Best wishes for a prosperous and happy year to all our readers.
It’s always interesting at the start of a new year to see what the forecasts are. According to Forbes magazine, one of the most important business opportunities to emerge in manufacturing industries in 2015 will be the escalating rise in the development and commercialisation of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). McKinsey lists it as one of the top 12 disruptive technologies going through to 2025, saying: “This year is predicted to see increased investment in IIoT technologies as forward-thinking companies explore different applications of the technology, standards architects develop consensus on open platforms, and solution providers jockey for position.”
The IIoT has been described as a vast number of connected industrial systems that communicate and coordinate their data and actions to improve industrial performance – industrial systems that interface the digital world to the physical world through sensors and actuators. New technological changes will decentralise production control. Production will become more and more networked until everything is interlinked with everything else.
Known as Industry 4.0 in Germany, industry futurists are calling IIoT the fourth industrial revolution, following on steam power, electric power and the digital revolution. The biggest benefits are expected to be shorter time to market, reduction of costs, higher quality, reduced natural resource consumption and customisation of products.
The industrial Internet isn’t about connecting big machines to the public Internet. Instead it allows machines to become nodes on pervasive networks that use open protocols. Machines publish data to authorised recipients and receive commands from authorised senders. Top level global players such as Schneider Electric, Siemens, SKF, Beckhoff, Festo, Eaton, and Rockwell are leading the way with a cutting-edge 21st century vision, building on their broad product presence in industry.
Downtime is a major concern in every industry. Unplanned downtime of a machine can cost hundreds of thousands. The IIoT will enable industrial systems to adjust to their own environments or their own health. Instead of running to failure, or operating on sometimes unnecessary planned maintenance, machines will schedule their own maintenance or adjust their control algorithms to compensate for a worn part and then communicate that data to other machines and the people who are responsible.
Connection to the IIoT also means that industrial machines can immediately transmit essential operating data such as energy consumption and status. This gives plant managers and industrial engineers a continuous stream of useful data that can detect key trends and impending failures.
There are many challenges, among them security – how to avoid cyber-attacks. Systems and communications need to be secure or many millions worth of assets are put at risk. Standardisation is another. Devices and systems must be able to share information and interact without the limitations of proprietary designs and interfaces. The way forward is a platform-based approach based on standard Ethernet technologies – a single, flexible hardware architecture through an open OS that helps security experts develop the latest security.
Maintenance and Asset Optimisation
Most of these developments are still to come. However, our feature on Maintenance and Asset Optimisation has some articles showing that companies are already on the way to this vision. ‘Trends in asset management and maintenance’ by Andrew Ashton, contributing editor to SA Instrumentation & Control, puts things in perspective. As he says: “It’s not just about optimising a few setpoints on critical processes; much more effort is being put into ‘pervasive monitoring’ – the integration of continuous process and machine monitoring into traditional control systems for predictive maintenance – aimed at preventing costly unscheduled process stoppages.” Examples which come to mind locally are National Instruments’ Insight Enterprise which gives companies insight into the health of their capital equipment; SKF’s Insight – smart wireless technology for condition monitoring of critical equipment; Eaton Hydraulics’ Lifesense for smart hose monitoring; SEW-Eurodrive’s DUV 10A diagnostic unit; Schneider Electric’s Altivar Process drives; and Festo’s CPX platform with diagnostic capabilities. On the academic side we have a contribution from the Wits Mechanical Engineering department on the effect of brake heating on component durability which could contribute to truck safety and reduce tyre blowouts.
SEW-Eurodrive features in our cover story where MD, Ute Schoeman describes how the company has made full use of the last three years to position itself for the future. We also have a feature on IT in Motion Control which includes a story on the Siemens Curiosity Mars Rover which was on show at the Siemens Future of Manufacturing event. To top this off, another futuristic story from Beckhoff gives an account of a unique kinetic art and engineering creation simulating undulating ocean waves, where Beckhoff supplied the control system.
Kim Roberts
Editor
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