IOT
How IoT is Transforming Supply Chains
WATCH NOW
“ With data , less is usually more . Systems can soon get inefficient if overloaded with data ”
ANDY HANCOCK GLOBAL VP , DIGITAL SUPPLY CHAIN CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE , SAP
Today ’ s predictive maintenance has its roots in supervisory control and data acquisition ( SCADA ) - a control-system architecture formed of computers , networked-data communications and graphical user interfaces for high-level supervision of machines and processes , for assets either in situ or in remote locations .
“ SCADA has been around for 40 years ,” says Andy Hancock , Global VP of SAP ’ s Digital Supply Chain Centre of Excellence ( CoE ), “ but Industry 4.0 technologies such as AI , ML and IoT have taken it to a whole new level of sophistication .
“ SCADAs were all about condition-based monitoring ,” he adds . “ So , ‘ If this happens , then do that ’. But what people increasingly want is a predictive element , such as gaining insight into the useful remaining life of an asset somewhere out in the field . With big data , it ’ s now possible to carry out trend analysis to get at this kind of information .” But Hancock warns that data-driven solutions can also bring their own problems .
“ With predictive maintenance , you should always be looking out for the exception ,” he says . “ Think of a temperature gauge on a
114 April 2023