Remote maintenance in the industry:
resource-saving and efficient solutions
In the past, it was inevitable that a technician would be on site for maintenance when industrial equipment malfunctioned. The problem here is that the systems are at a standstill until a service technician arrives on site to determine and rectify the cause of the fault. Not only do service technicians often have to travel long distances, they also have to carry spare parts for various failure scenarios or, once the cause of the fault has been identified, they have to obtain the required spare part first, which results in even longer downtimes.
The concept of remote maintenance is nowadays already an important part of Industry 4.0 and represents a sensible alternative to onsite support. The advantages of industrial remote maintenance solutions are obvious: With the appropriate technology, you save time by optimizing daily work processes. Remote maintenance thus leads to an immediate increase in productivity for your company as well as more efficient use of resources. The remote software enables both maintenance and control of external equipment remotely.
Learn which common problems you can solve with the help of industrial data communication and how you can access your machines at any time with our products.
Industry challenges: application areas for industrial remote maintenance
An important factor in industry is the maintenance of existing plant and machinery. Without the use of modern remote maintenance solutions, daily operations can quickly be disrupted. If, for example, a production plant threatens to overheat, this can result in major damage. If the malfunction is not detected in time, in many cases production comes to a complete standstill.
Valuable time passes before a technician arrives on site and rectifies the fault. In the worst case scenario, your company could suffer a financial loss as a result of this failure. In the event of a fault, service technicians have to travel a long way to service remotely installed construction machinery, which can also result in high costs. But such or similar problems can be solved more efficiently and cost-effectively with the help of industrial remote maintenance.
Condition monitoring - monitoring plants with remote maintenance modules
A general trend is emerging in industry: instead of maintaining plant and machinery, many companies are focusing on smart maintenance, i.e. predictive maintenance. The operating status of the machines is permanently monitored (condition monitoring), so that you can intervene immediately in the event of an error message and the plant does not remain at a standstill in a defective state for a longer period of time. The goal of smart maintenance is therefore more efficient maintenance measures so that malfunctions can be detected quickly or, in the best case, avoided altogether.
In the case of overheated machines, sensors can measure temperatures at regular intervals and transmit the machine data via the Internet. In the event of critical deviations, you or a technician receive an alarm directly on the smartphone or PC and can respond immediately to the fault. Smart software also allows you to control the respective machines remotely, thereby avoiding a breakdown altogether.
Modern LTE routers ensure a stable and protected connection between the machines and the control center. This means that you have access to the data at any time via the secure system and can read out or evaluate it via the Internet. With the help of our devices for industrial remote maintenance, you can also detect problems such as unusual operating states or error messages and thus react quickly and specifically via remote access.
LTE technology also offers many advantages for plant-internal systems: You save both the costs and the laying work for a DSL line and instead have secure access to your customers’ machines and systems via VPN and LTE without using their company network. This allows you to bypass complicated or costly negotiations about how to access assets. Ultimately, LTE access is the much more practical approach to remote maintenance for both you and your customers, as you do not have to rely on your customers’ network and access rights do not have to be arranged with your customers in a roundabout way.
Remote Control - Controlling machines and systems remotely
If you don’t control your machines remotely, you may not be realizing the full potential of your equipment. Short-term changes in requirements, for example, require an immediate upscaling of production. However, such spontaneous adaptation is difficult to implement for external production systems or machines. Remote control, i.e. the control of production processes and systems from a distance, is also an important component
of Industry 4.0 applications. For optimal and safe remote control, you need a direct data connection to your external machines. Networking the equipment with a control center gives you instant remote access to all machines, so you can make important decisions in real time. This increases the efficiency of your production facility and allows you to adapt it to changing requirements at any time.
In addition to maintenance, our devices also enable remote control of external machines. Our programmable communication units are communication and control unit in one. You can also connect them to existing systems thanks to various extensions such as sensors or actuators. As a result, the devices simplify the upgrade of your operation and you save time and money thanks to the LTE infrastructure .
Our remote maintenance solutions for your individual requirements
When using industrial remote maintenance modules, the security of your data is paramount. Our industrial routers are specially optimized for industrial use and operate under high safety standards. The LTE routers all have an integrated firewall as well as additional VPN transmission technologies. Thanks to secure, encrypted data transmission (such as Open VPN/IPSec) between the stations, you are well protected against unauthorized access to your operational data.
For the machine-to-machine (M2M) communication of your plants, our mobile radio gateways of the series
MC100
are used. The multifunction platform is freely programmable and can thus be adapted to all requirements. The MC100 can also be easily connected to existing systems and replaces additional devices thanks to its integrated LTE modem. With this remote solution, you save on hardware and the associated costs without sacrificing functionality.
Our routers send status messages and alarms simply by SMS or e-mail to a recipient device of your service technicians. This allows you to maintain an overview of your plants and the respective operating states at all times and to react quickly if necessary.
Innovative solutions from MC Technologies
Thanks to more than 20 years of expertise in industrial mobile communications and data transmission, we offer you proven remote maintenance solutions for every problem as one of the leading European manufacturers. In addition to our wide range of standard products, we also have the right solution for your individual challenge thanks to various customization and expansion options.
Our services as a provider of IoT solutions in the field of M2M communication also include detailed, personal consulting. We will be happy to assist you in choosing the right remote maintenance solution. Simply contact us via our online form and together we will find the right solution for your individual challenges.
Do you have any questions? Feel free to contact us.
Talk to us: We have both the expertise and the products and solutions.
