Started up in 2018, the Open IIoT cohort was formed to promote and assist with the adoption of Industry 4.0 among manufacturers. “As component suppliers with a global presence we have a wealth of knowledge and examples in various countries, industries and applications. The adoption of Industry 4.0 was well established in Europe (where most of us have our head offices) but the pace of uptake in Australia left us with concerns.”
“For our businesses and the Australian economy, it is vital that the barriers to implementation be removed and that we get our manufacturing section get up to speed with digitisation as soon as possible,” says an Open IIoT spokesperson.
The Open IIoT group is made up of a group of Australia’s key players in the automation and manufacturing industry: SMC Corporation, NORD Drivesystems, Baluff, Beckhoff Automation, ZI-Argus and recent addition KUKA Robotics. Together they have used their expertise in pneumatics, drive technology, sensors, automation, systems integration and robotics to create a fully operational demonstrator (demo) unit. This demo unit showcases all the Open IIoT members components working together in unison communicating their ‘smarts’ to an Industry 4.0 software platform.
The group’s goal in combining their expertise and individual components is to create the demo unit that demonstrates the benefits of full IIoT integration in a visually accessible way. The demo units provides a high-level overview of Industry 4.0 in practice and shows how implementing IoT can provide the user with intelligence that can increase production, reduce downtime, help predict trends and allow for adaptability within the business.
Visitors to the Open IIoT Stand S32 at the 2021 foodpro Exhibition will be able to see first-hand how the collaboration of automation components can create a comprehensive IIoT end-user system, complete with a production dashboard that unlocks the power of the system data collected. Key areas such as predictive maintenance, energy savings, horizontal and vertical networking, dynamic changes and data analytics are brought to light through this unique creation.
The group will be participating in a panel forum at foodpro. The panel will be addressing pressing IIoT questions and provide practical solutions to common business problems and aim to help demystify the real-world implementation of an Industry 4.0 solution. According to the IIoT spokesperson, “there has been enough high-level academic talks about this topic – it is time to start implementing. The process is less scary than many may think. The group aims to help companies figure out where and how to start.”