Advanced-automation systems from roboticized manufacturing lines, AGVs, smart machines and integrated logistics are increasingly helping to create smart factories. These data-driven, responsive facilities can greatly enhance the competitive edge of a business. However, to realize this vision, an effective way of carrying the data and control signals is required to create an autonomous, interconnected, responsive and flexible factory.
Thus, the real protagonists are industrial networks. Let’s take a closer look at how the right industrial network can jumpstart the way to a smart factory.
Connectivity—critical communications for digital transformation
Connectivity is the key word when talking about digital transformation. In fact, communication is the backbone of all the industrial components used to realize the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), as it brings together different entities on the factory floor, e.g., hardware devices, software tools and people, as well as higher enterprise-level systems. Connectivity enables them to collect, communicate and analyze data. By doing so, the industrial machines and the entire enterprise become intelligent systems, able to improve plant performance, productivity and flexibility.
