How to Monitor Machine Utilization across Dispersed Factories with IIoT

IIoT technology offers industries and manufacturers several advantages over their competitors and hence it is a huge and essential topic in today’s manufacturing world. For instance, if any company runs different geographically distributed factories and the company wants to analyze machine utilization of several machines then traditional report-based methods are that much reliable to work well. Industry experts have assumed that by 2020, IIoT will be a $225 billion market that will have great impacts in modern manufacturing involving improving efficiency, stimulating streamlined maintenance, asset monitoring and more to generate a new era of industrial growth as well as the competitiveness.

IoT-based Machine Utilization Analyzing and its Advantages

Industrial IoT solutions allow manufacturers to see machine utilization measurements in real-time without physical access to machines. Analyzing machine utilization begins with gathering useful data using sensors.

Sensors estimate several machine operating parameters (e.g., average speed, cycle time, product output, etc.) and share this data to the cloud for further processing. The cloud combines the data and turns it into valuable real-time data insights by applying analytics tools. After the data is monitored, the results can be seen and displayed on the central dashboard. Now enterprise manager can see the machine utilization metrics on one central dashboard. To get a thorough understanding, check out how machine utilization monitoring operates in a smart factory application.

With the IIoT based approach factories also get:

Immediate Access to Information

With the help of connected sensor-enabled machines, manufacturers gain prompt visibility into machines’ performance. It allows them to analyze key utilization indicators in real-time and take immediate actions on failures and breakdowns. With the help of a machine monitoring solution, it not only become easy for the manufacturers to recognize the root cause of faults but also get new ideas that could assist in maintaining the overall condition and resolve those faults precisely.

Role of OEE Calculation

Manufacturers can utilize several benefits by implementing IoT to OEE in the industry. An Industrial IoT solution modifies streams of sensor data into real-time insights about the equipment efficiency by estimating OEE and recognizing a specific loss behind the reduction in the effectiveness.

The IIoT solutions not only compute potential to industrial functioning but also enhance the OEE values in various ways such as monitoring the performance data for better planning, machine schedules and energy utilization. Reports can be utilized to explain particular cases and give a logical picture of how well the equipment is functioning by comparing the measurements delivered by an IIoT solution.

Accurate Visibility

An Industrial IoT solution offers details on how the machines are operating across the industry. It shows instantaneous updates about KPIs, involving OEE and Downtime, Parts count, etc. At the industry level, it provides managers real-time visibility into how each factory is operating.

At the factory level, shop managers obtain real-time thorough data from the equipment, so they can better interpret how effectively the equipment is functioning and take quick decisions to direct throughput and improve productivity.

Downtime analysis

With IIoT, the data about what exactly happens on the factory floor is restored, monitored and developed into thorough insights. Data analytics tools are implemented to monitor real-time machine activity data such as what machines do when they are idle when they fail to generate products. In addition to that, data analytics tools yield historical data about equipment’s performance from their database.

Downtime is an essential metric to analyze. A huge number of downtime events means less production and loss of profits, which describes why IoT technologies send alerts when any stoppage in production occurs. For operation managers, maintaining track of downtimes and finish with them as fast as they can is a higher priority in order to improve productivity and throughput.

Applying an Industrial IoT solution, manufacturers have to observe the diversity of the equipment at the geographically distributed factories and find ways to effectively connect non-computerized machines, CNC machines, machining centers to a single IIoT solution.

CNC Machine

A CNC machine acts an important parameter in running industrial operations and it is very tough for the manufacturers to make the complete utilization of this machine. An IoT-powered machine monitoring solution is an innovative way to acquire cent per cent advantages out of a CNC. Also, the industrial IoT presents the utilization of well known devices likewise smart gadgets, to communicate with the CNC machine easily in several ways. The CNC machines operate via computerization and implementing an IoT solution would be an additional benefit to their efficiency. Industrial IoT into action with the CNC machines aims to avoid additional human efforts and any future risk that comes along with manually operating machines.

Non-Computerized Machines

Non-Computerized machines frequently hamper the adoption of IIoT technologies. Unlike modern industrial equipment, they do not have in-built communication as well as processing units, hence, can’t assure machine-to-cloud communication.

Since it is not probable to update such machines to the level when they can interact with the cloud, the other factor is to connect sensors directly to machines and utilize IoT gateways. IoT gateways behave as a medium for sensors and the cloud, acquiring different industrial input signals (RTD, mA, mV, frequency, etc.) and assisting a huge range of communication protocols, say, MQTT, enabling to integrate, filter and transfer sensor data to the cloud.

Control System

Industrial equipment can be handled by a SCADA. In such a case, the probability of integration via SCADA relies on whether SCADA is able to transfer the required data to the cloud or not. If so, the integration with the cloud can be executed through SCADA.

Analyzing machine utilization across geographically distributed factories with IoT-based solutions has significant benefits. Industrial IoT has the capability to entirely transform manufacturing. As the global market and industry dynamics drive manufacturers to reconsider operations, smart manufacturing enabled by IIoT-driven data analytics is essential.