Patent Application
20200103877
Various embodiments of the present technology generally relate to industrial automation system design. More specifically, some embodiments of the present technology relate to industrial automation recommendation engines.
The rapid evolution in industrial automation systems has led to many factory environments that are partially or completely automated. Such automated systems allow for improved output with minimal input from humans. For example, automated manufacturing processes are common in automotive industry, chemical industry, food and beverage industry, mining and metal industries, and others. The industrial automation systems are often custom solutions designed to solve unique needs within each industry and for each company. Moreover, these industrial automation systems are more complex than ever and require tighter integration between other devices or systems on the plant floor and the rest of the enterprise. This integration requires a secure network infrastructure, smart devices for efficient data collection, and the ability to turn data into actionable information.
The expanding availability of options for motors, motor controllers, sensors, switches, relays, interface options, and various other components make designing, building, and maintaining these industrial automation systems more difficult than even. New parts are constantly being introduced, while some old parts are redesigned and replaced with improved versions or phase out of production. Moreover, some parts are compatible while other parts are not. As such, developing initial cost estimates, defining project scope, budget, total cost of ownership, implementation timelines, and risk assessments can all be challenging. Moreover, ensuring compliance with various safety and governmental standards that can vary across industries is another challenge in designing complex industrial automation solutions.
Various embodiments of the present technology generally relate to industrial automation system design. More specifically, some embodiments of the present technology relate to industrial automation recommendation engines. Some embodiments provide for a method for operating an integrated platform configured to provide users with customized recommendations. In accordance with some embodiments, a request can be received to create an installed base assessment of an industrial automation machine. Data can be gathered from multiple sources. The data can include sales records, maintenance records, installation records, images, videos, previous installed base assessments, and/or other data associated with the industrial automation machine. An artificial intelligence or machine learning engine can generate the installed base assessment identifying topology and components of the industrial automation machine. In some embodiments, the installed base assessment can be automatically ranked to indicate a likelihood of completeness. In some embodiments, the ranking of the installed base assessment can include identifying components that may be missing based on project goals or similar project designs stored within a database. In some embodiments a manual review when the ranking of the installed base assessment is below a trigger point. Using a recommendation engine, a spare part inventory assessment identifying recommended levels of spare parts to minimize downtime of the industrial automation machine can be generated based on the installed base assessment. In some embodiments, a preemptive repair schedule can be generated based on mean time to failure of components identified in the installed base assessment.
Embodiments of the present invention also include computer-readable storage media containing sets of instructions to cause one or more processors to perform the methods, variations of the methods, and other operations described herein.
While multiple embodiments are disclosed, still other embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which shows and describes illustrative embodiments of the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of modifications in various aspects, all without departing from the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.
Embodiments of the present technology will be described and explained through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:
The drawings have not necessarily been drawn to scale. Similarly, some components and/or operations may be separated into different blocks or combined into a single block for the purposes of discussion of some of the embodiments of the present technology. Moreover, while the technology is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail below. The intention, however, is not to limit the technology to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the technology is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the technology as defined by the appended claims.
Various embodiments of the present technology generally relate to industrial automation system design. More specifically, some embodiments of the present technology relate to industrial automation recommendation engines. Creating complex industrial automation systems requires a number of individuals in differing roles performing different activities. At the highest level the roles of these individuals can be divided into a presale phase and a post-sale phase. During the presale phase members of the sales team (e.g., system integrators and distributors) are tasked with understanding the customer's needs, initially designing a solution, and generating one or more estimates. Other tasks can include, procurement, ensure design will work, generating quotes and proposals, and the like.
Given the complexity of many of the industrial automation machine designs, an initial quote providing a rough order of magnitude is often prepared first. If the customer is comfortable with the rough order of magnitude of the quote, then more time is spent refining the project and quote. Depending on the complexity of the project, these steps may take several days to several months. There may often be many layers of review by different individuals before a project design is finalized. Keeping the reviewers on track and ensuring needed updates to the design are timely made can be difficult. Ultimately, once the quote is ultimately accepted (possibly after some modifications) by the customer, the next step is to build and deliver the industrial automation machine.
Building and delivering the industrial automation machine is part of the post-sale phase can include development work around delivering the machine. In many cases, control engineers write programs that will control the industrial automation system (e.g., read the inputs, control the outputs, etc.), design and build human machine interfaces (HMI), configure devices (e.g., making sure each component has the right firmware and other objects), and the like. Once the machine is installed, eventually the customer will need support for routine maintenance, repairs, and/or upgrades for this custom system.
Various embodiments of the present technology provide an integrated platform that provides recommendation tools that can be used by a variety of individuals across all of the multiple lifecycle phases of an industrial automation system. In accordance with various embodiments, the integrated platform can identify the user, the user's affiliation with a company or distributor, and which information the user should have access to. In some embodiments, the integrated platform can take whatever is specified in a presale phase provide customized recommendations (e.g., based on historical purchasing information).
Once the design is finalized, the integrated platform can allows the user or other team members to easily open up that information in a corresponding tool to address needs in the post-sale phase to allow for all device commissioning, programming, and configuration without any importing, exporting, or recreation of presale files. As such, any layouts or designs can be easily opened up within the platform by users with differing roles. Moreover, if in the post-sale phase, a control engineer decides that a specific aspect of control system was left out, the control engineer can summon the capability of the presale phase to expand the system. As a result, there is a seamless integration (e.g., no user ever has to take additional steps to keep in presale records in sync with the post-sale) as project activity is represented by the same underlying representation or basis within the integrated platform.
Moreover, once an industrial automation system is commissioned, the integrated platform can provide guidance or recommendations on component selection or subsystem redesigns to bring the system up to a contemporary configuration as components or standards change. Various embodiments can use artificial intelligence to form presale recommendations and optimized experiences based on how components are connected and working in post-sale environments. For example, some embodiments can quickly review and analyze databases with records of existing configurations.
If part A is being switched out with part B pretty often once an industrial automation machine is up and going, then the presale experience can be customized to recommend part B. Similarly, if there is a particular configuration for a specific application that is successful, then the integrated platform can streamline the upfront specification time by recommending the configuration. For example, if a design is being created for a vertical form post seal machine running at particular rate, the integrated platform can review typically specified and validated designs which the presale user can use this as a starting point as well as identifies components or configurations that may be now work better for their machine.
Once built, the lifecycle of a machine can span many years or even decades. Over time the machine may be upgraded or modified. The historical records can easily get lost or be no longer available. This is complicated even more by the fact that different parties are involved in the design, building, and repair of the industrial automation system. As such, various embodiments provide an integrated platform that allows users from multiple companies (e.g., distributor, component provider, end user, repair technicians, etc.) to create a data ecosystem which can be effectively and securely accessible across multiple parties. This data ecosystem can be useful as an effective knowledge transfer as individuals leave and new team members are added. Moreover, this data can be used to create customized recommendations when the customer starts a new project.
For example, a user can access the integrated platform. Instead of the data being siloed by the different parties involved, the integrated platform can provide a master data hub that federates the parties and provides appropriate access to the data. The integrated platform can verify that the user is associated with the company (e.g., based on location, IP address, prior invoice numbers, verification by an administrator, etc.). Once vetted, the system can access specific data about the companies purchases and goals stored within the data ecosystem. By aggregating historical purchasing data, the system can provide customized recommendations to the user even if the user is new to the company and has not made any previous purchases or design decisions. Moreover, the integrated platform can provide an effective way for license management and transfer for software sold via a distributor.
Various embodiments of the present technology provide for a wide range of technical effects, advantages, and/or improvements to computing systems and components. For example, various embodiments include one or more of the following technical effects, advantages, and/or improvements: 1) holistic transformation of an automation project that effectively broadens the scope of the project in a way that allows the project files to work within an environment that treats the project as a lifecycle and not just a onetime deliverable for specific phase; 2) integrated management project lifecycle phases that allowing the project to be represented in a consistent way across multiple phases with different users; 3) proactive summoning capability of what has be traditionally seen as presale capability so that these capabilities are available at any time during the lifecycle; 4) use of unconventional and non-routine computer operations to contextually provide notifications and recommendations for component (or alternative component) selection based on lifecycle situations, delivery situations (e.g., parts still available but harder to get), performance considerations (e.g., a new switch to increase bandwidth), and other realization factors; 5) cross-platform integration of machine learning to more efficiently scope and surface component selection information; 6) integration of artificial intelligence to review customer activity and form intelligent presale and/or repair recommendations based on how historical designs are connected and working in post-sale environments; 7) changing the manner in which a computing system reacts to design and building of industrial automation machines; 8) automatic user identification and risk assessment to provide access to critical information; 9) use of unconventional and non-routine computer operations to provide customized recommendations based on distributed knowledge and system design; 10) creation of a master hub to create a dynamic data ecosystem in providing customized recommendations; 11) use of machine learning and artificial intelligence to generate initial installed base assessments of customer facilities; 12) fundamental change in the managing services or goods that are not being sold directly to a consumer; and/or 13) changing the manner in which a computing system reacts to user interactions and feedback.
In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present technology. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present technology may be practiced without some of these specific details.
The techniques introduced here can be embodied as special-purpose hardware (e.g., circuitry), as programmable circuitry appropriately programmed with software and/or firmware, or as a combination of special-purpose and programmable circuitry. Hence, embodiments may include a machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions which may be used to program a computer (or other electronic devices) to perform a process. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, floppy diskettes, optical disks, compact disc read-only memories (CD-ROMs), magneto-optical disks, ROMs, random access memories (RAMs), erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), magnetic or optical cards, flash memory, or other type of media/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronic instructions.
The phrases “in some embodiments,” “according to some embodiments,” “in the embodiments shown,” “in other embodiments,” and the like generally mean the particular feature, structure, or characteristic following the phrase is included in at least one implementation of the present technology, and may be included in more than one implementation. In addition, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiments or different embodiments.
As illustrated in
At the user experience layer, customers and partners can interface with a portal in the usual ways, e.g. in the context of web browsers and application interfaces, but also via new types of devices, such as smart speakers, wearable devices, augmented reality devices, and the like. Integrated security capabilities will span all layers, reaching from the user experience layer, up through the applications and tools, to the compute engine 140.
Computing devices 110A-110N can include network communication components that enable the mobile devices to communicate with remote servers (e.g., hosting the applications and tools 125, virtual assistances 130, etc.) or other portable electronic devices by transmitting and receiving wireless signals using licensed, semi-licensed or unlicensed spectrum over a communications network. In some cases, communication network may be comprised of multiple networks, even multiple heterogeneous networks, such as one or more border networks, voice networks, broadband networks, service provider networks, Internet Service Provider (ISP) networks, and/or Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTNs), interconnected via gateways operable to facilitate communications between and among the various networks. The communications network can also include third-party communications networks such as a Global System for Mobile (GSM) mobile communications network, a code/time division multiple access (CDMA/TDMA) mobile communications network, a 3rd or 4th generation (3G/4G) mobile communications network (e.g., General Packet Radio Service (GPRS/EGPRS)), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), or Long Term Evolution (LTE) network), or other communications network.
Applications and tools 125 can include software that is useful for creating, building, and managing industrial automation systems. For example, as illustrated in
The machine learning and/or artificial intelligence can be used to improve the user experience. For example, the end-to-end user experience in some embodiments will allow for various personalization layers that differ based on who a person is, their role within an organization, their team, and other factors. As a user engages with the applications and tools 125, virtual assistants 130, web portal, and/or other channels, the user's experience can be customized based on these factors. Different work flows, different data streams, and/or different features and functionality can be exposed to the user based on their profile and interactions.
In accordance with various embodiments, compute engine 140 supplements the personalized user experience by surfacing recommendations to end users in the context of their work flow. In some embodiments, compute engine 140 can recommend product configurations, project recommendations, build of material recommendations, and bid recommendations. Compute engine 140 may also be configured to access past histories of builds, configurations, and purchases across a spectrum of users and deployments to optimize a user's project for its current context.
In some embodiments, compute engine 140, in conjunction with applications and tools 125, can accelerate the project development process for end users. Compute engine 140 can pre-select components for a project based on an analysis of past projects by a specific user and projects developed by other users. A project accelerator (not shown) can integrate with recommendation engine 140 to surface recommended components for a project. In addition, a given project can be optimized based on what is most important to the user (or user's company), such as time to delivery, cost, component availability, or performance considerations. Compute engine 140 can use a project optimizer integrated with an accelerator to assist a user in the project development phase. The optimizer within compute engine 140 also accesses historical data sets 145 from a wide range of contexts to arrive at an optimal project design for a given context. In addition, repair and maintenance records 150, operational data 155 from customer sites 160, and the like can also be used by recommendation engine 140 to create customized user experiences and recommendations.
In some embodiments, compute engine 140 may also base recommendation on the current install base of a company. However, given the lifespan and complexity of many industrial automation projects, a company may not have a clear picture of the actual current configuration of their install base. As such, some embodiments can provide an install base evaluator to identify goods and services sold to a company. In some embodiments, the install base evaluator can use data that collected from historical invoices or manual evaluation with identified part numbers. The compute engine may also provide an automated analysis (e.g., using machine learning or artificial intelligence) to identify configurations and components using video, pictures, historical data, direct communications with the industrial automation project, maintenance records, and/or other available data. As such, compute engine can help identify exactly what is on the company's floors.
Compute engine 140 may also interact with product information management (PIM) systems (not illustrated in
The install base evaluator and PIM systems allow the platform to gather data that can be used to develop and support a strategic maintenance plan by collecting production specific data on site, processing and analyzing the data, and delivering detailed reports and recommendations to users. As such, compute engine can create, maintain, and access custom built data collections to gather detailed plant asset information, create topological descriptions, create hierarchical descriptions specific to the facility by mapping assets to production priorities and using terminology and asset descriptions useful to the client. In addition, other information such as spare part data, environmental conditions of the facility, number of operating hours per process may also be used by compute engine 140. For example, in some embodiments, compute engine 140 may use a mean time to failure and the variable operating hours by production process to develop recommended inventory investment levels and reports that can be sorted by highest risk. The customized inventory analysis can give companies an overview of their current installed base and store room inventory. For example, some embodiments may provide an indication of active spares to support install base, excess active spares that are more than needed, and inactive spares which are not part of the current installed base. As a result, compute engine 140 can help optimize inventory levels, lower inventory costs, reducing downtime, and/or improve a facility's maintenance plan.
User environment 210 can make request to integrated platform to run multiple applications based on a common data file 220. In accordance with various embodiments, integrated platform 230 can take whatever is specified in a presale phase (e.g., using the BOM builder) and easily open up that information in a corresponding tool to address needs in the post-sale phase to allow for all device commissioning, programming, and configuration without any importing, exporting, or recreation of presale files. As such, any layouts or designs can be easily opened up within the platform by users with differing roles. Moreover, if in the post-sale phase, a control engineer decides that a specific aspect of control system was left out, the control engineer can summon the capability of the presale phase to expand the system. As a result, there is a seamless integration (e.g., no user ever has to take additional steps to keep in presale records in sync with the post-sale) as project activity is represented by the same underlying representation or basis within integrated platform 230.
The user environment can request data from integrated platform 230. Integrated platform 230 can make one or more queries to query service to access the underlying data file 220 for the project. Data file 220 can be in a format to optimize the capabilities of the tools and applications within the user environment. The needs for different lifecycles (e.g., presale and post-sale) can be holistically addressed by the shared data file. For example, data file 220 can have an XML based file structure in some embodiments. Data file 220 can accommodate the creation of new projects and not require the system to go back and change the way the consuming applications would work. The underlying structure the bid builder would access the data file to generate bid, read and write to data file 220. The other applications can also read and write to the same data file 220. Moreover, meta data within data file 220 can indicate which data is relevant for a particular project lifecycle phase.
In some embodiments, as the results are returned from query service 240, the data from data file 220 can be formatted (if needed) by integrated platform 230 so that the tools and applications within user environment 210 can present the data according to the role of the user. As a result, industrial automation projects can be put through different prisms, lenses, or frames for the optimal presentation within user environment 210. For example, the prisms, lenses, or frames can include, but are not limited to, a lowest cost frame, fastest delivery of components frame, fastest communication speeds frame, quickest available systems as part of a BOM frame, and/or the like.
Integrated platform 230 can also analyze the data (e.g., using machine learning or artificial intelligence) from multiple projects, companies, and roles to generate an enhanced or optimized user experience within user environment 210. For example, in a presale phase, integrated platform can generate initial machine designs based on characteristics about the user. In addition, notifications indicative of lifecycle situations, delivery situations (e.g., parts still available but harder to get), performance considerations (e.g., a new switch to increase bandwidth) and the like may also be automatically surfaced to influence the user's experience and selection. As another example, the tools and applications may submit (e.g., periodically or in real-time) system layouts for automated review and analysis by integrated platform 230. The validation capability provided by integrated platform 230, in some embodiments, can help the user ensure selected components are compatible, desirable, and/or most efficient in generate a proposal or quote.
While not illustrated in
The memory may be used to store instructions for running one or more applications or modules on one or more processor(s). For example, the memory could be used in one or more embodiments to house all or some of the instructions needed to execute the functionality of, prioritization module 320, role detection module 325, company module 330, delivery analyzer 335, cost analyzer 340, availability analyzer 345, performance analyzer 350, project analyzer 355, lifecycle phase analyzer 360, recommendation module 365, personalization module 370, and acceleration module 375. Some embodiments may also include an operating system that provides a software package that is capable of managing the hardware resources the integrated platform. The operating system can also provide common services for software applications running on one or more processor(s).
Prioritization module 320 can identify the priorities the user. This can be based on a variety of information and/or inferences made over time from historical interactions, user role, project lifecycle phase, company preferences, and the like. For example, role detection module can identify the current role of a user. In some cases, this may be easy as a user may only have one role such as a presale distributor. However, in other cases this may be more complicated as the user's role may change overtime for a particular project and/or project lifecycle phase. As such, role detection module 325 can access profile information, project information, and monitor current activity within the integrated platform by the user. The user's activity may be suggestive of the current role (e.g., based on selection of tool or application, specific inquiries, specific actions or selections, and the like). Company module 330 can use data provided by the company to set a profile for the company. For example, the company profile may indicate specific safety or operational standards they would like to comply with, general deadlines and timeframes, cost constraints, and the like. As such, prioritization module 320 can use information from each of these to prioritize the presentation (e.g., of components) within a tool or application.
In order to create an enhanced or optimized user experience various information may be needed to make information decisions or recommendations. In some embodiments, delivery analyzer 335 can analyze current inventory, order, presale activity, material shortages, geographical locations, and the like to identify any potential issues with delivery of components. Cost analyzer 340 can review the project, project goals, project priorities, and the like to analyze the costs of each component and generate alternative recommendations. For example, in some embodiments cost analyzer can not only review the immediate costs, but also the lifetime costs to own particular components and component configurations. While some components may be cheaper initially, the lifetime costs of the component may be more expense.
Availability analyzer 345 analyze current inventory, historical inventory, current orders, presale activity, component lifecycle plans, and the like to identify any potential issues with availability of components as replacement parts within a desired time horizon. For example, a particular switch may be in the process of being phased out of production. Equivalent components may have slightly different dimensions or ratings. As such, availability analyzer can identify the potential issue and alert the user. The user may still select this component, but at least the decision is based on knowledge the component is being phased out and replacement parts may have different dimensions.
Performance analyzer 350 can analyze the industrial automation design and generate recommendations for improving throughput, reducing failure rates, reducing energy consumption, and/or other performance characteristics of the design. Project analyzer 355 can analyze the compliance with various priorities identified by the prioritization system and generate one or more recommendations. Lifecycle phase analyzer 360 can analyze the lifecycle of the industrial automation design and generate recommendations for different components to improve the design.
Recommendation module 365 can take the information from delivery analyzer 335, cost analyzer 340, availability analyzer 345, performance analyzer 350, project analyzer 355, and/or lifecycle phase analyzer 360 to generate a holistic enhanced presentation of information that will allow the user to make informed decisions. Personalization module 370 presents the recommendations in an order and/or manner personalized to the user within each of the applications or tools. In some embodiments, acceleration module 375 can accelerate the initial designs based on characteristics about the user and/or project. For example, acceleration module can generate an initial design or selection of components based on lifecycle situations, delivery situations (e.g., parts still available but harder to get), performance considerations (e.g., a new switch to increase bandwidth) and the like to accelerate the user's experience.
Once the data is accessed, formatting operation 425 can select and format the data according to the current role of the user and the access tool requesting the information. In some embodiments, formatting operation may present a high-level summary of relevant information for decisions or management which can be refined with more detail upon user requests. Determination operation 430 determines whether the tool or application makes any changes to the data file. When determination operation 430 determines no changes were made (e.g., to the bill of materials, electrical layout, etc.), then determination operation 430 branches to recordation operation 435 where access to the file is recorded. When determination operation 430 determines that changes were made to the file (e.g., component updates, different replacement parts, electrical redesign, etc.), then update operation 440 can update the file for use across all lifecycle inquires and tool requests. For example, a change made to a component during a repair will update the bill of material. This can be useful for example, if a user wants to duplicate the industrial automation machine at a different location. In this way, the machine remain identical and later design changes are automatically reflected in an updated bill of materials for the new machine.
Receiving operation 625 receives the data and generation operation 630 generates one or more initial starting designs. These designs can be presented to the user during presentation operation 635. The user of the application or tool is then free to ignore or start with one of these designs. The application or tool may identify a previous design made entirely from the current user or indicate that the design is a hybrid design across multiple companies or users.
In many cases, suppliers of industrial automation equipment do not sale directly to the end consumer. Instead, a complex supply chain of system integrator and distributors often sit between the end customer and the supplier. As such, there are many unique challenges in understanding which data should be accessible and used by each person within the supply chain. For example, different distributors may give different customers varying pricing points. Moreover, given that these differing roles from ultimately different companies are essential for the design, implementation, and maintenance of complex industrial automation designs efficiently linking the data to a user in a secure fashion can be difficult. For example, the lifecycle of industrial automation projects may span many decades. As such, there many be turnover within a company or distributor and a new employee may need access to information that originated with another employee.
Determination operation 710 determines whether the user is verified (or the level of verification) within the integrated platform. This verification level can be used to access data from multiple data sets. Some of this data may be hosted or maintained by the company itself. The data which the user has access to can be used by the artificial intelligence and/or machine learning engines to generate customized recommendations. However, when determination operation 710 determines that the user is not verified, then determination operation 710 branches to generic recommendation operation 715 where recommendation module (see, e.g., 365 in
Analysis operation 725 can analyze the data identified by retrieval operation 720 and generation operation 730 can generate customized recommendations for the user within the integrated platform. The recommendations can be used for upselling, improved topology of design, identification of components that are phasing out of productions, identification of components with potential delivery times outside of needed timeframe, etc. These recommendations can be surfaced to the user with surfacing operation 735. In some embodiments, the recommendations may be surfaced with suggestion bubbles, autocomplete order, soft reminders, advertisements, or the like. For example, in a bill of materials builder, if a user is collaborating with teammates the system can identify the current user, the user's role, scrape data periodically from the bill of material builder and identifying alternative replacement parts. As such, individuals from different companies are federated with an ecosystem of data in a secure manner to provide customized recommendations based on current activity, role, location, project, etc.
Determination operation 820 can determine whether a manual review is needed. For example, this determination can be based on completeness of records, availability of data, and the like. When determination operation 820 determines that a manual review is not needed, then determination operation 825 branches to finalization operation 825 where a final assessment of the installed base is generated. When determination operation 820 determines that a manual review is needed, determination operation 820 branches to notification operation 830 where manual review is initiated with a notification to an installed base assessor. The data collected via the automated assessment can be provided within an installed base evaluator tool that the assessor can access within the integrated platform. The data can correct, edit, add, or otherwise modify the record if needed.
In some embodiments, the assessor can provide an indication via the install base evaluator tool indicating that no changes are needed. In that case, evaluation operation 835 can branch to finalization operation 825. When the assessor indicates that additional changes are needed, the changes can be made during update operation 840 before the assessment is finalized. This installed base assessment answers the questions many manufacturers have regarding the current configuration of the industrial automation systems.
The data from the installed base evaluations can be used to form additional recommendations for a customer. In addition, the data from the installed base evaluation can be useful in developing and supporting a strategic maintenance plan. For example, by understanding the current configurations of the industrial automation machines within a facility, spare part inventories can be optimized. For example, the mean time between failure of parts and the operating hours by production process can be used to develop customized recommended inventory investment levels and reports that can be sorted by highest risk to the company. An inventory analysis can give an overview active spares to support installed base, excess active spares that are more than needed, and inactive spares which are not part of the installed base. In some embodiments, the inventory analysis can provide an indication of the machines with the highest risk of being down, an estimate time to repair, identification of parts that have been discontinued, locations or machines with highest level of end of life or discontinued components, etc.
Industrial automation environment 1100 can be an automobile manufacturing factory, food processing plant, oil drilling operation, microprocessor fabrication facility, or some other type of industrial enterprise. Machine system 1110 could include a sensor, drive, pump, filter, drill, motor, robot, fabrication machinery, mill, printer, or any other industrial automation equipment, including their associated control systems. A control system can include, for example, industrial controller 1115, which could include automation controllers, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), programmable automation controllers (PACs), or any other controllers used in automation control of machine system 1010. Additionally, machine system 1010 could comprise other industrial equipment, such as a brew kettle in a brewery, a reserve of coal or other resources, or any other element that may reside in an industrial automation environment 1000.
Machine system 1010 may continually produces operational data over time. The operational data can indicate the current status of machine system 1010, such as parameters, pressure, temperature, speed, energy usage, overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), mean time between failure (MTBF), mean time to repair (MTTR), voltage, throughput volumes, times, tank levels, or any other performance status metrics. Machine system 1010 and/or controller 1015 is capable of transferring the operational data over a communication link to database system 1020, application integration platform 1025, and computing system 1005, typically via a communication network. Database system 1020 could comprise a disk, tape, integrated circuit, server, or some other memory device. Database system 1020 may reside in a single device or may be distributed among multiple memory devices.
Application integration platform 1025 comprises a processing system and a communication transceiver. Application integration platform 1025 may also include other components such as a router, server, data storage system, and power supply. Application integration platform 1025 provides an example of an application server, although alternative configurations could be used. Application integration platform 1025 may reside in a single device or may be distributed across multiple devices. Application integration platform 1025 may be a discrete system or may be integrated within other systems—including other systems within industrial automation environment 1000. In some examples, application integration platform 1025 could comprise a FactoryTalk® Vantage Point server system provided by Rockwell Automation, Inc.
The communication links over which data is exchanged between machine system 1010, industrial controller 1015, database system 1020, application integration platform 1025, and communication interface 1030 of computing system 1005 could use metal, air, space, optical fiber such as glass or plastic, or some other material as the transport medium—including combinations thereof. The communication links could comprise multiple network elements such as routers, gateways, telecommunication switches, servers, processing systems, or other communication equipment and systems for providing communication and data services. These communication links could use various communication protocols, such as TDM, IP, Ethernet, telephony, optical networking, packet networks, wireless mesh networks (WMN), local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN), wide area networks (WAN), hybrid fiber coax (HFC), communication signaling, wireless protocols, communication signaling, peer-to-peer networking over Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy, Wi-Fi Direct, near field communication (NFC), or some other communication format, including combinations thereof. The communication links could be direct links or may include intermediate networks, systems, or devices.
Computing system 1005 may be representative of any computing apparatus, system, or systems on which the event data saving processes disclosed herein or variations thereof may be suitably implemented. Computing system 1005 provides an example of a computing system that could be used as either a server or a client device in some implementations, although such devices could have alternative configurations. Examples of computing system 1005 include mobile computing devices, such as cell phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, notebook computers, and gaming devices, as well as any other type of mobile computing devices and any combination or variation thereof. Examples of computing system 1005 also include desktop computers, server computers, and virtual machines, as well as any other type of computing system, variation, or combination thereof. In some implementations, computing system 1005 could comprise a mobile device capable of operating in a server-like fashion which, among other uses, could be utilized in a wireless mesh network.
Computing system 1005 includes processing system 1035, storage system 1040, software 1045, communication interface 1030, and user interface 1050. Processing system 1035 is operatively coupled with storage system 1040, communication interface 1030, and user interface 1050. Processing system 1035 loads and executes software 1045 from storage system 1040. Software 1045 includes application 1055 and operating system 1060. Application 1055 may include the recommendation operations described herein in some examples. When executed by computing system 1005 in general, and processing system 1035 in particular, software 1045 directs computing system 1005 to operate as described herein or variations thereof. In this example, user interface 1050 includes display system 1026, which itself may be part of a touch screen that also accepts user inputs via touches on its surface. Computing system 1005 may optionally include additional devices, features, or functionality not discussed here for purposes of brevity.
Storage system 1040 may comprise any storage media readable by processing system 1035 and capable of storing software. Storage system 1040 may include volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information, such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Storage system 1040 may be implemented as a single storage device but may also be implemented across multiple storage devices or sub-systems. Storage system 1040 may comprise additional elements, such as a controller, capable of communicating with processing system 1035. Examples of storage media include random access memory, read only memory, and flash memory, as well as any combination or variation thereof, or any other type of storage media. In some implementations, the storage media may be a non-transitory storage media. In some implementations, at least a portion of the storage media may be transitory. It should be understood that in no case is the storage media a propagated signal.
Software stored on or in storage system 1040 may comprise computer program instructions, firmware, or some other form of machine-readable processing instructions having processes that when executed by processing system 1035 direct the processing system 1035 to operate as described herein.
The software may also include user software applications. The software may be implemented as a single application or as multiple applications. In general, the software may, when loaded into processing system 1035 and executed, transform processing system 1035 from a general-purpose device into a special-purpose device customized as described herein.
The functional block diagrams, operational sequences, and flow diagrams provided in the Figures are representative of exemplary architectures, environments, and methodologies for performing novel aspects of the disclosure. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies included herein may be in the form of a functional diagram, operational sequence, or flow diagram, and may be described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance therewith, occur in a different order and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that a methodology could alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all acts illustrated in a methodology may be required for a novel implementation.
The included descriptions and figures depict specific implementations to teach those skilled in the art how to make and use the best mode. For the purpose of teaching inventive principles, some conventional aspects have been simplified or omitted. Those skilled in the art will appreciate variations from these implementations that fall within the scope of the invention. Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the features described above can be combined in various ways to form multiple implementations. As a result, the invention is not limited to the specific implementations described above, but only by the claims and their equivalents.
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense, as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of “including, but not limited to.” As used herein, the terms “connected,” “coupled,” or any variant thereof means any connection or coupling, either direct or indirect, between two or more elements; the coupling or connection between the elements can be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below,” and words of similar import, when used in this application, refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. Where the context permits, words in the above Detailed Description using the singular or plural number may also include the plural or singular number respectively. The word “or,” in reference to a list of two or more items, covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list, and any combination of the items in the list.
The above Detailed Description of examples of the technology is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the technology to the precise form disclosed above. While specific examples for the technology are described above for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the technology, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. For example, while processes or blocks are presented in a given order, alternative implementations may perform routines having steps, or employ systems having blocks, in a different order, and some processes or blocks may be deleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined, and/or modified to provide alternative or subcombinations. Each of these processes or blocks may be implemented in a variety of different ways. Also, while processes or blocks are at times shown as being performed in series, these processes or blocks may instead be performed or implemented in parallel, or may be performed at different times. Further any specific numbers noted herein are only examples: alternative implementations may employ differing values or ranges.
The teachings of the technology provided herein can be applied to other systems, not necessarily the system described above. The elements and acts of the various examples described above can be combined to provide further implementations of the technology. Some alternative implementations of the technology may include not only additional elements to those implementations noted above, but also may include fewer elements.
These and other changes can be made to the technology in light of the above Detailed Description. While the above description describes certain examples of the technology, and describes the best mode contemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, the technology can be practiced in many ways. Details of the system may vary considerably in its specific implementation, while still being encompassed by the technology disclosed herein. As noted above, particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the technology should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the technology with which that terminology is associated. In general, the terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the technology to the specific examples disclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Description section explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope of the technology encompasses not only the disclosed examples, but also all equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the technology under the claims.
To reduce the number of claims, certain aspects of the technology are presented below in certain claim forms, but the applicant contemplates the various aspects of the technology in any number of claim forms. For example, while only one aspect of the technology is recited as a computer-readable medium claim, other aspects may likewise be embodied as a computer-readable medium claim, or in other forms, such as being embodied in a means-plus-function claim. Any claims intended to be treated under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) will begin with the words “means for”, but use of the term “for” in any other context is not intended to invoke treatment under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f). Accordingly, the applicant reserves the right to pursue additional claims after filing this application to pursue such additional claim forms, in either this application or in a continuing application.
