Bridging the Gap Between the Plant Floor and the Enterprise.
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 factory floor devices such as sensors, PLCs, DCSs, actuators, barcode scanners, RFID controllers, etc. to enterprise systems.  They eliminate the cumbersome PC-based patchwork systems used today to link hundreds of operating systems found on the factory floor with various enterprise operating systems such as Unix, Windows, Linux, Mac OS 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 either snap onto the backplane of popular factory floor PLC’s or standalone modules are available to collect factory floor data and send it to enterprise servers.  Simple drag and drop software operation makes configuration fast and easy. Additional benefits of these modules include: Lower cost to buy and maintain than patchwork systems. Scalable to accommodate expansions Provide timely and accurate data. Proven reliability in a 24/7/365 environment. Not susceptible to PC-type viruses. Operation cannot be changed or altered on the factory floor for greater security. Virtually maintenance-free.

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 System 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:

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.

PLC Modules
	xCoupler modules are designed to snap into the backplanes of popular programmable logic controllers (PLC).
Universal™ Modules
	These modules mount directly to DIN rails commonly found on the factory floor and feature a wide selection of drivers that can be used to communicate with popular devices such as bar code scanners, sensors, actuators, RFID controllers, robots, PLCs without direct snap-in connectors and more.

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.