Turning big data into manageable bytes

Today all the talk is about the fourth industrial revolution. But what is it and whatever happened to the first three revolutions?

The first industrial revolution was driven by the steam engine and mechanisation. Henry Ford’s assembly line was behind the second industrial revolution, while the third, in the 1970s, saw computers revolutionise the workplace. Now these three phases have amalgamated, putting us at the dawn of the fourth industrial revolution: an age where ‘smart devices’ really are clever enough to assume major control over the machines used throughout the manufacturing industry.

The vision for the fourth industrial revolution is for widespread use of ‘cyber-physical production systems’. Such systems feature sensor-laden smart products that tell machines how they need to perform to optimise production, while at the same time keeping a watchful eye over their current health.

Internet of Things

Processes will now govern themselves in a decentralised, modular system. Smart embedded devices start working together wirelessly, either directly or via the cloud - the so called Internet of Things (IoT). 

IoT is the bringing together of the physical world and the digital world. Four aspects define IoT: The Things, The Connectivity, The Data and The Analytics. But how do you go about bringing it all together and translating it into real-world benefits? How will today’s rigid, centralised factory control systems be augmented by decentralised intelligence, as machine-to-machine communication gains acceptance?

The big data battle

If every device sends an abundance of data, this creates totally new insights into productivity, optimisation potential and downtime avoidance. If machines act with greater intelligence, production can become more agile and flexible with less effort needed for planning and maintenance. 

However, this scenario does come with a warning. The greatest challenge facing industries is working out how best to harness the mass of data that these entire smart connected 'things' generate.

The key is only to gather or consider that data which is critical to your industry. Don’t just connect devices and collect data because you now can. Think of the business problem you are trying to solve. And then look carefully at where that critical data might be to overcome this problem. Once this is clear, only then should you start connecting sensors and devices. If you don’t find what you are looking for, you can scale up accordingly. 

Slicing and dicing the data

Once you have clearly identified the business challenge and have accessed the right level of data, the next challenge is how you go about slicing and dicing that data – the analytics.

All these sensors and devices give a wealth of data. But it is how you perform the analytics and, more importantly, how you connect that data back into your business that will set you apart. This is how you will see a return on investment.

Data in isolation makes no sense. It’s what you want from this data that will provide a true return on investment. You need to ensure that you have good analytics and operational insights coming out of the data. 

If production and machine data can be exchanged and analysed more easily, the flow of material, goods and information is facilitated. This is the core idea of the fourth industrial revolution. Getting this data analysis right gives a completely new insight into how a business is running. New revenue streams will emerge and early adopters will gain competitive advantage over their rivals.  

Open to interpretation

Yet, in many ways the fourth industrial revolution is not a well-specified concept. As such, implementation varies widely depending on the factory setting and what needs to be achieved. 

If the goal is to achieve flexible production, then we can expect to see the deployment of robots or other flexible material flow systems along with manufacturing execution systems (MES) with material tracking via QR codes or RFID. 

If the target is to achieve even higher flexibility, we will find humans and robots working collaboratively and a production system receiving orders via the Internet for immediate build and delivery.

In the food and beverage sector, IoT and the fourth industrial revolution will have a high focus on tracing every production step so as to secure hygiene and food safety. At the same time it will enable high volume production with frequent product changes while providing recipe control of the complete line. Further advances in need-based automated packing and handling will help extend shelf time.

Whatever the sector, all production systems call for high uptime and productivity. The fourth industrial revolution enables full transparency of overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) data, lead times, energy and resource usage across the plant. To be able to connect equipment from various suppliers, open communication standards with embedded security will be the norm. 

The humble electric motor

To avoid unplanned downtime, all parts of a drive train – from the motors to the variable speed drives (VSDs) – will be remotely monitored, with regular equipment status reporting, optimised maintenance plans and immediate warnings if abnormal behaviour is detected. 

Last year ABB launched an affordable sensor for tracking the performance of low voltage motors. A pocket-sized device is simply attached, without wiring, to the frame of an LV motor. It enables such motors to provide live information to maintenance crews. The sensor does this by receiving signals relating to the motor’s status. The data the motor produces is analysed by advanced algorithms, to help motor users plan maintenance, cut costs and optimise their plant operations and energy efficiency. 

This data will dramatically increase uptime. It takes preventive maintenance a step further towards that of predictive and even pre-emptive. This is one way to harness IoT; to collect data by connecting sensors and systems to the cloud. The data is drawn into a central cloud-based dashboard for a real-time view of key performance indicators. This rich data visualisation will show which motors need servicing and when. 

Motors will be able to anticipate what service levels they need. Using a smartphone app or dashboard all technicians can see the same real-time information that anticipates a repair before a breakdown happens. This reduces cost for our customers.

The turn of variable speed drives

Advanced apps now available for VSDs provide better connectivity and user experience and access to cloud-based services and information throughout the product’s life cycle. 

The Drivetune app allows service engineers and installers to easily connect to a VSD via wireless Bluetooth connection. Then, using a user-friendly smartphone interface, the installer can commission and tune a VSD’s performance, allowing quick resolution of any initial issues without being forced to take the drive offline. Drivetune is capable of connecting wirelessly to ABB drives, meaning engineers won’t need to enter hazardous or difficult-to-reach work areas to access information necessary to help them commission and tune a VSD. 

The Drivebase app allows plant personnel to scan a dynamic QR code generated by a VSD on its control panel. The code provides information for registering the VSD and about remedies for potential problems without resorting to maintenance manuals, while simultaneously drawing on ABB’s drive knowledge base via the cloud should further assistance be needed. From the moment the VSD is installed and through its lifecycle, Drivebase can maintain a historical record that will help ABB’s service team make proactive recommendations to ensure reliability and reduce downtime. 

The VSD itself is also becoming more intelligent. As the smartest device in the drive train, it can detect any abnormal behaviour using purely electrical measurements. By acting as a ‘smart sensor’, it can detect if a pump is cavitating, if a bearing starts to fail or if the motor operates in an inefficient operating point. By connecting the VSD directly to the cloud, continuous condition monitoring, predictive analytics and drive train control optimisation, provided as a service, are becoming the next big thing in increasing uptime and reducing maintenance cost of rotating machinery. 

Join the revolution

The fourth industrial revolution begins when a company self-assesses its digital readiness and starts to identify what can be achieved. Those with open, flexible and extendable MES and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are already well on the journey. However, it is worthwhile speaking with leading automation companies like ABB. We know how motor-driven applications, like pumps, fans and compressor systems, operate and can help determine what can be done.

In the long term there is no hiding from the fourth industrial revolution. Instead all companies need to embrace the opportunities that are rapidly emerging. A good starting point is to establish a digitalisation team headed by a digital champion. But the team must have the full support and direct leadership from top management and be viewed as a priority business goal with well-defined key performance indicators.

In an increasingly globalised business environment, you can be sure that this will indeed be a significant source of competitive advantage.