INDUSTRY NEWS
Why Your Material Analyser Won’t Keep You Awake at Night - But the Data Will Source: Hitachi High-Tech Analytical Science We’re seeing a rise in the use of material analysers as part of factory automation, whether raw material testing, in-line testing or IIOT (Industrial Internet of Things). This has been accelerated as the issue of aging global population and reduced workforce, especially as manual labour (blue collar workers), becomes a challenge for many businesses with vacancies being hard to fill.
What many don’t necessarily realise is that material analysers are being developed to provide a solution to new customer demands to deliver more efficient, automated, and cleaner production and development processes. Often the data has been stored on the instruments themselves without providing wider visibility of the analysis data which can highlight issues with raw materials, product quality or processes. Today, many material analysers come with connectivity enabled already. It’s just that many aren’t taking advantage of the features available already to increase yield let alone realise what the future could look like. Why your material analyser won’t keep you awake at night - but the data will
Automation Isn’t New Automation has worked for years in industrial manufacturing but ensuring products meet specification, quality and throughput has until now required employee intervention. But as markets change, so does technology. 5G, multisite operations and remote/hybrid working are becoming the norm, and proactive remote interventions are becoming more accepted. Material analysers also need to adapt to changing circumstances. The idea of a fully integrated, connected, and flexible analysis equipment, that feeds smart factories with a constant stream of data is coming and is much closer than you may think. This data provides valuable information to your most precious 22 | APRIL 2022
resource, your workforce, enabling them to make the right decisions at the right time.
Why Data Matters One of my favourite questions to ask customers when I visit them is what do you do with the data your analyser collects? We’re living in an age where we need to utilise massive amounts of data from around the world to create new value as many businesses renovate themselves with digital technologies. The analyser, whether XRF, LIBS, OES or TA, is just a means to getting a job done. But what the analyser does is it provides a constant stream of data. Valuable data. And we know data is power. You might not be aware, but we’ve had data enabled products since 2014. You can get data from the shop floor or in-field without stopping production. You can build your analysis inline or into automation. And with the data that your material analysers provide, you can reduce wastage and costs and BACK TO CONTENTS
improve production yield, throughput and crucially, your bottom line. In the near future all our instruments will be connected to ExTOPE Connect, our advanced data management solution in the cloud, with our handheld XRF and LIBS, OES and LAB-X5000 benchtop XRF analyser currently having this capability. But that’s not everything.
What is Lumada? You may hear us talk more and more about Lumada. Coined from the words “illuminate” and “data”, the name Lumada embodies our goal of helping businesses shine a light on their data and illuminating the information it provides in such a way that we can extract new insights, thereby resolving our customers’ business issues and contributing to their growth. We’re here to help our customers in their digital transformation for a better, cleaner society. By capturing changes in the world through data, WWW.MATERIALSAUSTRALIA.COM.AU
