Glossary

The edge computing framework is quickly finding its way into manufacturing, where these new technologies can potentially lead to massive productivity gains. Edge computing allows smart manufacturers looking to enhance the responsiveness of their manufacturing systems further. The key advantage of gathering analytics at the edge of the network is the ability to analyze and execute on real-time data without the bandwidth costs that come with sending that data offsite (to the cloud or a data center) for analysis. Edge computing allows manufacturers to filter data to reduce the amount sent to a central server, either on site or in a cloud. Edge computing is about taking code that runs in the cloud and running it near or on local devices, including gateway devices or even a PC sitting next to IIoT enabled equipment. With edge computing, less data needs to be transmitted to the cloud, which is particularly useful for collecting high-frequency data that is used to run machine learning algorithms. Since this data can be processed at the edge, it can be acted on immediately, while if this high-frequency data were to be transmitted to the cloud, processed, and then acted on, there would be a latency effect.