The advance of digitalization is bringing countless benefits to business and society, but at the same time is presenting new challenges in dealing with the huge volumes of generated data. When processing this data, edge computing offers enormous advantages to manufacturers and is evolving as a technology of the future. Basically, edge computing means decentralized data processing at the edge of the network. Although the term “edge” is increasingly being used in the context of industrial production these days, many companies are still not sure how they can fully exploit their potential with the technology. Some may not even know what the word means. The accelerating spread of digitalization and related Industrie 4.0 are affecting our private lives yet having an even greater impact on companies. This is presenting challenges to the processing industry, such as ever-shorter innovation cycles and the increasing individuality of products and production processes. In order to master these challenges and remain competitive, companies must be able to react as flexibly as possible to changes. Fully networked production and fast processing of the generated data are essential here – and this is where edge computing comes into play.
Whether it handles data locally, centrally or via the internet, each company has its own strategy for recording and processing production data in order to improve processes. One must keep in mind, however, that data volumes in industrial production are enormous. Thousands of bits of information are generated each second in a production plant: A large number of sensors production parameters such as the condition of the machines and the quality of production. The more extensively a plant is networked, the greater the volume of generated data, whether at a given location or worldwide.
