Google Cloud introduced two vertical data analytics platforms. Google Cloud Manufacturing Connect and Google Cloud Manufacturing Data Engine provide industrial organizations with more insight into factory equipment.
Various public cloud providers are deploying services specific to vertical market segments. The introduction of Google Cloud Manufacturing Connect and Google Cloud Manufacturing Data Engine is a sign of the times.
According to the tech giant, dedicated data analytics solutions should give companies analytics-based insights into their manufacturing equipment and environments. Data can be used to predict maintenance activities and detect malfunctions at the machine level, among other things.
Manufacturing Connect platform
Both platforms aim to bring order to the vast amounts of daily data generated by factory equipment and convert it into actions. One data-dependent appliance is AI. As such, the platforms also simplify the ways in which the manufacturing industry can adopt AI.
The Google Cloud Manufacturing Connect platform is deployed at the edge in manufacturing environments. The platform was developed in collaboration with Litmus Automation and helps quickly connect industrial systems and individual machines to Google Cloud. This allows systems to stream data to the public cloud, where it is processed. The data is stored centrally and harmonized with the Google Cloud Manufacturing Engine, which we’ll cover below.
Manufacturing Engine service
The Google Cloud Manufacturing Engine stores data in the tech giant’s public cloud environment. The service provides configurable and customizable blueprints for data ingestion, data transformation, storage and data access. This service integrates with Google Cloud tools like Cloud Dataflow, BigQuery, Looker, Apigee and Vertex AI.
The service allows industrial companies to detect problems and malfunctions in their factory equipment and environments in real-time. The tool issues alerts on anomalies such as noise, vibrations or temperature fluctuations. It also helps companies carry out predictable maintenance activities to minimalize downtime and lower maintenance costs.