Technology Support for Industrial Production

As digital transformation rapidly influences the entire world, manufacturers' most pressing priority has become transitioning to smart manufacturing as soon as possible.

At this point, communication technologies enabling the shift to smart and digital production have become even more critical. Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) technology, which industry leaders regard as the future of industrial communications, is advancing data sharing to the next level and pioneering the implementation of Industry 4.0 applications. Tolga Bizel, CLPA Turkey Director, stated that TSN technology's opportunities and benefits contribute to improving production processes and increasing competitive strength for businesses, emphasizing that this technology has significant potential for nearly all manufacturing sectors. Bizel explained TSN technology's capability to increase manufacturing productivity with examples from four different sectors. Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) technology, which opens the path to digitalization in production, provides manufacturers with a series of advantages, and when combined with open network technology featuring high bandwidth, it delivers an even more comprehensive solution. This enables businesses to process the high-volume data generated by modern Industry 4.0 applications and consequently elevate their network reliability, productivity, and quality assurance strategies to the next level. CC-Link IE TSN technology, developed by CLPA (CC-Link Partner Association), one of Japan's leading technology organizations, stands out as the first open Ethernet technology combining gigabit bandwidth, key TSN functions, time synchronization, and traffic prioritization. This next-generation network technology provides manufacturers across all sectors with a key solution for accelerating production processes. Tolga Bizel, CLPA Turkey Director, who describes TSN technology as the future of industrial communications, states that this technology has significant potential for all manufacturing sectors through forward-thinking businesses. He explains the maximum advantages and competitive strength that different industries can gain by leveraging TSN in industrial communications with the following examples:

Simplified machine design and higher performance for the converting sector

TSN technology, particularly when used with gigabit bandwidth, provides manufacturers with significant benefits through its ability to synchronize all network devices with high precision. This enables deterministic communication in time-critical applications performed at high speeds, such as motion control. For example, integrating this feature into networks used in the converting sector provides precise synchronization between different axes of a machine. While the system features simple mechanical setup, controlling multiple axis movements on a network simultaneously enables product quality and production process optimization, increasing the flexibility of architectures and machines. The result is reduced tool changeover times and maximized production volume.

Transparency and traceability for the food and beverage sector

The precise and accurate time synchronization provided by TSN technology is extremely important in applications where transparency and traceability are priorities. The success of sensitive sectors such as food and beverage depends not only on product quality but also on continuously monitoring critical process data to ensure compliance with regulations or good manufacturing practices. This data requires correct timestamps that support visibility across the network and throughout the production process while eliminating "blind spots" where problems could grow undetected. TSN, which creates a fully synchronized device network, supports precise time stamping for timing analysis. This allows food and beverage factories to maintain a high level of traceability across their networks, ensuring product quality and safety.

Higher quality in automotive

TSN technology, when used with gigabit bandwidth, provides determinism while simultaneously accelerating the manufacturing processes of production facilities. This feature provides significant benefits to automobile assembly plants. Automobile assembly plants produce a wide variety of automobile models, each with different characteristics. For this reason, these manufacturing systems need to easily process large amounts of data generated in real time during the assembly of different automotive parts. However, only in this way can manufacturers ensure that differences between models do not slow down the production process, and that parts are assembled to the correct models correctly, at the right time, and in a traceable manner. Through TSN technology's combination of advanced synchronization with traffic prioritization capabilities, automotive companies can have production lines capable of manufacturing in shorter timeframes. Our technology provides time-critical traffic exactly when needed while allowing non-critical traffic to coexist on the network. As a result, the total cost of ownership can be reduced by consolidating different types of networks into a single hierarchy. The ultimate result is higher performance, lower costs, and easier maintenance. This translates into the production of higher-quality vehicles.

Higher integration levels in semiconductor manufacturing

Synchronization and traffic prioritization are critical not only for consolidating different types of process controls on a single network but also for effectively implementing different formulas and processes across different machines and stations. TSN, through the integration of robots and IT systems, can support the semiconductor sector, which is characterized by multiple process steps requiring process, discrete, and motion control. TSN-based networks for the sector enable time-critical data for high-performance, high-speed motion control to be used alongside slower, non-time-critical traffic. Additionally, manufacturers can have the opportunity to integrate auxiliary systems into their processes and networks. As a result, semiconductor manufacturers gain a higher level of flexibility in their network architectures and processes.