FANUC claims to have 22.5
million products installed
worldwide. Its FIELD system aims
to provide connectivity, data
collection, analysis and so boost
uptime for equipment using both
Uptime focus
its and others’ technology
After its fi rst release in Japan back in 2017, FANUC’s Industry 4.0/Internet of Things (IoT) platform now
seems ready for expanding global application. After some delays to the original timeline, at EMO this year
the company said that a now more fully formed eco-system will get its European debut this coming year.
So, with its imminent arrival, Andrew Allcock has the detail
at the shop oor. And keeping those shop oor assets
running is the key focus for its FIELD system. (FANUC’s MTLinki
out-of-the-box machine monitoring solution will
continue to be available; FIELD is an open ecosystem that
supports tailored solutions.)
Said Craig Taylor, manager European technical support
and who leads on FIELD at a technical level, at FANUC’s
recent automation event in Coventry: “FIELD is an onpremise
platform so-called Edge; all the data is within
companies. We’re not looking at sending the data out to the
cloud although it can; see also box item 3. We want to
stay true, to stay within the company and react in real time
to issues that we see in the manufacturing facility. So, we’re
looking at installing applications apps on the FIELD
system that are useful for the end user. The key point is
making sure that production is always running.”
He continues: “We want to build a system that allows all
of these shop oor devices to communicate with each
FANUC is the world’s largest supplier of CNC units and
and one of the largest global suppliers of industrial
robots. The company delivered its rst NC unit in
1958, its rst robots in 1974. FANUC has already installed
more than 590,000 industrial robots worldwide. It also
makes machine tools (wire-cut EDM, machining centres,
high precision turning) and plastic injection moulding
machines. Monthly production capacity at its site in Japan
is up to 35,000 CNCs, 190,000 servo-motors plus
119,000 servo-ampli ers, 11,000 robots and 3,500
machines. The £5.2bn turnover industrial giant claims to
have more than 22.5 million products installed worldwide.
If the future is a connected world, then FANUC has
certainly got plenty of kit to connect using its FANUC
Intelligent Edge Link and Drive – FIELD – system. (But it is
an open system, so it is not restricted to FANUC’s
shop oor hardware, it should be emphasised.) FANUC has
history, global presence and leading industrial technology
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