As manufacturers move beyond experimenting with artificial intelligence towards deploying applications on factory floors, the ability to manage software across distributed industrial equipment is becoming an increasingly important consideration. Collecting operational data is only part of the challenge. Manufacturers must also make that information accessible to applications and maintain those applications across potentially large numbers of devices.
Emerson’s latest update to its PACEdge industrial internet of things (IIoT) software platform addresses this problem by simplifying how manufacturers deploy and manage AI, analytics and other applications at the industrial edge.
PACEdge 3.0 introduces new capabilities for managing groups of connected devices and deploying containerised software applications. The platform is designed for industries including life sciences, oil and gas, packaging, and food and beverage, where operational information is frequently distributed across different equipment and systems.
One obstacle to industrial AI adoption is the fragmentation of manufacturing data. Information collected by sensors, machines and control systems may be available locally but remain difficult to combine or use consistently across different applications.
PACEdge addresses this by aggregating information from disparate IIoT technologies and making it available to applications including AI-based analytics, machine vision and data visualisation. Processing information closer to where industrial operations take place also offers an alternative to relying entirely on centralised computing infrastructure.
However, introducing intelligent applications across a factory creates additional management responsibilities. Software must be installed, updated and maintained, often across devices operating in different production environments. As deployments expand, administering individual systems can become increasingly resource-intensive.
The latest version introduces a group management capability that allows teams to administer multiple devices remotely. Through a graphical interface, users can distribute updated dashboards, security patches and operating system updates across groups of equipment rather than managing each device separately.
Emerson has also expanded integration with its application marketplace, providing a central repository where users can find and deploy containerised applications. This approach is intended to simplify the introduction of new capabilities while supporting more consistent software deployment.
The emphasis on containerised applications reflects a wider operational requirement in manufacturing: the need to introduce new digital functionality without repeatedly rebuilding the underlying technology environment.
For manufacturers, the significance extends beyond the individual AI applications that might run on industrial devices. Maintaining software consistency, applying security updates and administering distributed computing resources become more demanding as connected operations expand.
PACEdge 3.0 illustrates how the practical requirements of industrial AI are increasingly influencing the software infrastructure beneath it. The ability to deploy, maintain and update applications across production environments may prove just as important as the analytical capabilities those applications provide.
