Reevaluating the manufacturing sector with industrial automation

By OEM Update Editorial March 3, 2021 6:52 pm IST

Talking about the impetus on technical assistance, Sameer Mudhalwadkar, Sales Director – SAARC & Middle East, RED LION CONTROLS tell OEM Update that the automated solutions and remote monitoring technologies in automation processes are going to be the future market drivers.

What are your key technology solutions offerings to manufacturing sector?

Manufacturing is an integral part of today’s economy. Factories around the world manufacture products for industries such as aerospace, automotive, electronics, food and beverage, packaging, plastics and more. While strategic practices such as Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Total Quality Management and Continuous Improvement are used by many organisations to improve processes, technology is ultimately transforming the world of manufacturing.

Red Lion offers key technologies in the field of data acquisition, data transfer and digitisation. An important aspect is the data acquisition from machines and devices of different manufacturers and ages. State-of-the-art machines, for example, need to communicate with old controllers to ensure a successful data flow from the Factory floor to the ERP, MES level of a company. In addition, there are different protocols that need to communicate with each other to provide a data flow from the sensor to e.g. the cloud. Our edge automation platform FlexEdge™ is a modular, highly scalable solution for data collection and digitization for the entire enterprise level. Operational data, or OT for short, is captured from the individual devices, protocol-converted, and then made available to the IT level. This OT/IT convergence on one platform is only offered by Red Lion on the market.

In addition to our automation solutions, Red Lion is offering networking solutions from remote site management to industrial process control. Our N-Tron® and Sixnet® series Ethernet switches, cellular M2M devices and communication converters address a wide range of industrial networking requirements and are designed to operate reliably in harsh environments.

Our latest innovation is the NT4008 Full Gigabit Ethernet Switches for high performance PROFINET communication. PROFINET is the one of the preferred Ethernet protocol in the India industry. Forecasts confirm its leading position for the upcoming years. Red Lion’s new NT4008 Layer 2 PROFINET switches integrate seamlessly PROFINET networks into your applications and design new Industry 4.0 environments.

The NT4008 PROFINET series is built to manage next generation bandwidths as well as support any extreme industrial conditions and maintain uptime. The switches simplify and accelerate data transition for real-time data exchange in PROFINET applications. Red Lion’s NT4008 Gigabit Managed Industrial Ethernet switches are certified to meet PROFINET PNIO v2.34 conformance class B (CC-B), RT Class 1 standards. They ensure seamless integration into PROFINET networks using standard PLC configuration and management tools.

How do you evaluate the demand for remote monitoring solutions and other newer IIoT solutions for industrial automation?

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In F&B as well as Pharma, products are processed which are distinguished from other markets or productions by their shorter service life. The end product whether medicine or even more time-limited food, must be produced quickly but at the same time under the highest safety precautions. Whether in the clean room in the pharmaceutical sector or with the limited shelf life in the food and beverage sector, these industries are very sensitive regarding production data. Data may need to be traced if recalls occur, traceability is important. There is also a need to react quickly to trends in the food sector. Data acquisition solutions must therefore be quickly adapted to safely changing technologies.

For example, a global food company enabled the company to produce and store exactly the amount of inventory that consumers actually bought, rather than producing based on forecasts from historical data. This requires accurate data to be determined and transferred, from the sensor to the cloud or enterprise level, ideally in real time. Here, Red Lion offers a comprehensive range of data collection solutions, from KPI analysis to the entire realization of the SMART IT factory floor.

Technology has been keying the growth of Indian industries. How do you plan to meet the demand for incessant automation across various industries?

Red Lion continuously develops new and innovative solutions for the automation market with a focus on improving data transparency and productivity. Only those who know their production data will be able to check improve or optimise it. The data visualisation, data digitalisation as well as the fast data transport to the respective company levels will be our main goal and will improve companies in improving productivity. In addition to future-oriented solutions, we will expand our global service offering to our customers.

 Increasing demand for industrial automation, coupled with the demand for industrial mobility for process industry will drive the remote monitoring and control market.