Implementation of IIOT technology in welding robots for improving connectivity and enhancing productivity

Sammanfattning: In the prevailing industrial revolution, most industries are on the path towards the digitalization journey. To incorporate several digital technologies in the organization data reliability and accuracy act as key enablers. To achieve the set goals, the connectivity of the machines is considered a prominent endeavour. Such connectivity can be achieved by implementing IIOT technology, the connected IIOT architecture enables interoperability, where the computerized machine can seamlessly communicate and transfer information among them. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential impacts of integrating IIOT into the organizational framework and further explore the advantages gained in terms of productivity and maintenance. This intended study concentrated on the welding department in VCE and prioritized specific robots for the research. In addition, to improve the connectivity and visualize the data a customizable dashboard was created to facilitate real-time tracking of the robots and an alert system was developed to notify the problems in real-time. To carry out the study this research was intended to use a particular IIOT software Thingworx from the PTC community. The research was carried out with extensive interviews and personal observation on the shop floor following a qualitative analysis methodology. Through the interviews, the prioritized entities were focused and based on the end user’s requirement the selected data tags were visualized. Furthermore, the findings from the research were analyzed and discussed on how IIOT technology could potentially benefit an organization is presented.