xCoupler

Today’s fast paced global competition, Wall Street’s profit pressures, and government regulations such as 21 CFR Part 11 for FDA compliance, as well as Sarbanes-Oxley accounting reforms are making it more important than ever before for companies to capture and manage total enterprise data.  xCoupler enterprise transaction modules are bridging the gap between plant floor devices and enterprise systems with a solution that is easier to install, less costly, and more secure than today’s multi-tier patchwork systems.

Eliminates Multi-Tier Patchwork Systems on the Plant Floor

xCoupler enterprise transaction modules seamlessly connect Allen-Bradley Control-Logix PLCs to enterprise systems. They eliminate the cumbersome PC-based patchwork systems used today to link hundreds of applications found on the factory floor with various enterprise applications such as DB2, Webphere, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and others. xCoupler modules eliminate the problems normally associated with multi-tier PC-based patchwork interfaces:

  • Costly to develop in terms of complex hardware and software programming.
  • Often are comprised of various proprietary systems that increase maintenance costs and limit expandability.
  • Have problems delivering accurate data in a timely fashion.
  • The open nature of these systems pose enterprise-wide security and virus threats.

Simple Two-Tier Approach

xCoupler modules plug directly into the backplane of the Allen-Bradley Control-Logix family of PLCs to collect factory floor data and send it to enterprise servers.

Easy-to-Configure

Configuring the xCoupler using its WorkBench™ utility is easy. There are intuitive screens available for specific enterprise systems. Drag and drop operation make configuration, diagnostics, transaction detail, status or transaction monitoring, and security tasks fast and easy.

Wide Selection of Enterprise Adapters

xCoupler modules are available with a wide selection of adapters that are especially designed to operate in the architecture of a specific enterprise system.  They eliminate the need for middleware-type gateway or bridging systems and each one assures reliable delivery of messages as soon as they are ready, and as soon as the business applications are ready to receive them.

These adapters provide the confidence that your messages will be delivered once and once only to your business application – without being revealed to unauthorized parties or exposed to tampering enroute.

xCoupler modules and adapters help optimize these systems by aiding in the integration of business applications such as:

  • Business intelligence
  • Data warehousing
  • Enterprise resource planning
  • Customer relationship management
  • Supply chain management

Today, xCoupler modules are available with the following adapters:

Messaging Adapter:

IBM WebSphere MQ

Database Adapters:

IBM DB2
Oracle systems
Microsoft SQL Server

Protocols:

SMTP electronic mail interface
TCP/IP communications interface for both socket and UDP devices.

Flexible Factory Floor Modules

xCoupler modules were born on the factory floor. They are the result of Online D Development’s 15-year heritage of developing information exchange modules for major
factory automation OEMs. These modules can be used with one or more of the enterprise
adapters available.

xCoupler modules are designed to snap into the backplanes of popular programmable logic controllers (PLC).

Additional adapters are continuously being added and custom adapters can be developed.  For more information, please visit Online Development’s website at www.oldi.com.