Can we push the boundaries of the Purdue Model?

Just this week, I was learning more about the Purdue model and how it has provided such a well guided framework to manufacturing data flows. But I wonder if those stringent data flows align with the vision of broader Industry 4.0 or even at a minimum implement Industrial IoT, at scale.

To be clear, the Purdue model is still very powerful. Nothing is more critical than worker safety on the plant floors and ensuring zero disruption to production due to innovative data strategies. And the Purdue model does an excellent job of meeting both those objectives by prescribing a very segmented approach to data flows all the way up the pyramid.

But could we weave in flexibility to the model so that we can enable data collection and enrichment at each of its layers?

This will allow for innovations to happen at every layer especially as edge computing becomes universal. By inserting an edge platform that runs vertically along the Purdue triangle, manufacturers can accelerate innovations without risking control and security of their production processes.

Bringing an ecosystem together for rapid innovation

I spoke about this in my previous article, but it will truly take a village to come together for the manufacturing world to leapfrog into the next generation of manufacturing operations. It is also critical to understand there is no one size fits all answers to solving the data challenges in the industrial world. So, having a platform that enables manufacturing users to collect data at the industrial edge (aka at each layer of the Purdue model), process and analyze it, and make it actionable right on the shop floor is an essential first step towards a scalable IIoT implementation strategy. From there on, most manufacturing companies have made their choices on the enterprise data tools. So, all it takes now is the industrial data platform supporting northbound integrations with the cloud or more popular business intelligence tools.

At Litmus , we are working actively to build this ecosystem of partners and clients who are motivated to drive manufacturing innovations at the edge, all the way up to the cloud. Let's connect to make the vision of data-driven manufacturing operations a reality.