Smart Manufacturing Explored With Industrial IoT Part 1
Automation technology landscape is incomplete without Manufacturing Operations. Not just machinery, but production automation systems also need to be advanced enough to deliver high performance. Proper integration enables them to provide economical operation. At the same time, it should be based on mature methodologies and products that are reliable.
One can employ “Cutting Edge” technology but not many would be interested in employing “bleeding edge” technology.
Harvest, processing, and analysis of the correct data help operational personnel make right decisions and best-informed choices at their facilities. It also enables efficient management to optimize strategic plans throughout multiple locations. It means that advanced data analytics can reduce maintenance, improve efficiency and enhance the safety of work environment.
In this part of this series, we will talk about upcoming IoT trends in near future and connectivity via automation.
Automated manufacturing growing smarter
Today, there are a huge variety of devices, software capabilities and communication possibilities that have been developed in an interrelated manner. This has made the extraction and analysis of manufacturing data easy. With the effective combination, “regular” manufacturing gets elevated to smart manufacturing. Hence, in many ways, now automated manufacturing is smarter than ever.
Control systems with different types of sensors are employed by machinery and process plants. Internet of Things (IoT) concept is about all devices becoming networked information providers via the internet.
However, it appears that Industrial IoT (IIoT) has already achieved what IoT was expected to achieve in the coming years. IIoT has multiple sensors and other devices that report data to higher-level automation systems. The key objective of IoT is convenience whereas the key objective for IIoT concept is safety and efficiency.
IoT to trend in near future
Today, manufacturing businesses around the world are interested in implementing the IIoT to gather more data and improve operations. Although these objectives have been present for many decades, now technology advancements have made it much more feasible to implement the IIoT.
Earlier, devices and equipment meant for the connectivity purposes offered just basic connectivity. This scenario was due to lower standards and technology. And the provision for connectivity limited to basic served the purpose of cutting costs. Sometimes, a vendor restricted connectivity to avoid extra complications that might drive them away from their core business. Or they aimed to increase the exclusivity of their device.
But now the times have changed. Today connectivity is better. Consumer devices like smartwatches, phones, appliances, and sneakers can interact with each other by connecting via the internet. Similarly, industrial devices no longer use proprietary communication interfaces. Now they are using standardized networks and protocols which are often based on Ethernet. Today, the market is competitive and every device needs connectivity for the purposes of industrial manufacturing. Functionality may not be needed every day but is helpful for future-proof investments.
Today modules can communicate with equipment, up onto contemporary networks and protocols. This is helpful for old devices that use basic analog and digital signals. Hence, end users can choose an upgrade path in order to preserve their existing system. At the same time, it also turns their basic devices into smart, leading to intelligent machinery.
Automation smoothens the connection between “Islands” to “Mainland”
“Islands of Automation” exist in various production plants. Sometimes there is minimal interaction between automated systems or skids, irrespective of them being a part of a production line. Sometimes these systems are assembled and they grow over a long period of time. However, operations of every island are managed by one or more controllers. Despite having sufficient power to perform some data processing, Industrial controllers may not share common communication protocols.
However, the availability of many flavors of “gateways” or “bridges” is good news. Different gateways can transform into dedicated configurable devices, or PCs running various drivers and communication software. Pertinent information from existing systems can be translated into a suitable format for higher level integration via gateways.
Huge informational advances can be achieved via connection capability disparate controllers and systems controlled by them. Such systems can be interconnected to historian systems and supervisory alarming systems. These systems consolidate key information from a whole production line into a few effective displays or reports.
Benefits of connected factory
There are many benefits of the connected factory. Important once are as follows:
- Subsystems are integrated in this way for many operations. Hence, achieving a transfer of upstream and downstream information and improving the production flow is possible.
- At the time of production going down, using the integrated information to identify and eliminating the root cause is possible. This promotes Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) tracking.
TechRadar says:
“In the wider economy, the IIoT is critical in reducing unplanned downtime of production facilities and plants.”
What is your opinion about IIoT? Do you find it better than IoT? Post your comments.
In the next part of this series, we will talk about Integration and be moving information to next level. Join our LinkedIn page for more discussions on IoT and other technology.