System Created by Customers

Unlocking the Power of Smart RDM: A brief History and Functionalities Guide

Smart RDM platform is growing with our clients’ needs. Do you want to help us with developing this software? We’ll be more than happy to get your input. First read the article below and find how Smart RDM was changing, step by step. 

Smart RDM – version 1.0 

Initially Smart RDM was created as a response to one of our clients’ needs who faced the challenge to manage many different reports created in different systems and applications. We found a way to streamline the process and bring all the reports together in one place. Where possible we’ve used APIs or built custom connectors or scripts to extract data from the different systems and feed it into reporting S-RDM tool. Smart RDM is integrated with Microsoft BI, SSRS, Tableau, Grafana, Google Drive, Google Storage, Microsoft One Drive, and more. 

A natural consequence of these activities was to build a Big Data and analysis management module to support ETL processes in enterprises. At this stage we could already offer an advanced data management platform that collects and unifies data in one environment, makes it possible to schedule and run analyses and gives the access to reports at the same time.   

Smart RDM – version 2.0 

As more and more customers started using the Smart RDM platform, new challenges emerged. They needed access to all production data in one web application with the possibility of correcting and supplementing data for reporting purposes. Customers wanted something more than an Excel spreadsheet. And also have a good data exchange mechanism with the reporting system. 

To meet these needs, we added integrations with OT systems, that enables industrial companies to collect, manage, and analyze large amounts of real-time data from various sources, to centralize access to production data and reporting tools.  

As a result of integration with AVEVA PI (former OSISoft PI), Smart RDM gained three new modules: 

• Report data management and validation,  
• Process monitoring and visualizations, 
• Alarms and Events. 

Within these modules we have created accordingly: 

• A mechanism for managing data via web forms. This way, users can complete data, correct errors or enter comments. In addition, we have implemented a workflow related to the acceptance and publication of data, taking into account the authorization model. On this basis, the system automatically generates correct reports and sends them to the right recipients. You can read on our blog a series of articles about forms in Smart RDM: “Forms part 1” and “Forms part 2”.
• A solution that provides comfortable navigation through PI Vision dashboards presenting data from multiple sources. This function allows users to monitor processes and operations in real-time in relation to data presented in web forms. 
• A combination of features that help user capture, store, find, compare and analyze important events: notifications in real-time about conditions in the system that need specific attention, user actions related to the events handling (according to the pre-defined workflow), event related data editing, adding file attachments to the event, event division, editing history.  

In addition we’ve introduced an operator context limiting the information (visualizations, AF forms, events) available to the user to the selected resource(s); at the same time, the user who logged in to a given resource is recorded in the resource’s attributes as an operator on a given shift, which can be the basis for later reporting of users in the shift and machine function. 

For the clients that want to keep all information about planned downtime periods in one place, we’ve implemented CMMS module that supports maintenance management by centralizing all maintenance information and helps optimize the utilization and availability of physical equipment like plant infrastructures and other assets. 

All data in one place! This data can be subject to advanced analyses, e.g. in order to calculate a digital twin, specify various KPIs and generate reports, accessed by the reporting module. 

Smart RDM – version 3.0 

Now while companies need data science to make sense of the vast amount of data they collect, and use the insights gained to improve their products, services, and overall business performance, we started to enhance Smart RDM Big Data and analysis management module to provide insights, that help companies make better decisions. By analyzing data from multiple sources, it is possible to identify patterns and trends that might not be immediately apparent to employees.  

In the nearest future we are planning to change the way in which analysis is defined in Smart RDM and give more power over calculations performed. This includes: 

• break down the computation into smaller tasks that can be executed independently an parallel, 
• distribute the computation workload across multiple nodes in the Kubernetes cluster, 
• monitor and manage the computation, including scaling up or down the number of replicas based on resource utilization.  

Contact us for more information.