Factory Software Provides Smarter Manufacturing Operations Management Thanks to Industrial Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence

Author: Gregory GUIHENEUF

In today's competitive business landscape, manufacturing companies strive to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and embrace sustainability through digitization. Factory Software - AVEVA Select France , with over 9000 customers and 400 System Integrator Partners in Europe, supports companies in this transformation using AVEVA Software. From Machine to Enterprise Visualization, AVEVA's agnostic Industrial Software empowers real-time decision-making, with over 1/3 of global manufacturing plants relying on it for daily operations.??

In this article, I would like to offer guidance to make the most of your Manufacturing Digital Transformation journey.??

Step 1: Evaluate Your Maturity Level

At Factory Software, we believe that Manufacturing Digital Transformation is not only for large multi-site companies. Every little improvement leads to higher profitability for the company, whether by modernizing your production assets, improving OEE, reducing waste, optimizing energy consumption, and so on. To get started with the right priorities in mind and with an accurate and achievable return on investment, we advise that our customers assess their actual Automation Maturity Level, and define which level they would like to achieve and at what pace. By answering those first two questions, you support your project team by setting up the right priorities and executing a clear target.?

Below, you will find a graphic representing each Automation Maturity Level we usually identify at customers.

Based on this assessment, Sonepar and Factory Software can help you define all the “building blocks” your company will need to tackle this journey, focusing on achieving tangible return on investments at each step.?

With AVEVA Software, we can provide an utterly agnostic software platform that enables your organization to leverage a single source of truth to make better decisions.?

Step 2: Unlock Data From Your Machines To Drive Efficiency?

Data is a gold mine to drive plant operational efficiency. Centralizing the data of all your machines in one single source of truth is key to supporting your onsite and offsite teams to make better decisions, thanks to fully contextualized information.?

Plant modernization is usually the way to extract the valuable data your machines are currently holding. Of course, when possible, we advise you to upgrade your PLCs to the newest generation that provides Ethernet-IP connectivity. In most cases, such an approach is not always feasible; therefore, we, as Sonepar, can offer you alternative solutions such as Edge Computing and Industrial IoT devices.?

Edge Computing is a powerful and secure way to connect your machine. Thanks to robust, fanless PC-based solutions, we can connect to almost any devices you have on site. Whether to count parts, detect stoppages, or measure throughput, our Edge Computing offering can collect, prepare, and push the data to your central AVEVA Industrial Database or any other system you may already have installed.?

Industrial IoT is another technique to collect data at the edge with a very low IT footprint and a simple installation process. Thanks to IoT devices, you can wirelessly connect your energy meters, leveraging the LoRaWAN network. Industrial IoT devices are non-invasive to your control system. Therefore, they do not require heavy and costly implementation.??

At Sonepar, we can help you design the best hardware and software architecture that fits your requirements and will enable you to scale from one machine to multiple sites. With AVEVA Software, we can provide an utterly agnostic software platform that enables your organization to leverage a single source of truth to make better decisions.?

Embracing such innovation enhances operational efficiency, cuts costs, improves product quality, and positions companies as industry leaders.?

Step 3: Leverage Cloud & Artificial Intelligence To Reach Operational Excellence?

Once your critical assets are connected, you can easily leverage the power of AVEVA Cloud to extract even more value from your operational data.??

AVEVA Cloud solution offers our customers a powerful way to centralize and securely share their data within their organization. As your digitization maturity level increases, you can start leveraging Artificial Intelligence to answer valuable use cases such as:?

• Predict equipment failure or anomalies on an asset before it breaks down. This leads to instant improvements in your machine uptime;?

• Predict and quantify anomalies by measuring several parameters that help you identify quality deviations;?
• Predict equipment throughput on continuous processes;?
• Predict energy consumption based on all real-time parameters that our solution can monitor.?

In conclusion, integrating Edge Computing, Industrial IoT, and Industrial Data Analytics is critical for manufacturing companies seeking operational excellence. These technologies enable real-time insights, data-driven decisions, predictive maintenance, and streamlined supply chain processes, offering substantial competitive advantage. Embracing such innovation enhances operational efficiency, cuts costs, improves product quality, and positions companies as industry leaders.?

Together with Factory Software and Sonepar, we can provide expert advice on your digital journey. We'll help design a tailored architecture to support your short, mid, and long-term business goals. By leveraging our System Integrator ecosystem, we can connect you with the ideal partner to implement and roll out your solution. Companies embracing digital transformation have reduced costs by 5-30%, increased productivity by 5-40%, and made positive strides in environmental impact.?

If you want to know more, do not hesitate to contact us, and we will be delighted to help you find the best path to Operational Excellence.?

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