Posted to News on 9th Feb 2016, 11:34
Yokogawa launches Industrial Knowledge business unit
Yokogawa Electric Corporation is announcing its Industrial Knowledge, a new business unit that will play a key role in accelerating expansion of Yokogawa's business in asset intensive industries through the provision of cloud-based advanced systems. Expansion of the advanced solution business, whose goal is to maximise performance for our customers through the attainment of operational excellence, is one of the important strategies set out in Yokogawa's Transformation 2017 mid-term business plan.
As called for under the Transformation 2017 plan announced in May of last year, Yokogawa is striving to expand its solutions service business by engaging its customers in a co-innovation process that will add value by achieving a company-wide optimisation of their business operations. Advanced systems are a core element of the company's solutions service business, and include packaged software that improves productivity, safety, and energy efficiency and optimises the utilisation of facilities.
Industrial Knowledge is the DBA name of Yokogawa Venture Group, Inc., a wholly owned Yokogawa subsidiary that was established in December 2015 to engage in the provision of SaaS, a cloud-based advanced solution business. Industrial Knowledge will play a central role in devising strategy and developing this business while seeking to extend the range of its offerings and technologies through the adoption of existing Yokogawa technologies and the use of M&A. Industrial Knowledge has experts in advanced systems and M&A, and will be granted unprecedented leeway to undertake initiatives to develop this business. This is a key merit of the establishment of a business operation that is independent from Yokogawa's existing businesses.
To serve as a platform for the development of its cloud-based advanced solution business, in December 2015 Yokogawa acquired Industrial Evolution, Inc., a company with a strong track record in the provision of cloud-based site-connected data sharing services (DaaS) that foster multi-enterprise collaboration.
Industrial Knowledge will focus on offerings that create value for industrial customers by collecting, integrating, and analysing data and converting it into an actionable form.
Industrial Knowledge will rely on Industrial Evolution's secure cloud platform and technologies for the collection, integration, and analysis of real-time process data from firewall protected systems to quickly develop its business. Already in use by customers to collect data from thousands of systems and devices and deliver services over the cloud, this platform is IIoT-ready. A prime example is a major process licensor that gathers data in real time from licensees' plants around the world and provides remote monitoring and support services for plant operations, including start-up assistance, warranty obligation fulfillment, and plant performance guidance. Furthermore, this business unit will capitalise on the high reliability and quality of Yokogawa's measurement and control technologies as well as the proven track record and accumulated expertise of Yokogawa and Industrial Knowledge to co-create systems that foster multi-enterprise collaboration through the sharing and utilisation of data.
Yokogawa has drawn up a long-term business framework and formulated a vision statement that reads, Through "Process Co-Innovation," Yokogawa creates new value with our clients for a brighter future. "Process Co-Innovation' is a concept for an automation business that will utilise all of Yokogawa's measurement, control, and information technologies. According to this statement, Yokogawa will seek not only to optimise production processes but also the flow of material and information within and between companies, including their value and supply chains. Industrial Knowledge's offerings will be a key means for the realisation of this "Process Co-Innovation."
While working together with existing Yokogawa businesses and pursuing its DaaS business, Industrial Knowledge will seek through M&A and alliances to widen its range of services to include advanced offerings in such areas as operation management, production management, asset management, simulation & design, and legacy system integration. In doing so it will be able to add to the value of its customers' products and services and contribute to the integration, collaboration, and optimisation of entire supply chains.
With Industrial Knowledge as a core Yokogawa business unit, the company will expand its cloud-based advanced solution business and create new value with customers based on the Yokogawa corporate brand slogan, Co-innovating tomorrow.
For more information about Yokogawa and the Industrial Knowledge business unit, please visit www.yokogawa.com.
