Not long ago we were reading and writing a lot about the notion of convergence between the worlds of telecommunications and computing. The notion was that these two once-separate domains would come together, combining the benefits of fast, personal computing and relatively inexpensive broadband-based communications.

We don’t read much about this type of convergence anymore, in large part because, at least in the consumer realm, it has become a ubiquitous and accepted reality. Mobile phones double as PCs, and desktop computers are used by most of us as communication devices much more than they’re used as computing devices.

This type of convergence has impacted manufacturing inconsistently, however. It’s common for warehouse workers and field sales types to rely on converged wireless networks and handheld computing/communication devices to do their jobs. But, for the most part, this type of convergence hasn’t found its way to the plant floor.

Recently, however, I saw an interesting example of computing/telecom convergence that involved the plant. At SAP’s annual Sapphire customer conference in Orlando, the company was quietly demonstrating an application that integrated its MII manufacturing operations management/manufacturing intelligence software product with the Application-Oriented Networking (AON) telecommunications platform from Cisco Systems.

Here’s how the application works: MII, which is tied into MES and plant floor control systems, is able to, among other things, track specific manufacturing processes and even issue alerts when a specified event occurs or threshold is met. The integration with Cisco’s AON platform allows those alerts to be delivered instantly to all types of communication devices — mobile phones, e-mail addresses, regular phones, etc. So, for example, if problems in a production run threaten an important customer delivery, a plant manager, sales manager, distribution partner, or the customer herself could be instantly notified and provided with the pertinent information. Sort of like airlines automatically notifying you via your mobile phone when your flight has been delayed.

The integration, developed by SAP and Cisco, will be jointly marketed under a partnership between the companies, according to Frank Schuler, vice president for manufacturing solution management at SAP. The companies even have plans to implement the MII software directly on a blade that will fit into a Cisco AON router, officials said.

Now that’s convergence.

—Jeff Moad, MA Executive Editor