With a view to helping UK manufacturers improve the efficiency and output of their production operations, Coventry-based www.fanuc.eu/uk/en Fanuc UK Ltd has unveiled its new Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) platform — FIELD (Fanuc Intelligent Edge Link and Drive) system.

Suitable for industrial applications ranging from sub-contract machine shops through to major production facilities alike, FIELD system is an open-source platform that connects a broad range of Fanuc and third-party production technology — including both new and legacy models dating back to 2000 — so as to provide fast centralised access to all production data within a factory and “help end-users take a decisive step towards Smart Factory status”.

Unlike other IIoT solutions, FIELD system is ‘edge-heavy’, collecting, keeping and processing a wide range of production data at source — on the shopfloor, rather than in the cloud — thereby giving operators access to more accurate real-time data and analytics.

For larger sites, FIELD system is also fully scalable across multiple cells within a factory.

Fanuc European technical support manager Craig Taylor said: “FIELD system operates primarily ‘on premises’, ensuring a fast response to edge devices without the need for a cloud connection.

“This allows for better real-time processing and autonomy to move without the internet, as well as reduced cloud communications costs and better data leak prevention. However, if customers want to store data for future analysis or make a combined data analysis from different factory locations, they can do so via a cloud solution.

“With FIELD system we are aiming to empower the engineer, not de-skill them. Manufacturing is becoming increasingly digitalised, and we see this system as a tool that can amplify the knowledge of those running production by taking a few key inputs and using them to improve the efficiency and output of their operations.”

FIELD system is compatible with a number of applications that are available from the newly launched Fanuc App store, which end-users can browse and download from directly. Apps include those offered by Fanuc as well as those designed by third-parties. Two of these are FIELD system PMA and ZDT.

PMA (Production Monitoring and Analytics) software is used to monitor the production and performance of all machines connected to the system, including flagging any that are not operating at intended capacity, as well as facilitating waveform failure analysis.

Meanwhile, ZDT (Zero Down Time) continuously monitors the health of machines and can identify trends — such as torque changes or disturbances — with a view to informing operators when preventative maintenance action needs to be taken.

Among the first third party apps to be added to the Fanuc App store is one from Open Data which captures the OEE (overall equipment effectiveness) of the entire production system in real-time and visualises the data on a dashboard.

Mr Taylor concluded: “Ultimately, the open nature of the platform is intended to improve the efficiency and quality of a production process, while also optimising maintenance.

“We want FIELD system to be able to keep production running, regardless of whether the equipment is exclusively Fanuc or a combination of multiple different manufacturers.”