Industrial digitalisation within process automation is rapidly changing the future of many manufacturing industries.
The term ‘industrial digitalisation’ covers all things that bring data to where and who needs it, using networking, cloud computing, analytics, and connected IoT products. Industrial digitalisation will indefinitely benefit businesses, allowing them to run more flexibly and efficiently.
There are many current challenges in manufacturing businesses, from supply chain planning, increased energy costs, unplanned downtime and productivity improvements, as well as a desire to be a more agile and higher-value business. Digitalisation methods provide solutions to accessing the data required to enable businesses to continually improve, and without those solutions, business improvements are often limited and slower to achieve.
How can you embark on such a journey?
Starting your industrial digitalisation journey requires a ‘buy-in’ from senior management and shopfloor workers alike, but can be a relatively painless exercise if you select a clear pilot project. It is recommended to have a sound vision for the long-term business need, as well as a long-term plan for your digital infrastructure, standards and specifications, all of which we can support you with.
Once your first successful pilot project is underway, it will become clearer how you can extend the reach and breadth of your digitalisation project – resulting in a continuous path of improvements and developing your skills and staff along the way.
Any journey stage should hold a compelling business justification, such as using connected data to provide information on where and how to save energy, improve quality, reduce downtime, and improve productivity, all inevitably resulting in increased profits.
“Many manufacturers are not enjoying the full benefits of digitalisation, partly because of the difficulty obtaining real-time data from their plants and machines.” – Jan Hemper, Technical Director at InControl.
One of InControl Systems’ core strengths is the ability to extract data from aging and legacy machines and processes, as well as the more sophisticated networks in modern machines and processes. Our 23-year experience as a control systems integrator places us comfortably, collecting and aggregating this data so that you can benefit from it in all aspects of your business – one common data pool, accessible from all your business systems and processes.
We previously shared news from our Technical Director, who featured in an edition of the Drives and Controls Magazine. Although it is from over two years ago, the subject is still just as relevant. Read more here.
