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Smart Manufacturing through e-F@ctory

By Guest Author,

Added 16 February 2018

e-F@ctory links production equipment to higher manufacturing execution systems to allow production information to be incorporated into production plans and be utilized to ensure quality traceability.

The diagram shows a typical scheme for e-F@ctory which can be implemented and adapted as per the requirements of the End-User for varied industry verticals.

The high bandwidth of CC-Link IE is designed to handle large amounts of data created by smart sensors and Factory Automation products fitted in varied equipments. Data volumes from the field are expected to continue to increase in a big way. The bandwidth enables small as well as Big Data analytics applications, which can only provide their benefits, when ample data is available.
e-F@ctory and the CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) unify more than 3,000 partners, from which over 2,800 are at the field level, over 250 at the control level, and more than 50 at the IT layers. The list keeps growing and together they do provide a very broad palette of functionalities to build applications from. Significant names in the list, among others are 3M, Atos, Baluff, Canon Systems, Cisco, Cognex, ePlan, Festo, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, HMS, Pepperl&Fuchs, Panasonic, Sick, and Wago. The web sites of the e-F@ctory Alliance and CLPA provide the exhaustive lists of partners.
Once connectivity is established among equipment, automation and IT, a range of possibilities arise, empowering a wide variety of roles in the manufacturing industries with real-time actionable information.
An ‘e-F@ctory-based plant' incorporates a system that is capable of addressing various issues by collecting shop-floor data such as production performance, operating performance and quality information from production equipment and devices ‘directly' and in ‘real-time', and directly interfacing with enterprise applications such as ERP and SCM. In other words, the e-F@ctory platform substantially improves quality, work schedules and productivity by having significant vertical data integration from shop-floor to enterprise.
With advanced features of Factory Automation products the high-performance HMI applications built for individual machines/equipments can be viewed on your Mobile phone or Tablet using GOT Mobile Function. The OEE and Energy Management Control Packs from e-F@ctory alliance partners are available to facilitate the support for activities in these domains.

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