The lure of time-sensitive networking (TSN) is drawing interest from a cross section of businesses that recognize its important benefits, which include high determinism and bandwidth, short cycle times, and better synchronization when compared to classic fieldbus technology. TSN also benefits sustainability by enhancing energy and resource efficiency. This article presents another benefit: TSN’s role in improving convergence between information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) that is helping usher in the transformative changes of Industry 4.0.
One network, multiple benefits
One unified network converging both IT and OT networks means modern IT technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), can be incorporated to give stakeholders greater control over assets. TSN also empowers companies to evolve from selling products to selling services, offering more customization and reducing minimum order quantity (MOQ) without compromising profitability or wasting resources. TSN enables the integration of control systems to achieve reduced cycle times. A few years ago, it might have required weeks to shift an entire production process to producing a new product. But by integrating different control systems, it now only takes a few days, making flexible, more agile production not only feasible but also profitable.
TSN in the real world
There remains a misunderstanding that TSN is still an unproven technology—more theory than reality. To dispel this notion, Moxa demonstrated several real-world TSN applications at Taipei Automation 2021, partnering with CLPA, Mitsubishi Electric, Intel, port GmbH, Orisol, and Sumyen Automation to showcase proof of concept of one unified network across different automation scenarios. Moxa is actively helping customers leverage TSN to connect multiple applications and diversified systems, significantly improving operations and efficiencies while requiring less equipment and cables at the field level. An appliance manufacturer in Asia recently adopted TSN for its network infrastructure.
The company collaborated with Moxa experts to integrate TSN into their existing automated production line by deploying Moxa TSN switches. By harnessing TSN, the company achieved real-time, highly reliable, and deterministic communication, leading to improved operational efficiency and productivity. To enable mass customization of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products, a manufacturer deployed Moxa switches to build a TSN-capable network combining existing proprietary networks into one unified network. This simplified the amount of training required to understand the many protocols in use and applied a network design that decreased cabling and maintenance expenses.
Now, the company can adjust entire production processes with substantially lower cycle times to manufacture customized products as needed at a lower cost. Moxa recently assisted a hydropower plant in China to increase its efficiency and ability to adjust total power output to the grid, giving rise to lower costs, easier maintenance, higher efficiency, and improved use of natural resources. Moxa connected different control systems to create a network providing ample bandwidth and low latency to support large volumes of data for a new AI system on its control network.
Final thoughts
TSN overcomes many challenges. As demonstrated in these real-world case histories, TSN is posed to accelerate industrial growth and help its early adopters realize improved outcomes. This feature originally appeared in the May Sustainability issue of AUTOMATION 2024.
