By George Senzere, solutions architect: Secure Power at Schneider Electric.
Analytics today is the golden thread that runs through multiple market segments, from consumer packaged goods (CPG) to mining minerals and metals (MMM). It provides immense value on an executive and plant level, bridging challenges that come with siloed information, and it benefits the value chain from maintenance personnel to facility engineers and executives.
Analytics is all-encompassing, spanning timeframes from milliseconds to months, and affects a facility’s resilience and efficiency. However, to unlock this value analytics and intelligence must run at every layer in an enterprise, from connected devices, to edge applications, to the cloud.
Looking at connected devices, IIoT with the right analytics can provide the insights required to allow employees to:
• Understand how their actions and decisions impact overall profitability in real time.
• Shift from a reactive to a more productive proactive approach to addressing and eventually avoiding issues.
• Establish benchmarks with easy access to operational trends and identification of process anomalies.
Ultimately, data sharing and connectivity to all process devices in the plant are vital cogs in a machine that will deliver intelligent solutions that ultimately generate rapid payback, support, and adaptable and scalable operations.
The next is edge computing, which brings information closer to plant personnel and managers; but to gain the most from edge computing, one must unlock the value that comes with the ability of analytics to analyse information in a seamless and insightful manner.
The operational edge is the critical point where traditionally siloed IT and OT systems converge and enable connected operations use cases. The edge serves as the connection 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; but to ensure organisations harness its full potential it needs to scale up, which brings us to the next important enabler of analytics, cloud computing.
Cloud connectivity is taking place across the operations technology landscape, just as it has in IT. The cloud fosters the flow and connectivity of vital process and operational information to decision makers.
Importantly, the cloud securely stores and manages huge data volumes which analytics services can then convert into real-time information for quick decision-making. Using the cloud, remote teams and service providers gain access to process data and critical equipment performance.
In the end, connected devices, the edge, the cloud and all the analytics feed into each other – creating an important symbiotic relationship that should become a non-negotiable part of operations today.
Overcoming the bottling industry’s fragmented visibility Schneider Electric South Africa
IT in Manufacturing Electrical Power & Protection
Beverage bottling facilities are among manufacturing’s most energy-intensive environments, yet many still operate without granular insight into where that energy goes. Rezolia Muller-Potluri of Schneider Electric explains how tiered metering architecture and advanced
Read more...What you need is a nerve centre for your building Schneider Electric South Africa
SCADA/HMI
Schneider Electric’s Anoop Hariparsad explains how a building management system acts as a single nerve centre, cutting energy use and improving safety and guest experience.
Read more...New chiller line for high-density AI data centres Schneider Electric South Africa
IT in Manufacturing
Schneider Electric has launched the Uniflair XCA, a new series of air-cooled and free-cooling chillers designed for artificial intelligence-driven, high-density liquid-cooled data centres.
Read more...Turning system integrators into trusted technology partners Schneider Electric South Africa
IT in Manufacturing System Integration & Control Systems Design
Schneider Electric’s Alliance Partner Programme is repositioning system integrators from hardware suppliers into lifecycle-value partners. Oriel Soupen explains the competency framework, certification model and real-world results that are already helping African system integrators win higher-value, longer-term engagements.
Read more...Schneider Electric introduces next-generation BlokSeT switchboard Schneider Electric South Africa
Electrical Power & Protection
Schneider Electric has launched its next-generation BlokSeT low-voltage switchboard in West Africa, offering high reliability, predictive maintenance capability and digital integration for critical infrastructure and industrial applications.
Read more...Why renewable projects need integrated protection and control
IT in Manufacturing
Fragmented secondary plant integration in renewable energy projects causes costly delays during commissioning. ACTOM Protection and Control’s Secondary Plant Integration solution consolidates all secondary systems under a single engineering framework, reducing risk and accelerating grid
Read more...When digital twins move from concept to critical tool
IT in Manufacturing System Integration & Control Systems Design Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration
Digital twins are moving out of the lab and onto the mine, the factory floor and the transport network where they predict failures before they happen. Amritesh Anand looks at where they earn their keep, the data and integration work behind them, and the security questions every organisation should ask before switching one on.
Read more...How a digital foundation can overcome the LNG trilemma Schneider Electric South Africa
IT in Manufacturing SCADA/HMI
The LNG sector is racing to add capacity, but without a digital backbone, growth creates complexity rather than capability. Christophe Begat of Schneider Electric explains how connecting data, systems and analytics across the LNG value chain can resolve the trilemma of secure supply, lower emissions and tighter costs.
Read more...You can’t digitise a blackout Schneider Electric South Africa
Electrical Power & Protection
Across East Africa, smart meters and AI promise cleaner, more reliable power, but digital tools cannot optimise a grid too weak to carry the load. Schneider Electric’s Symphrose Ochieng sets out why operators should strengthen physical infrastructure first, then add digital capability in phases.
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.
printer friendly version