Collecting manufacturing data for predictive analytics with LinePulse and deviceWISE
Last updated on June 15th, 2023
Collecting a complete dataset is essential for ensuring that production processes run smoothly and efficiently. Without complete data, manufacturers may miss important insights that can help increase quality and productivity. Incomplete data can also lead to incorrect assumptions and errors.
Predictive quality analytics tools rely on vast amounts of data from manufacturing lines and machines to make predictions about future outcomes, so it’s critical that they use comprehensive datasets. However, if data is incomplete or missing, predictive models may be inaccurate or entirely incorrect, leading to wasted resources and suboptimal outcomes. Complete data is necessary for accurate predictive modelling, enabling manufacturers to identify potential problems before they occur, optimize production processes, and ultimately improve product quality.
Introducing the partnership between LinePulse and deviceWISE
More data means more accurate insights, and more insights mean better decision-making for quality and engineering teams. That’s why we always encourage better and more complete data collection to support the analysis within our predictive quality analytics software solution, LinePulse.
To help make data access easier for our customers, we’ve partnered with Telit Cinterion, makers of deviceWISE.
The deviceWISE IIoT platform is a scalable integrated solution that provides visibility and control over connected machines. It boosts throughput and improves quality in each step of the manufacturing process. deviceWISE collects and transforms data, integrates machines and systems, and eliminates the need for writing code in one complete, easy-to-use package.
deviceWISE can connect almost any device on a manufacturing line to a central database. It has a hardware component that can connect to manufacturing machines directly, eliminating the need to pass the data through an intermediary like an MES. It can also translate a wide range of communication protocols, making it easy to work with different types of PLCs and other systems. With deviceWISE, manufacturers can collect data on the temperature of a machine, to the number of parts produced, to the results of an end-of-line test, and everything in between.
To think about it another way, deviceWISE is like plumbing: it moves data from one place to another. It’s responsible for connecting data from different sources to a central database, making it easy for manufacturers to collect and analyze their data. And, with deviceWISE, LinePulse can provide even more valuable insights into a manufacturing line.
The many manufacturing data protocols
Manufacturers have tried to keep protocols standardized, but protocols can go out of style. Some of the most common ones used in manufacturing today include:
- Modbus: This is a serial communication protocol used for transmitting data between electronic devices over a network.
- Profibus: This is a digital communication protocol used to connect and exchange data between field devices and automation systems in industrial environments.
- Ethernet/IP: This is an open standard protocol used for real-time communication between industrial control systems and devices.
- DeviceNet: This is a communication protocol used in industrial automation for connecting devices in a control system.
- OPC (Open Platform Communications): This is a series of standards and specifications used to provide communication between different devices and software applications in industrial automation and manufacturing environments.
- CAN (Controller Area Network): This is a protocol used for communication between electronic devices in a vehicle or industrial automation setting.
- MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport): This is a lightweight messaging protocol used for the efficient and reliable transmission of data between devices in an industrial automation or IoT (Internet of Things) environment.
These protocols are essential for ensuring seamless and efficient communications between different devices and systems in manufacturing and industrial settings.
When retooling a line, there is a complicated process of understanding which protocols are currently being used, and which protocols will be added to the mix because of new machinery. All of this data needs to go somewhere, and between PLCs, the MES, ERP, databases and cloud-based solutions, it can quickly become a tangled web of different connections.
deviceWISE can simplify this tangled web. It has the broadest library of pre-validated connections and drivers on the market, making it extremely flexible. It can even read from an SQL database, if needed. deviceWISE can be a single data-access solution for many different use cases.
Scaling your data collection for the future
One of the best things about deviceWISE is that it is very easy to scale. It can connect to any new system or device that needs to be added to your manufacturing environment, and it can grow with your line and facility. You only need to configure it once.
This ability to scale is something we had in mind when we designed LinePulse. Using the two products together means that expanding or growing your line – or collecting new signals on an existing line – will be easy tasks. In fact, after a quick setup step, it will only enhance the types of insights you are able to gain from your data.
Over time, with these protocol- and brand-agnostic tools, we hope to help simplify the complexity of the manufacturing data ecosystem in facilities, so that they can focus on what really matters: getting valuable information about their part quality and manufacturing processes in order to reduce scrap and rework, and improve operational efficiency.
Using LinePulse and deviceWISE together
If your line or facility doesn’t collect enough data to get the type of analysis you want and you feel overwhelmed trying to untangle different protocols, systems, and databases, this LinePulse/deviceWISE partnership is the solution you’ve been waiting for. The flexibility of deviceWISE and how seamlessly it integrates with LinePulse makes our solution an easy investment for any automotive manufacturer.
Consider this example from a manufacturing line:
- Data from a DC tool goes into ToolsNet
- Press data goes into a proprietary system provided by the press manufacturer
- End-of-line test data might go to a specific customer database
- Other data from the manufacturing line goes to the MES directly.
Even if all of this data is aggregated, it might not all be aggregated into the same place. But, with deviceWISE, all of these different protocols can be connected to a central database. Now, with your data stored in a central location, it becomes extremely easy to deploy LinePulse into your facility.
As a certified reseller of deviceWISE, we can prepare a quote for you that includes both deviceWISE and LinePulse systems, making it easy for you to understand the investment, and make a clear decision. We can include the deviceWISE purchase and installation directly in your LinePulse onboarding plan. There are many options for helping to set up and configure your custom deviceWISE solution to ensure you get the most out of your data.
If you want advanced analytics and actionable insights, you need complete data
Predictive analytics tools like LinePulse use artificial intelligence and machine learning, and they are adaptable to a wide variety of unique situations where different types of data is gathered. But at the end of the day, the insights that these tools provide are only as good as the data that comes in.
Manufacturers need to ensure that they collect data at every stage of production to not only monitor and make predictions about their quality, but also to identify issues early on, and make adjustments on the line. Complete data provides manufacturers with a comprehensive view of how the manufacturing process is affecting product quality, and to ultimately deliver better products to customers.
If you’re interested in learning more about LinePulse and deviceWISE, drop us a line.
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