A guest blog by Don Clark and Dr. Peter
Martin
Automation systems and technologies exist to
drive improved value for industrial operations and businesses in a safe and
environmentally responsible manner. New trends in automation should be
evaluated on two levels – the technological level and the functional level. The
technological level deals with the impact of technological advancements on the
technology and topology of the automation platform. The functional level deals
with the incremental functionality that can be delivered on the automation
platform to improve operational and business value.The IIoT movement provides
significant transformation at both levels, with the net impact being a significant
increase in the value industrial companies derive from automation.
Most of the current fervour associated with
IIoT has been at the first level. There are a number of technologies including
connectivity, networking, big and small data analytics, cloud computing, fog
computing, wireless communication, cyber physical systems and edge computing
that are gaining a high level of acceptance in the industrial sector.
Independently these technologies are promising. In combination, however, they
offer an unprecedented opportunity. Together, these technologies create an
environment which removes many of the traditional technological constraints
imposed on automation systems. Automation systems designers now can design an
automation system from a clean slate.
Cost, speed, and size limitations of older
technologies have led to automation architectures and topologies being defined
by the technological constraints. The result has been the development of two
different industrial operations topologies; the automation system topology and
the industrial operations topology. This has caused an increase in complexity
in industrial operations as personnel had to learn both topologies to
effectively operate a facility.
With new levels of agility offered by IIoT,
the topology of automation systems can be perfectly matched to industrial
topologies, drastically simplifying the application and operation of both.
These new automation systems topologies will
be called natural topologies due to their natural alignment to industrial
operations. The expected result of this alignment will be the application of
automation systems to each asset and asset set in the industrial operation,
from the simplest piece of equipment through to process units or work cells,
trains, areas, plants, fleets and enterprises. This will lead to simplified
environments with unified smart connected asset control systems combined into
smart industrial enterprise control systems. Under such a system,the operation
of each asset and asset set is controlled for optimal business results.
At the functional level, automation systems
were originally developed to control processes in real time. Most real-time
process control implemented to date has been focused on improving the
efficiency of a process or machine, and not the operation as a whole. Although
improving efficiency is important, it is far from the only domain to which
real-time control should be applied in industrial operations. As the speed of
industrial businesses has continually increased over the past decade, managing
industrial assets on a human, transactional schedule has proven to be insufficient.
Important industrial variables, such as profitability, safety risk,
environmental risk, reliability and security risk, that have traditionally been
managed on a daily, weekly or monthly schedule have now transitioned to
real-time. Therefore, it is no longer possible to keep managing them in the
same way.
Real-time controls are needed to support
these important business elements. Decisions influenced by either manual or
automatic, feedback or predictive controls need to be made fast enough to
positively impact the operation of a process. Real-time controls will need to
be applied to improve the efficiency, reliability, profitability, safety risks,
environmental risks and security risks for each asset and asset set in
industrial enterprises. This will result in true asset performance control
which will then lead to optimal enterprise performance.
This
guest blog written by Don Clark,
Senior Director, Industry Solutions and Dr. Peter Martin VP Industry Solutions,
Process Automation as part of the white paper: ”The Industrial Internet
of Things: An Evolution to a Smart Manufacturing Enterprise”.
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