Oliver Salo

IO-Link in Manufacturing: Condition Monitoring and Digital Services

In many plants, IO-Link-capable sensors and actuators are installed, but often only switching and analog outputs are used; diagnostic and condition data remains untapped. In projects, value creation fails less because of the technology than because of unclear goals (e.g., alarming, reports, OEE, energy) and because the right stakeholders from OT and IT are not brought to the table early enough. nass magnet addresses the field level with an IO-Link-capable Smart Connector (plug) for solenoids and valves, as well as an Ethernet master that forwards measurement data in an IoT-ready way. in.hub integrates the master into SIINEOS: devices and IO-Link devices can be configured without programming, data is normalized, stored at the edge, and provided via services such as dashboards, alarming, and cloud and SQL connections. IODD interpretation and structured handover (e.g., via OPC UA/MQTT) support semantics toward the IT world. This enables faster retrofit projects, lower load on the control system, and a scalable data basis for condition monitoring as well as OEE and energy analyses.