Machine data acquisition
Machine data is the key to successful digital transformation in manufacturing
The manufacturing industry is facing significant change as digitalization and the Internet of Things (IoT) generate an unprecedented volume of data. At the same time, technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are enabling this flood of data to be put to good use.
Even if the manufacturing industry has not yet been considered a pioneer of digitalization, there are significant opportunities right now for companies that are in the process of transformation – or still have it ahead of them. The global market is growing steadily, and more and more companies want to exploit the potential of digitalization. 77% of the manufacturers surveyed stated that they want to invest heavily in digital transformation.
Changing customer requirements pose new challenges for the manufacturing industry
This transformation is also being driven by changing customer requirements. The manufacturing industry must become faster, more flexible and more individualized. To master these challenges, it is no longer enough to simply optimize individual machines. Instead, the entire company and its production facilities – from the machine to the supply chain – need to be digitally networked.
At the moment, this change is still often faced with a wide variety of machines, outdated systems and a multitude of interfaces that make it difficult to fully exploit the potential of digitalization:
- Non-uniform systems: many companies work with a diverse array of machines of different ages and from different manufacturers. This makes it difficult to obtain and analyze meaningful data.
- Incomplete data: A lack of transparency and incomplete data sets make decision-making difficult and render the data collected almost useless.
- Outdated systems and different data languages and data sources: The integration of older machines into a modern, digital infrastructure poses major challenges for many companies.
To overcome these challenges, intelligent solutions are needed that connect machines and data and are flexible enough to deal with different systems and data formats. Intelligent, professional solutions are needed that can record and interpret these data volumes – keyword machine data acquisition (MDA)
What is machine data acquisition?
Digitalization is finding its way into production halls – and machine data acquisition (MDA) plays an important role in this. But what exactly does this term mean? What data is recorded and what are the benefits? We will show you how you can use the MDC solution from FORCAM ENISCO – AC4DC to “shake up” your shop floor and revolutionize the processes in your machinery.
In simple terms, machine data acquisition (MDA) is about collecting information directly from machines and systems and making it available digitally. Instead of laboriously entering data into tables by hand, machine data acquisition records it automatically and in real time. This can be information about production progress, energy consumption, material flow or the condition of the machine itself, for example.
How is machine data recorded?
Machine data can be tapped directly from the control system. There are a variety of providers and different communication protocols. AC4DC converts a status from the signals, e.g. machine is running/not running, and passes this on in the required standard. The standardization (interpretation) of the data is an added value that not every provider can deliver. This means that the interpretation does not have to be made at a later point in time, making it less complex.
Sensors can also be used, but control systems are already present on most machines and a lot of data can already be read from these.
What machine data is available?
The range of machine data that can be collected is enormous and naturally depends on the machine in question and the objectives of the data collection. Basically, the data can be divided into different categories:
- Operating data:
- Production data: Number of parts produced, production speed, scrap rate, running times/downtimes, etc.
- Process data: Temperature, pressure, speed, flow rate, etc.
- Condition data: Vibrations, noise, temperature of components, etc.
- Energy data:
- Power consumption
- Compressed air consumption
- water consumption
- Quality data:
- Dimensional accuracy of the products
- Surface quality
- Defect detection
- Material data:
- Material consumption
- Material flow
- Batch numbers
These are just a few examples of machine data collection to show how many of these parameters can have an impact on productivity and how many ways there are to optimize it based on accurate data collection – and, above all, how important an MDC system can be.
What are the advantages of machine data acquisition?
The continuous recording and evaluation of machine data offers companies enormous optimization potential and competitive advantages:
1) Increased transparency & efficiency
- Real-time insights: machine data acquisition enables seamless monitoring of production processes in real time. This provides a comprehensive overview of the performance of individual machines, the material flow and the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
- Optimized production planning: The collected data can be used to better plan production processes and identify and eliminate bottlenecks at an early stage.
- Reduced downtimes: By monitoring the condition of the machine, maintenance work can be planned in advance (predictive maintenance). Unplanned downtimes, which cause high costs, are thus minimized.
2) Increased product quality
- Continuous quality control: by monitoring relevant parameters throughout the production process, deviations from the standard can be detected and corrected at an early stage.
- Seamless traceability: In the event of quality problems, machine data acquisition enables seamless traceability of production data and batches.
3) Reduced costs
- More efficient use of resources: by optimizing production processes and reducing waste, resource consumption (material, energy) is minimized.
- Lower maintenance costs: Predictive maintenance makes it possible to optimize maintenance operations and avoid costly unplanned downtimes.
4) Increased flexibility & scalability
- Rapid response to market changes: Machine data collection enables flexible and agile production that can react quickly to new requirements and market changes.
- Easy scalability: Data collection can be adapted to new machines and systems at any time and expanded flexibly.
What is special about the new AC4DC MDC tool from FORCAM ENISCO?
AC4DC from FORCAM ENISCO is a highly available and secure next-generation connectivity solution for production. The cluster- and cloud-enabled MDC tool collects data from machines and makes it available in real time to enable data-based decisions:
AC4DC offers further additional benefits
- Digitization of heterogeneous assets in the green and brownfield
- Scalable due to low hardware requirements
- Even faster and more flexible implementation and use
- Increased data sovereignty and cyber security
- Resilient: stable data supply thanks to buffering
The Smart Factory: connectivity as the foundation
Machine data acquisition is a fundamental building block on the way to the smart factory, in which machines and systems communicate with each other and operate autonomously in some cases. The networking of all production units creates a kind of digital “mirror image” of the factory, which forms the basis for data-driven optimization of all processes.
The connectivity of different systems and the seamless integration of sensors, software and cloud solutions are essential. This is the only way to exchange data in real time and control processes efficiently. The scalability of the solutions is another important factor in order to “grow” with an increasingly complex infrastructure in the company. AC4DC addresses all these challenges in today’s manufacturing industry and paves the way for smarter, more networked and more efficient production.
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