German mechanical engineering firm Schenck Process has developed a serverless modular IoT cloud platform, with support from AWS partner Storm Reply.

Darmstadt based Schenck manufactures industrial measuring and handling systems for bulk materials, with a focus on the food, mining, chemicals, infrastructure and energy sectors.

Schenck’s CONiQ Cloud is an IoT backbone provides digital process solutions to save production time and deliver critical insights in near real-time, aiming to create a broader window of opportunity for data-driven responses.

Schenck Process is evolving from a traditional machine builder to an Industry 4.0 company, going beyond its traditional business field and positioning itself as a digital service provider and pioneer for its customers. Schenck Process is aiming to enable data-driven optimisation of processes through the use of IoT and cloud computing. With this purpose in mind, Storm Reply selected the appropriate AWS building blocks and developed an industrial IoT platform specifically for Schenck Process.

Standard core IoT functions available include: organisational and machine management, analytics integration, machine and process data visualisation, email notification, and secure data connection and streaming to CONiQ Monitor – Schenck Process’ condition-based monitoring sensor system.

A serverless architecture and automation offer economic advantages and the modular structure enables flexible adaptation to specific customer needs, paving the way for further innovations. These include real-time insights from production processes, the use of machine learning for early warning of deviations from standard processes during production; focusing on predictive quality assurance and maintenance scenarios.

“We intend to reach more customers and integrate additional processes with existing clients, and that’s where the modular structure and flexibility of integration pays off,” said Benedikt Trumpff, Head of iQ Systems and Services at Schenck Process. “What we ultimately offer our customers with the CONiQ Cloud is additional production time – that is more valuable than anything else. With the new functionalities we are implementing, we can also develop algorithms that deliver Process Insights-as-a-Service, which translate process data into actionable insights that would otherwise be inaccessible to customers.”