The bridge between machines and software systems for smart industrial operation
Manufacturing industries are currently facing difficulties when comes to connecting their machines with the data analysis and management software systems, due to interoperability issues. Much of the data are not structured, have the same format or are even compatible; manufacturing big data sets are highly heterogeneous and unstructured in nature, being hard to analyse and distribute across various sectors and different stakeholders involved in the product and factory life cycles. As a result, more than half of European manufacturing companies (particularly SMEs) are missing on the opportunity of Industry 4.0 to maximize productivity and efficiency. STARGATE consists of a HW platform and SW that enables data acquisition from the factory machines simply and efficiently. It works as a single gateway that acts as a bridge between the machines and the numerous software systems used at the factory to control production. At this point, we have already developed a prototype capable of connecting all machines within a shop floor with a unique gateway. It has been tested at the facilities of a well-known company in the jewellery industry and a leading supplier of tool data management software solutions. Next, we need to (1) automatize the process of SW installation, (2) test and validate the tool data collection module. STARGATE will be firstly focused to CNC tool machines within metal-cutting industries with a total volume of 24.4 bn euro in 2017. Commercialization will follow a three-step strategy: DACH countries, rest of Europe and USA. By 2023, we expect to increase our revenue to almost 6M€ with a global profit of 2.65M€, tripling the figures that the company makes today. We are ECI Manufacturing, an Austrian company dedicated to the manufacture of complex engine and machine components. With STARGATE, we aim at entering a new industry: Mechatronics. For that, we count with qualified engineers experienced in data exchange, SW development and manufacturing processes.