Digital Factory: The future begins today

With Digital Factory now, we provide you with tailor-made solutions for the food industry to improve the sustainability, productivity, and safety of your systems:
IIOT portfolio:

• Real-time monitoring: Continuous data acquisition and analysis of sensors and actuators and for early detection of deviations.
• Digital twins: Virtual representations of production systems simplify planning and optimization.
• Integration and networking with the IIOT framework: Seamless integration of various systems and devices for improved data processing and analysis.
  Machine learning and signal technology:
• Predictive maintenance: Predicting maintenance requirements to avoid unplanned failures.
• Anomaly detection: Early detection of unusual patterns in production data with machine learning.
  Measuring technology:
• Precise measurements: High-precision devices for precise monitoring of production parameters to increase quality and efficiency.

The IEC 62443 certification is of great importance for the food industry, as it is considered to be a critical production industry. Our components certified in accordance with IEC 62443 help you to comply with the latest security standards:

• Cybersecurity: This standard ensures the protection of industrial automation and control systems (IACS) against cyberattacks.
• Risk minimization: Certifications help identify and eliminate vulnerabilities, thereby reducing the risk of production downtimes and security incidents.
• Compliance and trust: Adhering to international security standards strengthens the trust of customers and partners and offers a competitive advantage.
• Holistic approach: The standard covers the entire lifecycle of components and systems, from development and operation through to decommissioning.

• Retrofits and the effective integration of sensors for fuel and exhaust gas analysis as well as new sensor generations are scalable regardless of the communication protocol
• The functional safety of the furnace, melting tank, or boiler goes hand in hand with cybersecurity in accordance with the requirements of IEC 62443 or NIS 2.0
• The operator can introduce machine learning (ML) and industrial IoT (IIoT) for condition-based monitoring and process optimization in their systems – both off-premises and, in particular, on-premises
• Agility can be increased through low- or no-code applications that enable simple, individual, and scalable adaptation to changing fuel lines by using uniform parameterization platforms such as the open source tool Grafana

Early detection of unusual behavior patterns can prevent faults and changes in combustion processes. This includes gas fluctuations, load curve adjustments, and effective control of actuators and dampers. PLCnext Technology, including the MLnext software solution, is used for this purpose. The predictive approach also offers other potential economic and sustainability benefits:

• Higher overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) in thermal process machines – such as an IS machine in the glass industry – and thus a significant reduction in rejects
• Effective and intelligent control of fuel-air ratios and electric heating systems by eliminating the need for expensive external hardware such as automatic devices, leak detection systems, or temperature controllers
• Factory-wide intelligent and condition-based monitoring of the process, including safety-related sensors for measuring emissions, furnace, chimney draft, and hearth pressure, classic safety of machinery, and various temperature and pressure values

In this context, the OT security certification of the PLCnext Control product family by TÜV SÜD in accordance with IEC 62443-4-2, combined with the existing safety certification, sets new standards. IEC 62443 is the leading international standard for OT security. The functional safety of the controllers complies with the IEC 61508, ISO 13849, and IEC 62061 safety standards. To implement successful automation solutions, both perspectives must be linked together in the future. Due to the demand for tamper protection and the inclusion of remote access to machines and systems, the aspect of OT security is becoming increasingly important in the upcoming Machinery Regulation. The certified PLCnext Control product family already meets these requirements.

Proficloud.io provides smart services such as the Device Management Service and the Impulse Analytics Service, which enable predictive maintenance and monitoring.

EMpro energy measuring devices record and analyze energy data to optimize energy consumption and are already integrated into the IIoT framework predefined without generating any additional data silos. They can also be linked there to all other media (utilities).

Radioline enables the wireless transmission of I/O signals and serial data over long distances, which is particularly useful in large-scale systems.

Proficloud.io enables the aggregation of real-time data and the development of new business models such as “Products-as-a-Service”.