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Hunting for an industrial data collection solution that stands the test of time? Look for these four key traits to recognise a future-proof data historian.
Why seamless data integration is key for advanced process insights, and how Factry Historian delivers
Jeroen Coussement on , updated
For 30 years, data historians were merely technical tools to collect and store raw process data. Yet, that’s just a part of the story. The true value of a historian resides in the actionable insights they bring to people, or provide to other IT systems, such as business intelligence software or AI tools. Where traditional historian solutions fall short, Factry Historian offers limitless interoperability with third-party applications. Here’s what’s in it for you.
Process data isn’t just a byproduct of production, it is actually a huge goldmine waiting to be explored. However, the true potential of this data often remains untapped due to silos and inefficient integration. Factry Historian takes a stand by offering seamless integration with Business Intelligence, AI or other applications, opening up new opportunities for deep analysis and innovation.
Factry Historian can connect to disparate data sources, and translate that data into a common format that can be understood by any other application. This makes it possible to finally break down data silos and get a holistic view of your operations, as well as forward (a subset of) of process data to other tools. You name it, Factry Historian connects.
Here’s how it’s different from traditional historians, how it works, and how you can benefit from open integration with other systems and applications.
The problem with classic historians
Traditional data historians often struggle with efficient data forwarding to external systems, as they are typically designed as standalone solutions with limited integration capabilities. Their data structures and protocols are often proprietary, making it challenging to connect them to modern data platforms and analytics tools – let alone AI applications or whatever comes next.
As a result, extracting data for advanced analysis or integration into other systems can be a time-consuming and complex. It mostly requires custom development or data engineering effort, leading to vendor lock-in and high operational costs when scaling. Consequently, this complexity hinders manufacturing companies from achieving operational efficiency and process innovation.
How Factry Historian resolves this
Unlike classic historians, which can become even more costly as data volumes and user numbers grow, Factry Historian offers a scalable and flexible solution. Its open architecture ensures that it can adapt to evolving technologies and business requirements, by allowing for seamless data forwarding to any external systems, from BI platforms to AI applications, using batch or stream workflows.
Factry Historian offers us all the data we need for predictive maintenance on a silver platter.
Pieter Loose
CEO at Ekopak
The mechanics behind the magic
Built with integration in mind, Factry Historian offers a range of connectivity options including MQTT, Parquet files, REST APIs, and direct database access.
1. MQTT for real-time data transfer
Factry Historian uses MQTT, a lightweight messaging protocol ideal for IIoT environments, to forward (processed) data to external systems. MQTT allows for real-time data transmission, ensuring that analytics and reporting tools have immediate access to real-time data.
The MQTT forwarding feature is a great way to plug the data in Factry Historian into a Unified Namespace. It enables you to publish your entire asset structure as modelled in Factry Historian, together with collected and calculated data and processed events.
Your enterprise architects, plant managers and even your CFO will love this!
2. Parquet files for efficient data storage
The great thing about Parquet files is they offer a columnar storage format, efficient for both storage and retrieval. Factry Historian can also forward data in Parquet format, facilitating efficient integration with data lakes and big data tools used for advanced process analysis and machine learning models.
3. REST API access
The Factry Historian REST API allows business intelligence tools, or any other application or system, to directly query historical process data. The open API ensures that production data can be retrieved on-demand, making it very easy to generate reports or feed raw production data into AI algorithms.
4. Direct database connectivity
Business reporting tools and other analytical platforms can be configured to connect directly to Factry Historian’s time series or relational databases. This direct access eliminates the need for intermediary data transfer processes, providing seamless and instant access to historical data for in-depth analysis.
By simplifying the complexities of traditional historians, Factry Historian empowers organisations to get the most out of their manufacturing data.
Choosing our software not only improves your current operations but also ensures your business is prepared for future technological advancements.
Curious about the front-end?
Boost your production efficiency and gain a competitive edge. Sign up for a free demo of Factry Historian. Or learn more about our latest v7.0 update, which presents a series of new product features such as asset prototyping, allowing you to standardise configurations across similar lines, machines, or assets.
Our recent v7.0 update also brings a new Grafana data source plugin to the table, offering significant usability improvements for non-technical users, including often missed features such as auto-loading Units of Measurement (UoM), scaling, auto high/low limits (HI/LO), and displaying event frames.
Got 30 minutes? We’ll make it worth it.
Sign up for a demo of Factry Historian – the one historian you’ll never regret
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