Driving Manufacturing Productivity through the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)

Samsung is a well-recognized leader in manufacturing operations, possessing innovative infrastructure and production technology, as well as years of accumulated know-how in establishing advanced manufacturing processes. As various industries, including the manufacturing sector, enter into the IoT era, Samsung has joined forces with two highly influential organizations, the OPC Foundation and EdgeX Foundry, to tap into the incredible potential of the application of IoT technologies to manufacturing, termed the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

Interoperability, a Must in the Age of Industry 4.0

Interoperability is a prerequisite for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It refers to the ability in which systems and devices can exchange and interpret data. For Samsung, interoperability stands as a significant challenge in creating a seamless IoT platform which can cut across business domains to improve operational efficiency.

This past July, and with the aim to overcome this challenge, Samsung joined one of the world’s longest running and most influential current de-facto Industrial IIoT organizations, the OPC Foundation, founded in 1996, as a core Corporate Member. In specific, the OPC is the interoperability standard for the secure and reliable exchange of data in the industrial automation space and other industries. It ensures the seamless flow of information among devices from multiple vendors. The OPC Foundation oversees the development and maintenance of this standard, and its OPC Unified Architecture (UA), released in 2008, is a platform agnostic, service-oriented architecture that integrates all the functionality of the individual OPC Classic specifications into one extensible framework.

As part of its involvement in the Foundation, Samsung will work together with over 500 industry vendors and software developers to take part in creating a series of specifications for the OPC, and towards the aim to accelerate the deployment of an interoperable IIoT edge platform into its manufacturing infrastructure based on the OPC UA framework.

Creating an Interoperable Ecosystem

The EdgeX Foundry is another collaborative project that is building an open interoperability framework. Hosted by the influential The Linux Foundation, its purpose is to unify various standards related to IoT edge computing, an innovative method of optimizing cloud computing systems by performing data processing at the edge of the network, near the source of the data. In July, Samsung became a Platinum member of the EdgeX Foundry to support in the building of a common framework for IoT edge computing.

The ecosystem for the Industrial IoT Edge Solution

By participating in the EdgeX Foundry, Samsung will receive direct benefit in its emerging efforts in the industrial sector while, at the same time, expanding the market for EdgeX compatible components and devices. Specifically, Samsung will seek to create lightweight edge solutions that can support real-time operations for factories, for example manufacturing equipment utilizing sensors and IoT technologies to enable real-time data collection and analysis, as well as capabilities for self-optimization and autonomous decision-making.

Boosting Productivity through IIoT   

In addition to Smart Manufacturing, Samsung is exploring various other avenues in IIoT, for example Smart Buildings, Smart Lighting and Smart Energy Management. Through constructive and close cooperation with different industry partners, Samsung is moving one step closer to the achievement of true seamless interoperable IoT services across business domains.