AWS re:Invent 2023 Recap: Innovations and partnerships that accelerate industrial transformation

AWS re:Invent 2023 is a wrap! And, it's marked a significant milestone in accelerating digital transformation in the industrial and manufacturing sectors, emphasizing the crucial role of data in driving operational efficiency, innovation, and customer satisfaction. With a dozen new features and enhancements to proven purpose-built services such as AWS IoT SiteWise and Amazon Monitron, customers are now able to unlock more industrial data from more sources faster and more cost-effectively, as well as gain flexibility in how they contextualize, analyze, and use that data across the edge and the cloud.

On stage, leaders such as Toyota Motors North America, Marmon Holdings, and Siemens shared how they've collaborated with AWS to solve real-world production challenges and advance innovation. Here's a recap of all announcements and related sessions in case you missed them.

OT-IT Integration: Bridging the Gap with AWS and Siemens

A significant focus of re:Invent 2023 was on the convergence of Operational Technology (OT) and Information Technology (IT) to break down industrial data silos. AWS IoT SiteWise Edge, now deployable from the Siemens Industrial Edge Marketplace, exemplifies how AWS is innovating in collaboration with AWS Partners to facilitate this integration, allowing for simplified and cost-efficient data transfer from industrial equipment to the AWS cloud.

In the Emerging Tech Innovation Talk, Bill Vass , VP of Engineering at AWS, and Rainer Brehm , CEO of Siemens Factory Automation, addressed the challenges in OT, particularly in data accessibility and integration with IT, as well as announced a new collaboration between AWS and Siemens to facilitate seamless OT data flow from the shop floor to the cloud. Watch the on-demand session recording to hear about their vision for continuously evolving factory operations, powered by Siemens's automation expertise and AWS's cloud capabilities.

Read the full announcement for this new collaboration here.

Building an Industrial Data Foundation with AWS IoT SiteWise

AWS IoT SiteWise, a service for collecting, organizing, and analyzing data from industrial equipment at scale, has been instrumental for customers in building industrial data platforms that allow them to gain a comprehensive view of their operations. Addressing challenges like project complexity and high infrastructure costs typical of industrial transformation initiatives, AWS has recently added new features to AWS IoT SiteWise that simplify the application of analytics and machine learning (ML), reduce equipment data ingestion costs by up to 70%, and shorten digital transformation project timelines from months to weeks. These enhancements allow customers to transform vast amounts of OT data into actionable insights and improve decision-making processes.

In this re:Invent 2023 breakout session, Michael MacKenzie , GM of Industrial IoT & Edge for AWS, and Brad Davis , Maintenance Manager at Toyota Motors North America, share real-world examples of how customers are using the capabilities in AWS IoT SiteWise to modernize their infrastructure, build a strong industrial data foundation, and transform their operations.

Some of the new features in AWS IoT SiteWise announced at re:Invent and covered in this session include:

1. Cost-Effective Data Ingestion: The latest features in AWS IoT SiteWise offer up to 70% cost reduction for data ingestion, significantly lowering the barrier for customers to leverage advanced analytics on industrial equipment data.
2. Asset Model Components: The introduction of asset model components in AWS IoT SiteWise allows the creation of reusable sub-components, enhancing the efficiency in modeling complex industrial assets.
3. Multi-Tier Storage: AWS IoT SiteWise now includes a warm storage tier, optimizing the storage of historical data for applications like BI, reporting tools, and machine learning (ML) model training, along with the already existing hot and cold storage tiers.
4. Seamless Integration with Amazon Lookout for Equipment: The integration facilitates direct data synchronization between AWS IoT SiteWise and Amazon Lookout for Equipment, a service that helps avoid unplanned downtime by automatically detecting abnormal equipment behavior, enabling easy construction of machine learning models for predictive maintenance.

Read this blog to get a full deep dive into all the features recently added to AWS IoT SiteWise.

Transform human-machine interactions with an AI Assistant

In the breakout session, Michael MacKenzie also shared an example of how AWS IoT TwinMaker, a service for creating digital twins of real-world systems, and Amazon Bedrock, a service for building and scaling generative AI applications with foundation models, can bring together operations monitoring and generative AI to extract valuable insights from manufacturing data - a process often hampered by the unstructured nature of the data found in documents, equipment maintenance records, and data sheets.

AWS IoT TwinMaker and AWS IoT SiteWise facilitate the creation of a data hub, allowing users to securely store and access operational data, including sensor readings and crucial documents like Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA), along with enterprise data from ERP and MES systems.

The managed industrial Knowledge Graph in AWS IoT TwinMaker enables the modeling of complex systems and the creation of digital twins of physical systems. The introduction of Generative AI enhances data accessibility, allowing end users such as shop floor operators and operation managers to interact with AI in natural language. This capability enables them to ask complex questions for identifying SOPs to address production issues or to receive suggestions for potential root causes based on production alarms.

This blog post provides a guide for how to use AWS IoT TwinMaker and Amazon Bedrock to construct an AI Assistant that aids operators and other end users in diagnosing and resolving manufacturing production issues.

Enhancing Safety with Amazon Monitron Ex-Rated Sensors

At re:Invent 2023, AWS also introduced Ex-rated Amazon Monitron sensors. These sensors are specifically designed for hazardous locations, intrinsically safe, and certified for use in major regions including the US, Canada, UK, and EU.

This launch expands the applicability of the Amazon Monitron system to environments characterized by potentially hazardous conditions, such as areas with flammable gases (Class 1/Zone 2). This enhancement not only broadens the range of industrial settings where Amazon Monitron can be deployed but also underscores AWS's commitment to providing solutions that cater to a diverse array of industrial needs, prioritizing both efficiency and safety.

AWS re:Invent 2023 has set the stage for a more connected and efficient future for industrial and manufacturing operations, making it more attainable for customers and partners to realize the full potential of digital transformation. As we close the year, I can't wait to see how how these advancements and enhancements are applied in 2024 projects!