By Greg Hookings, Head of Business Development – Digitalisation, Stratus Technologies
Across the board, business are under pressure to optimise performance and productivity. No matter whether it is a packaging line that is boxing chocolate bars or a high-tech pharmaceutical manufacturer, businesses are seeing that they can turn data into actionable results through the deployment of Edge Computing. But the value of Edge Computing does not have to come after a machine has been purchased.
Stratus Technologies has joined forces with one of the world’s most recognisable education brands – Dummies. The Edge Computing for Dummies eBookbreaks down the technology on a sector-by-sector basis providing the perfect starting point for anyone looking to implement Edge technology. One such sector covered in the eBook is the opportunities available to machine builders looking to add to their offering.
Many manufacturers are fast advancing on their digital transformation journeys towards smart factories. A smart factory is the true end goal of digitalisation. A plant that continuously collects data and utilises it to increase operational efficiency and drive down costs is good news in anyone’s books. But, smart factories need smart machines. And, to get the ‘smart’ into the machine, OEMs need to bring computing power into their products, adding new capabilities and opening up new revenue opportunities.
While manufacturers are working hard to meet key business objectives, they need a machine that can turn data into actionable intelligence, and this has to happen in real-time. Sending machine data to the cloud for analysis is not an option when the action has to be taken immediately by those already onsite. And, onsite is the key word here. When a potential IT issue arises, it is not helpful if operators have to make a call for IT expertise in the hope that their issue will be prioritised above all others, before making a decision. The correct Edge Computing deployment offers simple management that can be operated by anyone – security permitting of course. This is a far cry from cloud based and data-centre solutions that require IT expertise to manage and costly infrastructure changes to install. Adding further applications will only require more IT callouts and high investment.
Machine builders have the opportunity to differentiate themselves from the competition with packaged digitalisation options. Manufacturers understand that advancing digital transformation is no longer a choice but integral to success in the modern world. With Edge Computing, OEMs can offer digital transformation as part of their own offering. Bringing with it new capabilities for customers as well as opening new revenue opportunities for themselves.
Edge Computing is an opportunity for OEMs to take advantage of the increasingly popular ‘machines-as-a-service’ model. With Edge Computing embedded within their products, machine builders now have a constant accurate measure of a machine’s health. This is necessary when it comes to predictive maintenance and aligns perfectly with manufacturer’s goals of increasing productivity. Adding further value to Edge Computing, OEMs now have more data at their fingertips than ever before about real-world usage patterns. This not only gives both the machine builder and owner peace of mind when it comes to downtime and maintenance but the OEM can use this data for developing future products.
Edge Computing brings many benefits to any number of sectors, and operators are deploying the technology to meet business goals. Machine Builders are in a unique position to take those benefits and added capabilities and include them within their own products. Bringing in new customers, new revenue opportunities and offering new services, Edge Computing puts the ‘smart’ in smart machines and is the key to digitalisation.
Start your journey with Edge Computing for Dummies, the ultimate handbook, download here.
