New-Tech Europe Magazine | March 2018

Connected compressors and Industry 4.0 From then to now

Stef Lievens, Atlas Copco Compressors UK and Ireland Data Corporation recently published research estimating that global IoT spending will total nearly $1.4 trillion by 2021, with manufacturing predicted to be the leading industry for investment.

The term Internet of Things (IoT) has become ubiquitous in recent years and is now seemingly being applied to any instance in which a device is connected, communicative and data-driven; whether it is a smartphone, fridge freezer or car. However, it is arguably the manufacturing sector that stands to benefit the most, with the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) envisaged as a positive force for change that is already beginning to see the introduction of sophisticated robotics in the workplace and smart components that communicate their own assembly instructions to the production line. The challenge for equipment suppliers is that companies are now moving beyond talking about the theory behind Industry 4.0 to wanting to know how it can and will be applied in practice. To highlight this, the International

managed in working environments. The concept of adding intelligence to air compressors by connecting and enabling them to communicate over the internet is not new. In fact, as of today, Atlas Copco has over 100,000 connected compressors operating at more than 35,000 customer sites in the world. These compressors are delivering in excess of 150 data measurements per second. This is proving vital, on one hand in enabling data mining engineers to intelligently analyse performance patterns and, on the other, by helping design teams to apply the data in the development of new and more customer-suited compressed air technologies. For some time now, smart controller technology has enabled plant managers to keep track of how their compressor is performing via MODBUS or PROFIBUS internet

As one of the world’s major industrial energy sources, which is estimated to account for 10 per cent of all energy used in industry globally, compressed air will undoubtedly have a significant role to play in shaping the smart factories of the future. But, you may ask, what is being done now within the compressed air industry to embrace the fourth industrial revolution? In this blog, we will look at the history and application of internet connectivity and data science in the compressed air industry and examines how it may influence both the initial design of the equipment and the way it is monitored and

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