Solulever’s IIoT Platform Brabo Seeks to Democratize Process Plant Data

Having access to the right data is crucial to effective manufacturing and AI-based analysis, but how do you get that with the diversity of data formats and sources in a process plant? Is there an approach that covers many use cases? Solulever has developed Brabo as a comprehensive, manufacturing-specific IIoT platform to do that.

Manufacturing IIoT Platform

Solulever’s founders saw that many point solutions are available for process manufacturers, creating a complex and messy set of technology stacks. So, they set out to create a single platform that adds context in real-time to all relevant data. With the Brabo platform, the producer can gain IIoT, reporting, dashboarding, analysis, optimization, and intervention. The platform’s AI, including deep learning and machine learning, applies across many use cases.

In short, Brabo is a complete IIoT and data management platform. It is intended to collect data from anywhere (IT and OT), put it in context in real time, and make information usable by a wide range of personnel. The goal is to democratize plant data so that process, continuous improvement, and engineering teams can all use it. Brabo visualizes plant data and performance, and Solulever is adding AI to extend the analysis and deliver more profound insights.

Adding not Replacing

Brabo is designed to work with existing software and data sources. So, rather than replace systems of record, customers can gain more value from each system and its data. Even if your ERP, MES, or other systems are older and not very flexible, the data they house can contribute to a larger view of the plant through this additional platform.

The incoming data sources are at all levels of the ISA-95 model:

·????? Enterprise, such as ERP, WMS, QMS, and LIMS

·????? Manufacturing operations, such as MES, Historian, or MOM

·????? Supervisory, such as SCADA and HMI

·????? Control, whether DCS or PLC

·????? Production Process, such as analog signals, sensors, RFID, and barcode scanners

Architecture

Data handling is the core of the Brabo platform. It is flexible and handles each type of data (relational, time series, streaming) natively. Microservices help fetch the correct data at the right time for calculation. Headless implies that complex relationships are not built upfront. Instead, they normalize the data to choose needed data at the lowest level of complexity.

The platform is comprehensive and highly integrated yet designed to be pragmatic and scalable. A complex events processing (CEP) engine links KPIs, alerts, and workflows for these process industries. The platform also includes a time-series historian, contextual data store, reporting database, and manufacturing service bus. Brabo is available on-prem, at the edge, or as a Platform as a Service (PaaS).

Target Markets

Solulever is focusing the platform on continuous process manufacturing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) makers. Some batch process industries, such as fast-moving consumer goods, metals, and food and beverage, are also in scope. These businesses’ high capital assets and energy-intensive nature mean they face high risk when operational performance is poor. Thus, the Brabo platform can help with many aspects of identifying, visualizing, and solving the problems that might arise.?

Consultative Approach

Despite the comprehensive platform, implementation tends to be use-case-by-use-case, sometimes even starting with a proof of concept (PoC). Consulting with the customer to map the initial problem or problems to solve, they only bring in the data needed to solve that challenge. They set an improvement target to show value. Solulever’s experience has created checklists and an application builder.

The Solulever team reports they have one-third the time to value vs. traditional approaches. They have pre-defined tools and applications, such as dashboards on top of the Brabo platform. They also have an application builder that’s a form to help get started.?

Looking to the Future

The company feels that the AI they have infused into the platform now is just a taste. Expect to see more on sustainability, too. The end-to-end production data customers can put into the platform could be foundational for accurate sustainability reporting, optimization, and planning.

Beyond Solulever’s home market of India and their presence in Europe, Brabo is now installed in some customers elsewhere in the world. Thank you, Prerna Sood, for arranging the briefing, and thank you to Shobhit Kulshrestha for taking the time to introduce us to your company, platform, and approach. We look forward to following your progress in the market.

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