COVER STORY


or stops for, or how long one part of the  its process. Deterministic information allows manufacturers to build a level of intelligence that can tell them what to change, or what needs to be added to a machine. And the answer may be simple.


Adding a data acquisition layer  system capability to run the required sensors and capture the data they produce, then a secondary data collection layer, using technologies such as Omron’s Sysmac  deterministic sensors, can be added. This can work independently to the machine and not interfere with it in any way. This is a particular advantage with legacy equipment as if something were to go wrong, the original equipment may not be able to be replaced.


Depending on the machine’s scale, this data collection layer could be a system  that allows I/O to be deployed remotely. Alternatively, a central PLC could be used to collect information. The installation will be relatively straightforward, requiring


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a modest investment, because it is not actually controlling anything on the machine; it is simply collecting data. In addition, some or all of this investment could be redeployed further along the journey, when the project moves from identifying problems to managing them.  secondary architecture to which other sensors or automation technology can be added in the future. The results from the baseline assessment – in terms of scale and investment required to get a facility modernised – could be overwhelming. But remember that an entire site does not need to be tackled in one project. It is far more practical to compartmentalise and prioritise the elements which will give the greatest return, in terms of productivity and  schemes and organisations to help businesses on their journey towards a smart factory. These include the High Value Manufacturing Catapult Centres, which are industry-biased and provide innovation support to businesses. Technology vendors and their integration partners can also provide valuable support.


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De-risking


Capital investment in digitalisation can  and agility to enable the solution to adapt to future changes within the business. Modern automation systems have this capability built in, and if they are intelligently employed, users can be  requirements. Furthermore, organisations  methods of de-risking projects and improving the accessibility of technology, such as through a servitisation approach  this perspective, the customer is charged for equipment based on an outcome or performance based metric, or via a   changes the investment decision dynamic from capital costs to operating costs and  


CONTACT:


Omron Electronics Ltd industrial.omron.co.uk


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Prepare for the future and boost production with OMRON TM cobots.


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Take a leap towards a manufacturing environment where humans and machines work side by side in harmony. Collaborative robots are ideal for automating , loading unloadingfreeing their human colleagues from repetitive and potentially dangerous tasks.


Contact us to see how you can deploy cobots quickly in stand-alone applications, or integrated into a total automation concept from OMRON.


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