Did you attend the 2018 ATX West show in Anaheim? If so, you may recognize the name RRAMAC from their involvement in the Smart Manufacturing track. RRAMAC’s VP of Product Strategy, Tom Craven, participated in two panel sessions and one solo presentation throughout the 3-day event.
Topics covered during these sessions include: Investment in IIoT, Cyber Security in IIoT and Smart Manufacturing with Sustainable ROI. In case you missed it, RRAMAC has provided a recap and key takeaways from these sessions.
SMART MANUFACTURING MODELS WITH SUSTAINABLE ROI
Craven’s solo presentation was on “Smart Manufacturing Models with Sustainable ROI.” The goal of the presentation was to display the importance of planning for longer term goals such as machine learning and predictive maintenance while showing significant ROI from smaller projects that may involve simple dashboards, trends and text alerts. Planning for long-term goals allows you to:
- Leverage the existing hardware and software infrastructure of a cloud based solution to help minimize the upfront costs of these initial pilot projects.
- Show measurable ROI to financial stakeholders.
- Use ROI to justify larger IIoT projects such as predictive analytics, machine learning and prescriptive maintenance.
Download the PDF presentation. For questions regarding this topic, please contact RRAMAC.
PLANNING FOR NOW: IMMEDIATE NEED & FUTURE INVESTMENT IN IIOT
Craven was also involved in a panel discussion on investing in the IIoT. The expertise of the four panelists ranged from sensor and device level communications, secure gateways, cloud hosting and machine learning. The general consensus among the panelists was that data from the factory floor can be turned into valuable information, but there are often significant barriers to making this happen, including:
- In-house expertise
- Cyber security concerns
- Long term data storage costs
- Buy-in from financial stakeholders
However, companies across many industries are already overcoming these hurdles and are benefiting from lower operating costs, increased productivity and enhanced user experience via web and mobile access to critical information.
YOU CAN’T IGNORE SECURITY IN IIOT
Lastly, Craven was also asked to participate on a panel that was originally planned as a solo presentation by a cyber security expert. Unfortunately the original presenter was unable to attend so Craven and a few panelists from the “Planning for Now” session stepped-in. Specific recommendations between panelists varied a bit, largely because the expertise of the panelists spanned a wide range of industries and applications.
The key takeaways from the panel included:
- That cyber security is a critically important issue across all industries and cannot be taken lightly, yet it is not an insurmountable barrier.
- Security threats are constantly changing and becoming more sophisticated, and few companies have the time and expertise to stay current on their own.
- Partnering with a company that specializes in cyber security can allow you to reduce costs and increase productivity without putting your facility at risk.
RRAMAC is involved in UBM shows across the nation. For more than a decade, they have brought best practices in IIoT with innovative ideas for the future to their colleagues in the IIoT industry. To learn more about RRAMAC, contact us today.
