Q&A with Contec In March 2019, Contec joined over 250 industry peers to exchange ideas around the impact of market dynamics and new technologies for current and future manufacturing, operations and supply chain leaders. Ryan Legg, VP of Industrial Solutions at Contec Americas, presented on the Strategy. His discussion focused on effective data that can enhance productivity coming from legacy technology; connecting legacy systems to Industry 4.0 deployments; and examples of legacy system connectivity. Ahead of the American Manufacturing Summit 2019, we spoke with Ryan to discuss technology in the manufacturing industry. In this Q&A, we examine Contec’s solutions; how manufacturers can leverage IoT to reduce cost, enhance efficiency and increase bottom line; and what the manufacturing landscape will look like in 5-10 years. Here is an excerpt from the Q&A we did with Ryan Legg: “How can manufacturers leverage IoT to reduce cost, enhance efficiency and increase bottom line? IoT can mean many things to different people. While we use the term IoT – which technically translates to Internet of Things – the concept is really about connectivity and visibility, whether you have a system that is truly connected to the Internet or an on-prem system. Value can be realized with both approaches. Collecting and analyzing data allows an organization to gain visibility where they did not have it before. A manufacturer may discover previously unknown bottlenecks in their process or that throughput is slowing on one particular shift. They …
Read More →Disrupt or Be Disrupted: Navigating your IoT Digital Transformation Journey to Mitigate Risk and Deliver ROI
In a world of connectivity, the future of industrial automation is now. Over the last 20 years, automation in manufacturing has transformed factory floors and opened up a new era in manufacturing – one in which humans and machines increasingly work side by side. Between 2018 and 2020, the number of connected devices in the manufacturing industry will double, market analysts say, disrupting every part of the production process from development to supply chain management. Prior to the American Manufacturing Summit, we spoke with Shoplogix to discuss this disruption, the effects of automation on manufacturing, and the future of the industry. In this eBook, we explore how industrial automation is changing the manufacturing landscape; what manufacturers need to do to unlock the value of data from the production floor all the way up to the C-Suite; how organizations can leverage IoT to create a more efficient manufacturing process; and the benefits of implementing a performance management solution. Industrial automation is changing the manufacturing landscape with digital leading the road to transformation. Industrial automation takes investment. Starting down the path of digital transformation can help manufacturers justify capital investment by identifying the amount of lost production and the potential capacity increases they need to justify the automation projects they so desperately want to deliver. Having an IoT Smart Factory platform can help justify these projects and ensure they are acquired for. Click through to access the full e-Book here.
Read More →The Medical Internet of Things (MIoT)
The Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as something of a phenomenon in the last few years. The concept has become so popular that its impact is being felt across many industries. The healthcare industry is no exception. It is playing a leading role in this transformative process. Five years ago, the medical connectivity market was largely insignificant but has caught up rapidly. The market is expected to grow an astounding CAGR of 38% until 2020 by adopting the capabilities of the IoT. This intense growth is due to the increasing connectivity of medical devices and personal health tracking devices on the market, leading to an explosion in healthcare big data. Medical equipment, personal health and fitness trackers collect terabytes of data each day, most of which goes unutilized. In the future, the application of advanced analytics to healthcare ‘big data’ will have far-reaching implications on the industry overall, with the global healthcare analytics market expected to reach $20.8 billion by 2020.
Read More →Your Assets Are Talking; Are You Listening?
The data analytics revolution has the potential to transform the way companies organize, operate, develop talent, create value, and service their customers. The momentum is building in many companies, but only a few are reaping major rewards from their data. Companies are doing a great job connecting assets, equipment, and devices, as well as gathering all that information into distributed databases. However, the challenge lies in finding ways to listen to what the equipment is telling us and responding in useful, actionable, and intelligent ways that improve business operations and reduce costs. Effective listening enables companies to move away from reactive maintenance activities and move towards predictive maintenance activities. True success will come from breaking down the walls of silence between employees and the assets they are managing. Unfortunately, many asset management solutions gather and report data with little thought on how to support the change from reactive maintenance to predictive maintenance.
Read More →Driving Digital Destiny: Digital Reinvention in Automotive
Automotive firms need to rethink their organizations from the ground up through a process which IBM calls Digital Reinvention. The global automotive industry is at the vanguard of a digital revolution. Digital technologies are changing how people and businesses interact, creating unprecedented levels of industry dislocation and changing business economics. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers are reconceiving driving experiences through a prism of anywhere, anytime mobility. As a result, automotive firms need to rethink their organizations from the ground up. As the birthplace of traditional production chains, the automotive industry is transitioning from a vehicle-centric view to a state of deep, sustained customer centricity through a process called Digital Reinvention™. This requires automotive organizations to establish a new focus, new expertise, and new ways of working.
Read More →Case Study: Cyient Uses Predictive Analytics to Predict Failures in Ultra Low Temperature Freezers
Client Problem Cyient‘s client, a leading laboratory equipment manufacturing company, collects data from their Ultra Low Temperature (ULT) freezers deployed across the globe using multiple sensors. They faced challenges in managing this massive data and could therefore barely use it to identify critical failures in the freezers so that immediate maintenance action could be taken. In spite of their huge effort, maintenance was always reactive in nature and the company failed to keep the system up all the time. While the data collected from freezers gave indications of past failures and potential issues, often the delay in extracting these issues from the data resulted in increased gravity of failures. The company thus contended with greater maintenance effort and cost. The client targeted early detection of issues and the ability to predict critical failures in advance to significantly improve the reliability of these equipment and customer satisfaction.
Read More →Quality Management in the Board Room
Building the Executive Business Case for EQMS According to Pilgrim, quality leaders today are facing new challenges and opportunities presented by changing global markets, disruptive technologies, new regulations, and social media. Their quality management maturity has not increased quickly enough to keep pace, largely due to chronic underinvestment. When done right, quality extends throughout the enterprise and provides unique value across all functions. However, quality is stuck in a catch-22. It must break out of the silo to achieve its potential value, but the lack of perceived value reduces support from other leaders and top executives. Support from top executives plays a crucial role in the long-term effectiveness of quality. Three elements that quality needs to thrive: Top-down support Executive voice Sustained resources
Read More →3 Critical Components for a Full Industrial IoT Solution
As manufacturers have likely heard again and again, there are many benefits to implementing Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions. Though no two environments are the same, there are some key benefits that all manufacturers will appreciate: new revenue streams, cost savings, flexibility, and increased visibility, which enables better decision making. In rapidly changing markets, the IIoT allows companies to stay relevant, giving them data to guide decisions and make a business case for innovation, allowing them to put out products faster and at a lower cost. But many manufacturers are still hesitant to implement a full IoT Solution. Some are held back by budget concerns; more still are held back by fear of the unknown. It’s hard to know where to start. Technology changes so quickly that one can get overwhelmed and fear the risk of making the wrong decision. Most lack in-house knowledge and hiring a whole implementation team can be an expensive, risky, and time-consuming proposition.
Read More →The Adaptive Machine: Cultivating a ‘green patch’ in your brownfield
Despite the well-documented advantages of digital transformation and smart factories, it can be overwhelming to know where to begin. Cultivating a green patch in your brownfield can be a good way to start. A green patch is bigger than a pilot project, because it is a full-scale production system, but it is a small investment than a greenfield. Typically, the project scope would be one line or cell. We talked with John Kowal, Director of Business Development at B&R Industrial Automation, a global supplier of advanced machine control solutions, about adaptive machines and how to cultivate a green patch within a brown field.
Read More →IoT Enables Predictive Maintenance
Over the past ten years or so there have been many smart manufacturing initiatives that have promoted the need for production facilities to become much more efficient and effective through the use of technology. The concept of the connected factory, achieved through the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), is being implemented, which is significantly driving up operational effectiveness, resource utilization and a digital visibility of production and process metrics never before thought possible.
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