From Alarm to Action: Smart Monitoring and Alarm Management in Industrial Automation

From Alarm to Action: Smart Monitoring and Alarm Management in Industrial Automation

As a lead PLC engineer, I am very familiar with the challenges posed by large logistics systems. From new construction and integration into ERP systems such as SAP or Microsoft Dynamics to complex MFR connections.

One particularly memorable situation occurred at my previous employer: over a period of several months, a number of engines and customers experienced very sporadic malfunctions. About every two weeks. And no one could explain why. The errors occurred so irregularly that they were difficult to reproduce and even more difficult to analyse.

Finally, we began systematically monitoring the process on our conveyor technology test facility: we integrated a TNA Connect, installed a camera and ensured that every error triggered an automatic SMS notification to us and an email to the manufacturer's support team. Using a VPN connection, we were able to log in immediately, read the logs and analyse them step by step together with the manufacturer.

In the end, it turned out that the cause was a firmware error in the motor. A small thing with big consequences. This experience showed me how crucial transparency, alerts and automated processes are in complex systems. And it was precisely this insight that was one of the reasons why I later chose Sitasys (evalink). Because I saw the potential in intelligently networking and proactively controlling such processes.

With this background, I am now focusing more intensively on the topics of alerting and monitoring in industry. In doing so, I am observing how much industry is changing and what opportunities this presents. My focus is on integrating industry more closely, from building automation (e.g. Siemens Desigo, Schneider EcoStruxure) to industrial automation (e.g. Siemens TIA Portal, Beckhoff TwinCAT) to ERP and MFR systems.

I am increasingly seeing that private control centres and machine manufacturers alike can benefit from this change. This is giving rise to holistic solutions that intelligently network internal and external processes and make workflows significantly more efficient.

Machinery and plant manufacturers: From reactive service to proactive support

In my view, this presents enormous potential, particularly for machine and plant manufacturers. In the past, customer contact often ended after commissioning. Today, manufacturers can connect their machines directly to platforms such as evalink, enabling them to act proactively rather than reactively.

• Monitoring & Alerting: Statuses, alarms and operating data are continuously monitored. Critical events can be detected early and automatically escalated.
• Systematic error detection: Centralised data collection across multiple systems allows systematic errors to be identified across all customers before they lead to major problems.
• Remote support: Many faults can be analysed or rectified remotely, reducing the need for on-site technician visits.
• Visual support: Cameras enable the manufacturer to analyse the situation live and provide targeted support.
• Automated reporting: Incidents, response times and measures are automatically documented and forwarded to customers or internal systems.
• Service orders & upselling: Jobs can be sent directly to service teams and used as a basis for service contracts or new offers.
• Spare parts management: The connection to merchandise management allows you to automatically order or reserve the spare parts you need.
• Transparent communication: Customers receive clear information about when a service technician will be on site and what action will be taken.

In my view, this also fundamentally changes the role of manufacturers. Today, they are no longer simply suppliers of machines, but have become true partners in ongoing operations, optimisation and further development. At the same time, predictive maintenance is taking on a whole new meaning. It is no longer just a matter of collecting and evaluating data to know when a component might fail. It is much more important that we can use this information in a targeted manner to follow clear escalation paths. From the initial alarm to prioritisation and the automatic involvement of external service providers.

In my view, this creates real added value: maintenance processes not only become more predictable, but can also be actively controlled and intelligently linked to other processes. For me, that is precisely the next step!

Moving away from pure status monitoring towards a system that independently prepares decisions and triggers processes.

Another simple, practical example

Imagine that a fuse blows in a production hall at night. In the past, someone had to notice the fault on site and call for help, or else they would be blocked in the morning.

Today, things are increasingly different: the system automatically detects the failure and immediately triggers an alarm. A predefined action plan checks whether an authorised person is on duty. If no one is available, the system automatically informs the external on-call service, depending on the priority of the incident.

At the same time, access rights are regulated via building management: the technician has access to the relevant areas during the operation, and everything is logged. Once completed, the system automatically generates a report with all events, times and measures and sends it by email to the responsible persons.

All of this happens completely automatically, without manual intervention. This means that problems are solved more quickly, processes are documented and people can be deployed in a targeted manner.

Such processes can be replicated thousands of times. In building automation, for example, automatic commissioning of cleaning staff or building services.

When event workflows and responsibilities are clearly defined, companies can fully exploit the advantages of networked systems, IIoT and AI. This is now a reality, is growing steadily, and I am able to make a significant contribution to it.

You are also welcome to contact me directly on LinkedIn if you would like to discuss the topics or share your own experiences. I look forward to some exciting conversations.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-monte/

Thank you <3