An apparatus, method and computer program product for: receiving information on a configurable set of devices defined as a follow-up group, the set of devices including at least one follow-up device configured to at least temporarily operate in a follow-up mode, receiving an instruction to select first process information provided by the industrial process control system, activating a follow-up mode on the at least one follow-up device, determining second process information based on the first process information and instructing the at least one follow-up device to present the second process information according to the follow-up mode.

To improve integrity of time synchronization, a node in the safety rated system takes steps to ensure the time to which it is synchronized has not become corrupted. The node receives a synchronize request message from an adjacent network device, which includes the master time, and the node generates an offset value corresponding to a difference between a local time and the master time. The node stores the offset time into a safety memory to ensure that the offset value has data integrity and does not become corrupted. The node performs periodic skew detection between two devices to verify that the clocks remain synchronized. In addition, the node performs a local drift detection to detect if the frequency of the local oscillator on which the local clock value is based begins to change.

An industrial integrated development environment (IDE) supports collaborative tools that allow multiple designers and programmers to remotely submit design input to the same automation system project in parallel while maintaining project consistency. These collaborative features can include, for example, brokering between different sets of design input directed to the same portion of the system project, generating notifications to remote designers when a portion of the system project is modified, sharing of development interfaces or environments, facilitating involvement of outside technical support experts to assist with design issues, and other collaborative features.

A method and system automatically assist in a creation of a manufacturing workflow (WF) for manufacturing a product. The method includes receiving a graphical user input in an editing area configured for creating a manufacturing WF, the graphical user input includes a WF starting node and automatically selecting in a meta-workflow (MWF) library, in response to the received graphical user input and in function of the latter, a MWF. The selected MWF is a graphical pattern starting with the WF starting node and ending with a WF ending node, the latter being connected to each other through a sequence of interconnected decision and/or activity nodes. The selected MWF is displayed in a display box and then in the editing area. A manufacturing WF is created from the MWF displayed in the editing area. An auto-suggestion process is used for associating each node of the MWF to a manufacturing operation.

A plurality of hierarchy information management devices include a first hierarchy information management unit managing first hierarchy information in which information on instruments is represented in a hierarchy structure, and each hierarchy information management device manages the first hierarchy information of a different one of the instruments. A monitoring device includes: a second hierarchy information management unit generating second hierarchy information based on a plurality of different pieces of the first hierarchy information acquired from the hierarchy information management devices, the second hierarchy information being hierarchy information in which the first hierarchy information is connected in a hierarchy structure; a display unit displaying information; and a display processing unit performing a process of switching between a plurality of different monitoring screens for display on the display unit, the different monitoring screens corresponding to different layers in the second hierarchy information and showing the operating state of the monitoring targets.

A system includes a first asset disposed in an industrial environment configured to perform one or more operations, a second asset disposed in the industrial environment, and a server device communicatively coupled to the first asset and the second asset. The server device is configured to receive a first set of stream-based data from the first asset, receive a second set of stream-based data from the second asset, wherein the first set of stream-based data and the second set of stream-based data are received in real time or near real time, determine whether the one or more operations are within a threshold based on a comparison of the first set of stream-based data with respect to the second set of stream-based data, and send a command to the first asset or the second asset in response to the one or more operations being outside the threshold.

An industrial integrated development environment (IDE) supports collaborative development of industrial projects, such as human-machine interface applications, industrial controller programs, device configurations, or other such projects. Rather than merging edits by comparing text representations of the edited projects on a line-by-line basis, the system expresses the edited and base versions of the system project as unified information models that represent the project versions as hierarchical organizations of nodes representing elements of the project, and compares corresponding nodes of the information models to obtain differential statuses for the nodes. The various versions of the nodes are then merged into a single consistent model based on the differential statuses of the nodes.

A control device is for controlling an industrial machine. The control device has a display control unit that divides a screen displayed on a display unit into a plurality of regions and displays representations, on the regions, concerning respective motion executions of the machine, a detection unit that, when a plurality of the representations are displayed in a combination, detects operation of a user on the machine or detects a time period in which a display pattern indicating the combination of representations has been displayed without change, and a saving unit that, when the detected operation is a predetermined operation having been set in advance or the display time period of the detected display pattern is equal to or longer than a predetermined time period having been set in advance, saves the display pattern when the detection has been performed as an intended display pattern.

A sensor kit and associated method configured for monitoring an industrial setting is disclosed. The sensor kit can include an edge device and a plurality of sensors that capture sensor data and transmit the sensor data via a self-configuring sensor kit network. At least one sensor can capture sensor measurements and output instances of sensor data, generate and output reporting packets, and transmit the reporting packets to the edge device via the self-configuring sensor kit network in accordance with a first communication protocol. The edge device receives reporting packets from the plurality of sensors via the self-configuring sensor kit network, generates a data block based on the sensor data, and transmits the data block to one or more node computing devices that collectively store a distributed ledger that is comprised of a plurality of data blocks.

A cell controller capable of optimizing the operation of a production system having a plurality of industrial machines operated by an operation program. The cell controller includes: a system operational information analyzer configured to analyze time-series operational information received from the industrial machines via a network, so as to find a part in the system which generates an adverse effect on a cycle time of the entire production system; a state quantity analyzer configured to analyze a state quantity of the industrial machines so as to calculate a degree of margin of motion of each industrial machine; a program modifier configured to automatically modify a velocity or acceleration in the operation program based on the degree of margin; and a simulator configured to execute an operational simulation of the production system in order to confirm a modification result of the operation program.