General Electric struck a partnership deal with Apple to convey customized, functional apps from its Predix industrial operating system to iPhone and iPad devices – solidifying the prospect of individualized and/or remote control of operating and maintenance for a wide range of manufacturers and other businesses. According to their announcement, the links that will be possible also will bring predictive data and analytics capabilities to iPhone and iPad devices.
The focus of the new partners arrangement will be a Predix software development kit (SDK) for iOS, meaning program developers will be able to define their own functions and Industrial IoT apps.
Predix is an IoT operating system that GE introduced last year, similar in function to a phone or laptop operating system but able to manage much higher volumes of data (“hyperscale”) from multiple sources, securely.
Financial terms and the time-frame for the GE/Apple partnership were not revealed. The apps will be available for download on October 26.
Also, GE announced it will standardize its associates’ activities on iPhone and iPad for mobile devices, and promote Mac products as a choice for its global workforce. And, Apple will promote GE’s Predix as the industrial IoT analytics platform of choice to its customers and developers.
“GE is an ideal partner with a rich history of innovation across the industrial world in areas like aviation, manufacturing, healthcare, and energy,” stated Apple CEO Tim Cook. He predicted that their alliance would result in the two companies “fundamentally changing how the industrial world works, by combining GE’s Predix platform with the power and simplicity of iPhone and iPad.”
The apps available through Predix will allow industrial operations to have reliable and convenient visibility of equipment and operations performance, including notifications of potential errors or overloads. Collaboration among remote individuals or teams working on inspections, repairs, or data collection, is another example.
GE also stated it is working with Apple to develop apps for its internal use and for its industrial customers, to help businesses improve machine reliability and availability while reducing maintenance costs and managing operational risks.
