Technology • Digitisation

Easy entry to Industrial of Things For glass plant operators, manufacturers, plant and machinery builders, as well as glass processors and finishers, it is a good time either to join or expand the world of connectivity. The IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) offers many opportunities, as Tobias Wachtmann explains.

allows them to define and better track is impractical. Manufacturers KPIs – or even to create new, digitally- have to be able to analyse and use based business models. Last but not the data to improve the results of least, many glass manufacturers are production – and do it quickly. With optimising their production to reduce Industrial Edge, is offering resource consumption. an edge computing solution that includes all the necessary hardware The benefits of the cloud … and software, allowing manufacturers The cloud is the medium of choice to process production data decentrally for saving their generated data, say using edge devices. In these modules, many customers, above all because it all the connected devices can be also adequately addresses important monitored, apps and software can be topics like security, data privacy installed and updated and features can and compliance. Cloud services be transferred from the cloud to the undoubtedly offer other benefits as local production system. well. Edge computing is no more MindSphere in particular offers a and no less than decentralised broad range of protocol options for data processing on the edge of the device and enterprise applications, network. applications for the glass industry, comprehensive analyses and an The best of edge and the cloud innovative development environment A combination of the cloud and local, that uses the open PaaS (open high performance data processing platform ) functions from within glass plant operations can

Tobias Wachtmann. Siemens and provides access to cloud be exactly the right solution and will services from create tremendous potential for the So, what are the benefits of Industrial IoT? This is probably (AWS), Azure and Alibaba. industry. This combination enables the most frequently asked question, as calls to merge the MindSphere also makes it possible glass manufacturers – and glass virtual and real worlds become louder. Companies that to connect products, plants and processing companies in particular can offer concrete, differentiated answers generally find machines located around the world to – to enjoy all the benefits of the a receptive audience. Siemens’ customers in the glass a central cloud location, which ensures cloud, while still meeting the market’s industry who have already made progress in this area high transparency in plant operations. requirements for maximum flexibility unanimously confirm that the benefits were as promised The successful mastery of and responsiveness. and above all, what they most wanted. “Each customer has digitalisation using an IoT platform Processing large amounts of data an eye on a different set of goals, which is why we have requires companies to establish locally using edge computing reduces to carefully listen to them and advise them on which of the iterative connections to various PLM the user’s storage and transmission improvements that digitalisation brings actually have priority (Product Lifecycle Management) costs, because only the relevant and are planned” says Tobias Wachtmann, head of Vertical tools. This improves data collection, data is transferred to a cloud or IT Glass & Solar at Siemens. processing, analysis and utilisation. infrastructure. What matters is shared, cost-effective Sights trained on individual goals data storage that allows companies Applications for the glass For some, it is a matter of designing processes more to use less of their own resources for industry efficiently, or boosting productivity. Others believe that the hardware and software maintenance, Many applications for the glass greatest benefit of IIoT systems like MindSphere is that they among other benefits. industry are already available across increase product quality, raise service and maintenance the entire glass manufacturing process to a new level and simplify them tremendously. And then … and edge computing – both from Siemens, from major there are those who value the IIoT because it improves In some cases, however, transmitting suppliers in the glass industry or from collaboration across locations or even companies and all the generated data to and from the Siemens’ partners.

86 Glass Worldwide • July / August 2020 Latest news, digital archive and Virtual Marketplace at www.glassworldwide.co.uk Technology • Digitisation

For example, Control Performance Analytics can be used to optimally adjust control circuits. In the process industries, some 50% of all control circuits still are not operating at the optimal settings. For example, using this application, data from the process can be automatically analysed using algorithms and provides users with instructions on how to set the control circuit parameters in order to improve process stability. Process Event Analytics (PEA), on the other hand, provides efficient optimisation of the alarm system. The application continuously monitors and improves alarm systems in the process industries. By combining the IEC62682 and EEMUA191 standards with innovative analytics, this app can efficiently identify improvement measures. PEA requires no additional manuals or training and relies on a simple pay-per-use model. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) makes it possible to visualise machine and plant effectiveness. This means that the OEE app can be used to display and visualise overall equipment effectiveness as a product of availability x performance x quality. The cold end of the glass manufacturing process is where the Simatic MindSphere apps – the Numerous companies have already developed powerful applications using MindSphere, the secure, cloud-based, open IoT operating cloud-based solutions for industrial system with an open API and scaleable development environment that allows them to offer their own customers new digital services (image: Siemens). automation technology – come into play. For example, companies that want to track and optimise their on these parameters. can simply link together the desired functions from a library productivity, energy consumption using drag and drop. This speeds up software development and machine and location service Customers can create their own enormously, because users can create an app with no worldwide can opt for Simatic glass applications … programming experience. An example is the FMCS (Facility Performance Insight. This app helps Numerous companies have already Monitoring and Control System) app, which was easy to identify optimisation potential by developed powerful applications using generate thanks to Mendix. This app integrates information monitoring and analysing machine MindSphere, the secure, cloud-based, from auxiliary installations like the Simatic PCS 7 process KPIs. open IoT operating system with an control system. Thanks to the Notifier app, open API and scaleable development faults and other important events environment. This allows them to Concrete and measurable benefits in a machine or plant are sent to offer their own customers new digital “No matter what approach you take, only companies that connected mobile devices on the services. Examples include ZIPPE’s can demonstrate very specific and measurable benefits to basis of rules. Operators or service B-ZMART Runtime for an overview existing and potential customers will be among the long- technicians are notified ad hoc, and optimisation of batch house term trendsetters in a transformed glass industry” Tobias regardless of location and can performance and Advanced Energy’s Wachtmann concludes.l immediately respond to the event. Thyro App for preventive maintenance Simatic Machine Monitor can of electric heating elements. be used to manage machine service About the author: planning by tracking maintenance … more easily than ever Tobias Wachtmann is head of Vertical Glass & Solar at intervals. For some time now, this has been Siemens Finally, Fleet Manager ensures easier than ever. Since Siemens Further information: the transparency of assets configured acquired Mendix, a low-code platform Siemens AG, Karlsruhe, Germany in MindSphere. It displays specific provider, in 2018, third parties email: [email protected] machine parameters like limit violations no longer have to write software web: www.siemens.com/glass and also defines specific actions based applications line by line. Instead, they

88 Glass Worldwide • July / August 2020 Latest news, digital archive and Virtual Marketplace at www.glassworldwide.co.uk