IIC Launches Factory Automation Testbed

Image of an optical fiber with lights

IIC will test factory automation as a service.

Written By

Sue Walsh

Jul 21, 2016

The Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) announced July 20 that they have launched a Factory Automation-Platform-as-a-Service (FA PaaS) testbed. The goal is to test open IoT platforms that integrate factory automation seamlessly at the front lines of manufacturing and information technology.

“Manufacturing data is needed for improved productivity and overall optimization in the global supply chain to connect the front lines of manufacturing with management, suppliers, and customers,” said Dr. Richard Soley, executive director, IIC in the organization’s press release. “But there is also a need for secure connections between a variety of devices in the FA environment and IT services to accommodate big data and the cloud. The FA PaaS Testbed is designed to help accelerate the development of applications for next-generation factories, connecting business-to-business applications, and unleashing real economic value to help companies effectively compete in the global marketplace.”

The FA PaaS Testbed features an IoT data-processing platform that handles big data, an IoT head-end system, and an IoT gateway. The gateway provides a secure connection between the platform and the factory automation environment. An included edge device allows communication with factory automation devices in remote and next-generation factories. An included IoT platform also enables interoperability between the data processing platform, FA environment and gateway, the IIC stated.

According to the IIC, plans are for the factory automation testbed to be verified for secure connections between FA environments and the platform, the data flow and other functions by June 2017, after which it will be distributed for verification with the IIC member companies.

IIC member organizations Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, and Intel Japan are leading the testbed project

The IIC has a number of testbeds aimed at different aspects of the IoT, including asset efficiency, smart tools, and network efficiency.

Factory testbed focuses on visualization

Special report: Using the IoT to enhance customer experience

Sue Walsh

Sue Walsh is News Writer for RTInsights, and a freelance writer and social media manager living in New York City. Her specialties include tech, security and e-commerce. You can follow her on Twitter at @girlfridaygeek.