Electricity and Control April 2023

INDUSTRY 4.0 + IIOT : PRODUCTS + SERVICES

Analytics, connected devices, the edge and cloud

George Senzere, Solutions Architect: Secure Power at Schneider Electric, says in today’s industrial environment, analytics is the golden thread that runs through multiple industry sectors, from consumer packaged goods to mining, minerals and metals, and more. He highlights that it provides value on an executive and plant level, bridging challenges that come with siloed information, and it benefits the value chain from maintenance person nel to facility engineers and executives. Analytics spans timeframes from milliseconds to months – tracking and supporting a facility’s resilience and efficiency. However, to unlock this value, analytics and intelligence need to run at every layer of the enter prise, from connected devices to edge applications, to the cloud. With regard to connected devices, IIoT with the right analytics can provide the insights required to enable em ployees to: - Understand how their actions and decisions im pact overall profitability in real time - Shift from a reactive to a more productive, proac tive approach to addressing and, over time, pre venting issues - Establish benchmarks with easy access to oper ational trends and identification of process anom alies. Data sharing and connectivity (to all process devices in the plant) are essential cogs in a machine that will de liver intelligent solutions – and generate rapid payback, support, and adaptable and scalable operations. Edge computing is another important element. It brings information closer to plant personnel and manag ers. And analytics is key to gaining the most from edge computing: with its ability to analyse information seam lessly and with insight, it provides for the value accessed through edge computing to be unlocked. The operational edge is the critical point where tra Data conversion just got easier. New converters from Turck Banner are compact, simple add-ons that fit seam lessly into factory applications, take various types of sig nals such as discrete, analogue and others and convert them to protocols like IO-link, PICK-IQ, PWM/PFM, and Modbus. The new R45C Dual Analog IO-Link Converter ena bles communication between IO-Link devices and two pieces of equipment that rely on analogue signals – as it can take in two analogue inputs and drive two analogue outputs on the IO-Link communication channel. The R45C can also be configured to mirror a signal from one port to the other and drive a PFM output via an extra pin on the IO-Link port. This allows for existing devices to be retrofitted with lighting indicators for visual Versatile converters for IO-Link networks

ditionally siloed IT and OT systems converge to enable connected operations. The edge serves as the connec tion point that preserves the autonomy of local operations while unlocking the cloud and remote capabilities. A successful edge infrastructure will support remote, connected, secure, reliable, resilient, and sustainable operations. It needs to be scaled to enable an organi sation to harness its full potential. This points to the next important enabler of analytics: cloud computing. Cloud connectivity is taking place across the opera tions technology landscape, just as it is in IT. The cloud facilitates the flow and connectivity of critical process and operational information to decision makers. Importantly, the cloud securely stores and manages huge volumes of data which analytics services can con vert into real-time usable information for quick decision making. Using the cloud, remote teams and service pro viders gain access to critical equipment performance and process data. Overall, connected devices, the edge, the cloud and analytics feed into each other – creating, in effect, a sym biotic relationship that should be seen as essential to ef ficient industrial operations today, Senzere says. Across multiple industry sectors, analytics is key to extracting value from IIoT data.

For more information visit: www.se.com

The R45C Dual Analog IO-Link Converter enables communication between IO-Link devices and other equipment that relies on analogue signals.

factory indication without disrupting the PLC. The R45C Dual Analog IO-Link Converter is quick to set up, with min imal configuration, connects in-line easily with 4-pin M12 quick-discon nect connectors, and the over-mould ed housing meets IP65, IP67, and IP68 standards for use in harsh and rugged environments. The converters represent another step towards full system integration.

For more information contact Turck Banner. Tel: +27 (0)11 453 2468

Email: sales@ruckbanner.co.za Visit: www.turckbanner.co.za

APRIL 2023 Electricity + Control

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