In recent years, there has been a lot of talk about digital transformation within the manufacturing industry. Many companies have been hesitant to invest in this type of transformation due to perceived cost and disruption concerns. However, it is recommended to focus on one problem at a time and then worry about scaling up. Doing so will help maintain sustainability goals and optimize energy costs.
… When pneumatic systems are set to diagnose leaks and calculate proper pressure ratios, companies can see a reduction in compressed air consumption and energy costs, which help maintain sustainability goals and help optimize energy costs.
The article Digital Transformation Tools Improve Plant Sustainability and Maintenance by Amit Patel explains why it’s in a facility’s best interest to prevent issues before they arise. One area where digital transformation can be highly beneficial is in the area of plant sustainability and maintenance. Companies are implementing digital transformation tools into their wheelhouse for predictive maintenance benefits, such as preventing unplanned downtime and limiting costs.
For example, when pneumatic systems are set to diagnose leaks and calculate proper pressure ratios, companies can see a reduction in compressed air consumption and energy costs. This, in turn, helps maintain sustainability goals and optimize energy costs.
… Technology now exists that offers a better way. Through the digital transformation of pneumatic systems, compressed air consumption can now be monitored in real time to provide valuable, actionable data and insight facilities can use to optimize pneumatic processes and guide effective predictive maintenance efforts. By using intelligent technologies to make better decisions and take immediate action, compressed air consumption can be significantly reduced, better predictive maintenance can be implemented and sustainability efforts can be improved.
Dashboards like this for pneumatics applications provide a quick, informed view of a facility’s pneumatic system performance, which can be used for predictive maintenance.
Overall, there are many benefits to incorporating digital transformation into the manufacturing process. Doing so can help improve plant sustainability, prevent unplanned downtime, limit costs, and optimize energy consumption. While there may be some perceived cost and disruption concerns at first, it is important to focus on one problem at a time and then worry about scaling up. Doing so will ultimately help achieve sustainability goals while also saving money in the long run.
… A low-barrier approach to digital transformation can focus on one key domain or challenge — even one machine — then use lessons learned to scale up. There are technology providers that offer complete, vertically integrated solutions that combine components, sensors and controllers, as well as analytics packages designed to enable facilities to benefit from digital transformation at the level that best fits their unique requirements.
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