For industrial manufacturing and production processes, the better the monitoring and control functions are, the more safe, efficient and reliable the process will be. In a Pipeline magazine article, Accelerating digital transformation in monitoring and control, Emerson’s Aloke Bhattacharyya shares how digital technologies help to enable step changes in efficiency, productivity and overall versatility.
Aloke opens noting that Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies:
…are being deployed to not only collect a whole new array of system performance data from their machines to also provide them with smart, efficient ways to turn that data into actionable insights.
These technologies enable:
…a complete picture of how their production systems are operating and where changes or maintenance steps are needed to correct issues and maximize performance.
Pneumatic systems equipped with digital sensors, final control elements and edge computing devices enable plant staff to:
Assess how much pneumatic air machines are using and how much is truly needed in optimal operating conditions under normal conditions. If the machine is using way too much, there may be a leakage somewhere — so, where is the leakage? Capture a more complete picture of machine health. When are valves or cylinders due for replacement? Are they nearly at their limit of maximum cycles?
From an overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) standpoint, improved returns from IIoT investments are possible through:
Availability: User data from pneumatic devices together with edge gateways provide insights to inform maintenance decisions. Performance: The use of device-level data is used to measure and monitor speed and device cycle time, which impacts performance and throughput. Quality: The right data, provided through edge gateways and visualisation software, can be quickly analysed and interpreted to zero in on root causes of quality issues.
Read the article for more as Aloke shares examples in how digitalized pneumatic systems improves air consumption, enables valve and cylinder continuous monitoring for predictive maintenance, and drives decision-making improvements through the use of edge analytics and visualization technologies.
Visit the Fluid Control & Pneumatics section on Emerson.com for more on ways to drive improvements in safety, efficiency, reliability and flexibility.
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