The importance of process monitoring in the Automotive Industry
In the aim to differentiate from competitors, improve the product's quality and reduce costs, brings more and more OEMs and Tier suppliers to build the "smart factory". Everything must be under control.
Not only big players from the automotive industry but also small suppliers are challenged every day to provide their customers with the best product at the best price. Margins are very tight and high flexibility is required to guarantee customer's expectations. In this regard, every single detail in the whole manufacturing chain can play a big role. Manufacturing processes are per se the first thing which comes into our mind, but also the whole logistic chain, from the reception of the raw material to the delivery of the final product, or the laboratory testing and product development area are part of this puzzle. Even the factory IT systems or the management of the energy supply are crucial so that everything works as it should. Nowadays, in the manufacturing facilities there are lots of elements which differ from the well-known sensors, which would need to be monitored as well such as industrial PCs, PLCs, databases, industrial data buses, UPS, or other network elements (routers, switches, etc.).
When we talk about "smart factory" or "smart production", the manufacturing chain is the most challenging segment. Independently of the specific manufacturing process there are thousands of variables that can influence the final product quality or the line/machine performance. But, which of those variables are important and which doesn't?
It is very important to distinguish which are the most important variables which provide added value to the manufacturing chain and customer, and get them under control. Historically, companies have opted to implement through their manufacturing processes SCADA oriented solutions. Although SCADA is a very robust system and well-accepted within the industrial community, with the arrival of the IIoT, other Distributed Control Systems (DCS) have taken part of the cake, and it has become less flexible and notably more expensive than the today existing solutions.
The great advantage of today's IIoT oriented systems is the big range of solutions we are offered, and we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg. Today's market offers multiple options, even Open Source software ones which allows to easily gather real-time data and show it in dynamic fully customizable dashboards. This provides a huge advantage to the companies since they are not limited to one single solution from one manufacturer, but they have the whole range available, being possible even to integrate several DAQ systems with one centralized tool.