The company is testing networking gear to harness data spewed
out by industrial machines
By Ted Mann
General Electric Co.'s corporate vision is to reshape the
industrial world and its core businesses with advanced software.
But to get there, it needs to sell some basic computer hardware
first.
The conglomerate is developing and testing networking gear --
rugged sensor boxes and customized routers and servers -- to
harness the data spewed out by massive industrial machines at power
plants and oil rigs. GE is building some devices itself and working
with tech giants including Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. and Cisco
Systems Inc. on others.
Its newest hardware offerings address what communications
experts call the last-mile problem: for those customers who accept
that advanced sensors and cloud computing will make their machines
more efficient, there is still a question about how to get data off
these devices and into the cloud, computing environments with
shared software and processing power.
"Not every customer is ready to rip out their control system
infrastructure, but they still want to get some benefit by being
connected to the cloud," said Jim Walsh, CEO of GE's Automation
& Controls business unit. By supplying the hardware, GE is
trying to make it easier "to get started in a very noninvasive way"
with the company's software.
GE's digital push, including its Predix software platform for
industrial customers, is expected to be a focus when executives
gather on Wednesday for the company's annual outlook meeting with
investors and financial analysts. The maker of power plants and jet
engines is stretching to reach its profit targets for the year amid
sluggish global growth. GE shares have gained 2.3% this year,
compared with a 10.4% advance in the S&P 500, through
Monday.
Some machines can already run using Predix. For others, GE has
developed a small device, called the Field Agent, that pulls
operational data from a piece of industrial machinery. It is also
working with partners to market an array of other hardware,
including with Cisco on a Predix-ready router and with HPE and Dell
Inc. on a hulking cabinet nicknamed the "Predix box," which will
run Predix applications on-site at industrial workplaces.
The Predix box, slated to be available in the second quarter of
2017, could be used by customers that want to keep more of their
computing on-site, such as a power plant operator leery of sending
too much data to the cloud. GE said pricing will vary widely
depending on the storage and capabilities of the machines, and on
prices set by device manufacturers in some cases.
"Controls people usually get pretty nervous when you talk about
linking to the cloud," said Danielle Merfeld, a technology director
at GE's Global Research headquarters in Niskayuna, N.Y.
The hardware, and the apps it supports, will allow customers not
only to better analyze the performance and health of their
equipment, she said, but also to bring in external information --
like weather trends and electric power costs -- to make
split-second decisions on how to operate more profitably.
GE says it has more than 100 Field Agent devices installed at
locations, including at some of its own factories. The company also
has five larger devices called industrial control servers in use,
through pilot projects with customers.
Among those pilot tests is NRG Energy Inc.'s Hunterstown
natural-gas power station in Gettysburg, Pa.
An NRG spokesman said the company has connected a GE control
server to one of its power turbines in the plant, and is using data
from the turbine, as well as pricing data pulled from the power
markets, to "determine the optimum output for each unit at each
particular hour."
GE software is being installed on two of NRG's other units in
the Hunterstown plant. The NRG spokesman said it was too soon to
determine how the system is working.
Steven Winoker, an equities analyst at Bernstein Research, said
GE's software effort is promising, but the effort has put a company
in the unusual position of selling servers and sensors, not long
after it pulled out of other commoditized markets such as home
appliances.
The various Predix boxes are "an awkward solution" to getting
data onto GE's Predix platform, Mr. Winoker said, but one that
won't be necessary in the future -- as GE sells its heavy-duty
machinery with sensors, processors and Predix software already
inside.
Rivals including Siemens AG also are developing software and the
hardware needed to help industrial customers harness their data. GE
partners like HPE say the rugged devices they are building to
handle harsh industrial environments will one day be incorporated
directly into the heavy machinery itself.
"We're converging more and more capability into a box, but it's
still a box," said Tom Bradicich, a vice president and general
manager at HPE. "Our next grand challenge is to converge it into
the thing -- into the pump, the turbine, the conveyor belt, into
the robotic arm."
In the meantime, GE's Mr. Walsh said the company is planning
different sizes of hardware and multiple updates, and will market
the equipment on a software model. "It's much more of a life
cycle," he said, "as opposed to 'Let's go sell a box.' "
Write to Ted Mann at ted.mann@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 15, 2016 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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