Technology changes all industries … eventually. Some markets, like manufacturing, resist new technology as they see little immediate benefit. But even the most conservative companies are discovering what virtualization and Internet of Things tech can do.

“It really takes an automation leader like Honeywell to go through and drive a new technology into the [manufacturing] industry,” said Paul Hodge (pictured), marketing manager, Experion system infrastructure, at Honeywell Process Solutions. “This week, we’ve been talking about our new HCI, hyperconverged infrastructure, solution that we’ve been doing with VMware, along with Dell EMC.”

Hodge spoke with host Stu Miniman (@stu) and guest host Keith Townsend (@CTOAdvisor), of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the VMworld  conference event in Las Vegas, Nevada. They discussed bringing technology to the manufacturing market. (* Disclosure below.)

Syphoning out the complexity

Honeywell Process Solutions serves the manufacturing industry by providing goods and services to automate plants and factories. Over the past several years, HPS has been bringing virtualization into the manufacturing world. VMware Inc. has been a vital part of this drive to improve the technology used in that sector, according to Hodge.

For manufacturing, the number one issue is simplicity. For HPS, the first move is to set up the technology itself. Next, it syphons out all the complexity so the client can run the system on their own. The result is a simple, but reliable, product in a package that’s ready to go, Hodge explained.

“The value that Honeywell’s providing is just really the integration of those products. Building a reference design that’s optimized for our industry and testing the stack and delivering that for our market,” Hodge said. HPS does all this because, in the manufacturing business, information technology resources just aren’t there. Without IT support, these companies need help to engineer solutions.

Because of this reality, Honeywell needs to be there to lend a hand, Hodge stated. Upgrading from known and reliable equipment isn’t easy, but there are also many benefits to virtualization, Hodge stated. The operational savings and better data are just two examples of major benefits.

“There’s a growing awareness in the market of extracting more information out of the data people are getting, and driving new waves there, as well,” Hodge concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of VMworld 2017. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for VMworld 2017. Neither VMware Inc. nor VMware Inc. have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE