American Industrial Systems, Inc. (AIS) announces Design for Manufacturability Services (DMS) for the development of new industrial visualization products and systems powered by Microsoft’s Windows Embedded 8 operating system. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and original device manufacturers (ODMs) can now leverage AIS DMS Services and hardware to optimize new product development, according to Santiago Consunji, business development manager for AIS.
“OEMs/ODMs and end users are challenged more than ever with achieving the highest degree of manufacturing effectiveness, overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and operational efficiency while maximizing productivity and throughput,” said Consunji. “Sustainability issues, pressure for device convergence, security, operations that increasingly transcend borders, regulatory complexity and the emergence of new markets can be addressed with AIS design for manufacturability services and capabilities.”
Machine builders who have historically been conservative in investing in new technology will need to make substantial investments to stay competitive or be put at risk of a disruptive technology displacing their business model or competitive foothold, Consunji continued. “AIS helps these companies address technological demands by delivering prudent designs, engineering, manufacturing and superior open PC-based HMI solutions,” he said.
AIS open platform strategy provides an affordable migration path to embracing new information technologies, Consunji said. One example of available hardware is a hazardous-area mobile tablet designed for oilfields that integrates the new Celeron N2920 processor from Intel. This processor brings more processing power and feature sets to the AIS hardware platforms.
As the engine of the system, the processor is responsible for everything from heavy data crunching to video. It provides:
-
Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x), which allows one hardware platform to function as multiple “virtual” platforms. This limits downtime and maintains productivity by isolating computing activities into separate partitions.
-
Intel VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT), also known as Second Level Address Translation (SLAT), which provides acceleration for memory intensive virtualized applications.
-
Intel 64 architecture, which improves performance by allowing systems to address more than 4 GB of both virtual and physical memory.
-
Intel Trusted Execution Technology, which is a versatile set of hardware extensions that enhance the digital office platform with security capabilities such as measured launch and protected execution. It enables an environment where applications can run within their own space, protected from all other software on the system.
The Class I Division 2, ATEX and IECEX Zone 2 certified mobile panels also uses the Windows Embedded 8 operating system. Offering the same multi-touch experience as Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, Windows Embedded 8 delivers compelling visual experiences for users. Consunji said AIS’s experience with Windows 8 Embedded combined with the company’s new Design for Manufacturability Services can help OEMs bring new products to market quickly.
AIS uses “an advanced and proven methodology for design, engineering and manufacturing techniques,” says Consunji. In-house capabilities include: engineering and management services, design and manufacturing, quality control, manufacturing engineering, as well as standards and certifications testing for customers.
By working with AIS machine builders and end users gain full visibility of project status for all active projects across the new product portfolio; appropriate balance of resource investments with projected financial returns; and intelligent and timely discovery, aggregation and prioritization of product success factors, he added.
