AVEVA PI Data Infrastructure makes debut at annual AVEVA World conference  

Posted: December 20, 2023

AVEVA World 2023 took place in San Francisco, California. The annual forum provides a space for the developers, users and sellers of industrial software to share their challenges, insights and deployment successes. This year, we launched AVEVA™ PI Data Infrastructure , a fully integrated hybrid data solution that gives organizations a seamless way to collect, enrich, visualize and share real-time operations data.

AVEVA PI Data Infrastructure is driven by industrial companies’ desire to make broader use of extremely valuable, real-time operations data across their operations. IIoT devices, smart assets, and numerous multi-vendor control systems now generate vast amounts of data, which can be turned into industrial insight and intelligence. Companies just need easier ways to collect, structure and share that data with trusted colleagues.

Collecting operations data has evolved from something that was mainly done inside a large plant to something that happens across a much larger set of IIoT devices, mobile and remote assets, and plant-based control systems, spanning a wider geographic area. Similarly, using operations data has evolved from being the domain of plant operations experts to a broader set of engineers, analysts, and specialized service providers in various locations focused on increasing operational efficiency and sustainability.

Previously, AVEVA™ PI System™ users could expand their on-premises data platform with additional software products created for edge data access and cloud data sharing. However, this required new purchase contracts and added complexity to overall software management. AVEVA PI Data Infrastructure simplifies the purchase and management of an enterprise-wide data solution by offering customers a single, scalable subscription, providing all of the data management capabilities necessary for use at the industrial edge, on-premises and in the cloud.

This new way to acquire a hybrid industrial data platform will be especially beneficial for companies that want to:

• Track and aggregate the performance of geographically distributed assets, such as renewable power sources for overall grid management
• Implement condition-based monitoring of critical assets in remote locations
• Empower field engineers with real-time data visualizations
• Provide real-time data to analysts in other locations to uncover operational insights
• Share real-time data with third-party analysts or service providers

At AVEVA World, we heard from multiple customers about their journey to build a hybrid data platform that extends beyond the traditional on-premises plant. To learn more about their projects, check out the following recorded sessions.

MFQ, or Quebec Iron Ore, is well established in its digital transformation—it wanted to set up systems across the company to automatically act based on live operations data. To achieve this, it needed a secure and reliable way to transfer data between operations and IT systems multiple times per day. MFQ deployed a hybrid data architecture, with AVEVA PI Server collecting data from various multi-vendor systems and aggregating it in the cloud on AVEVA™ Data Hub. This hybrid system allowed it to automate preparing structured reports and provided a secure way for suppliers to get operations data without being allowed behind the company’s firewall. Using integrated hybrid infrastructure has increased data transfer efficiency and simplified the reports it prepares using Power BI.

We heard from Cargill, a global food, agriculture, animal protein, and nutrition product provider, running conventional on-premises AVEVA PI System data solutions at around 220 plants globally. The company didn’t have a solution for its extra small facilities such as grain elevators, feed mills, transport ships, and shipping terminals, where it lacked the space and support for local servers. Cargill worked with AVEVA to extend its operations data infrastructure to its operational assets that didn’t have space for on-premises servers. The company now uses AVEVA Edge Data Store solutions to collect live data using AVEVA Adapters and transfer the data to a central AVEVA PI System for long-term storage and usage.

Speakers from JEA, a regional utility providing electric, water and sewer services, shared how they used several different service providers to collect and share data from proprietary IIoT devices for operations engineers and analysts to use. They found that data users were spending too much time querying the various systems to develop a full understanding during intense weather events. JEA worked with AVEVA to solve the problem, deploying FogLAMP to collect data from all its IIoT vendors and integrate it into AVEVA PI System. Creating a single view to monitor situational awareness allowed JEA to respond faster and more effectively in critical situations affecting utility services.

These are just a few of the industrial companies pioneering new ways of collecting, enriching, visualizing and analyzing real-time operations data. Find out more and watch the entire agenda of recorded presentations from AVEVA World 2023.