System Integrator Advantages Of IIoT Technology

The latest intelligent factory technologies, such as artificial intelligence (artificial intelligence or AI) and machine images (machine vision), is still not widely used by manufacturers in Indonesia. However, the pandemic conditions made remote operating systems and automated monitoring vital, so the demand for IIoT capabilities began to pour in.

However, the application of the technology is not easy. This technology is not a practical technology that can be applied immediately, and industrial operations technicians often do not have the necessary skills to apply the technology. Instead, manufacturers rely on system integrators (systems integrator or SI) who knows how to install various hardware (hardware), software ( ), as well as building the networks necessary to run the plant's operations.

This opens up significant new income opportunities for ISs who are able to deliver end-to-end smart factory solutions, and don't cost a lot of money for the companies that need them. But to make this happen, SI needs to have special skills. This is where solution aggregators come into play.

Short Course on IIoT and AI Technology

Synnex Metrodata Indonesia (SMI), which is an IoT solution aggregator, offers comprehensive solutions and training programs to implement them that can help IS ready quickly. Erdi Chin, Director of IoT and Product Solutions at SMI revealed that there are two types of IS in Indonesia that require experience and expertise from SMI, namely operations technology experts (operational technology or OT) and IT service providers.

However, in general, IS that implements OT systems is not very familiar with IT integration to realize digital transformation that can meet the needs of their customers. In addition, IS who specializes in IT may not have an adequate understanding of the manufacturing side and business operations.

"To deliver a truly comprehensive solution, OT and IT skills need to be combined into one," said Chin. SMI can help improve the IT skills of OT IS, thus enabling them to implement the latest smart factory solutions. SMI can also introduce OT to IT-focused IS.

SMI exercises are delivered through workshops that explain how to use technology such as Intel® OpenVINO™ Toolkit for AI and apps machine vision. In this course, SI will acquire the skills to develop and adapt solutions to the needs of each of its customers, or even create its own products.

Local Support for IoT Projects

Apart from improving his skills, SIs working with aggregators will gain access to logistics, services and support. "Even for ready-to-use solutions, you'll still need a technician to set up and manage deployments for your needs proof-of-concept (POC or targeted trials)," Chin said. "Manufacturing companies don't necessarily believe what they see in the video. They want to see how the product operates in their own environment."

This is the reason for SMI to involve the right partners in meeting every POC and implementation needs. If SI does not have a technician, SMI will provide technicians.

Chin also emphasized the important role of local support. "Without logistics and local personnel, customers will wait for a response for up to two or three days," he said. In today's digital age, manufacturing companies don't have time to wait long.

Best IoT Tools

Another key to IIoT success is seamless deployment. SMI offers solutions edge-to-cloud (decentralized) like ADLINK Vizi-AI, an early development kit machine vision for industrial scale. This solution has an intuitive user interface and is equipped with a set of ready-to-use general OpenVINO AI models, so SI doesn't have to start from scratch when it comes to deploying and refining deployments. computer vision. "The complexity of implementing the technology will be reduced by using this solution," said Chin.

Vizi-AI is a starting kit suitable for implementing in AI edge industrial scale, integrating all the hardware and software required by an IS. This kit enables smooth and secure data traffic, and can be directly connected to image capture devices quickly.

Instead of having SI search for a wide variety of separate hardware components, Vizi-AI includes everything it needs. SI just needs to develop and customize its software, and manufacturing companies can start collecting training data and building scalable AI models.

Software ADLINK Edge also allows remote management, so that SMI can connect manufacturing industry players to various services cloud with a dedicated support team.

Industrial-Scale IoT Practices

For example, SMI works with IS partners to develop machine vision and AI-based automated quality control for customers in the agriculture industry. Instead of waiting until the end of production to carry out manual inspections, customers can get rid of poor quality products before they enter the production line, cutting operating costs and increasing efficiency.

With a solution aggregator like SMI, SI can bring advanced technology to manufacturing companies and have the skills to implement smart factory solutions. In the process, they are changing the way they do business just like their customers.