COMPRESSORS & COMPRESSED AIR FEATURE A PLATFORM FOR IMPROVED PERFORMANCE
Industry 4.0 is enabling compressed air users to manage and optimise their processes. Charles Joel, Global IoT and analytics director at Gardner Denver, discusses how the industry can capitalise on these opportunities, and introduces the company’s iConn platform
E
veryone knows about Industry 4.0, and yet many are still not making the most
of the opportunities it is creating. With the International Data Corporation predicting that the IoT network will consist of more than 29 billion connected devices by 2020, experts are estimating that the data from these devices will yield insights that drive economic value of more than $11 trillion by 2025. Nevertheless, many businesses are still
struggling to develop the insights required to help them gain commercial advantage. For compressed air users, generating this resource accounts for 10 per cent of total energy costs in industry1
, so ensuring
wastage is kept to an absolute minimum should be a key concern for all operators. And with industry averages suggesting energy costs account for more than 80 per cent of the total cost of ownership of a compressor, any initiatives that can help companies identify inefficiencies and
The Carbon Trust, Compressed air: Opportunities for business,
https://www.carbontrust .com/media/20267/ctv0 50_compressed_air.pdf
1
iConn has been developed to deliver advanced analytics, enabling you to stay in control of your compressed air installation
for those using compressors. Most businesses, over time and throughout various product lifecycles, will have purchased units from a range of brands. The compressed air industry needs open and secure IoT analytics support to help them realise the true value of Industry 4.0. At the end of the day, the question all
compressed air users need to be asking themselves is: ‘What data do we require to drive the highest operational improvements?’ These improvements can be numerous and many, including increased uptime, reduced risks, greater productivity, improved efficiencies, air quality as a service, and investment protection.
At the end of the day, the question all compressed air users need to be asking themselves is: “What data do we require to drive the highest operational improvements?’’
assist with performance optimisation, leak reduction and practical air management processes will be welcomed. Industry 4.0 and the IoT are, without doubt, the greatest opportunities available today to help organisations work smarter. The compressed air marketplace,
however, needs more than just insights – it needs openness and simplicity. For many businesses, the IT systems they have in place will be diverse and – in some cases – non-existent, and many nowadays expect to be able to control systems from the palm of their hands, using a smartphone app. Furthermore, many SMEs will be entrepreneurially-led and won’t be loyal to one particular brand. The move from closed, proprietary
products to open ones is a big challenge for Industry 4.0. Traditionally, a product operates and connects to a brand’s own proprietary protocols and data transfer mechanisms. This closed system can be problematic
To meet this need, Gardner Denver has
Adopting digital solutions such as iConn can help provide tangible benefits to a business’s bottom line, with real-time monitoring, alarms and warnings to reduce the risk of downtime
introduced a new digital platform, iConn. A cloud-based, air management platform, iConn has been developed to deliver advanced analytics, enabling you to stay in control of your compressed air installation. The system provides historic, real-time, predictive and cognitive analytics, allowing users to rectify
potential issues before they happen. This can help provide tangible benefits
to a business’s bottom line, with real- time monitoring, alarms and warnings to reduce the risk of downtime. The browser-based system means remote sites can be easily monitored, and compressor performance can be optimised with machine parameters and trend analysis over time. Crucially, iConn is also an open platform,
supporting ancillary and compressed air products from other brands. iConn can help provide a platform that delivers meaningful compressed air insights, no matter who the manufacturer is. This is what businesses want and need – a platform that can work with multiple compressor installations. For this reason, iConn is believed to be something of a game changer for the compressed air industry, helping users to improve their operational efficiencies considerably. With UK industry currently using over
20TWh of electricity every year to compress air – equivalent to the output of four power stations and over 8.1 million tonnes of CO2 emissions - high-quality energy and performance at a cost- effective price continues to be a key consideration for all businesses. Industry 4.0’s ability to drive companies
to share and analyse data every step of the way, then, is creating a real opportunity for compressed air users to consider how data can improve performance and help identify any inefficiencies. For those seeking a smart manufacturing strategy, this is the most valuable means of evaluating compressed air generation yet available on the market, and iConn helps businesses to do this quickly and easily.
Gardner Denver
www.gardnerdenver.com/industrials
PROCESS & CONTROL | FEBRUARY 2019 7
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