FEATURE Smart Factories
Fostering true
interconnectivity in the smart factory
Martin Gadsby, Vice President at Optimal Industrial Automation, looks at how process analytical technology (PAT) driven automation can turn operational data into business intelligence
st like a living organism, the ideal smart factory is a self-regulating, self-organising entity. Its activities and processes generate data that can be analysed to support better- informed decisions and provide suitable real-time responses to maintain peak performance, productivity, quality and efficiency. Ultimately, businesses can rely on fully-optimised facilities to maintain a competitive edge.
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Blurring the boundaries Smart factories are built on Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications that bring together critical assets to create actionable insights. Thus, people, processes, equipment, products, data analytics and visualisation tools all need to be connected to drive real-time optimisation strategies. However, perhaps the biggest barrier to creating this interconnected infrastructure is the traditional separation between the shop floor and the enterprise level. This is represented by the divide between operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT). For digital- transformation strategies to succeed, this wall needs to be broken down, to merge the two worlds. In effect, knowledge can only be developed by combining the large volumes of raw data that is generated in the OT domain, and using the IT tools to turn this input into
20 November 2022 | Automation
meaningful and accessible information. Consequently, IT/OT convergence enables companies to set up more holistic control systems, facilitate process management and improve visibility and accessibility. A PAT framework can bring these two worlds together when it comes to real-time quality assurance and process control. More precisely, it encompasses the shop-floor analysers that monitor the critical quality attributes of a product and report this information to data analytics and predictive software tools. This enables real-time quality predictions and quality-centric, closed- loop control – for true quality data available immediately. These predictions are used in control models to provide processing equipment and operators with instructions on how to adjust critical process parameters and meet and maintain the necessary quality targets.
Connecting the dots
An additional, highly-beneficial step that manufacturers can take to support IT/ OT convergence strategies is to use a PAT knowledge management platform, such as synTQ. This is a market- leading software that is a true digital transformation toolkit. It connects to all available analysers, modelling and data analytics programs, as well as various enterprise-level solutions, including laboratory information management
system, enterprise resource planning and manufacturing execution systems. As a result, synTQ can form a unique gateway to capture different network flows and maximise visibility. Moreover, it offers an intuitive visualisation platform with key control functions. Consequently, different departments from the industrial and enterprise edge can access their respective information with different levels of granularity and interact with machines and processes. SynTQ-assisted manufacturing delivers optimum results and effectively reacts to processing changes on-the-fly to ensure maximum quality. To achieve this, it is necessary to design, implement and test a suitable framework, which involves defining accurate predictive models and automated solutions.
Integrating for convergence By working together with a specialist who has a proven track record of building, integrating and optimising PAT-driven automation systems, companies can benefit from turnkey implementations.
The connected factories of the future and the opportunities that they make possible have never been closer.
CONTACT:
Optimal Industrial Automation
www.optimal-ltd.co.uk
automationmagazine.co.uk
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