Advantech Helps Tong Cheng Iron Works Launch Smart Air Compressor Management Solution

Manufacturer’s willingness to digitally transform industrial applications is growing. Many manufacturers are expanding from equipment sales to service sales in an effort to increase customer cohesion. Despite this, manufacturers are encountering numerous challenges while undergoing this process. High barriers arise during transition due to a lack of flexible, expandable development tools needed for building connectivity services and managing disparate equipment.

Advantech developed MachineUnite Intelligent Industrial Machine Management Solution for connected equipment to meet these challenges. This solution is a one-stop development tool based on platform as a service (PaaS) cloud computing technology. Managers are able to leverage the platform’s user-friendly settings to activate different development templates. These templates deliver a myriad of features — including multi-cloud data, multi-tenant, and edge node management as well as visualized dashboards, equipment alarms, and report generation functionality. In sum, this solution eliminates the need to develop solutions and code from scratch.

Tong Cheng Iron Works Co., Ltd., a global producer of SWAN air compressors, is cooperating with Advantech in an effort to transform into a service provider. By utilizing Advantech’s WISE-PaaS cloud platform, Tong Cheng has developed a competitive smart air compressor management solution based on MachineUnite. This innovative solution supports real-time air compressor operation information management, the setting of fault alarms, and preventive maintenance features. The solution, launched in May 2020, provides innovative services to clients and agents. These services are used for remote monitoring, predictive maintenance, and parts replacement.

MachineUnite Enables Rapid Edge-to-cloud Connections

Yu Wang, Advantech’s WISE-PaaS product manager, said that Advantech’s Edge SRP was used in Tong Cheng Iron Works edge server. This SRP included an EIS-D210 wireless edge server, used an edge gateway; and built-in WISE-DeviceOn software, used in data acquisition and device management. Similarly, WISE-DeviceOn collects air compressor, flow meter, and heating furnace information for edge integration via EIS-D210.

Tong Cheng’s smart air compressor management solution was built for use in multiple factories and needed to be based on a public cloud solution — Advantech's WISE-PaaS cloud platform. Using this system, Tong Cheng has the ability to directly access data and facilitate data acquisition using MachineUnite. This access enables WISE-DeviceOn to pass equipment data to WISE-PaaS immediately without creating a program. This advanced functionality empowers rapid edge-to-cloud connections and empowers the smart air compressor solution via applications such as WISE-PaaS/InsightAPM asset performance management solution, WISE-PaaS/Dashboard data analysis and visualization, WISE-PaaS/SaaS Composer, 3D workflow visualization, WISE-PaaS/AIFS artificial intelligence framework services, and database services such as MongoDB or PostgreSQL.

Sam Chuo, Advantech’s WISE-PaaS business development manager said that the on-line operation of smart air compressors provides Tong Cheng with two major benefits. The first is business value. The air compressor industry is continuously competing for hardware specifications and prices. Tong Cheng has opened new business frontiers and stands out from the competition using its services and comprehensive solutions to solve customers’ pain points.

Leverage Alarm Rule Templates for Emergency Responses to Abnormal Events

The second advantage is actual value; which revolves around two key features — "multi-tenancy" and "visualization". As the WISE-PaaS platform supports a multi-tenant architecture, it enables remote equipment monitoring and management and facilitates the assignment of resources and cloud space for monitoring and managing air compressors within factories.

The dashboard’s visualization feature provides graphs detailing a selection of data; including equipment utilization rates and energy consumption efficiency. Understanding power consumption can optimize efficiency and save up to 30% more energy. This solution delivers important information, such as equipment operating status, usage hours, or spare/replacement part availability. This visualized dashboard helps users utilize many value-added applications. Using WISE-PaaS/SaaS Composer to integrate 3D dynamic views immerses administrators within environments. For example, managers can visualize air compressor operation sites using WISE-PaaS/AIFS to address problems and save energy usage models that provide relevant predictive services. They may also set up automated reporting or alarm procedures through the UI. In regards to alarm notifications, users can pre-set alarm rules to specify when the system detects an abnormal situation at an operation site. This solution will immediately notify the administrator through LINE or SMS, and automatically deliver maintenance work orders technicians.

Advantech has developed several universal templates for MachineUnite. These templates include solutions for visualization, reporting, inspection dispatch, and alarm rules. Application-specific templates for various industrial fields will be designed in the next phase of development. Users with additional requirements can export and edit MachineUnite templates using the Dashboard provided by Advantech. These customized templates can be reimported to MachineUnite. Through this customization and iteration, users can accurately control and manage equipment's energy consumption, production, and efficiency — yielding an industry 4.0 transformation.