Smart, safe, fast

From OT to IT - with its new Asset Data Provider (ADP), Balluff enables the uncomplicated acquisition, preprocessing and provision of data to IIoT applications. Customers can accelerate digitization projects with the intelligent software solution.

The importance of digitization and automation is increasing in the industrial world - and with it the intelligent networking between machines, systems, sensors, systems and the cloud. This is where the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) comes in. With its new Asset Data Provider (ADP), the sensor and automation specialist Balluff is now driving its customers' IIoT projects forward: The integrative software-as-a-service solution enables the acquisition, preprocessing and provision of data at the operational technology (OT) level. Thanks to edge computing, the data is prepared decentrally and reaches the relevant IT systems efficiently, securely and in a resource-saving manner.

Breaking down data silos "With the Asset Data Provider, our customers can extract, translate, bundle and make different data compatible in the relevant IT even in a heterogeneous machine landscape. This breaks down silos and accelerates digitalization projects in the company - without any complex customer-specific development and manual processing," says Artur Nonnenmacher, Software Product Manager at Balluff. Drag-and-drop functions, low-code development and a large selection of predefined modules offer uncomplicated and agile development and use even for users without programming knowledge.

Shortened project duration and lower total cost of ownership included.

Because the data is not stored and processed in the cloud, but in the distributed ADP Edge Nodes, maximum data security is guaranteed. Users also save time and money: "The so-called one-click deployment enables proof of concepts to be rolled out, updated and adapted worldwide," says Nonnenmacher, "the ADP Cloud significantly simplifies these work steps, which are often still carried out manually - and thus the entire software lifecycle management." The Asset Data Provider also enables cross-manufacturer and central commissioning, configuration and parameterization of IO-Link masters and devices.

In focus: PFB and automotive

As a smart software solution, the Asset Data Provider is used for predictive maintenance. The integration of an Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) to plan, control and support business processes also improves the traceability of products in the packaging process. "Customers from the packaging, food and beverage (PFB) industry and the automotive industry in particular benefit from ADP," explains Nonnenmacher, "regardless of whether they are still at the beginning of their digitalization journey or are already scaling worldwide."

For Balluff, the step represents the next evolution within the industrial revolution. "For many decades, our company has been offering reliable data sources such as sensors or IO-Link. With the Asset Data Provider, we can now select these large amounts of data across manufacturers at the edge computing level, put them into the right context and make them available to the IT level," says Nonnenmacher, "so we can enable our customers to close the gap between OT and IT.