In particular, the interdisciplinary consolidation of digital data of different origins conceals great opportunities for new and efficient solutions. From 23.-25. November COPA-DATA will present various interdisciplinary application examples of the zenon software platform from production, infrastructure and laboratory automation at the SPS in Nuremberg in Hall 7, Stand 590 .
Industry 4.0 is more than the automation of individual systems
“When we talk about Industry 4.0, it is by no means just about the automation of individual production systems. Only when we merge data from different areas and think in an interdisciplinary way does the full potential of the IoT open up to us, ”says Jürgen Schrödel, Managing Director of COPA-DATA Germany. In order to be able to correlate data from different areas without further programming effort, COPA-DATA uses standardized information models such as MTP with zenon . Data from various disciplines can thus be orchestrated via the software platform. This offers more efficient solutions and the possibility of being able to offer end customers additional services.
Exploit the potential of digitization with zenon Service Grid
One of the application examples that COPA-DATA is presenting at this year’s SPS is the zenon Service Grid, which connects machines, processes and even complete systems. This not only offers machine builders HMI, BDE and SCADA solutions for control functions such as line management or machine-related operation. Thanks to the central data collection and transmission to the machine manufacturer, he can offer his end customers additional services. With the recorded data on machine usage, the manufacturer can suggest the right time for maintenance to its customers (predictive maintenance) and agree on a suitable offer with its own service technicians. The zenon Service Grid communicates exclusively using certificate-encrypted TLS connections so that flexibility does not come at the expense of security.
Interdisciplinary orchestration through modularization
The modularization of production also offers more and more opportunities to think across disciplines. With modular production, the overall task can be broken down into small parts. In contrast to the previous monolithic approach, the production process is divided into individual services and standardized here. Logically interconnected, the individual modules can be combined again and again in an interdisciplinary manner (plug & produce). At the SPS, COPA-DATA will be presenting the possible uses of zenon POL (Process Orchestration Layer) for controlling and orchestrating individual modules in the process industry.
Reduce complexity
Interdisciplinary approaches not only exploit the full potential of digitization. At the same time, they also reduce the complexity that can arise as the volume of data increases. If, for example, not only the parts produced are digitally recorded in production systems, but also the energy consumption of the machines, it is possible to determine with just a few clicks which energy requirement is associated with this and which unit price this results. Processes can thus be easily analyzed and made more efficient.
“In addition to the zenon Service Grid, we also show interdisciplinary approaches from the area of infrastructure and laboratory automation. We are sure that the future of digitization is interdisciplinary. With our software-driven, digital approach, we can already provide answers to tomorrow’s challenges today, ”says Jürgen Schrödel, Managing Director COPA-DATA Germany