The big difference small sensors make

Small sensors and invisible data streams bring notable large-scale benefits to industrial material handling and manufacturing. Lasse Eriksson, Program Manager at Konecranes, works at the forefront of where these hidden advancements come to life.

Currently sensors can be found in every part of an industrial environment, from vehicles to machines and cranes. Lasse Eriksson offers an example from a material handling environment, where sensors are essential in improving efficiency.

“Automation is a strong trend, for example, in port operations, because keeping ships at port when loading and unloading is very costly. Efficiency is mostly dependent on how fast the containers can be put through and so any unnecessary human interaction might be slowing down the process. In order for automation to work in this environment, a wide variety of sensor data is needed to locate the different moving parts of the operation”, Eriksson explains.

Development of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology has enabled wide-spread deployment of microsensors. Such sensors are most commonly used in mobile phones, but at the moment, they are of particular interest also in industrial applications. In material handling they are typically used for acceleration measurement. This might appear insignificant at first, but can, in fact, unveil a lot of important information about how equipment are being used.

“This cost-efficient sensor technology brings new possibilities to material handling. It makes updating existing equipment with new functionalities easier, thanks to the small size of sensors, their energy efficiency and relatively low price level. In material handling, acceleration monitoring makes it possible to measure in what way and how much a particular machine is used. Precise maintenance can then be planned based on this data. The same technology also makes it possible to pinpoint cases where the machine was misused as well as present training needs to companies in order to make their operations safer and more productive.”

Improved analytics have large-scale impacts

The availability of sensors in all parts of an industrial chain is starting to be standard. This places more importance on the way data will be used and combined to generate added value for companies. Eriksson shares a case where data provided a company with pre-emptive capabilities.

“Recently, a company in the pulp and paper industry demonstrated that it was able to predict faults that would lead to production stoppages in a carton factory two hours before they happened by gathering and analyzing data from different parts of the process, for example maintenance logs.”

Industrial systems and machines are usually developed for a specific purpose, and often the accessibility to machine data is limited due to proprietary interfaces. This might pose obstacles for companies who are looking to combine data from different sources e.g. to develop predictive analytics.

“The challenge lies in figuring out a way to combine data sources efficiently and reliably. Many older systems might not have been originally constructed with data applicability and accessibility in mind. As a result it can be difficult to link data to another data source even if it might be related to the same machine. The ability to link this data is essential for generating added value with analytics.”

The advancement of the industrial internet might seem slow at times, but Eriksson explains how even minor steps taken can have a huge impact across industries.

“If the productivity of a complete industrial branch could be improved by one percent, simply by doing things smarter and taking advantage of the data that is being collected all the time, it could result in significant financial benefits throughout the industry. With regard to safety, saving even one human life by increasing machine intelligence is a significant improvement.”

The reality of factories will be augmented

Advancements in sensor technology and data interconnectivity promise new things for factory floor personnel as well. Smart glasses and wearable interfaces make it possible to augment reality and make portable real-time data available at all times. Eriksson says we have already seen these things become a reality, even in industrial environments.

“An example of utilizing augmented reality in a factory environment might feature a crane operator, who is able to locate a particular object easily with information transmitted to his smart glasses. This information could be arrows directing the operator to the right direction. It is essential that wearables such as smart glasses or smart watches are as convenient as possible so that they allow the person to use their hands freely.”

In addition to increased ergonomics and navigation capabilities, these new technologies can bring relevant data to where it is needed, when it is needed.

“Maintenance personnel could see the information regarding the machine in need of service already when entering the factory. This could be data related to how much load the machine has handled, its expected lifetime or what are its most recent malfunctions or alerts. Instead of punching codes into a separate system and using it to locate the crane and its data, the operator could receive all necessary information, simply by showing up on site.”

Image credit: science photo / Shutterstock.com