Two things always stand out for me at Wonderware Southern Africa’s annual X-Change.
Firstly, the infectious energy that radiates from delegates and organisers alike; and secondly, the world-class professionalism of it all. It ranks right up there with the best events I have attended anywhere in the world – thumbs up to the organisers and exhibitors for another great show.
Hosted this time at Sun City, keynote speaker Ravi Gopinath (executive vice president, Software Business at Schneider Electric) mapped out the strategy and opportunities for the company’s rapidly evolving solution portfolio. This year featured the introduction of new solution and integration possibilities in the areas of HMI, Manufacturing Operations Management and Platform Information Management.
Bathed in the conference centre’s purple spotlights, Gopinath identified Cloud-based platforms and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) as key inflection points in the future of industrial software. The IIoT, he said, has the potential to flatten the automation layer through advances in sensor technology (MEMS), the possibility of ubiquitous industrial wireless, and increasingly sophisticated algorithms that transform raw data into decision support knowledge.
Predictive maintenance is an area where Schneider believes the IIoT can make a meaningful difference. After all, improving reliability and safety are top priorities at most industrial plants in that endless quest to “do more with what we already have”. To see how this works in practice, I chose from a multitude of breakout sessions to learn more about PRiSM – the company’s latest predictive analytics software solution. Designed to provide early warning notification and diagnosis of equipment issues, PRiSM can identify problems weeks, sometimes even months, before a failure occurs. A further benefit that impressed delegates during the packed forty-minute presentation is the capability for knowledge capture and transfer. This ensures that maintenance decisions and processes are repeatable over time and across the geographic breadth of an organisation; a big plus for any company faced with the twin problems of diversely located facilities and the ageing workforce conundrum.
What really struck home though was the revelation that PRiSM is equipment agnostic and can monitor assets regardless of equipment type or vendor, and without the need for manufacturer-specific information. One of the fundamental problems that must be resolved before the IIoT can truly become the next industrial revolution is the thorny issue of interoperability. Without this, it could very well do nothing more than fizzle along, as the implementation costs simply cannot be justified on a large scale. Platforms like PRiSM are an important step in this evolution. (Interested readers will find the full conference report, including the award winners, on page 6.)
Technews Industry Guide: Industrial Internet of Things
I have attended a number of vendor conferences recently and, as was the case at X-Change, the IIoT is never far away. What is also obvious is that while more and more success stories are emerging, these tend to be application specific, rather than an integrated shop floor to top floor solution across all the organisation’s processes. Of course, the latter is somewhat idealistic and it may turn out that the IIoT never delivers against this vision.
While much of what one reads about the IIoT is pure marketing hyperbole, underneath that there are some real benefits on offer. The findings of a recent survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers ( http://tinyurl.com/jqdofcg) revealed that South African companies plan to spend around R6 billion per year, until 2020, to implement the ideas of the fourth industrial revolution. They will do this because they are aware of the impact of technology on their businesses, and that there is very little chance of survival without it.
Another interesting observation in the PwC report is that companies will need to find the right collaboration partners in order to improve their business efficiency through the technologies of the fourth industrial era. The Technews Industry Guide: IIoT is a new publication we have designed to help facilitate this process. It covers standards and best practice, the latest developments in sensor technology, connectivity devices and Big Data analytic solutions in the Cloud, 3D printing, and everything in between. The publication will post together with the August issue of the magazine – contact Jane or Tina for details.
Steven Meyer
Editor: SA Instrumentation & Control
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