2. Collect All the Data Without Increasing your Costs
Data Collection is a crucial step for you to prepare your Predictive Maintenance (PdM) Program. PdM requires an architecture that uses both historical data and analysis in real time to optimize and predict when a failure is about to occur. A typical Industrial IoT sensor might collect data about equipment every couple of seconds or even several times a second. It is not viable for your business to connect all the sensors and all data that has to be sent to the Cloud. However, An Edge server is built to handle a lot of sensors and analyze the data in real-time close to the source. At the same time saving your business money on your Cloud computing costs.
The Edge architecture gives you the ability to collect data from different data sources and combine the information to make calculations and take decisions. Unlike previous legacy architectures, Edge computing simplifies data collection because it is designed to connect to a lot of different machines and operating protocols.
3. Real-time Analytics and Ultra Low Latency - Is the New Standard
Many of the deviations and anomalies require sub-second processing time. Due to latency and type of connectivity, Cloud computing cannot process data quickly enough for mission-critical systems. Predictive Maintenance with Edge servers enable real-time analytics and deploying algorithms near the device or the data source.
4. Enterprise-level Security like Never Before
Enterprises act behind a firewall to secure their digital assets. Using Cloud services or external data centers implies acting on the open internet. This can represent a security risk depending on your network setup.
The Edge architecture enables enhanced security options for both inbound and outbound data transmission. Such solutions can transform your current outdated gateways into smart gateways that can enable certificates, authentication, encryption and on top of that multiple private end-points.
In this manner, you are making sure that all the devices needed to enable a Predictive Maintenance Program are secured and built from the ground up for Industrial IoT security in mind.
5. Don’t Forget about Horizontal Integration
One of the most important and overlooked aspects that you should keep in mind while implementing a Predictive Maintenance Program is Horizontal Integration. A Predictive Maintenance Program with Edge computing can simplify integration with your other management systems such as service systems or CRM’s. An Edge server can trigger workflows to automate service processes.
True Predictive Maintenance needs a holistic approach to pinpoint the source of the problem. Edge computing enables you to connect multiple data sources to the machine data sources to get a more true data overview.
Did you miss out on our last blog post touching on the business reasons to develop a Predictive Maintenance Program? Read it here >