Bill Gates outlines Microsoft’s .net vision for manufacturing
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In a speech last month to analysts, Microsoft’s chairman Bill gates outlined his vision and road map for the company’s .Net strategy for manufacturing industry, using XML-based web services as the foundation. Dean Palmer reports
In a speech last month to analysts, Microsoft’s chairman Bill gates outlined his vision and road map for the company’s .Net strategy for manufacturing industry, using XML-based web services as the foundation.
He predicts that firms using web-based technologies to collect and distribute information in real time, and who want to work collaboratively in order to turn knowledge into swift, efficient actions, will have the best chance of success in the future economic climate.
Paul Burgum, Microsoft’s industry manager for manufacturing, commented: “The next phase of the .net process will continue to build upon the XML-based interoperability of web services [intranet portals that provide users with a structured, personalised way of accessing information across departmental and geographical boundaries] to provide tangible benefits for industry and to support dynamic business and supply chain relationships.”
He continued: “This technology will allow managers to get even greater productivity gains as web services unlock critical information and enable them to make better business decisions.
“Engineers located around the globe will be able to work together in real time to refine new product designs; sales people and plant floor managers could exchange up-to-the-minute information about orders and production, ensuring the most efficient use of manufacturing facilities. Manufacturers will be able to simplify purchasing and service and connect users to suppliers and partners more efficiently by guiding visitors to a website with focused, personalised content.”
Burgum quoted an example: “An automobile manufacturer could integrate stock control, fulfilment mechanisms and purchase order tracking to a comprehensive supply chain management system, simply through the connection of a number of web services.
“.net is aimed squarely at the biggest IT pain points: connecting disparate systems inside the organisation with business partners and helping IT ‘do more with less’ in the current economic climate.”