Mobility in industrial manufacturing

Mobile devices have been amongst us for quite some time now, being predominantly used for personal connectivity purposes. However, recently there has been an increased interest in exploiting the potential of smart mobile devices for industrial purposes in manufacturing. Connecting industrial automation systems with mobile devices using software toolsets to provide on-the-go machine related information to factory workers and supervisors is termed as industrial mobility.

With an unceasing increase in the adoption of devices such as tablets and smart phones, their penetration into factories was only a matter of time. Industrial mobility has emerged as one of 2016's top 3 technology priorities of CIOs in industrial manufacturing, stressing the potential of digital technologies to create a competitive advantage.

The constant shift in consumer dynamics demanding a variety of products at a lesser cost without compromising quality is a challenging target for manufacturers to meet. In addition, increasing wages and waning interest for low-skilled jobs in global manufacturing hubs is pushing decision makers to find innovative ways to remain profitable in business.

Interestingly, history reveals that advancements in technology have always been one of the key contributors in sustaining business by disrupting product lifecycle. This time it is the era of connectivity which is altering the course of business toward a more proactive and intelligent model. In this path to a connected factory, industrial mobility can be seen as a low-hanging fruit whose benefits can be felt right 'in the hands' of the supervisor.

The need to respond to a growing demand for making data accessible anywhere, anytime through any device is expected to be the key driver for mobile technologies. Industrial mobility can help manufacturers take advantage of smart phones and tablets to rationalize operations and enhance productivity. By allowing industrial workers to connect to automation systems through their wireless mobile device, real-time machine data is always available on hand, leading to a more efficient, responsive and safe system. As data is on the move, key plant performance indicators from SCADA can be transmitted using mobile software to the device dashboard, enabling plant managers to monitor, evaluate and take decisions proactively.

Using a smartphone's in-built GPS capability, dashboard alerts can be set to deliver real-time data about equipment within the user's proximity. This technique of situational intelligence combines criticality of situation with location and proximity to convey the right information at the right moment, saving precious time and cost. These alerts can also be customized to raise alarms according to the level of criticality assigned by the user, allowing them to instantly access resources needed to manage the circumstances. Such use of inherent mobile capabilities expands factories beyond walls allowing managers and supervisors to monitor and take control of issues while on the move.

Industrial mobility can be useful in various divisions of manufacturing such as product quality control, warehouse management, factory supply chain and inventory management, apart from daily process control and equipment maintenance tracking. Having a universal mobile platform that transcends multiple categories of manufacturing software to provide simple and ready-to-act-on data can phenomenally boost overall plant productivity and efficiency.

However, various pertinent questions related to data security of mobile devices, limitations of current wireless infrastructure and IT bandwidth have to be addressed, before contemplating the possible return on investment of this technology. Though security issues on handheld devices have been overcome to a large extent, the probable threat of openly accessible data, especially when it comes to BYOD (Bring-Your-Own-Device) models remains unanswered. Industrial mobility infrastructure usually involves a quality data forwarder, a mobile device, an information gateway, data centre and application software for smooth flow of data. In most cases, these requirements are only partially fulfilled by in-house IT services, forcing factories to rely on external assistance, thereby affecting project costs. Another key challenge in mobilizing operations is to integrate existing infrastructure and equipment with minimal modification to mobile applications.

Wireless mobility has the ability to profoundly change the way processes operate to build products and impact the ecosystem of doing business. By helping manufacturers become more responsive and efficient, industrial mobility implementations can innovate and extend businesses by improving safety and regulatory compliance of the factories. Future advancements in software and analytics technology are anticipated to stimulate cost-effective, industry-specific solutions capable of intelligently networking heterogeneous systems to enhance flexibility and agility of the industrial environment.

Mobility has been attractive to major end users in process, discrete, and also hybrid sectors such as mining, automotive, chemicals and food and beverages due to its inherent business advantages. In addition, strong local growth and pressing demand for process innovation is expected to encourage growth for mobility in developed economies.

In the age of digitization and connectivity, real-time data access and ways to transform it to actionable information will play a pivotal role in helping humans outperform themselves and rise to the next level of intelligent control.