The availability of high-speed Ethernet networks, wireless communications , and Internet connectivity enable high volumes of data from individual devices to be made widely available to enhance manufacturing operations.

Known variously as the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT), Industry 4.0, or Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications, they enable individual devices capture an event and relay that data through a network to an application software program and convert it to meaningful information.

It supports the requirements to develop new services, enhance productivity, boost efficiency and solve critical problems are common themes. Across manufacturing sectors, there is also the pressure to build better quality products and to be able to produce those products with greater flexibility, often with unprecedented levels of customisation.

Estimated 50bn connected devices

It is estimated that the M2M era will see an estimated 50 billion GSM-connected devices by the end of the decade, driving a new model of connected intelligence. Experts predict that the ability to access, analyse and act upon the increased data that M2M solutions will provide could deliver as much as $100 billion of annual savings thanks to improved material, energy, production and logistics efficiencies. Product quality and yields will improve, operational costs can be controlled more effectively and production can be optimised to best meet ever more demanding customer requirements.

Mitsubishi Electric is at the forefront of this revolution with its M2M platform, delivering affordable, global, end-to-end IP data connectivity in industry sectors such as environmental monitoring, SmartGrid, pipeline monitoring, machine monitoring, mining, water utilities, telecommunication, building and facilities management sectors. The solution is built on the MAPS SCADA software and Mitsubishi FX/L/Q series PLCs, for both control and data acquisition, to and from remote sites. The communication’s intelligence lies in the standard PLC function blocks matched to an M2M driver in the MAPS SCADA.

In this solution, the PLC becomes the master of all communications. The Mitsubishi M2M solution does not require a fixed IP or Dynamic NDS middleware. Users can use this solution on any GPRS/GSM network and not require a static IP from your internet service provider. The only fixed IP required is at the MAPS I/O server. All data can securely be made available on a public APN. The Mitsubishi M2M solution provides remote communication with the PLC without the presence of an on-site technician. The operator can monitor and control an individual device or group of devices through the MAPS SCADA interface.

This solution can also allow a technician to do PLC programming over the air to the M2M device. No need for a technician to go out to site to do a program change. The intelligent M2M driver in MAPS automatically monitors the connection between the MAPS I/O server and the PLC in the field, without the need to poll or establish a connection to the device.

The operator will be notified if the link goes down. The operator will also be notified when the communications link is healthy again. Information on communications is available for any device on the M2M network. The Mitsubishi M2M solution offers efficient communications with cost- effective data transfer. The PLC can be configured to send data on a time interval, on an alarm event, when the storage buffer limits are reached, or when it is manually polled. Event and alarm data is transmitted to the SCADA simultaneously. Communications can also be set to live mode which will show real time data as the site changes.

Ultimately, M2M communications makes data the definitive management tool, enabling us to implement and operate vastly more sophisticated and complex systems, whilst still maintaining a firm grip of what is happening within those systems. As we drive towards the new manufacturing smart factories and products that effectively produce themselves, it is M2M that will provide the facilitator, with new device-to-device communication architectures replacing the master/slave network technologies that are currently the mainstay of automation networks.

With newly intelligent machines and advanced software analytics, the factories and plants of the future will be able to optimise themselves to increase business performance and drive down costs.

999 Automation is a leading UK supplier of Mitsubishi M2M communication products

Download the complete paper from Jeremy Shinton of Mitsubishi Electric UK