Extending industrial monitoring use cases to more remote asset classes
Digi International, a leading global provider of Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity products and services, today introduced the Digi XBee® Intelligent Edge controller (IEC), bringing together a comprehensive networking architecture to close the gap between field devices and the cloud and provide powerful asset monitoring and control.
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Digi XBee Intelligent Edge Controller (IEC) provides a deployment-ready upgrade to existing industrial sensors with the latest innovations in wireless and cloud technologies. In combination with Digi X-ON cloud, the Digi XBee IEC can help companies monitor sensors or remote-control assets over Long-Range, Low-Power Wide Area Networks, including LoRaWAN, CAT-M1 and NB-IoT. Industrial devices can be monitored with sub-second latency with alarms and data wirelessly delivered through the Digi X-ON cloud.
The Digi XBee IEC is compatible with 90% of existing industrial sensors and controls, providing SCADA systems with an IoT alternative. The solution is ideal for enterprises across numerous industry verticals such as energy and utilities, oil and gas, water and wastewater, logistics and agriculture. Using Digi’s X-ON cloud platform, customers leverage a single solution to convert complex protocols for the industrial IoT into simplified data APIs, to integrate data with other tools and systems.
“Two of the biggest challenges companies face in industrial IoT projects are money and time,” said Nik Kitson, Director of OEM Solutions Business Development for Digi. “Traditional SCADA systems are very expensive and can take months to deploy and configure for a company’s specific needs. A new system or software package often involves a substantial learning curve and employee training time. But remaining with a non-secure or outdated system can cost far more in the long run. Unlike legacy systems that could only leverage the tools available at the time, Digi developed the IEC using today’s most advanced technologies to create more intelligent, secure, and cost-effective solutions.”
A Smarter Alternative to Traditional SCADA
Traditional SCADA systems have typically relied on extensive middleware – including gateways, software, and licenses – raising the risk of unauthorized data accessibility and other security breaches. Industrial IoT protocols add security as an afterthought and require users to enable those features. The combination of complex technology infrastructures, communications interoperability challenges, and immature IoT standards creates enormous hurdles for automation engineers. Additionally, standard SCADA and PLCs often require high network bandwidth and cloud capacity to provide sub-second monitoring.
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The Digi XBee IEC solution is being successfully deployed for electrical smart-grid asset monitoring, smart city water management, logistics warehouse operations, and more.
“The Digi solution enables Valmont to offer a proactive condition monitoring experience that complements our scheduled maintenance and operations,” said Trevor Mecham, Vice President of Global Infrastructure Technology Strategy and Industry Relations at Valmont Industries, Inc. “The ability to detect infrastructure anomalies in real time using remote wireless technology unlocks huge potential, enabling our customers to operate tower infrastructure without over-taxing remote operations workers.”
Digi XBee IEC not only provides a faster time-to-market for IIoT OEMs and enterprises, it is also a value-added tool set for systems integrators and Value Added Resellers (VARs) to address complex IIoT deployments. The IEC solution can be easily deployed into multiple solutions for a wide range of use cases, all through the X-ON device management portal.
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