Schneider Electric has released EcoStruxure for the mining industry a new system architecture and platform that leverages innovative digital technologies and the industrial internet of things (IIoT) to allow companies to connect, collect, analyse and act on data in real time to improve safety, efficiency, reliability and sustainability.
Core technology layers
EcoStruxure integrates innovation at three levels:
- Connected Products: Field devices with embedded intelligence such as sensors, circuit breakers, meters, variable speed drives and process instrumentation provide the link to real-time data that is essential to higher-level control and decision-making.
- Edge Control: Real-time and runtime control systems are connected to field devices and collect data from them, analyse current conditions against goals and past performance, and make autonomous control decisions (or aid in operator decion-making) to improve process performance. At the heart of the edge control layer is the Modicon M580 Ethernet PAC (ePAC), the automation controller that uses open Ethernet standards to enable process efficiency, flexibility, and cybersecurity.
- Applications, Analytics, and Services: At the highest level of the EcoStruxure architecture, sophisticated problem solving and analysis is performed on an enterprise-wide basis to optimise business operations and maximise results. On this level, Schneider Electric provides a portfolio of software and associated services, including: Advanced predictive analytics for process and equipment; leading-edge virtual and augmented reality for operators and maintenance personnel; energy/ process optimisation and simulation; and integrated operations, planning and supply chain management.
Rob Moffitt, president of Schneider’s Mining, Minerals and Metals segment said, “With EcoStruxure, Schneider Electric is redefining automation and power connectivity as well as adding an unprecedented layer of software applications and services to help our customers get the most of their assets.
“By bridging IT and OT, EcoStruxure enables them to maximise the value of data and translate it into actionable intelligence for better business decisions.”
EcoStruxure provides added value in three key stages:
- Digital supply chain: through solutions that integrate resource to market activities, inventory management, and operations and planning.
- Next generation workforce: by providing technologies that attract and empower the next generation of workers and facilitate knowledge transfer, collaboration, situational awareness, mobility and remote operations efficiency.
- Operational excellence: with solutions that optimise and stabilise process performance and reduce energy usage, thereby achieving the highest level of performance and reliability from critical assets.
Moffitt added that EcoStruxure is not just another platform limited to asset performance analytics.
“It’s a complete set of digital technologies and applications that can improve the performance of the entire organisation, from people to operations to supply chain,” he concluded.