The industrial Internet of things (iiot) provides more valuable data and situational information, enabling automation and control systems to perform tasks better than ever before.

The fourth industrial revolution has been going on for some time. People also call it digital transformation, industry 4.0 or intelligent manufacturing. Whatever the name, the new technologies brought by this revolution have brought real economic benefits and promoted the vigorous development of global manufacturing industry.

Most manufacturing companies have carried out or plan to carry out some industrial 4.0 project in the near future. Industrial Internet of things (iiot), artificial intelligence (AI), augmented / virtual reality (AR / VR), digital twins, cloud and edge computing are all part of industry 4.0, but they may not be as important as industrial Internet of things.

For many people, intelligent manufacturing and industrial Internet of things are almost synonymous. When it comes to intelligent manufacturing, people may immediately start talking about iiot. Iiot is ubiquitous in most intelligent manufacturing solutions.

When integrating the industrial Internet of things with automation and other plant systems, network security is an important consideration

Intelligent advantages of intelligent manufacturing

One of the biggest advantages of iiot is that it can lay the foundation for a wide range of intelligent manufacturing solutions. Machine learning (ML), AI, big data, analysis, manufacturing execution system (MES), enterprise resource planning (ERP), digital threading and many other applications can be based on iiot.

Another advantage of iiot is that it can take advantage of and expand existing technologies. Machine to machine communication, sensors and sensor data, and even automation and control systems are part of iiot and have existed for a long time. So that some people say iiot is nothing new at all.

Iiot is also associated with information systems such as MES and ERP to execute transactions, provide data, drive analysis and support real-time visibility. Finally, the real advantage of iiot is the integration of the above. It provides a communication platform supporting many iiot applications. It leverages and maximizes existing technologies as complementary rather than competitive solutions. It is associated with the existing large-scale information systems of most companies.

Basic function: iiot as middleware

At the basic level, the industrial Internet of things is a bridge, providing a main communication road between equipment, machines, controllers, databases, information systems and personnel. The basic function of iiot is to monitor, manage and maintain connected equipment and machines. Iiot also supports the transmission of large amounts of data (such as sensor data) to systems and applications that need it in near real time.

This means that iiot is the basic interface or middleware between almost all components deployed at the edge (such as sensors, devices, machines and controllers) and all user oriented applications (such as man-machine interface, MES, ERP, enterprise manufacturing intelligence (EMI) and analysis).

Many iiot platforms and solutions are not only the basis of interfaces or middleware, but also provide very complex functions such as data collection, aggregation, visualization and analysis. Similarly, some iiot platforms also provide alarm and notification solutions, built-in interfaces of MES and ERP, data publishing functions, dashboards, analysis and reporting tools.

One of the latest functions provided by some iiot platforms is to publish various sensor, device, machine and controller data and their situational data to almost any external system for analysis. These functions are usually independent of applications and systems, and usually allow asynchronous, message based event processing and publishing. All this makes it a great solution to get the data you need without constantly polling the data for change.

Intelligent objects with AI

Another new feature introduced by some iiot platforms is intelligent AI objects. Intelligent AI objects are used to encapsulate the key elements of manufacturing and machine operation, such as formula, configuration, tools and status, and build these intelligent AI objects into the object-based AI data model. Then, this model becomes the general model of the whole iiot, and these intelligent AI objects are used and reused where data is needed.

Iiot allows you to view and use intelligent AI objects wherever you need them. Iiot uses intelligent AI objects to collect and save situational data from machines. Since iiot and other systems discover and use intelligent AI objects, their context data can be created or changed anywhere in iiot. With this capability, edge computing solutions become more practical and easier to integrate with the cloud. After all, the data is encapsulated in intelligent AI objects and can be obtained through iiot.

Iiot helps to discover intelligent AI objects and their associated data sets, merge their underlying organizational models, use the underlying data, and provide intelligent AI objects, data models and data to anything or anyone who needs them, all in real time.

Complementary iiot Technology

Many people believe that iiot can replace HMI, SCADA system, automation, control, MES, and even part of ERP. Not really. Iiot is not intended to replace these systems. Iiot is not competitive with them, but complementary. It makes use of existing technologies, builds on them, and provides collaborative functions that can not be realized by any platform.

One of the reasons why iiot complements these other applications (especially information systems) is the overall environment. To fully understand and analyze the data and find the root cause of specific working conditions, we need to fully understand the situational data.

Although situational data is one of the advantages of iiot, it cannot provide complete situational information by itself. Iiot does not have order information, customer information, delivery or reception information, quality information, or even sales information. Manufacturers need information systems such as MES and ERP to supplement iiot, so as to provide complete situational data for any manufacturing event.

Iiot: non closed loop control

Another reason iiot is complementary is that it is not really designed for optimization. Despite these advantages, it can not solve all problems – MES and ERP are still needed, as is the case for automation and control systems. Iiot is not designed to provide closed-loop control, but closed-loop control is still needed and will always be needed in the manufacturing industry. Iiot provides data and situational information that is nowhere else, enabling automation and control systems to perform tasks better than ever before.

Automation and control systems, as well as designers, can focus on higher-level functions, such as coordinating the entire manufacturing process from beginning to end. They can also further optimize processes without worrying about sensors, devices, machines and communications. This is the ultimate power of iiot – making automation and control more powerful. This is why automation and control and iiot are complementary rather than competitive.

Iiot provides a communication backbone for sensors, equipment, machines and industrial controllers. It is the basis of various applications. It uses and extends the existing technology to maximize the value and service life of the technology. Iiot complements MES, ERP and other information systems by providing data from sensors, equipment, machines and controllers and situational data. Perhaps most importantly, iiot improves the automation and control system.

Integration of manufacturing system

Even with all the advantages of iiot, manufacturers must integrate properly with existing systems in order to fully realize all the benefits. These advantages have significant synergy and provide capabilities that cannot be realized by themselves.

The integration of iiot, information system and automation and control system forms a very powerful solution. If used properly, it can have a positive impact, enabling business units to do things that were impossible before, while providing measurable and tangible benefits to manufacturing enterprises.