21cbr: the Chinese government hopes to transform the existing backward manufacturing industry with the Internet. In the solutions provided by Rockwell Automation for China's manufacturing industry and Chinese manufacturing enterprises, how does the Internet change China's manufacturing industry and Chinese manufacturing enterprises?
John watts: over the past two decades, Rockwell Automation has promoted the use of unmodified, standard, and open industrial Ethernet technology for interconnection. One of the advantages of this is that not only automation related equipment can be connected through the network, but also other equipment such as bar code scanner and closed circuit television can be connected. The same standard network can be used to connect production and management.
We call this network Ethernet / IP, it uses Ethernet protocol, can achieve the security required by data transmission. Because it uses the same communication protocol with the business system, it can easily transmit the production control information of the factory to the business system of the enterprise and the mobile devices all over the world, so that the remote maintenance and even remote operation can be realized.
21CBR: the "intelligent manufacturing" in the United States, the "industrial 4" in Germany, the "made in China 2025" in China, and the recent hot Internet plus, are there any links between them and "interconnected enterprises"? What are their similarities and differences?
John watts: China's plans or strategies for revitalizing the manufacturing industry are similar to the "smart manufacturing" in the United States and "industry 4.0" in Germany. These projects are aimed at promoting the maturity and global competitiveness of China's manufacturing industry.
Rockwell Automation's "connected enterprise" solution is unique in that it provides a practical path to realize intelligent manufacturing, and helps enterprises of different sizes to realize interconnection by building a scalable infrastructure. This scalability advantage is also shown in the future, when the advanced technologies developed by "intelligent manufacturing" and "industry 4.0" are mature, enterprises can incorporate these technologies into them to create more advanced "connected enterprises".
In addition, I want to emphasize that the core of "Internet companies" is the integration of information technology (IT) and operation technology (OT), which is highly compatible with China's "two integration" and "Internet plus" concept.
21cbr: Rockwell Automation, Cisco and Microsoft have become strategic partners, forming a partnership alliance. Why choose these partners?
John watts: in the process of promoting "Internet enterprises", cooperation is the key to success. Without the support of an ecological chain, it is impossible to achieve. "Partner Alliance Program" includes several ways of cooperation: at the enterprise level, Rockwell Automation and enterprises cooperate in the form of strategic alliance. At the sales and solution level, Rockwell Automation cooperates with distributors, system integrators and OEMs. At the product and technical level, Rockwell Automation has the encompass program and licensed developers.
The products and services of these partners can improve our solutions and help customers streamline the supply chain, simplify project implementation, and maximize the value of automation investment.
21cbr: is the business proportion of Rockwell Automation in the Chinese market commensurate with the potential scale in China? If it is too low, what are the causes? If so, what are the reasons? How does Rockwell Automation maintain and further improve?
Euromonitor: 27 years ago, the proportion of business in China was very small, but now it is the second largest market after the United States. To this end, our new normal means to reduce energy consumption and improve the efficiency of our new economy. Although the situation is changing, we believe that China may develop into the world's largest automation market in the future.
21cbr: which segments in China have great potential for development? How does Rockwell Automation develop these segments? What capabilities can Rockwell Automation Support?
Ou Ruitao: in the next five to 20 years, China's largest market demand will be driven by the middle class, and the corresponding consumer goods industry's demand for automation will continue to increase. The related products in these industries usually have different styles and require different packaging. Therefore, the major consumer goods enterprises need better product technology, control technology and software technology to speed up the time to market and reduce the manufacturing cost, which will be the future development trend of the industry.
John watts: for Rockwell Automation, we have mature solutions in the automotive, tire, food, beverage and dairy industries.