As more automation functions are performed at the edge of the network and/or in the cloud, industry experts increasingly view industrial networking as being as central to automation as the controller. This development is bringing added attention to one of the biggest networking developments of the past decade—Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN).
If you’re unfamiliar with TSN, essentially it is a method of industrial networking that enables deterministic control over standard Ethernet. Its proven capabilities are why most industrial technology suppliers are adapting their products to work with TSN. (Read more about TSN via the links at the end of this article.)
Beyond the capabilities and advantages of TSN from a networking perspective, the technology is also seen as a way of boosting productivity in specific ways for different industry verticals.
Thomas Burke, global strategic advisor at the CC-Link Partner Organization (CLPA), notes four specific ways TSN can help specific verticals:
Transparency and traceability for food and beverage. Heavily regulated industries, like food and beverage, rely on process data, which must be monitored to ensure product quality and compliance with regulations or good manufacturing practices. “These data require accurate timestamps that support visibility within the network and throughout the production process, eliminating any blind spots where issues can grow unnoticed,” said Burke. “By building a fully synchronized device network, TSN can support precise timestamping for timing analysis.”
Better quality in automotive. TSN’s determinism, especially when combined with gigabit bandwidth, can help manufacturing facilities speed up production processes. This is particularly useful for automotive assembly plants due to their production of a variety of models, each characterized by different trim levels. “That’s why it’s mandatory for manufacturing systems in the automotive industry to handle large amounts of data generated in real time during the assembly of various car parts,” said Burke. “Only in this way can manufacturers ensure that the different combinations of possible model variations do not slow down cycle times and the allocated parts are fitted correctly on the right models, at the right time, in a traceable manner. Automotive companies can use TSN to build production lines that ensure short cycle times because the technology combines advanced synchronization with traffic prioritization capabilities.”