As more food and beverage manufacturers use multiple automation vendors, they need a common format to collect data, store it and compare key performance indicators across multiple plants. OSIsoft recently introduced a next-generation engine for its Real-time Performance Management (RtPM) platform based on its PI System, a real-time information management system introduced nearly 20 years ago. OSIsoft rebuilt the PI System Server to perform over 10 times the scalability and five times the reliability of the previous system.

The new performance metrics for the PI 3.4 version include support for over one million data points per PI Server, support for over 500 simultaneously connected users and up to 80,000 events per second throughput for storage into the archive. Additionally, multi-threading techniques ensure timely access for all connected users, regardless of the complexity of the query. According to OSIsoft’s Dave Stockford, the product is scaleable to both medium- and large-sized food plants. Processors can use this software to improve plant performance locally or on a global or enterprise-wide basis.

OSIsoft’s IT Monitor product was used to seek out the bottlenecks in the PI Server, leading to performance increase. The new level of performance ensures that large, enterprise-wide roll-outs of the RtPM platform will support simultaneous access by business users and technical users without affecting system performance or response times.