Technology
Edge computing for smart factories and smarter machines
SOURCE: STRATUS
Edge computing platforms offer new revenue and cost reduction opportunities for machine and equipment manufacturers. They also offer OEM machinery builders a technology pathway to developing new generations of smarter equipment that meet changing customer demands and the need for digital transformation.
From this topology, it is easy to see that the Device Edge through the Compute Edge are applicable to machine and equipment builders. DIFFERENT TYPES OF OEM MACHINERY builders face one challenge that is always the same; the market is highly competitive. Each generation of equipment offers price/ performance improvements over previous generations. Design, engineering and product management departments must constantly evaluate the tradeoffs between new technology improvements and associated cost
increases as they bring new designs to market. Automation has been an integral part of equipment design for many years, but new concepts such as digital transformation, Smart Manufacturing, Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are being increasingly applied in the manufacturing world to deliver competitive advantages. This article focuses on what machine and equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can do to
Edge Computing platforms offer OEMs possible, new revenue generating services and improved TCO.
38
leverage these new concepts and how Edge Computing can meet their unique needs as well as their customers’ requirements.
The need for smart machines
In the same way that machine automation, using PLCs and PACs, revolutionized equipment design a generation ago, Smart Factories and Smart Manufacturing are evolving the industrial world again. Applying digital transformation concepts enables companies to operate at peak performance by leveraging the data collected by control systems and sensors. This approach provides real-time analytics to operators, inputs that help improve Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), and data that can be collected and analyzed locally. Data can also be sent to the Cloud for deeper analysis in a variety of applications. Applications can include optimized maintenance, supply chain agility, and increasing yield across multiple facilities engaged in similar production. Machines and OEM equipment are fundamental elements of production. Smart Factories and Smart Manufacturing can only be achieved by Smart Machines operating as designed by their OEM or specified by the end user. Embracing digital transformation enables machine and equipment builders to enhance design and supports the development of new services around equipment performance and
in d u s t r ial et h er ne t b o o k
02.2021
