| | DECEMBER 20208CIOReviewIN MY OPINIONAsset Data from theEdge to CloudRoyal Vopak is the world's leading independent tank storage operator for liquid bulk goods with over 400 years of experience in storage and transhipment. Vopak operates several terminals on strategic locations along major trade routes. Technology leadership is one of the five key areas that support Vopak's purpose of "storing vital products with care."Technology leadership is shown by innovating and introducing new technologies, like the Industrial Internet of Things, robotics and mobile devices on our terminals to reduce safety incidents and improve service. Various innovative proofs of concepts and pilots are being executed on Vopak terminals, like predictive maintenance for motor-operated valves, energy management initiatives, cost-effective sensoring systems or digitising whole terminals in multiple dimensions (smart Piping & Instrumentation Diagrams or 3D models).OPERATIONAL DATA THE PILLAR FOR INNOVATIONA common requirement for each of the initiatives that take place is the need to have access to operational data and the context in which this operational data is generated. For this, Vopak uses edge technology to:1. make the operational data available in the cloud;2. add context information to the operational data;3. pre-process, aggregate, and filter operational data at the terminal, to limit cloud communication.The context can relate, for instance, to assets, product movements or supply-chain information. In particular, the relation to assets is important in providing the correct contextualised data. Assets and asset information is used in various systems across the enterprise, all serving different purposes. This asset data is used as input for contextualising the operations; data (adding additional data to the By Robert Bakelaar, IoT Solution Architect, Vopak [AMS: VPK]
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