Instruments in today’s market are heavily data-driven and connected. Live information about the process can be accessed at the field level without having to be networked through a traditional HMI (human-machine interface). Learn how Industry 4.0 incorporates the data and analytics from smart instruments to add tremendous value to an organization. Consider these five factors to smart instrumentation in Industry 4.0:

1. Smart instruments in the Industry 4.0 infrastructure

“Smart” Instruments are instruments that, besides their primary purpose, generate additional data such as diagnostics. They are highly accessible platforms such as phones, tablets, and laptops that work over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth signals. Smart instruments often have advanced protocols such as Ethernet/IP or OPC-UA that allows them to be tied directly into site networks instead of through the control system. This can also be done with the use of gateways. Control systems can, therefore, predominately focus on control while maintenance, calibration and commissioning data is still accessible at higher levels such as the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) or manufacturing execution system (MES).

2. Common examples of Industry 4.0 instrument data