Harness the Power of Industry 4.0 with Solutions from SP Industrial

Introduction

Industry 4.0 is not a technological innovation, but rather, a utilization of Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things (AIoT) in the manufacturing process to connect everything and transform traditional production methods into a highly intelligent, customized, and service-oriented model. This type of smart manufacturing allows manufacturers to quickly adapt and respond to market needs as well as reduce waste and cost. This has led to an increased demand in computing and storage equipment, but for manufacturing industries in particular, this equipment requires products that can ensure a stable manufacturing process and withstand the usual high temperatures, high humidity, vibrations, shocks, and sudden power failures that often accompany manufacturing sites.

The Rise of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Before digging into Industry 4.0, it would be beneficial to briefly recap how manufacturing has evolved to this point. The first industrial revolution came with the advent of mechanization, steam power, and water power in the late 1700s. This was followed by the second industrial revolution in the early part of the 20th century, which revolved around mass production and assembly lines using electricity. The third industrial revolution, which started in the 1950s, came with the use of electronics, I.T. systems, and automation in factories. This shift from mechanical to digital technology eventually led to the 21st century’s fourth industrial revolution that is associated with interconnectivity and cyber-physical systems.

Generally speaking, Industry 4.0 describes the growing trend towards automation and data exchange in technology and processes within manufacturing industries. This includes the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), smart manufacturing, and more. This automation creates a manufacturing system whereby machines in factories are augmented with wireless connectivity and sensors to monitor and visualize an entire production process and make autonomous decisions. Coupled with the rollout of 5G, it can provide faster response times, allowing for near real-time communication between systems. In short, it offers a more comprehensive, interlinked, and holistic approach to manufacturing. It connects physical with digital, and allows for better collaboration and access across departments, partners, vendors, products, and people.

Robust Products for Rugged Industries

When it comes to industrial applications, stability is not just a guiding principle; it’s a necessity. With exposure to high temperatures, high humidity, vibrations, shocks, and sudden power failures, products are required to be able to withstand extreme and sudden conditions. SP Industrial offers rugged SSD and DRAM products with numerous features and technologies that are ready to handle these situations.

To aid in the protection of these situations, SP Industrial offers features such as power failure protection, extreme temperature resistance, and military-grade shock resistance. Anti-vulcanization (anti-sulfurization) and coating protection (conformal coating) technologies can effectively resist dust, dirt, moisture, pollutants, and corrosion, avoiding physical damage to the equipment that would consequently affect the production schedule. Superior designs and builds offer protection from extreme temperatures ranging from -40°C to 85°C. Finally, to keep track of the status of all machines in the manufacturing process, we provide a complete series of SMART analysis tools. To meet the needs of Industry 4.0, these tools allow customers to view and understand data at any time, so that intelligent decisions can be made to minimize business risks and costs.

Multi-Protections for Stability and Durability

Wide Temperature

SP Industrial's SSD and DRAM products can operate in extreme environments ranging from -40°C to 85°C, regardless of whether the equipment is indoors or outdoors. High performance and reliable stability is guaranteed throughout these extremely cold to hot temperatures.

Power Failure Protection (PFP)

Unstable power and sudden power failures pose a threat that is largely susceptible to manufacturing industries due to the nature of their operating environments. In order to prevent data loss due to sudden power interruptions, SP Industrial’s SSD and DRAM products utilize Power Failure Protection (PFP) technology. With intuitive power-off protection technology, our SSDs will automatically enable a power shielding function when the voltage drops. This process ensures the integrity of data and evades problems with the machines or equipment, as opposed to normal conditions, in which data would be lost and possibly even result in mechanical failure.

TCG Opal 2.0

Defined by the Trusted Computing Group (TCG), a non-profit international organization that formulates industrial standards in the United States, TCG Opal is currently the most common security agreement for SSDs. Storage devices are self-encrypting disks (SEDs); if they comply with TCG Opal, they can automatically perform encryption and decryption quickly without affecting computing or system performance. SP Industrial’s SSD products fully comply with TCG Opal to ensure the utmost data security and confidentiality.

Anti-Vulcanization

With the prevalence of pollution, especially stemming from manufacturing industries, it is more important than ever for products to be able to withstand harmful contamination. It is common for sulfur compounds to be dispersed into the air during manufacturing processes; these compounds eventually settle on to the metal surfaces of electronic products. Over time, this sulfide accumulation can affect the functionality of these products and even render them useless. In order to resist this vulcanization, SP Industrial’s DRAM modules adopt anti-vulcanization technology for protection so they can continue performing reliably in these conditions.

Conformal Coating

In addition to pollutants such as sulfur, there are other harmful contaminants that can damage products. This includes dust, moisture, and corrosion. Since the Industry 4.0 era began, coating protection technology has become more and more common. As this technology provides an extra layer of protection for SSD and DRAM modules, it is a great way to prolong the lifespan of these products, as well as reduce the chances of failure, the cost of maintenance, and the cost of replacement. SP Industrial’s SSD and DRAM products are coated with a thin layer of protective paint on the surfaces of their printed circuit boards (PCBs) to shield electronic components from damage as well as insulate them to improve their reliability.

Intuitive Software for Real-time Control and Prediction Analysis

The underlying basis of Industry 4.0 revolves around automation and data exchange. As such, in order to ensure effective operation and risk prevention, it is imperative for manufacturing industries to grasp the status of equipment at any time, connect with other factories in remote places, and be able to use and analyze information efficiently. In response to these requirements, SP Industrial has developed a complete series of SMART analysis tools. With these four tools, users can gain real-time control and perform prediction analysis to ensure smooth operation. Designed for our industrial-grade SSDs and Flash products under Windows or Linux OS, SP SMART Toolbox allows users to check the status of many variables for these products. This includes read/write speed tests, diagnostic scanning, degree of wear and tear, and block health detection. SMART Embedded allows for seamless device integration. It is compatible with Windows, Linux, and Ubuntu OS systems, as well as different CPU platforms, including Intel x86 CPU, ARM-based CPU, and Raspberry Pi. SMART Dashboard, developed under IBM Node Red, monitors SMART information in real-time, allowing for convenient and simple product life management. SMART IoT Sphere is a cloud service with alarm and maintenance notifications that monitors the health and status of SP products inside connected devices. It can perform predictive analysis calculations to prevent or solve down-the-road problems.

Conclusion

Industry 4.0 empowers manufacturers to have better control and understanding over every aspect of their operation; it also allows them to leverage instant data to boost productivity, improve processes, and drive growth. With Industry 4.0 in full swing, it is undeniably certain that all manufacturing industries will eventually rely on the power of automation and intelligence. With first-class product quality, technical support, and service platforms, SP Industrial has already positioned itself to offer customers what they need to succeed in the future of smart manufacturing. On top of that, our ability to offer customized solutions that uniquely fit any customers’ needs is a key deciding factor for the success of these personalized operations.