RRAMAC Presents at Advanced Design and Manufacturing Expo
RRAMAC Connected Systems recently presented at the Advanced Design and Manufacturing Expo in Cleveland on “Using Cognitive Analytics to Improve Production with Prescriptive Maintenance,” and “Optimizing Assets to Function in a Smart Manufacturing Ecosystem.” Both presentations were given by Tom Craven, VP of Product Strategy for RRAMAC. The presentations focus on scalable remote monitoring, IIoT solutions, plant floor connectivity and how all of these play into prescriptive maintenance and smart manufacturing.
Optimizing Assets to Function in a Smart Manufacturing Ecosystem
Craven’s presentation on smart manufacturing equipment with legacy equipment was covered by Rob Spiegel of Design News. This presentation discussed the challenges that many manufacturers face when looking to update their systems to speak intuitively with the internet and why traditional VPNs are not the answer. These challenges include:
- Connectivity of PLCs to the internet
- Security capabilities with dated PLCs
- Cost efficiency and ROI
- Time to complete upgrades
So what solution satisfies the goal of updating for connectivity, security and quick ROI while keeping the majority of the manufacturing facility’s legacy equipment? A communication device like the edge node. “The edge node sends secure communication as an outbound connection from the edge node to the server with encryption,” said Craven. “There’s no incoming firewall hole required.”
This device also communicates with local IOs and PLCs, is timestamped and requires little to no IT setup. Together with the equipment your company has already invested in, an edge node can securely enable data. Read the full article from Design News – here.
Using Cognitive Analytics to Improve Production with Prescriptive Maintenance
Can you afford to shut down your equipment in the event of a shortage of material? For many companies, shutting down equipment would pose a major setback for production efficiency and costs. This is where predictive and prescriptive maintenance come in, topics RRAMAC covered during the Advanced Design and Manufacturing Conference. Predictive maintenance brings great value to production including increased efficiency and decreased downtime, maintenance costs and expedited fees. Prescriptive maintenance goes a step beyond predictive in that the software can recommend a solution to the problem and steps to take to solve this problem.
This helps operators make smarter, timelier decisions. For instance, a system that has prescriptive maintenance that encountered a machine breakdown would:
- Provide operators with adequate information as well as suggested solutions
- Hyperlink to relevant information to help resolve the issue
- Connect to other software systems to implement solutions such as scheduling maintenance, ordering replacement parts, etc.
When considering an IIoT platform, ensure it is scalable to be inclusive of predictive and prescriptive maintenance needs whether it’s now, next year or 5-years down the line. These tools can be used to actively recommend or make adjustments to operating parameters to improve throughput, maximize quality and reduce downtime.
To get started, connect with a RRAMAC Connected Systems engineer. Learn more about the solutions RRAMAC provides including EdgeScout by RRAMAC, click here.
