Process Automation

BONNER are Ireland’s leading specialists in process automation and control solutions.

BONNER Edge Platform Data

Edge computing in industrial automation is revolutionising the way data is processed and analysed. Rather than sending all the data to a centralised location for processing, edge computing uses distributed computing resources located at the “edge” of a network to process data in real-time. This results in faster decision making, improved efficiency, and reduced latency.

The traditional computing model is unable to handle the growing amounts of data being collected from sensors and IoT devices around the world. Edge computing overcomes these data challenges by using a software platform that enables the deployment, update, and management of distributed applications. This ensures that data is available in real-time and can be immediately used for operating a plant, optimising processes, or preventing accidents.

BONNER’s Edge computing approach is becoming more relevant as industrial automation expands beyond what cloud computing can support. Hybrid edge-cloud computing models are currently the most common, with limited computing at the edge and more centralised at edge data centres. 

However, in the future, we will see more pure use cases of edge computing being implemented, such as swarm intelligence (i.e. the ability to act in a coordinated way without the presence of a coordinator or of an external controller) and truly remote controlling technologies.

Key Benefits of Edge Platform Data

The benefits of an edge data platform include rapid data collection and normalisation, hosting applications in a public or private marketplace, secure data integration between OT and IT, and access to pre-built or custom data visualisations, KPI dashboards, and analytics.

  • Faster decision making, 
  • Improved efficiency
  • Reduced latency

Reliable computing for factories

Edge computing has long been used in manufacturing, where factories have compute solutions in the plant, including PLC’s and local plant micro data centres. Edge computing is making it easy to harness the OT data needed to power insights at the edge and across the enterprise.

Technology of Choice

Edge computing is the technology of choice for real-time, actionable data and is essential in automated driving applications and security systems, health-monitoring, and wearable devices. In the industrial sector, edge computing improves productivity, worker safety, and reduces operational costs.

Automation Case Studies