In the tide of intelligent manufacturing, IoT Edge Gateway is playing an increasingly important role as an indispensable role. For those who are new to the industry, understanding the core value of IoT Edge Gateway and its practical application cases is an important step in mastering the key knowledge of IIoT. This article will introduce the core value of IoT Edge Gateway in intelligent manufacturing in a simple and easy-to-understand way, and help you better understand this concept through several implementation cases.

Core value of IoT Edge Gateway

• Bridge for equipment interconnection

The primary value of IoT Edge Gateway is that it acts as a bridge between various devices and systems. In the intelligent manufacturing environment, devices and systems often use different communication protocols and IoT communication technologies. IoT Edge Gateway achieves seamless connectivity between devices by supporting multiple communication protocols such as Modbus, OPC UA, MQTT, and communication technologies such as Wi-Fi, Ethernet, LoRa, and others. This connectivity is the foundation for realizing the interconnection of devices and provides solid support for intelligent production.

• Data conversion and transmission

In addition to connecting devices, IoT Edge Gateway also has the ability to convert data and protocols. It can perform operations such as format conversion, data parsing, encoding, and decoding on data from different devices and systems, in order to facilitate transmission and processing in different environments. For example, converting sensor data from binary format to XML or JSON format, or converting data from Modbus protocol to OPC UA protocol. In addition, IoT Edge Gateway can also transmit data with other devices, local servers or cloud platforms through wired and wireless networks to ensure data security and reliability.

• Data processing and analysis

IoT Edge Gateway is not only responsible for data conversion and transmission, but also has certain data processing and analysis capabilities. It can perform real-time data processing, data cleaning, analysis and screening, and execute predefined rules or algorithms to extract useful information. This helps to monitor and diagnose equipment status in real time, predict failures, optimize production processes, and more. The data processing and analysis capabilities of IoT Edge Gateway enable industrial environments to become more intelligent, efficient, and achieve more precise production management.

• Guarantee of safety and reliability

In the smart manufacturing environment, safety and reliability are of utmost importance. IoT Edge Gateway needs to take these factors into account when designing and implementing. It can ensure the security of devices and networks through measures such as data encryption, authentication, and access control. At the same time, IoT Edge Gateway usually has a fault recovery mechanism to ensure the reliability and uninterrupted data transmission. Through the guarantee of security and reliability, IoT Edge Gateway provides a safe and reliable foundation for the development of intelligent manufacturing.

Implementation case

Case 1: Intelligent manufacturing upgrade of large automobile manufacturing plants

A large automobile manufacturer, facing market competition and consumers' demand for personalized and high-quality products, decided to launch a comprehensive intelligent manufacturing upgrade project. During the upgrade process, the factory selected an industrial intelligent gateway with strong data acquisition capabilities, edge computing capabilities, and secure and reliable network communication functions. These gateways are deployed at key nodes on the production line, and achieve real-time data collection for various production equipment through diverse interface protocols. The collected data is processed by the gateway for preliminary edge computing, which effectively reduces the processing pressure on the cloud server and reduces the delay of data transmission. At the same time, the gateway also has intelligent algorithms that can analyze production data in real time, identify potential production bottlenecks or failure risks, and trigger early warning mechanisms in a timely manner. After a period of trial operation and continuous optimization, the production efficiency of the automobile manufacturing plant has increased by about 20%, the product defect rate has decreased by 30%, and the operation and maintenance cost has decreased by about 25%.

Case 2: Intelligent transformation of automobile parts manufacturing enterprises

A company that is deeply engaged in the field of automotive parts manufacturing, facing fluctuations in market demand and increasingly personalized requirements from consumers, has decided to adopt industrial IoT technology to promote the transformation of production lines towards intelligence. The enterprise has chosen the MBox20 gateway from Mingda Technology, which is compatible with multiple communication protocols and can seamlessly connect with diverse production equipment. The gateway captures production information, including sensor data and equipment operating status, in real time through wired or wireless connections, and performs preprocessing operations. The processed data is transmitted to the cloud platform through a secure network. Relying on the remote access feature of the MBox20 gateway, technicians can remotely monitor the operation status of the production line in real time. Combined with advanced AI algorithms, the gateway deeply analyzes device data, predicts failure trends, and plans maintenance activities in advance. After the upgrade, the utilization rate of the company's production line jumped by 20%, the quality defect rate dropped by 30%, and the maintenance cost was reduced by 15%.

Case 3: Application of IoT Edge Gateway in Smart Factory

In the construction of another smart factory, IoT Edge GatewayUSR-M300 played a key role. The gateway not only provides extremely fast network speed, but also provides 15 key capabilities for smart factory construction, including device access, data collection, edge computing, data processing, protocol conversion, etc. Through the 5G network, the factory has achieved intelligent equipment, intelligent production management, and intelligent control iteration. At the same time, the use of 5G large bandwidth meets the requirements of real-time identification and processing of high-definition images on site. In industrial application fields such as the Internet of Things, industrial automation control, logistics tracking, industrial AR, and cloud-based robots, 5G IoT Edge Gateway plays an important supporting role. After the introduction of new technologies such as 5G edge computing and network slicing, the production equipment of the factory is more intelligent, production management is more efficient, and a unified industrial Internet network is built.

As a core component in intelligent manufacturing, IoT Edge Gateway provides a solid foundation for the development of intelligent manufacturing with its core values of device interconnection, data conversion and transmission, data processing and analysis, as well as security and reliability guarantees. Through the implementation of the case, we can see the significant results achieved by IoT Edge Gateway in practical applications. For those who are new to the industry, understanding and mastering these knowledge will help them better integrate into the tide of intelligent manufacturing and contribute to the realization of the goal of Industry 4.0.