NEC, Siemens partner to provide AI-based solutions to accelerate digitization in manufacturing

NEC Corporation has collaborated with Siemens in the IoT field to provide a monitoring and analysis solution for manufacturing that connects MindSphere, the cloud-based, open Internet of Things (IoT) operating system from Siemens, and NEC's System Invariant Analysis Technology (SIAT).

As part of the agreement, NEC will join the MindSphere Partner Program, which can provide NEC with access to specialized technical training and support from Siemens as well as a number of joint go-to-market capabilities.

Both companies believe that this collaboration would provide total data collection, storage, monitoring, and analysis, including customization according to customer needs. Specifically, MindSphere is being used to collect and accumulate field sensor data and NEC's System Invariant Analysis Technology system automatically monitors and analyzes the data. This solution will first be offered as a cloud solution for the manufacturing industry, then applied to factory systems, manufacturing lines, plant facilities and other equipment, as well as products that are produced using this equipment. This, they say, makes it easy to visualize and analyze vast amounts of sensor data, thereby contributing to increased productivity, reduced operational risk, product quality and the preservation of know-how.

In recent years, with the acceleration of digitization and the spread of IoT, the safety, efficiency, maintenance and product quality of systems are being visualized and analyzed based on data collected from a large number of sensors installed in various locations, such as plant systems, manufacturing lines and factories. However, it is necessary to systemize data collection, storage, monitoring, analysis and other processes in order to utilize sensor data. Moreover, unique know-how, such as knowledge about IoT systems and data analysis, is required to construct such a system, making it difficult for customers to construct by themselves.

In addition, especially in the manufacturing industry, work processes are often based on the expertise of each plant or individual. Therefore, the loss of know-how due to the retirement of skilled personnel and lack of staff poses a serious challenge.

In order to solve these issues, NEC and Siemens say that they have enhanced their products to enable greater visualization and analysis of sensor data. The companies plan to target customers in manufacturing industries internationally, then expand to customers in other industries.

System Invariant Analysis Technology, part of NEC's cutting-edge portfolio of AI technologies, "NEC the WISE", is being used to automatically learn and model the behavior of systems based on data gathered from a large number of sensors installed in large-scale, complex systems. This provides visualization of systems and how they operate, in addition to enabling systems to operate safely and efficiently by proactively detecting errors using analytical models. NEC has already installed approximately 100 such systems internationally.

MindSphere is the cloud-based, open IoT operating system from Siemens that connects products, plants, systems, and machines, enabling companies to harness the wealth of data generated by the IoT with advanced analytics. The MindSphere Partner Program is Siemens’ partner program for Industrial IoT solutions and technology providers.