Page 19 - EngineerIT May 2022

AUTOMATION

Intelligence at the Edge -

boost productivity and improve costs

By Jeff DeAngelis, vice-president, industrial communications, industrial and healthcare business unit,
Maxim Integrated

s factories strive to boost It takes a new way of thinking
productivity and improve As semi-conductor suppliers, we need to deliver solutions that enable intelligent sensors
Aoperational costs, the demand to and actuators, support software configurable IO, and provide advanced diagnostics.
deliver new technology that empowers Let’s review the importance of these four critical elements and the key capabilities they
intelligence at the Edge is increasing. provide in empowering intelligence at the Edge.
For those of you asking yourself the
question: “what does the Edge mean?” Intelligent sensor technology
at Maxim we define it as being where Sensors are found everywhere. They have become ubiquitous in our everyday lives. In the
the machine meets or interacts with the manufacturing environment, all manufactured products require an array of sensors that
real world! work in unison to help machines detect an object, determine the distance to an object,
In factory automation, empowering configure the colours and composition of an object, and monitor the temperature and
intelligence at the Edge means reducing pressure of an object or liquid.
the amount of lost productivity a Commissioning new sensors to replace damaged ones or adapting a piece of
factory experiences in a year. The equipment to enable the manufacturing of a different product is labour intensive and
biggest contributor to this is factory contributes a significant cost burden due to lost productivity. The cost of sending a
down time or when the production technician to the factory floor to change a sensor and then re-calibrate it to the correct
line stops, causing the company to lose manufacturing parameters impacts factory throughput. If we multiply this same level of
money. In fact, according to an article maintenance for every sensor across a factory, changing or reconfiguring a sensor is the
from McKinsey published in October single biggest expense that all manufacturing lines incur.
2018 on Digital Enables Reliability IO Link is an exciting new technology that allows intelligent sensing all the way
Beyond Predictive Maintenance, down to the machines on the factory floor. This new technology enables flexible
factories experience on average 800 manufacturing to improve factory throughput and operational efficiency. IO-Link is
hrs/yr of production line shutdowns a technology that converts a traditional digital or analogue sensor into an intelligent
or an average of 15 hrs/wk. This is sensor by providing bi-directional information exchange with the sensor. This
a substantial impact to revenue and technology adds a new level of intelligence and capability to remotely commission the
profit for a company. Take for instance sensor, as well as the ability to react in real-time by making on-the-fly adjustment to the
that a car manufacturer loses close to sensor parameters. Industrial automation machinery now has a new-found intelligence
$22,000 per minute when the factory to dynamically respond to real-time operation conditions based on the health and
stops manufacturing. This means it status of a network of sensors located across the factory floor. By tapping into this sea
loses $1.3M/hr or close to $20M per of end-to-end information across a network of intelligent sensors, a facility can create a
week. Empowering intelligence at mapping of its factory floor to provide better real-time information to an overarching AI
the Edge has already made an impact monitoring solution that can rapidly identify manufacturing bottle necks and points of
on the manufacturing line improving failure. It can also provide a new capability to optimise the entire factory floor for better
productivity by 10% and achieving a operational efficiency.
20% savings in maintenance costs. So, The way IO-Link technology simplifies the commissioning process and improves
empowering Intelligence at the Edge in factory throughput is by making sensors interchangeable through a common physical
factories works to keep production lines interface that uses a protocol stack and an IO device description (IODD) file. This allows
running by preventing costly production technicians to quickly commission a sensor which results in reducing factory down-time
line shutdowns. and allowing the manufacturing line to be re-configurable on-the-fly.
While it’s clear that empowering The adoption of IO Link sensors continues to accelerate as companies realise
intelligence at the Edge provides a the benefits of having a common interface that makes exchanging various sensors
boost in productivity and reduces such as pressure, proximity and temperature as easy as plug and play. According to
operating costs, the real question ResearchAndMarkets, the IO-Link market continues to grow, and it is expected to reach
is: “What does it take to empower $12 billion USD by 2023 from $3 billion USD in 2018, at a compound annual growth rate
intelligence at the Edge”? (CAGR )of 33.56%.

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