Big data challenges in industrial automation

Abstract

Within the industrial domain including manufacturing a lot of various data is produced. For exploiting the data for lower level control as well as for the upper levels such as MES systems or virtual enterprises, the traditional business intelligence methods are becoming insufficient. At the same time, especially within internet companies, the Big Data paradigm is getting higher popularity due to the possibility of handling variety of large volume of quickly generated data, including their analysis and immediate actions. We discuss Big Data challenges in industrial automation domain, including describing and reviewing relevant applications and features. We pay special attention to the use of semantics and multi-agent systems. We also describe possible next steps for Big Data adoption within industrial automation and manufacturing. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.