How the Automotive Industry Can Turn Data into Their Advantage
Published on : Tuesday 24-01-2023
Players in the automobile industry can gain a competitive edge in the future by utilising industrial edge computing solutions to fully utilise their data, says Sachin Bhalla.
The automobile sector in India is valued at more than $100 billion, produces 8% of the total exports made by the nation, and makes up 2.3% of India's GDP. The introduction of AI has changed the way things are. It's difficult to avoid the conversation about partially or completely driverless vehicles powered by artificial intelligence these days (AI). Both sceptics and supporters of major innovations in the automotive industry have strong views on their advantages, disadvantages, and prospects for the future.
Edge computing is being explored and adopted within the automotive industry to support the increasingly complex software being deployed in cars. Edge computing offers the automobile sector a way to overcome issues with latency, bandwidth, and autonomy, as well as security and legal regulations that prevent us from fully utilising data. Automotive players may use their data in real-time by using the industrial edge, giving them a competitive advantage that is more important than ever. If analysed near the source, Internet of Vehicles data can give businesses a competitive advantage.
Everything is guided by software, including testing, production, and in-car navigation. Between 2017 and 2024, the market for linked cars, or the Internet of Vehicles (IoV), is expected to increase by more than 200%. Modern automobiles produce mountains of data at every stage of their existence, from production through decommissioning.
Manufacturers can modify processes, carry out maintenance, and make operational choices remotely thanks to data from sensors and remote management equipment installed in factories. Terabytes of test data are also collected by automakers every hour. A manufacturer's network must make quick decisions regarding the data as soon as it enters.
Even though the cloud has numerous advantages over traditional networking, there is too much latency when there is a deadline to meet. Therefore, the solution for automakers is to place IT resources closer to industrial systems so that they can store and analyse data as close to the point of production as possible.
Automakers must use industrial edge computing if they want to take advantage of this data's full potential. The term "industrial edge computing" refers to the placement of computing and analysis power at the network edge in industrial contexts.
Industrial edge computing enables what centralised data strategies cannot
In addition to providing a foundation for latency-free analysis, industrial edge computing enables the use of tools that corporate and cloud IT setups cannot, such as video analytics and autonomous robots. The most significant advantage of edge might be its instantaneousness. But manufacturers across a range of sectors also value the convergence that industrial edge delivers.
The automotive industry needs to better grasp the industrial edge solutions that allow businesses to combine IT and OT if it is to profit fully from edge computing. To maximise a variety of operational outputs, such as sustainability, profitability, and cost, businesses typically need to examine data from business systems. Without the dedication and skill of IT professionals who are aware of network performance and security, these systems would not operate as they should. Ultimately, the automotive industry must integrate information and operational technologies as close as possible to the asset if it is to succeed in the future. Future success for the industry requires melding information and operational technology as close as possible to the asset.
The secret to success at the edge is resilience
Even if the advantages of edge computing are obvious, building such an infrastructure may not be. A hybrid data centre design serves as the foundation for industrial edge computing. This architecture combines three elements:
• local edge data centres with computing and storage at the location of data generation;
• regional edge centres for large computing and storage, which are frequently located in central or urban areas;
• centralised data centres for massive computing and storage, which are typically located in remote areas.
Unfortunately, not all businesses have given edge computing locations the same respect they do for central data centres. Local edge sites, however, are probably manufacturing floors, distribution centre, or even personal safety monitoring systems in the automotive industry. Unplanned downtime at a local edge site makes it difficult to supply a product or provide sufficient customer and staff experiences.
There is great potential for the automotive industry once they ensure that any industrial edge implementation is as resilient as if it were a standard central data center. Finding the correct partner to help with edge deployment is crucial because the lack of on-site IT personnel and the uneven geographic distribution of edge sites make this process more difficult. All aspects of the edge data centre lifecycle should be outsourced to partners to ensure efficient deployment and operation. All aspects of the edge data centre lifecycle should be outsourced to partners to enable efficient deployment and operation. Even at unmanned locations, solutions that are simple to integrate with current hardware and software tools and are prepared to withstand power disruptions and other outages can offer peace of mind.
Industrial edge computing unlocks data, the potential for automotive companies
Processing speed and computing power are now essential components of the automotive sector. Today's automobile manufacturers are just as much software firms as they are manufacturers of durable things, thanks to developments in software and sensors that enable features like maintenance and performance warnings and parking assistance.
The auto industry still has a long way to go before converting its data into a revenue generator, in contrast to other sectors that have already made money from their shift to a software-centric model. Players in the automobile industry can gain a competitive edge in the future by utilising industrial edge computing solutions to fully utilise their data.
Players in the automobile industry can gain a competitive edge in the future by utilising industrial edge computing solutions to fully utilise their data. This is particularly important for developing IoT and IoV economies with a robust automotive sector, like India.
Sachin Bhalla is a Vice President & Country GM for India & SAARC in Secure Power Division of Schneider Electric’s Energy Management Business. In this position, Sachin is responsible to Lead Business Operation for Greater India Zone of Secure Power Division which provides complete Physical Infrastructure Solutions for Data Centers, Distributed IT environments, and Industrial applications through it’s industry leading brands APC, Uniflair Cooling, President Racks, and Luminuos UPS.
