Predictive Maintenance Portal Award-Winning Cloud Solution

13 November 2018, Industry 4.0 embodies the potential for new business strategies. But: While there are already many different approaches available, the value of each depends on its practical use. The Predictive Maintenance Portal created by Eaton and T Systems not only presented Eaton's Dausenau plant with the vision to become a small factory, but also convinced the jury at the 2017 Industry 4.0 awards. This year, the market for Industry 4.0 solutions is expected to be €7.2, an increase of 22%, or almost a fifth, compared to the previous year, according to Bitkom (German Federal Agency for Information Technology). In this context, Bitkom identified the machine production and system integration sector as the biggest factor of growth. The automotive and electronics sector ranks second among these factors. There is no doubt that the Industry 4.0 market is growing rapidly, while digital transformation has accelerated the integration of sensors, controls and drives with production supply chains, IT and communication technologies. There is no doubt that the Industry 4.0 market is growing rapidly, while digital transformation has accelerated the integration of sensors, controls and drives with production supply chains, IT and communication technologies. Today's sensors need information about the plant's operating state more than ever, while new insights can be gained by analyzing and processing the data generated in production processes. In some industries, mass production already exists. In such fully developed factories, each product is assembled individually before entering the fully automated production process. Operator feedback is used to improve the long-term performance of the plant, while production facilities can alert operators to the required maintenance work The real added value for customers and operators is similar. Many paths lead to Industry 4.0. There are various solutions on the market that can be distinguished by complexity, communication capacity and the use of IT components such as cloud services. For medium-sized system integrators and machine builders, it is often difficult to decide which path to take. The reference point here is the Industry 4.0 Innovation Awards, jointly organised by VDE Publishing House and ZVEI (Association of German Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers) to honour outstanding innovations. The Predictive Maintenance Portal, a cloud-based solution developed by Eaton and T-Systems, took second place in this tough competition in 2017. So what sets this particular Industry 4.0 solution apart from the rest? Award-Winning Cloud Solution: IoT, Ready to the Button Stefan Selke, Segment Marketing Manager at Eaton MOEM, said: "This concept responds to the specific requirements of medium-sized machine builders and system integrators for their transition to Industry 4.0. This, as well as intuitive operability, is especially relevant to quick and easy entry, making it easy for users to become familiar with the system. Together with T-Systems, we have developed plug-and-play packages to connect plants and installations to the cloud. These packages make it possible for almost any company to move into the era of Industry 4.0'. To that end, Eaton and T-Systems have demonstrated their core capabilities in this partnership. Eaton's intelligent digital switchgear can handle the collection and transmission of process-related data to designed automation components. The digital PKE starter or the new digital NZM circuit breakers are notable devices in this sense. Of course, it is also possible to combine Eaton's portfolio of speed controllers, from compact DE1 speed-adjustable starters to drive solutions for the DG1 series of control panels. The collected data can be processed, for example, via the Eaton XV300 touch panel and the integrated GALILEO visualisation software. The standardized protocols also allow for easy integration into the IoT service platform supplied by T Systems. This is a multi-IoT service platform that can offer users system solutions and service packages that best suit their needs. A critical part of the solution concept is end-to-end data security, from data collection to storage, e.g. from the engine starter to the cloud. With expertise in business-critical areas such as user identification, access authorization, certificates, and encryption, T Systems is an ideal partner. This concerns IT security in particular: T Systems acts as a kind of data custodian for Microsoft Azure Germany, which means that data storage is subject to German law. As such, T-Systems guarantees that Germany will comply with strict data protection laws. Data can be transmitted both wirelessly and via cable using preconfigured hardware (DSL and LTE routers). At the same time, the Predictive Maintenance Portal not only creates a technological platform for future-oriented business models, but also provides the tools needed to implement these models. Ultimately, the value of the data depends on how well it is processed and how well it is presented to users. These tools include methods and services such as visualization, situation monitoring, trend analysis and anomaly recognition. "Features such as visualization and report creation have already been available for some time," says Stefan Selke, "Until now, data was usually stored locally. The limited storage capacity also limited the analysis of data over a long period of time. With cloud technology, the possibilities are now endless. '' System in Practice: Connecting Existing Machines to the Cloud The suitability of this concept has been demonstrated by the project at Eaton's Dausenau plant. This project produces the XV300 touch panels, among others, as well as the RMQ Titan series of controllers. Eaton specifically selected this plant to initiate the connection of its existing machines to the Predictive Maintenance Portal. Stefan Selke continues: "We have been producing at the Dausenau plant for 80 years, using both existing and new machines and organically developed IT infrastructure. This provides us with the ideal conditions to test our regenerative approach in practice. Eaton was able to standardize processes so that existing systems were quick and simple to connect. We can now connect a machine to the system within two weeks without the need for long-term project consultancy each time. "In other words, there's no need to be afraid of the cloud." Another big advantage of cloud solutions is that many useful analytical processes are pre-programmed on this portal. This makes it easier to analyze the data and process it in a way that each user finds useful. Example: Anomaly detection - This solution makes it possible to determine the base values for various different time intervals, to observe whether these values are met or exceeded during operation, and to identify anomalies. These trend analyses can be done both linearly (first-order) and quadratic (second-order). Therefore, it is also possible to make predictions about the future evolution of these measured values. As networking machines paves the way for other opportunities, Eaton has made additional investments in its Dausenau plant by installing advanced drives and improving the energy efficiency of existing machines. According to Stefan Selke, thanks to this particular case, Industry 4.0 is very prone to achieving success quickly with strong ROI results. Eaton is already testing the future of cloud-based data. The key is human-machine collaboration: Technicians can visualize information in highly aesthetic and practical ways, while simplifying business processes, while revealing findings and highlighting data with diagrams on a PC or tablet. For example, Hololens sunglasses that can show virtual 3D models. These models can depict operation, procurement and technical characteristics, as well as components and their status. Stefan Selke concludes: "There are some possibilities that the digital age offers us, and we test them before making them available to our customers. Collecting and analyzing the data on the machine is only the first stage of this process. The important thing is that we start this work and that we are now aware of these possibilities. Thanks to this, we can quickly develop new ideas in which we can take advantage of digitalization in order to create new business models within the company. ‘’