Smart Manufacturing

CHAPTER 11Edge Computing

Vatsal Shah and Allison Yrungaray

Introduction: What Is Edge Computing?

In Smart Manufacturing we see technology buzzwords come and go, but Edge computing is only increasing in importance as companies work to digitally transform. Let's start with a few simple definitions.

• The Edge includes any device or asset at the Edge of the network in the field or on the factory floor.
• The intelligent Edge includes all those devices that are smart and connected, thus producing valuable data.
• Edge computing processes the vast amounts of data from these devices more efficiently next to the asset, instead of sending all of it across a network to data centers or the Cloud.

The Edge brings computing as close to the data source as possible, down to the factory floor. Running fewer processes in the Cloud and enterprise systems and moving them closer to the devices that generate data transforms the way data is handled, processed, and delivered for immediate business benefits.

What kind of data is captured at the intelligent industrial Edge? Data points are almost endless but might include temperature, speed, humidity, vibration, sound, or video. Edge data has a great deal of power when harnessed, providing the power to help companies make better business decisions to improve asset availability, performance, and quality.

Today, 50% of assets at the industrial Edge are connected, according to Gartner's 2019 Industrial Connectivity Market Report 2019–2024, with the percentage ...