Designer: The TOM Agency
Factories have used robots to drive operational efficiency since the 1990s, but the real revolution is just beginning. Today’s new breed of devices connect to the cloud, to their operators, and to one another, using powerful machine-learning
The “Industrial Edge” enables a new paradigm for how things are made—the smart factory
algorithms to continually optimize their own operations. Together, this array of smart machines and IoT sensors, all connected to nearby computing power via 5G is called the Industrial Edge. “The Industrial Edge extends the cloud’s capabilities and services into factories,” says Steve Blackwell, worldwide technical leader for manufacturing at AWS. “Decision-makers can now extract data, contextualize it, and use it to make real-time improvements.”
Fast, wireless connectivity is essential to the modern factory, allowing machines to coordinate with one another to create unheard of efficiencies and run autonomous guided vehicle (AGV) fleets. Until recently, companies that ran on 5G were dependent on telecom companies and their sometimes spotty 5G service. AWS’s Private 5G networks bring high-speed connections to an entire worksite—and put it entirely under local control.
Data generated by modern
factories is often worth as much as the products they make. Running all operations within the four walls of the factory using AWS Outposts and Private 5G networks means data is processed on-site and never leaves the premises. Plus, services such as AWS Systems Manager and AWS IoT Device Defender build in security from the ground up, at the very edges of the network.
Built-in security
Guaranteed 5G
Wear and tear effects machine performance over time, resulting in manufacturing mistakes. In conventional factories, faulty parts
are identified after they are made, scrapped, and written off as a cost
of doing business. But with IoT
sensors on every piece of machinery feeding into a central data
repository via 5G, employees can
now see when machines are sliding out of optimal parameters and
adjust in real time or perform maintenance, so bad parts don’t get made in the first place.
Reduced manufacturing waste
Many industrial operations now rely on autonomous robots that move about the factory floor. With real-time AI- and ML-boosted route planning and traffic control, these AGV robots can move as quickly as 10 feet per second while passing less than an inch apart. Achieving this safely requires extreme low-latency communications, with each robot checking in as many as 10 times per second over 5G, and lightning-fast on-site processing on AWS Outposts.
Robotic fleet coordination
When a company has its compute and storage on-site and private 5G connects everything, it’s possible to place a manufacturing facility just about anywhere, regardless of connectivity options. “If you rely on external network connectivity to function, you put your production at risk,” Blackwell says. “Having an AWS Outposts Server or AWS Snowball in your factory enables manufacturers to take advantage of the AWS cloud for production-critical and
low-latency workloads.”
Operations anywhere
10-24-22 | aws