Sensors expertise now extends to custom cloud solutions
22 June 2022
Known as a hardware provider of industrial sensors, fieldbus and interface technology, and connectivity products, Turck Banner is strategically enhancing its services to include cloud solutions as part of its portfolio.
Cost-effective and accessible cloud solutions are now available to customers, providing the advantage of integrated hardware and cloud solutions without the need to access cloud options externally. Explains Tony Coughlan, Managing Director, Turck Banner, “We consider ourselves to be an 'IIoT Enabler', by which we mean that we provide everything for the factory or production environment, from the sensors collecting the data, through the network layer equipment, to the cloud used to host and distribute the useable information. This gives our customers great advantages.”
These include:
• Everything from one supplier. Security in the knowledge that everything will work together.
• Unique software features. Pre-programmed dashboards are available free of charge. They are designed to display the useable information needed to make decisions and can see the status of the monitored machines.
• Hidden sensor information. Sensors often collect more information than required for their primary function. For example, a proximity sensor or photoelectric sensor may detect the presence of a part and may also record their current operating temperature, level of dirt/contamination on the lens, operation hours, input voltage, etc. This hidden information, which is invaluable for condition monitoring and predictive maintenance, can be accessed with a simple tick box in our dashboards.
• Multiprotocol. Do not get locked into a single protocol. Network gateways and edge devices that are multiprotocol allow the user to switch easily between local PLC, ERP, in-house cloud and external cloud providers.
• Risk-free, low-cost introduction. Snap Signal by Banner taps into the existing sensors on a machine to extract their status without interfering with the existing control system. This eliminates the concerns normally associated with any modifications to the control system that production could be affected or stopped. Snap Signal forms its own multiprotocol network which interfaces with the cloud or local systems.
• Starter kits. Complete kits with everything needed for Condition monitoring or OEE are available for users to take the first easy step to IIoT.
• Free trial. With every starter kit or cloud-enabled device, a free trial of the Turck or Banner cloud is available to enable users to access immediate actionable data. After the free trial, it is easy to remain with the Turck Banner cloud, or switch to any other provider.
• Low cost. The Turck and Banner clouds are provided as part of the company’s whole product range, and is provided at a low cost.
• Easy expansion. The open protocol and multiprotocol concept of Turck Banner makes it easy to expand within its cloud, or to switch to another provider if wider software selection becomes a priority.
Continues Coughlan, “Decentralised automation is what we’re providing. Through networked sensors, efficient edge controllers and simple cloud solutions, this enables users to extract key information that comes from technologies such as IO-Link, RFID and Ethernet, as part of a futureproof IIoT architecture.
“We’ll give you the data and we’ll put it wherever you want or need it. This is a simple solution for our users, who are able to start accessing diagnostic information immediately. For example, a user who has installed Turck Banner hardware, such as through one of our starter kits, can start viewing cloud data to help with tasks such as condition monitoring, counting parts, and overall IIoT.”
With many manufacturers in the UK operating on brownfield sites, Turck Banner’s cloud enhancements offer an immediate advantage, being flexible and cost-effective. Its open and multiprotocol technology makes it immediately accessible to manufacturers who may already be operating legacy platforms for cloud data.
More information on Turck Banner here.
Contact Details and Archive...