GE Unveils Latest Enterprise Software for Manufacturing, Linking Giant Databases

General Electric, the No. 1 U.S. conglomerate, unveiled a major upgrade of its Proficy Historian enterprise software to enable manufacturers to better access huge databases and improve quality.

Release 4.5 of the software comes nearly 15 years after GE, a diversified manufacturer, first developed it in-house to coordinate data collected throughout diverse networks and processes.

We want to use Proficy Historian to identify fault before it happens, Brian Courtney, GM for operations data management for GE Intelligent Platforms told IBTimes.

Fairfield, Conn.-based GE is the largest U.S. jet engine maker. So using the software allows the company to use real time data from engines in use by airlines as well as history stored in databases to build them right and prevent problems from happening, Courtney told IBTimes.

We can gather information from a system in use, such as how hot an engine is running or what kind of consumption patterns it shows, the engineer explained. By tapping into billions of pieces of data, GE and the engine user can accurately determine performance. GE can then incorporate the data into making new engines more efficient.

Proficy Historian can also be deployed across a company's complete network, allowing for rapid and continuous data modeling. Food and beverage companies and diverse manufacturers are among current clients old earlier releases of the software.

The GE software competes against other enterprise products from rivals such as Oracle and Germany's SAP which then need to be customized for users in different verticals. Courtney and GE product general manager of software John Leppiaho declined to provide pricing but said Proficy Historian was competitive with other enterprise software.

The manufacturing and data efficiencies in the new release are relatively unique, Leppiaho told IBTimes. GE, the world's biggest maker of jet engines, can collect real-time data about heat flows and temperatures to better compete against a rival like Rolls-Royce or United Technologies' Pratt & Whitney unit.

You can be more cost-conscious and get a better product, Leppiaho said.

GE estimates annual software revenue exceeds $4 billion. Last year, overall revenue was $150.2 billion, of which $37.9 billion came from technology infrastructure. GE previously announced plans to hire 400 software engineers through 2015 at a new center in San Ramon, Calif. to augment about 5,000 software personnel already working for the company.

GE shares closed at $14.92 Tuesday, giving the company a market capitalization of $157.8 billion.