FORCAM is now Microsoft Gold Partner with expertise for cloud platform and infrastructure
04.05.2021
• "Deep expertise and commitment to the latest Microsoft technologies"
• Demand for cloud solutions increases due to the pandemic
Smart Factory expert FORCAM is now a Microsoft Gold Partner in the area of "Applications and Infrastructure". The Ravensburg-based smart factory specialist receives the status for its "Cloud Platform" competence in connection with the operation of customer solutions in the Microsoft Azure Cloud.
The Gold Partnership in the Microsoft Cloud Platform competence area demonstrates that FORCAM has the technical capabilities and know-how to deploy cloud applications and services on Microsoft Azure, helping customers achieve secure, scalable and reliable cloud solutions in a short time. To this end, a team of FORCAM experts has acquired the Microsoft "Azure Administrator Associate" certificate. This knowledge is constantly being refreshed.
Reinhold Krattenmacher, Head of Cloud Services at FORCAM: "We are delighted that our expertise in cloud solutions and hybrid edge/cloud infrastructures is attracting international attention through the gold partnership with Microsoft." According to his assessment, cloud solutions should soon be part of the new normal in the industrial midmarket. Says Krattenmacher, "We feel in our markets that the demand for cloud solutions is increasing significantly due to the pandemic."
"By achieving a Gold competency, partners have demonstrated deep expertise and commitment to the latest Microsoft technologies," said Gavriella Schuster, corporate vice president, One Commercial Partner (OCP) at Microsoft Corp. "These partners have deep expertise that puts them at the forefront of our partner ecosystem, and their expertise helps customers implement innovative solutions."
Customer example: REICH GmbH from Bavaria ensures highest quality with the cloud
One user of FORCAM technology as well as the Microsoft Azure Cloud is automotive supplier REICH GmbH from Mellrichstadt in Bavaria. The company uses a cloud solution to permanently ensure the highest quality and delivery reliability in its factories in Germany and the USA. Production manager Christoph Renner: We have accurate, real-time performance data available anytime, anywhere. It enables us to manage our production globally, efficiently, and adaptively.“
Stefan Helm, Sales & Operations Planning at Reich GmbH, explains how working with cloud infrastructure works on a day-to-day basis: “We communicate remotely via computer every day with the US team and everyone is looking at the same data. Both plants have reached the same higher level of performance after a short time.“ To the reference report REICH GmbH
New solution for SMEs for easy digital transformation
For rapid efficiency benefits through digital manufacturing, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular need a simple and cost-effective solution. That's what the new all-in-one solution FORCAM FORCE SAAS offers. With this software-as-a-service solution, SMEs receive all the benefits of a smart factory for a fixed monthly price - hardware, operation, cloud infrastructure, service and support. The solution, based on FORCAM technology as well as Microsoft Azure, is ready for use in just a few days.
Oliver Scheffert, Partner Lead ISV & Innovation/Transformation at Microsoft Deutschland GmbH, says: "The FORCAM offering enables small and medium-sized enterprises to benefit from the advantages of the cloud such as secure infrastructure, regular updates and flexible scaling."
FORCAM FORCE SAAS fits into existing IT structures, companies have no additional resource overhead. The solution collects signals from a wide variety of machines, converts them into usable data and sends them to the cloud. From there, factory teams receive visualized analyses on their screens. This enables them to accurately qualify operating states in real time. This creates transparency and brings greater efficiency and significant cost benefits.
Work 4.0: Organizing new factory processes with well-known apps such as Microsoft Outlook and more
Aimed at medium-sized companies with the need for a flexible factory IT architecture is the FORCAM FORCE IIOT solution. The open cloud platform solution for the industrial IoT offers both preconfigured MES software (Manufacturing Execution System) and open interfaces (Open API) for smooth integration of existing and required IT systems.
Included in the FORCAM FORCE IIOT solution is a certified connector to the Microsoft Power Automate app ecosystem with around 400 market-renowned apps, including Excel, Facebook, Outlook, Salesforce, Skype, Trello and many more. The "FORCE Bridge" connector bridges the gap between Microsoft's app ecosystem and a manufacturing company's production data. Factory teams can use brand-name apps to build smart ad hoc or alerting workflows, significantly minimizing errors or downtime. This is how factory work 4.0 is created.