Beckhoff implements open automation systems based on PC Control technology. Products that can be used as separate components or integrated into a complete and seamless control system are available for all industries.

Industrial data platform

The ConnectedThinks Industrial data platform is capable of connecting to multiple industrial data sources, correlating and transforming the data into useful insights, and helping improve the efficiency of your industrial business.

Edge Connectors

The edge-connectors suite is a middleware deployable on ARM or X86-based Industrial edge IoT gateways. It enables quick connection and rapid onboarding of various assets such as machinery, sensors, asset trackers, Bluetooth beacons, and IP Video streams as well as OT assets such as PLC, SCADA, CNC, and HMI – to name a few. It offers secure device management and remote connection.

Data Platform

The ConnectedThinks data platform is a modern technology stack, built-to-scale to ingest and process high-speed, high-density, and real-time industrial data. Its functionality could be split into 3 primary parts – the data-ingest, the data-transform-&-store, and the data-query part.

The data-ingest part consists of a high-performant MQTT broker and a highly-scalable, multi-cluster Kafka messaging queue which together can ingest and process data at a very high speed.

The data-transform-&-storage part is built on top of Kafka KSQLdb and Apache Spark with real-time data transformation and the ability to integrate real-time machine-learning predictions for Anomaly Detection and other Predictive Maintenance tasks. The platform offers out-of-the-box connectors to store data on almost any database, data warehouse, or even into S3-storage compatible Data Lakes with efficient storage formats like PARQUET and AVRO.

The data-query part consists of multiple custom-built connectors to various SQL and pseudo-SQL databases and storages along with highly-scalable PRESTO (a.k.a prestodb)

Together it forms a complete Industry 4.0 offering for data intelligence and integration. The entire offering is built with Microservices and dockerized to make it suitable for deployment on-prem, private-cloud, or Public Cloud like AWS, Azure, or Google.

Data visualization & BI

ConnectedThinks platform offers a custom-built visualization engine, built from the ground up to serve the specific requirements of industrial operations which demand a combination of real-time diagnostic monitoring for high-speed data, a SCADA-like monitoring system with visual aids and historical data analytics with data ranging from a few weeks to couple years. It is built on top of front-end REACT-js libraries along with Authentication and fine-grain access Authorization to deliver a secure web portal that is accessible from any corner of the world. The platform is also pre-integrated with Apache Superset and offers embedded dashboards as well as quick drag-and-drop data exploration. The prestodb query engine ODBC connectors enable you to import and explore data from your existing BI solutions such as Tableau, Looker, PowerBI, etc,

The purpose of Industry 4.0 is to make manufacturing more flexible, efficient and sustainable through communication and intelligence, thus increasing the competitiveness of German industry. One major component of this approach is control technology, which is still far from reaching its full potential. Improved communication methodologies and the rising convergence of information and automation technologies will deliver significant progress – something Beckhoff has always focused on with its PC-based control technology and fieldbus communication. Beckhoff provides the foundational technologies and tools needed today to implement Industrie 4.0 concepts and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity, all via PC-based control. TwinCAT engineering and control software packages are available for the creation of applications such as Big Data, pattern recognition as well as condition or power monitoring, in addition to traditional control tasks – which can sustainably increase production and engineering efficiency as a result.

Industrial data solution

ConnectedThinks offers pre-built solutions to specific industries. All these solutions are built on-top of the Industrial data-platform and can be deployed and commisioned in matter of couple weeks. Reach out to us to discuss your specific requirements.

Manufacturing data analytics

Factories generate large amounts of data. A single PLC node in the factory could provide significant information about the health of the equipment and system it is driving. This information could significantly reduce the maintenance cost or avoid losses.

ConnectedThinks Industrial data platform enables connecting data from every PLC, sensor, equipment, MES, ERP system, and even data from human staff and bringing this to a managed data platform in real-time. The platform enables configuring real-time correlation, transformation, trend analysis, and anomaly analysis on this data to transform it into insights that answer key business questions and alert in time to reduce cost and better quality.

You could connect CNCs from Controller systems such as Siemens Sinumerik 840D SL and monitor critical signals in real time. The real-time visualizations engine is capable of displaying high-frequency data captured from these CNCs.

Vision and Sound Machine Learning

Vision and Sound are 2 important systems for inspection in industrial environments. ConnectedThinks offers ML-based solutions built with data from relatively cheaper IP surveillance cameras and microphones. These help to become the Eyes and Ears for your industrial setup.

AMR, AGV and warehouse solutions

With new robotics technology opening doors for companies of all sizes, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and automation are becoming more popular in the manufacturing industry. Changing economic conditions, shortage in the supply of manual labor, and multiple such factors have led manufacturers to adopt an aggressive strategy to automate their workflows. The ConnectedThinks Edge Middleware is deployed on an Edge Compute Device and enables multiple edge functionalities such as Machine Learning predictions, device connectivity drivers, industrial interface protocols, network connectivity, etc. It is capable of running on Intel or ARM-based edge processors running Linux. It is also capable of running Edge analytics for data that is collected and localized to the edge. More often than not, AMRs are deployed on factory floors where they need to collaborate with other equipment in order to complete a job. For example, an AMR which needs to transfer goods across multiple floors needs to collaborate with the automated-lift system. Or the AMR needs to collaborate with the conveyor system for the loading and unloading of goods. Or in other cases, a bar-code scanner attached to the AMR would determine the destination. In all such cases, additional software logic and/or hardware Edge Gateways would be needed to connect to various machinery and equipment and help the AMR collaborate.

Wifag-Polytype Technologies AG