Page 70 - Packaging News Magazine Sep-Oct 2021
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EQUIPMENT UPDATE | www.packagingnews.com.au | September-October 2021
 Cloud as the connective tissue of Industry 4.0
 Industry 4.0 is revolutionising the way that manufacturers operate. The integration of technologies onto the factory floor, via the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), has upgraded many plants into what we now call ‘Smart Factories’.
“What unites all the different use cases of IIoT is the need to have data accessible, available and integrated to deliver new processes and applica- tions – something that the Cloud is perfectly positioned for.”
As an industry, manufacturing stands to benefit from the widespread adoption of Cloud Deployment because it enables manufacturers to test, vali- date and run ‘Proof of Concepts’. “This is of great benefit as it provides key business direction with minimal effort or cost,” Roberts says.
“As rates of Cloud Deployment increase, more and more systems will be able to securely connect and talk natively, pushing and pulling data to fast-track insights that will ulti- mately create smart chatter and live predictive decision making for busi- nesses,” he adds.
While the potential ROI of Cloud Deployment seems like a no-brainer, Roberts has observed reluctance from some manufacturers, which he attri- butes to the commonly held miscon- ception that Cloud Deployment offer- ings are overly complex and too slow.
“That’s why ZI-ARGUS has intro- duced our SYMBIONT Cloud Deployment solutions to deliberately avoid these early pitfalls – manufac- turers will only realise the true
WHILE IIoT integration on the factory floor benefits man- ufacturers by enabling increased production out- put and decreased labour costs, a further advantage lies in the fact that wher-
ever IIoT technologies are mounted, they serve as data collection centres. “These smart factories feature
advanced sensors and software that collect and analyse data to allow for better decision making,” explains Richard Roberts, national Industry 4.0 operations manager at Zi-Argus Australia and member of the Open IIoT Group (which is a cohort that includes SMC Corporation Australia New Zealand, Nord Drivesystems, Balluff, Beckhoff Automation and Kuka Robotics).
“However, as this data has been traditionally stored in local serv- ers, manufacturers have had a hard time using the data to scale and integrate together with other opera- tions,” he said.
Roberts adds that manufacturers who rely on local storage for IIoT data are only realising half the benefits of these valuable insights by not being able to scale the data to its full potential.
Enter Cloud Deployment.
REALISING THE FULL POTENTIAL
OF IIOT DATA
Cloud Deployment is the process of deploying an application through one or more hosting models that leverage the cloud. With Cloud Deployment, data can be stored, retrieved, and shared safely and seamlessly.
As Roberts explains, realising the full potential of gathered data is essential to the continued operations of smart factories.
Realising the full potential of gathered data is essential to the continued operations of smart factories.
   With Symbiont, companies have access to the best in Cloud Deployment, while still respecting budget constraints.”
  













































































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