For traditional factories, the production process has already formed a mature system, and aging equipment can meet the operational needs of the existing system. However, the intelligent products required for smart factories are generally priced high, often costing tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars—a significant expense for any enterprise. Therefore, when transitioning from a traditional factory to a smart factory, the first consideration should be how to integrate legacy equipment into the network, build a bridge between it and intelligent products, and enable data interoperability, thereby gradually completing the construction of the smart factory.

Alps System Integration (Dalian) Co., Ltd. (referred to as "ALSI"), with its ALSI Equipment Status Monitoring System, utilizes a self-developed plug-in intelligent data acquisition device to automatically collect data from three-color indicator lights without interrupting production. This enables real-time equipment status monitoring and statistical analysis, making it easy to connect legacy equipment to the network and interface with other systems. By fully leveraging the value of data, it achieves unified management and collaborative production of new and old equipment, breaking down the cost barriers in building a smart factory.

Click to view: Is it reasonable to blindly pursue the so-called Industry 4.0 smart factory transformation?