Machine Monitoring: Initial Step in Industrial IoT Implementation

The evolution of IoT technology has been beneficial for the manufacturing sector. Its unification in factories and workshops has ushered to the rise of some out-of-the-box features that were not possible previously. Industrial IoT is the future of manufacturing that can enhance on-floor operations and empower a machine-to-machine interaction to generate a connected and automated environment within an industry.

According to the researches, about 76% of the manufacturing firms have an existing development of a smart factory. Though, if you want to take benefit of what IIoT can provide, you require to have precise and real-time data to perform with. That is why a machine monitoring solution is so necessary to have. Manual methods have gone as far as they can to attain this goal, now it’s time to see the new options that go beyond the capability of the individual and instead utilize machine and operator data to accomplish maximum efficiency.  

What is Exactly Machine Monitoring?

Machine monitoring is basically the installation of machine monitoring systems attached to your equipment through your factory. With the help of machine monitoring, you can introduce older machines onto the network to gather data from them. Then the software can gather, monitor and translate data automatically in a way the gives fast and reliable data.

With data being assembled constantly on every machine and from every operator in real-time, operators as well as managers are in a good position to utilize that intelligence and take decisions that will enhance efficiency across the board. Machines can also efficiently self-analyze when there is an imminent problem, such as a component failure. The type of data that can be gathered via machine monitoring software contains production level, current work order status, quality results, machine condition along with downtime data.

hIOTron’s Smart Machine Monitoring system may allow you to even visualize the following data points: 

• All Machine Faults/Conditions
• Part Count
• total parts produced
• OEE
• Part goal
• utilization of all data in graphical format

The availability of touch screen tablets at each station can enable not only machine data collection but operator feedback on that gathered data as well that also affects efficiency and flow.

Why Machine Monitoring is the Initial Step in adopting Industrial IoT?

Before implementing new technology, it is important to figure out where you’ve been. That is essential for any business silo growth. In the case of industrial IoT, it’s necessary to know the current status of all machines on a line, in order to utilize the data efficiently.

1. Plan your complete manufacturing network: Firstly You should know what machines you have along with some functional data about each (historical on data breakdowns, etc.) machine.
2. With this data, you know where you are beginning from and can set up what goals you want to attain in the transition to smart manufacturing. If historically one of your substantial barriers has not been able to predict maintenance requirements precisely, this is the most vital goal in initiating machine monitoring and OEE metrics.
3. You should know what physical infrastructure do you have in place to handle a wireless software system? Does it require updating before you can even start to analyze what the machines are capable of?

With the above three steps estimated and completed,  you are now ready to install machine monitoring and get a baseline of what your production abilities are, where metrics aren’t being encountered and where you can make instant changes to improve.

Benefits of Machine Monitoring

Smart machines are the core of industrial IoT and lead to the competitive benefit for any manufacturing plant. Below are some of the most fascinating applications that will result in adopting machine monitoring as the initial step to attaining industry 4.0 status

1) Minimized Equipment Downtime

Companies require their plant should operate efficiently and in a streamlined manner. Though, maintaining a lean manufacturing perspective is not an easy task. They frequently come across unwanted component breakdowns and machine malfunctions that limit them to maintain their production line running.

With the help of IIoT machine monitoring, companies can record when the machine was running and when it was not. They can acquire real-time alerts about the machine breakdown and hence take proactive measures to minimize the downtime. Besides, by monitoring the data gathered about the machine being in uptime and downtime, companies can recognize reasons that result in equipment failures.

2) Enhance Facility Efficiency in all steps of the manufacturing process

Several factors are responsible to determine the efficiency of a factory or workshop. Mostly, since many of the tasks are driven by machines, equipment and industrial assets; they seize a major portion in deciding efficiency.

Companies can analyze the amount of energy utilized by all of their devices and take powerful measures to handle their power quality events. The real-time energy consumption insights enable companies to do so and assist them to dynamically manage power utilization, which in turn assists them to enhance the efficiency of their plant.

3) Minimize Wastage

Machines utilize more resources when they are not in good condition. In such a case, the machines will not only use more resources but will also waste the raw materials. Companies, therefore, require to keep an eye on the performance of their assets along with the quantity of the resources that they use.

A sensor-enabled machine monitoring solution provides advanced-level techniques to estimate temperature, pressure, vibration, noise and overall health to support the owners to make rapid and timely decisions  After successful execution of the monitoring systems, a company can then utilize analytics tools along with AI and automation techniques to enhance the potency of their equipment and plant even further. We can simply say that Machine monitoring solutions can be the first step that a company can take to attain operational value.