The new software embraces big data, using complex event processing, in-memory technology and the power of the cloud to gather and process information in real-time to boost shop floor performance with multinational connectivity.

Forcam is also said to offer the first shop-floor software to meet all the technical requirements for Industry 4 making Factory Framework a world class shop-floor management solution.

Forcam founder and CEO, Franz Gruber, says: “This is not just a management tool, but a system and a philosophy that the whole team – workers, supervisors and managers – can use to create more productive, competitive and profitable enterprises. Given globalisation of manufacturing this has a crucial role for the viability of factories in advanced economies.”

The development is said to be particularly relevant to multinational manufacturers seeking to optimise performance of linked plants around the globe. Based on a user-friendly human-machine-interface (HMI), information can be gathered and presented on a variety of devices from touch screens to mobiles and tablets.

UK account manager, Charlie Walker, explained: “We view this as the fourth phase of the industrial revolution, Industry 4, gathering, interpreting and representing intelligently the key performance information that empowers people to be more productive. Using the power of the cloud we stream data internationally to different plants to create connected and highly transparent manufacturing processes.”

Franz Gruber concluded, “Successful manufacturing businesses in the 21st century need to embrace a manufacturing execution system (MES) that has big data at its core and uses this via the web to give real time transparency and response. This is the route to achieving a continual improvement process (CIP) and sustainable productivity increases.”