“Tom Cook, manager of manufacturing systems at the Kaiser plant,
said he decided to use Linux in the manufacturing process when
Kaiser reengineered its computing architecture several years ago.
He and the programmers and engineers who work with him first
designed their requirements. Then they found the solutions to meet
those requirements. Linux was one. … There are more than 20
Linux systems in the plant’s production environment, Cook said.
They track quality control, manage machines, monitor the production
process, and produce quality reports.”
“Kaiser is also using Linux to run Oracle database software
that tracks chemistry at the mill. In addition, many of Kaiser’s
manufacturing systems engineers are running Linux on their
workstations and Kaiser uses Linux servers for sharing files.
The company is using Linux boxes from Interlogic Industries Inc.,
and VA Linux Systems Inc.”
“Since much of the plant already used Unix, Cook said,
incorporating Linux was simple. “… As the product matured it
began to demonstrate it was reliable and functional, and the cost
of ownership was advantageous for us.” Cook also likes the fact
that Linux runs on older machines, allowing the mill to extend the
lifetime of some of its hardware.”