Edge computing is quite the topic these days. Some say it’s the future of software. Others claim that it’s not safe enough. But after hearing of it so often, do you know what edge computing actually is?

The white paper I have prepared answers this question and opens up the discussion of how edge computing can be used on factory floors.

Edge computing on the shop floor

Manufacturing lines must stay up to date with current technology if companies want to stay competitive. Adding edge infrastructures is just one of the many ways to bring innovation to the industry, but it’s the one option we will be focusing on today.

So, let’s see what the needs of the shop floor are:

• Assets must be monitored by extracting data from sensors, either in the greenfield or brownfield setting
• This data must be stored and analyzed
• Results of the analysis must be informative and must generate a meaningful action
• The receiver of the action can be an asset itself, thus, closing a control loop

If all these needs are addressed with a centralized model of computation, we run into several problems.

First, all individual data gathered from each machine must be sent and stored on the Cloud, where it can then be analyzed. As you can see, this way of doing things generates a lot of traffic. It makes you wonder: what is the cost of all this generated traffic? The second issue that we run into is latency and data availability.

Converting a centralized model into an edge computing model

This is why this new white paper addresses the issue of how to turn such a centralized model into an edge computing one. If you want to see all the recommended guidelines and learn how this can be done in your facility, download the white paper.