Recently, the Internet of Things has been one of the hottest topics within the automation and manufacturing industries, but the next few years will reveal if the promises of connected devices create added value for customers in the biggest industrial revolution since the computer.
Increased productivity, minimised downtime and prevention of failures are common applications when discussing how to increase the profitability of the process and manufacturing industries – all themes where the IoT can bring new tools. But, in order to succeed, new services and features based on the IoT must add clear customer value and enhance their businesses.
The challenges
Investment cycles in the process and manufacturing industries are long and new trends take time to develop. There are also clear security threats that must be dealt with in order to move away from closed networks and automation systems into more open, and often more unsecure, global systems or connectivity. End users need to be cautious, but also bold enough to take small steps forward to enjoy the benefits that the IoT can bring.
One of the main topics at this year’s Automaatio XXI – the Finnish Society of Automation’s most important process, plant and production automation seminar – was how the IoT can best benefit the drives industry, and what role it will play in the automation community.
Danfoss Drives is taking a practical approach starting from clearly defined customer needs. Based on close cooperation with users, it has identified some initial stages that in themselves are not revolutionary, but are the first step towards the final phase of the IoT evolution, which is ‘autonomy of products’. These initial stages already require development and design in new technology areas that have not traditionally been a focus of AC drive development. Full capitalisation of the IoT means new ecosystems and partnering for companies like Danfoss. Its deep expertise in AC drives and understanding of industry and application requirements need to be coupled with customer insight into their own processes and machinery. In addition, we need a wide ecosystem of connectivity, security, computing and data storage players that bring their expertise to the overall solution.
Remote management services for AC drives
Skeptics say there is nothing new in IoT that has not already been provided by today’s automation systems. That is one viewpoint, as drives, for example, have already for years provided data for process control through extensive measurement capabilities. Danfoss however, believes that the IoT will bring a difference to our industry as the capabilities of AC drives are now combined with enhancements in connectivity, data gathering and analysis. Danfoss Drives already has live deployments utilising the benefits of the IoT where fault isolation and drive installation times have been significantly reduced after enabling remote management services.
To sum up, the IoT offers plenty of new and interesting opportunities for the process and manufacturing industries. New innovations are inevitable as technical breakthroughs become more widely utilised in tomorrow’s products and services. The new era, however, will seize opportunities through concrete small steps that create immediate value for end users of products and processes – for which AC drives offer a perfect platform. As always, the revolution will become a commodity before we even notice that we are in the middle of a great change.
For more information contact Roland Sargent, Danfoss, +27 (0)11 785 7603, [email protected], www.danfoss.co.za
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