 Most Promising Manufacturing Technology Solution Providers, featuring the best vendors offering technologies and services that aid in manufacturing processes. The firms featured in this issue have exhibited vast knowledge and in-depth expertise in delivering manufacturing related solutions.

A distinguished panel comprising of CEOs, CIOs, analysts, and the CIO Review editorial board has selected the top players from the competitive field of manufacturing solutions. The listing provides a look into how these solutions work in the real world, so that you can gain a comprehensive understanding of what technologies are available, which are right for you, and how they shape up against the competition.