Manufacturing and Automation White Papers

From parameter storage to detailed diagnostics, IO-Link’s advanced features and functionality have generated plenty of excitement. However, this intensive focus has created the common misconception that advanced capabilities are the only reasons to implement this technology.

Since the 1960s, programmable logic controllers (PLCs) have been the device of choice for automating and controlling machine operation, making them the head of automated processes. In recent years, engineers have started asking why they need to invest in a PLC. The devices can be expensive, require dedicated software and often mean additional panel and wiring expenses. Is a PLC and its cost really the best option for an application that may only need to control dozens rather than hundreds of I/O points?

Manufacturers are faced with the constant demand to increase productivity and reduce operating costs. A powerful industrial tool being implemented today to streamline production is reliable, enterprise-wide connectivity, providing the highest level of visibility, control and flexibility. To accommodate evolving networking requirements, such as decentralization of control, integrated diagnostics and simplified maintenance, network protocols integrate with industrial equipment and control systems to communicate crucial status updates and production data.

Sometimes the most difficult thing about AI is simply knowing where to start. Identifying potentially impactful use cases is one of the most cited roadblocks for organizations seeking to leverage AI in their business. To complicate things further, best practices dictate that you should have a portfolio of use cases ready to experiment with. If finding one is a challenge, developing a whole portfolio of use cases may prove to be very difficult. Luckily, RapidMiner has you covered. We’ve compiled 50 high-impact use cases from our customers that you can choose from. This library cuts across all industries, and even explains how you can draw inspiration from use cases that are outside of your industry or domain.

Manufacturing Operations Transformation is a journey taken in steps and aligned with shifting business transformation needs. This whitepaper discusses the drivers of digital transformation in manufacturing, and how multi-site enterprises can ensure consistent processes, reporting and analysis that ultimately unlock the true value of their business.

Case Study from ivalua - Ivalua has enabled our transformation journey effectively, making Procurement more agile and digital. It really began with a focus on suppliers and clean supplier master data to make better decisions. Resolving this empowered efficiency, visibility and much more value creation for the business.

The breadth and scope of traceability has expanded significantly over the years along with advances in technology, making it a ubiquitous and critical application for today’s world-class manufacturers. This white paper explores the evolution of traceability over the past decades and describes how its latest phase – which we’ve termed “Traceability 4.0” – comprises not only the tracking of products and components throughout the supply chain, but also efforts to optimize productivity, quality and brand reputation throughout manufacturing operations.

Written for developers, owner-operators and decision makers, the whitepaper addresses various aspects of creating, acquiring and protecting software for IIoT systems. It also provides practical and actionable best practices for recognizing, addressing, managing and mitigating risks and their sources, and includes numerous use cases.

AI and machine learning promise to bring new cost and process benefits into inspection systems. Our latest whitepaper explores how smart sensor and imaging devices help overcome bandwidth and networking challenges while providing a first step towards integrating AI in automation systems.

The whitepaper offers advice to companies embarking on an IIoT journey based on results from a compilation of IIC testbeds that have produced successful outcomes. The whitepaper also offers lessons learned about project initiation, planning and management, establishing the value of platforms, dealing with brownfield constraints or limited resources, deploying supportive technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), and mistakes to avoid.

This whitepaper provides practical guidance on digital twin, including the definition, benefits, architectures and the necessary building blocks to implement one. We illustrate the relationships between an Industrial Internet of Things(IIoT) system and its twin with use cases.

In a new paper, Shackelford examines the cyber risk in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), including security implications in the smart factory revolution and associated policy implications. Although there has been progress in some areas (e.g., making attacks on civilian critical infrastructure, like smart factories, off limits), there is still much to be done. There are several options to consider for IIoT: self-regulation/cyber due diligence, insurance and/or proposed federal policies, like the IoT Cybersecurity Act of 2017, Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights and the Active Cyber Defense Certainty Act.