Camstar releases InSite 2.0

In an effort to keep the capabilities of its flagship manufacturing platform ahead of the rapidly changing and expanding requirements of new economy manufacturing, Camstar Systems, Inc. (Campbell, CA) announced version 2.0 of its InSite e-manufacturing solution.

InSite is designed to manage e-business orders from the moment an order is received through production and final shipment. Camstar's solutions target manufacturers in the semiconductor, electronics, optoelectronics, textiles, paper, metals, and food markets.

With InSite, customer orders can be sent to the plant floor from ERP or Web-based order entry systems, without manual intervention or data entry. Once an order is sent to production, InSite tracks and manages those orders through every step of the manufacturing process, providing the proactive control and visibility needed to quickly adapt to changing requirements. At the production level, InSite functions as the plant's "central nervous system," managing and controlling order information and status. This plant-level management provides the foundation needed to deliver real-time production information to the entire enterprise, supply chain partners and, ultimately, to customers.

InSite 2.0 adds functionality for centralized system management of distributed, multi-site operations, plus a Web-enabled collaborative interface that delivers real-time production intelligence and control throughout the enterprise and into the manufacturing supply chain.

The new enterprise management services of InSite 2.0 provide multi-plant manufacturers with the ability to control the underlying process modeling and data definitions for their individual plants from a central location, while allowing for localization and plant-specific configurations.

Synchronization and coordination of change distribution is accomplished via InSite's proprietary "live update" technology, which automatically manages manufacturing configurations by transmitting them to remote plants - without disrupting production.

"Being able to centrally manage the configuration process, in a non-interruptible manner, is critical to giving manufacturers the infrastructure they need to tie their distributed operations into a single, highly-efficient global operation," says Brian Gordon, Camstar's VP of technology.

InSite's new collaborative supply chain interface permits real-time access to production intelligence via standard Web browsers on workstations, PCs, and thin clients. Supporting both Netscape and Internet Explorer browsers, InSite allows manufacturers to quickly and easily deploy collaborative implementations of InSite that extend beyond internal company boundaries and out to their customer and vendor supply chains.

This increased supply chain transparency is the foundation for the operational and communication infrastructure required for successful e-business and e-manufacturing implementations.

With its capabilities for centralized system management, Web-based collaborative implementation, factory workflow modeling, revision management, concurrent multi-level work-in-process tracking, operator messaging, and material and resource tracking, InSite 2.0 offers a total operational software environment. It can help manufacturers attain the increased levels of agility, productivity, and supply chain connectivity they require for business success.

"Current users of InSite include Alcan, Eastman Kodak, IBM, JDS Uniphase, Lexmark, Unifi, and others who lead their industries in their commitment to manufacturing excellence," says Dave Cone, Camstar's president.

InSite was introduced in November 1998.

Edited by Jim Lardear
Managing Editor, PlantAutomation.com