New IoT and 5G Partnership Enables Smart Manufacturing at the Edge
There is a change afoot in manufacturing.
The availability of technology linked to the Internet of Things (IoT), combined with advanced analytics, offers huge potential for innovation. Manufacturers have grown accustomed to the idea of using IoT technology on the factory floor, with connected sensors enabling predictive maintenance and better planning. The industrial internet of things (IIoT) is very much with us.
However, the next stage of transformation goes well beyond the factory floor. A successful digital transformation means adopting new technologies that will integrate old and new systems. Done right, this allows manufacturers to draw on new data from the full product lifecycle, including end-user behaviour, to gain accurate and timely insights into how their products are used by customers. This, in turn, means that they can repackage their products into services for their customers, adding value for customers and manufacturers alike.
In this new digital world, speed and accuracy of decision-making are crucial. Data from the IDC Worldwide Manufacturing Insights* research shows that digitally-mature manufacturers generate more revenue and profit. This enables them to out compete non-digital companies, piling on more pressure.
Getting an “edge” on the competition
One of the key elements of this digital transformation is moving decisions to the edge, as close to the source of the data as possible — but only where appropriate. There are decisions to be made about which data should be in the cloud, and which should be processed at the edge, in real-time, with insights used immediately.
Gartner data suggest that by 2022**, over half of all enterprise-generated data will be processed outside a data centre or cloud — that is, at the edge. By the end of 2021, more than 50% of large enterprises are expected to use at least one edge computing application or use case linked to the IoT. This is up from less than 5% in 2019.
There is a balance to be found between cloud/data centre and edge computing — or is there? Many manufacturers are now investing in 5G-based mobile private networks as a way to create their own on-premises edge cloud. There are huge advantages to this approach, including speed, low latency, reliability, and capacity — not to mention good security. There are now over 150 4G/5G-based private networks disclosed in 30 countries, of which around a quarter use 5G. Of all these, around 40% are used by manufacturers.
These 5G-based clouds can play an impactful role in IoT and 5G-based industrial applications. They can be used to control robots inside a factory, or they can decide where data are stored, and strengthen cybersecurity when a machine is processing materials,
Developing partnerships to serve customers
All of this explains precisely why SAS has just announced a new partnership with Proximus, the largest of Belgium’s three mobile telecommunications companies, and the top IoT provider in the country. This is SAS’s first GTM partnership with a telecoms company in IoT and demonstrates the enormous importance of 4G and 5G-enabled networks in data and analytics. However, the partnership is only one part of a growing ecosystem of IoT providers and enablers teaming with SAS IoT.
Proximus supports its customers with E2E IoT and Data Analytics solutions. The partnership between SAS and Proximus will leverage AI and advanced analytics to deliver real-time predictive and prescriptive capabilities that will enable companies to improve manufacturing quality and reliability. The initial stages of this partnership aim to focus outcomes for manufacturing customers in two key areas:
1) Predictive maintenance: to avoid unscheduled downtime to increase worker safety and customer satisfaction, while reducing costs.
2) Improving manufacturing quality: boosting key operational metrics that enhance the quality of products and associated services.
According to Dries van der Kleij, Business Development Manager — Industrial Analytics for Proximus: ‘With every next generation of connectivity, emerging technologies find their way to deliver more business value. With 5G, the speed and amounts of data get at the right level for Advanced Analytics. It allows real-time highly accurate detection and predictions. And that is what is needed to improve the quality of processes and end products. By improving this, eventually it allows our customers to deliver more value to their customers.’
One of the main areas for solution development is streaming analytics. This captures value as events occur, and even before the data can be stored, enabling immediate action where necessary. This approach also reduces the chances of analytics solutions being overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of data. Analytics solutions that can be deployed as part of streaming include text analytics, machine learning models, and real-time location analytics. These can be layered and combined to provide a sophisticated solution that will identify patterns and provide real insights, at scale, and at speed.
In The Forrester Wave™: Streaming Analytics, Q2 2021, SAS Event Stream Processing stands out as the platform with the most built-in analytics for machine learning and other advanced analytics. SAS is ranked as the most complete current offering in the leader’s wave and is noted to have a mature edge analytics capability for IoT applications.
Creating connected manufacturing
The aim of developing connected manufacturing is to enable manufacturers to draw on data to improve decision-making, both operationally and strategically. Real-time analysis with edge intelligence can increase efficiency and maximise productivity, boosting throughput and minimising production delays. The addition of a partner that offers 5G adds another layer of capability to what SAS IoT delivers, and I look forward to creating solutions for customers that will add value across their operations.
Learn how SAS IoT analytics capabilities can help you accelerate your digital transformation from the edge to the cloud at www.sas.com/iotsolutions
*IDC Worldwide Manufacturing Insights Research, https://blogs.sas.com/content/sascom/2021/05/19/are-manufacturers-missing-out-digital-transformation-reaps-real-benefits/
**Gartner: Cool Vendors in Edge Computing (October 7, 2019)(ID G00450619), https://www.gartner.com/document/3970110
