Microsoft Launches Windows DNA for Manufacturing Effort
Steve Ballmer, president of Microsoft Corp. (Redmond, Wash.), launched a collaborative initiative with customers, developers and manufacturers aimed at producing a technical architecture that will reduce costs and simplify the process of deploying, integrating and managing systems for manufacturing enterprises.
The architecture, called Windows Distributed interNet Applications (Windows DNA) for Manufacturing, will allow disparate manufacturing software applications to integrate seamlessly, enabling a proficient information exchange among distributed solutions from the shop floor and enterprise resource planning (ERP) processes.
According to Microsoft, this integration will improve a manufacturer's ability to gather, share and analyze key data elements and information throughout the enterprise in real time, resulting in better, more proactive business decisions, greater efficiency and reduced costs.
"Integration is a major key to the success of deploying a modern manufacturing system, but piecing the components together to produce such a system is often difficult, time-consuming and expensive," Ballmer says. "The Windows DNA for Manufacturing architecture will help combine the Windows platform, various leading line-of-business applications and legacy solutions to create manufacturing-specific 'digital nervous systems.'"
Ballmer cites recent predictions from a leading industry analyst firm, AMR Research (Boston). The firm's preliminary 1998 estimate of the manufacturing execution systems (MES) market was nearly $300 million, of which Windows NT operating system-based products led with 49%. AMR Research also anticipates that over the next several years, Microsoft will continue to make advances in the enterprise applications customer segment. AMR Research expects that by 2002, two-thirds (66%) of all ERP shipments, an integral part of the manufacturing process, will be made on Windows NT.
Windows DNA for Manufacturing is being developed and supported by developers, hardware vendors and systems integrators.
The Windows DNA for Manufacturing framework relies on the Component Object Model (COM) as its foundation and acts as common "plumbing" in Microsoft Windows-based manufacturing applications, making them compatible with disparate applications, networks and legacy systems. Representing an integrated approach for building distributed, scalable, multi-tier applications, the Windows DNA for Manufacturing framework allows developers and manufacturers to focus on producing and implementing value-added business solutions rather than systems integration. Windows DNA for Manufacturing links islands of information within a manufacturing environment, improving information flow and bridging the gaps between enterprise applications as well as supply chain business partners.
Windows DNA is the application development model for the Windows platform. It specifies how to develop scalable, distributed applications using the Windows platform, extend existing data and external applications to support the Internet, and support a wide range of client devices maximizing the reach of an application. The Windows DNA architecture can enable ISVs and organizations to solve industry-specific challenges, while lowering costs associated with deploying and managing information technology systems.