REDMOND, Wash., April 11, 1996 — Microsoft Corp. presented the Leonardo Medal for Technical Innovations in Manufacturing (TIM) award to two top manufacturers and a Microsoft® Solution Provider at Managing Automation magazine’s Automation Hall of Fame ceremony. Opto 22, Chevron USA and Intellution won the award, based on technical innovations they achieved using Solution Provider application software and Windows®
operating system- and Microsoft BackOffice
™
family-based servers.
Microsoft sponsored the first Technical Innovations in Manufacturing award, which was presented March 18 during National Manufacturing Week. The award went to these manufacturers based on their ability to use technology to improve a manufacturing or design process, enhance a product, or provide benefits to users. The judges considered the size and scope of the solution in the context of the company, Microsoft and Solution Provider content, documented business-process improvement, and tangible return on investment plus savings.
“The nominees of the awards for technical innovations in manufacturing range from small manufacturers to multinational corporations, demonstrating the applicability and scalability of Microsoft products,”
said Brooke Banbury-Masland, worldwide manufacturing industry manager at Microsoft.
Opto 22, a developer and manufacturer of industrial automation hardware and software, was awarded the TIM award as both a manufacturer and a Solution Provider. The company implemented a fully integrated, enterprisewide information system based on the Windows NT®
operating system to run its entire plant.
“Microsoft’s infrastructure, desktop applications and Microsoft BackOffice-based servers have enabled us to build a powerful integrated solution for our business and to deliver total control software solutions to our customers in the manufacturing sector,”
said Beverly Ann Smith, vice president of marketing at Opto 22.
“Opto 22 has seen significant improvements in order fulfillment, shipping volume, procurement and customer support as a result.”
Chevron USA won the award for monitoring and controlling its offshore oil and gas platform systems with Intellution’s Windows NT-based MMI and SCADA system.
“I can be on an oil platform that is 15 to 20 miles offshore and have full access to network data for decision making,”
said Lawrence Youngblood, electrical engineer at Chevron USA.
“With the multitasking in Windows NT Workstation, I can use a remote node as a word processor and a process control machine simultaneously.”
Youngblood said that beyond the user benefits and ease of training and use, this solution resulted in mission-critical process improvement at Chevron.
Intellution was presented the TIM award as a Solution Provider for Chevron. Chevron implemented the Intellution FIX version 6 running on Windows NT, Microsoft SQL Server
™
and Microsoft BackOffice.
The following companies were Leonardo Medal finalists:
-
Lantech Inc., which increased its share of the stretch-wrap machinery market from
35 percent to 50 percent and realized as much as three times faster time-to-market with the Microsoft Windows NT-based WinMan integrated MRP system from TTW Inc. -
Saturn Corp., which implemented GE Fanuc’s Cimplicity MMI, MES and SCADA solution for Windows 95-, Windows NT- and Microsoft BackOffice-based servers to improve quality and productivity while cutting production costs
-
D & P Products Inc., which worked with manufacturing Solution Provider Fourth Shift Corp. to implement a Microsoft Windows NT-based ERP system that increased cash flow by improving material control and reducing costs associated with product changeover and inventory
The Leonardo Medal selection committee consisted of Tony Friscia, president, Advanced Manufacturing Research; Andy Chatha, president, Automation Research Corp.; Ted Rybeck, president, Benchmarking Partners; Gisela Wilson, program director, CAD/CAE/CAM, International Data Corp.; Matt Ragen, worldwide marketing manager, engineering, Microsoft Corp.; and Harry Tse, director, manufacturing technologies and practices, Yankee Group.
Additional information on Microsoft solutions for manufacturing can be found on Microsoft’s World Wide Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/industry/man/.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
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