Industrial IoT (IIoT) and smart factory trends are redefining today’s OEM business model. Predictive maintenance, improved overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), and zero equipment downtime are goals that are commonly sought after for industrial machines, and machine builders are leaving no stone unturned to achieve these for their customers.
With factories around the world jumping onto the IT bandwagon, IT engineers are on the lookout for products and solutions that allow them to easily connect their factory’s OT systems to IT networks. Although IT engineers are generally well versed in the various IT protocols used to transmit data across a network, they are less familiar the many OT protocols used in their factories.
The market today is flooded with embedded solutions for the Industrial IoT. You can now choose from a wide variety of IIoT edge gateways, single-board computers, and development boards to implement your IIoT solutions. With single-board computers such as Raspberry Pi available for as low as US$ 40 per board, is it a good strategy to cast your lot with these development boards merely going by their low price.
Traceability can seem staggeringly complex. Barcode reading stations need to be integrated into complex systems to enable the collection, storage and analysis of massive amounts of valuable tracking data on a daily basis. Unthinkable quantities of work-in-progress (WIP) parts need to bear markings that will withstand the tests of time and tough environments.
By offering third-party-enabled Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)-based products and solutions, industrial automation vendors have evolved to provide proprietary digital platforms via the Product-as-a-Service (PaaS) business model.
The openSAFETY safety bus protocol can now be transmitted via UDP using the black channel principle. This facilitates the use of wireless transmission technologies for safety communication. openSAFETY can be configured flexibly, making it particularly well suited for wireless data transmission
The affects of industry 4.0 and IoT/IIoT are growing near daily, and Panel Builder & Systems Integrator surveyed the market to see just how much affect this is having on Canadian business models. Have a look at the chart to see how companie are handling the new changes and trends within the industry.
The growing use of widely available technologies in industrial control systems (ICS) and the growth of more connected, information-enabled enterprises inherently increases security risks, and with it the responsibilities of control system providers and users alike.
With an IIoT network that covers the entire enterprise and has dozens of machines connected to a centralized system, you can see why it’s so tempting for cybercriminals to attempt access on your network. On the other hand, it also shows where your weaknesses are and what you can do to protect it.
In many manufacturing facilities, material handling functions from parts delivery to weighing to inventory have been automated in an effort to cut labor costs and optimize resources.
Every story has a beginning. Welcome to the world of innovations and progress. Over 90 years of technological history, shaped by people with ideas, drive, and enthusiam – both in Blomberg and Bad Pyrmont, in Germany and around the world.
In my last blog, I discussed how the world is changing and offered you some thoughts about how to thrive in an era of exponential change. It’s good context for this blog because it sets out the nature and impact of the changes happening in the world today at both a business and social level.
Registration is now open for the 2018 Automation Fair, hosted by Rockwell Automation and members of its global PartnerNetwork program. The 27th annual Automation Fair will be held Nov. 12-15 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Can you digitally transform production employees? It’s not as far-fetched as you might think. Visualization technologies — mixed reality, virtual and augmented reality — can enhance worker capabilities and help create safer, more productive processes.
Smart factory initiatives are growing rapidly. This results in more connected devices, more complex control networks and more time spent configuring and managing equipment. Additionally, as these control systems are connected to enterprise systems and even the internet, the threat of cybersecurity attacks become a concern.
Industrial connectors or hardwiring? More and more machine builders comparing the cost of using both wiring approaches in their operations find connectors more economical and practical. Many thousands of equipment manufacturers have switched from point-to-point (hard) wiring to connector-based cable assemblies in factory and process automation and control systems.
This project is funded [in part] by the Government of Canada.
Ce projet est financé [en partie] par le gouvernement du Canada.
