To measure intelligently: this is what the purpose of smart meter in industrial automation is about. The availability of information on your production plant is necessary to intervene in favor of a more efficient process. At the same time, however, researching and obtaining such information, without the right support, require time and resources, interfering with the very same level of efficiency that you hope to reach. As a result, a downward spiral is created, which can only be broken through a solution that can collect data, without this activity weighting on the company’s functionality and work. Hence the creation of smart meters.
Smart meters in industrial automation: what do they do?
In general, the purpose of these devices is to optimize the activity of data collecting and monitoring. Specifically, smart meters have several purposes in Industrial Automation. The first and more evident one is to collect and record electricity consumptions. Today it’s a fundamental activity, which sustainability and energy efficiency of companies depend on. Only by having a complete picture about the usage of this resource, in fact, it is possible to stay on the right track, so as to obtain an economical advantage as well. To monitor consumptions allows you also to make sure that there are no problems with the company’s line. And carrying on predictive maintenance is one of the others purposes of smart meters in industrial automation. Finally, monitoring the efficiency of a system gives you one more evaluation parameter for upgrading your machinery. Irregular energy consumptions, or something that does not comply the current standard, suggests that a modernization of the machines is needed.
Smart meters and the Internet of Things
The purpose of smart meters in industrial automation is even more valuable in the Industry 4.0. In particular, in the Internet of Things era, it is easy to understand the importance of devices that can independently gather information and communicate them to other systems. This allows you to thin out such processes, guaranteeing operators punctual and accurate data, without having to worry about researching them themselves. That is why we speak of smart meters: they are smart devices, with initiative and aware of their role, without the need for an operator to constantly micromanaging them.
Esaware smart meter solutions by ESA Automation
Being aware of the importance of these devices, ESA Automation has introduced a range of smart meter solutions for industrial automation in its line Esaware. The selection of Esaware Smart Meters allows you to install in a non-invasive way, on any industrial plant, DEM devices (up to a maximum of 250), which are then managed by the Esaware Data Manager. In this way all data on the system energy consumption are automatically collected and recorded. What does it mean? That at any time, through the software Energyaware, the company has real-time access to this information, that is as much necessary to achieve maximum energy efficiency, as to make sure that there are no problems with the health of the line. Efficiency, maintenance and technology upgrade: these are the advantages and purposes of smart meters in industrial automation.