Industry 4.0 presents manufacturers with near-countless new benefits. Like previous industrial revolutions, it’s both improving manufacturing and introducing an entirely new way of doing things. The factory of tomorrow will be a connected one, bringing the Internet of Things (IoT) to everything, including air compressors.
It’s clear how Industry 4.0 can improve machines like mobile robots, but what about air compressors? The new technology in this wave of change gives you more control over these machines than ever before. With these various control improvements and options, air compressors are becoming more cost-effective and useful than ever.
Efficient Operation
With Industry 4.0, you can operate air compressors with greater ease. The most prominent example of this is the growing availability of remote monitoring. Through monitoring systems like SMARTLINK and other remote monitoring systems, you can control compressors from remote devices like your cell phone.
This remote technology allows you to make adjustments on the fly. If you need to modify a compressor’s operation to save energy or meet new demands, you can do so without being next to it. This ability, in turn, saves you valuable time — which saves money.
As Industry 4.0 continues to develop, machines like air compressors will become autonomous. Soon, they won’t require human input — they’ll be able to adjust automatically. Full automation will offer even more efficiency, freeing human employees to focus on other tasks.
Data Points and Metrics
Operational efficiency isn’t the only advantage these monitoring systems offer. The new wave of smart controllers collects data from air compressors as they work. You can then access this information from your remote system to look at real-time performance metrics.
By serving as a data point, these air compressor sensors remove the guesswork from the operation. You don’t need extensive knowledge of these systems to tell if they’re running at their full potential. Instead, you can look at the data to get an objective answer.
As data analytics becomes an increasingly central part of business, these measurements become more helpful. Data analytic software provides more accurate insights if it has more points to measure. Connected air compressors give you additional knowledge, leading to better analytics.
Preventative Maintenance
If your air compressor breaks down, it can cost a lot of money to repair. But you can avoid these costly affairs through preventative maintenance, which Industry 4.0 makes easier. Modern control systems offer notifications and troubleshooting tools, helping you fix potential problems before they cause damage.
Remote alerts can tell you when you should inspect a compressor. It can be challenging to determine an optimized maintenance schedule on your own, but not with these insights. Smart controllers let you know when you should perform maintenance and what exactly to inspect.
With further development, these systems could include Preventative Maintenance 4.0. This concept refers to machines detecting potential errors and fixing them autonomously. With Preventative Maintenance 4.0, air compressors will continually improve themselves.
Cloud Connectivity and Integration
A staple of Industry 4.0 is establishing a facility-wide connected network. Using cloud computing, you can create a single, centralized system from which you can access any assets in your facility. For air compressors, this means you can connect to any of them from virtually any device in your network.
With cloud connectivity, you won’t need to track a handful of controls or remotes. All you’d need to control a compressor or view its data is another device running on the same cloud. But easier remote access isn’t the only benefit of the cloud.
With a connected facility, you can integrate air compressors into a more extensive network. If you already have a data analysis or remote monitoring system in place, you can graft smart compressors into it without establishing a new one.
If all — or even most — of your machines are on the same cloud network, you have a central place to store data. You can analyze information far faster when you spend less time organizing it. A single source of your collected data gives you just that.
Air Compressors in Tomorrow’s Industry
Air compressors are an essential part of today’s industry, and they will continue to be so. From powering pneumatic equipment to supplying clean air for HVAC systems, air compressors serve various roles in the industrial sector. These machines will have to evolve along with everything else to run tomorrow’s factories.
The new industrial revolution can be an intimidating prospect. Any change can make you uncomfortable, but Industry 4.0’s modifications are all profitable ones. In this new industry, even the humble air compressor becomes part of a hi-tech connected system.
Industry 4.0 isn’t a far-off goal to reach for. It’s already here and available to you, waiting for you to become a part of it. By adopting the available technology and integrating it into your workplace, you’ll see vast improvement across all your operations.