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Edge computing use cases primarily support eight areas of improvement for manufacturing, processing, or assembly plants. They include:
The following table highlights a list of use cases that can be deployed at the edge to meet facility latency and bandwidth requirements.
Note: Enablers are the compute end points that applications have deployed to address the use case functionality. Utilize the Use case number column of this table to reference specific use cases when exploring IEM deployment with Dell Technologies.
Use case number | Use case | Description | Enablers |
1 | Asset health monitoring | Enable visualization of asset health in near real-time to monitor asset run time conditions. Monitoring includes status attributes such as uptime, downtime, connectivity, and key metrics such as OEE. | Device edge, gateway edge, compute edge or on-premises data center |
2 | Asset lifecycle management | Manage assets reliability without losing functionality, decreasing total lifetime costs and increasing economic value-add. | Compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
3 | Asset optimization | Optimize assets usability for improved functionality, availability, and reliability. | Device edge, gateway edge, compute edge, or on-premises data center |
4 | Automate quality inspection | Enable inline product quality inspection through automation. | Device edge, gateway edge, compute edge, or on-premises data center |
5 | Automate material handling | Enable procurement and deployment of autonomous material handling systems for material movement as part of process workflows. | Device edge, gateway edge, compute edge, or on-premises data center |
6 | Digital classroom | Enable digital classroom-based operator training using augmented and virtual reality (VR) technologies to reduce training costs. | Compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
7 | Digital work instructions | Enable operators, maintenance, and repair technicians with digital work instructions available in 2D and 3D for asset setup, operations, and repair. | Compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
8 | Implement ASRS systems | Procure automated storage and retrieval system to digitalize material management for reduced storage space, improved traceability, and genealogy. Leverage ASRS for optimizing material management. | Device edge, gateway edge, or compute edge |
9 | Inventory management | Enable user real-time visibility of material to address issues and mitigate risks. Consider raw material, work-in-progress, and finished goods inventory, along with strategies around just-in-time, pull, push, and merge strategies. | Compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
10 | Knowledge management | Capture expert knowledge to support diverse workforce needs for long run and improve knoweledge content. | Compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
11 | Lane planning optimization | Configure scheduling of work order jobs across production and assembly lines. Based on demand, resource availability, and capacity regardless of quantity of material availability. | Compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
12 | Material tracking | Enable material movement tracking and replenishment needs across manufacturing workflow in near real-time. May be based on type, location, work order association, and transportation mode. | Compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
13 | Model predictive control | Leverage advanced analytical methods to model, predict, and control processes for individual equipment or overall plant process. Ensures expected product quality and throughputs are met. | Device edge, gateway edge, or compute edge |
14 | Monitor utilities | Enable monitoring of water, air, gas, electricity, and steam from asset- to facility-level to identify opportunities for improvement and meet sustainability goals. | Device edge, compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
15 | Monitor physical safety | Monitor for social distancing, crowds in unauthorized or restricted areas, and intrusion detection to ensure personnel safety and security. | Compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
16 | Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE) | Enable OEE monitoring for single and multi-assets to overall shop or factory floor level for continuous productivity, quality, and availability improvements. | Device edge, gateway edge, compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
17 | Overall process efficiency | Monitor production workflow that considers end-to-end process efficiency. | Compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
18 | Perfect Order Index (POI) monitoring | Enable facility POI monitoring in near real-time through dashboard at each physical process area space. Leverage workflow management solutions such as MES and MOM. | Compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
19 | Predictive maintenance | Enable predictive maintenance of one or more assets to monitor the asset conditions and aid more cost-effective maintenance activities. | Device edge, gateway edge, compute edge, or on-premises data center |
20 | Predictive quality | Enable predictive quality to extract product process insights in real time and correlate with quality recipes. Leads to optimized processes, mitigating subcomponent quality issues, and reducing quality cost. | Gateway edge, compute edge, or on-premises data center |
21 | Process automation | Procure and enable process automation through MES or MOM applications, quality manangement applications, hardware automation and controls, and ERP integrations. | Device edge, gateway edge, compute edge, or on-premises data center |
22 | Process optimization | Enable optimization of a set of process parameters based on existing constraints of the facility for maximizing overall factory or plant throughput, yield and workforce productivity. | Compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
23 | Process survillance | Monitor process steps, process areas, and step timings to enable vision and sensor-based analytics for production workflow improvement. | Compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
24 | Production scheduling | Enable digitalization of planning and execution of workload allocations for assets (machines and equipment) and employee work. | Compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
25 | Quality management | Ensure better product quality through end-to-end monitoring, control, and optimization of processes and production workflows. | Compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
26 | Quality monitoring | Monitor product quality by corelating the process parameters and recipes close to real-time through product workflows. | Compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
27 | Remote worker assistance | Provide remote guidance by subject matter experts (SMEs) to technicians and field service personnel to address maintenance and repair issues. | On-premises or regional data center |
28 | Runtime metrics | Monitor key metrics to mitigate risks and plan continuous improvement. Such metrics include cycle time, first pass yield, and incoming quality. | Gateway edge, compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
29 | Secure access management | Enable secure access to facility infrastructure including manufacturing assets, network, and compute infrastructure to ensure information security and employee safety. | Compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
30 | Track material at rest | Track parts, product, and raw material at rest across different process areas for near real-time reporting. Characteristics such as location, sub- location, age, order, and work order ID must be associated. | Compute edge or on-premises data center |
31 | Virtual process simulation | Enable process simulation for a factory or plant to perform process analysis, optimization, planning, and schedule workloads. | On-premises or regional data center |
32 | Worker mobility | Enable workforce to use mobile devices to access dashboards and work instructions with low latency connectivity. | Compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
33 | Workflow management | Enable digtalization of workflow management to reduce delivery risk and ensure product quality, while avoiding process bottlenecks. | Compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
34 | Yield optimization | Apply advanced analytics to identify opportunities for optimizing production throughput and yield. | Compute edge, on-premises data center, or regional data center |
All use cases are enabled by a set of technological capabilities referred as part of smart manufacturing, Industry 4.0, digital transformation, digital modernization, and digital manufacturing journeys. The list of technological capabilities includes: