Haltian has launched what it says is a 5G-ready smart factory solution with AWS IoT Greengrass edge computing capabilities.
Haltian says the new solution is an end-to-end smart factory service that reduces factory costs up to 90 percent, compared to traditional automation techniques, by providing a straightforward and secure asset and process digitalization for industrial enterprises.
This solution sees Haltian combine their Thingsee IoT platform and industry-grade retrofit sensors with AWS IoT Greengrass Edge Computing, and private LTE technology and paves the way for 5G.
Finnish company Haltian claims to be the first vendor on the market to offer industrial enterprises a complete and fully integrated wireless smart factory solution with on-site infrastructure.
McKinsey Global Institute has conducted a study that predicts that the Industrial Internet of Things is expected have an enormous efficiency boost in factories globally – and that the annual economic value of this can reach up to $3.7 trillion by 2025.
The study by McKinsey in 2018 also identified several challenges, which can slow down the adoption of digital transformation and industrial IoT in factories.
These include a lack of reliable and mature IoT platforms, insufficient application of these and a lack of analytics development and unsuited data communication and connectivity technologies.
Haltian’s Smart Factory solution addresses these main market challenges with a secure and cost-efficient, end-to-end approach.
Haltian’s sensor devices use Wirepas IoT Mesh networking to transmit data to the local Thingsee Gateway device, which then relays it to the Thingsee Edge on-site solution based on AWS Greengrass Edge Computing.
The Private LTE technology complements the solution with flexible and secure wireless connectivity.
This end-to-end infrastructure then enables factories to process all IoT applications and collect sensor data on-site, without having to transmit data through the public Internet.
Pasi Leipälä, CEO and co-founder of Haltian, says: “No production breaks are needed for installation and digitalization investment is reduced by 90 percent per data point, compared to the traditional automatic valves.
“This Smart Factory solution has been developed hand-in-hand with large industrial customers and leading connectivity partners, to deliver a true fit-for-purpose solution.”
Leipälä says: “Our Smart Factory uses leading IoT technologies including the fast-growing Wirepas Mesh, which is the most reliable technology for connecting thousands of wireless sensors in a demanding radio environment.
“AWS’s Edge Computing technology and Private LTE complement the onsite solution with unprecedented edge scalability, and a robust data collection infrastructure.
“Thingsee is the most flexible IoT platform in the market and these new technologies takes secure onsite solutions a decade further. The 5G-factory era is approaching fast and Haltian will be amongst the first vendors to get it right.”
New IoT sensors and gateway devices
The new retrofit sensor devices included in the Haltian Smart Factory solution are Thingsee Angle and Thingsee Environment Rugged sensors, and Thingsee Gateway LAN.
The sensors are delivered to the customer as “plug-and-play” – the firmware is customer specific and operational out-of-the-box.
After the sensors are installed and powered on, they automatically connect to the local Thingsee IoT Platform by using the Wirepas Mesh IoT connectivity protocol.
The installation process does not require a production break at the factory, says Haltian.
