Partnering with TE Connectivity, a global leader in connectivity, IFM, a pioneer in automation technology, and the OPC Foundation, an industry consortium that creates and maintains standards for open connectivity of industrial automation devices and systems, SAP is building a proof-of-concept to demonstrate how sensors work seamlessly with SAP’s IoT Applications. This so called testbed got approved by the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC).
In the Smart Manufacturing Connectivity for Brownfield Sensor approved testbed, SAP and its partners demonstrate how sensor data of machines gets transmitted to SAP Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence (SAP MII) and how SAP Internet of Things (IoT) applications can steer the production. Analyzing these sensor data with analytics solutions from SAP and running the shop-floor with SAP MII will considerably increase the productivity of a factory while at the same time reduce energy consumption.
Modern IoT solutions need numerous levels of data granularity. SAP is providing best of breed IoT applications while connecting via standardized (plug-and-play) APIs to partner products and solutions. By integrating live data from the shop-floor to the top-floor our SAP IoT applications for manufacturing provide best in class integration for the next generation of production practices for smart factories. Thanks to this real-time data, our IoT applications can close the control cycle on the shop floor and react to events without delay, resulting in much higher productivity and further increased product quality. This allows complete traceability of the sensors and actors or services via remote access and control using SAP IoT applications. This increases process efficiency, reduces energy consumption in factories, and it will also support the implementation of energy management processes such as ISO 50001.
For SAP, standardization and the collaboration with partners on a global scale is crucial. When I spoke to HansJörg Stotz on my team he said "Complementing our Plattform Industrie 4.0 activities, SAP is strongly contributing to the IIC Reference Architecture and driving standardization. We see this as a great opportunity to lower the entry barriers to adopt Industrie 4.0 also for midsize companies."
The stack of the testbed shows the complete infrastructure which is required to get remote access to sensors of machines and the data flows from the sensor to the SAP IoT applications and vice versa. The collaboration with partners ensures that various communication protocols work together. In this testbed case, the data communication is implemented via IO link and OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA).
One of the goals of this testbed will be to validate the architectures and the standardization requirements of the IIC at the different levels in technology to ensure a smooth flow of information.
Watch for more information on testbeds @ SCN and the IIC (Industrial Internet Consortium)
Tanja
