Several
barriers will need to be overcome before next generation IIoT systems are
widely adopted across manufacturing industries. This blog posts covers the top
3, that include the establishment of industry standards around IIoT, cyber
security protection, and workforce adaptation to new sets of skills.
Standards are required
to allow smart connected products,
machines and assets to interact
in a transparent
fashion. This goes beyond the simple communication protocols, and involves the
creation of standard semantics and mechanisms
that will allow smart devices to
discover each other and interoperate. Some standards, such as PackML, do exist
in this area, but they are incomplete and do not cover all aspects of manufacturing.
The Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet Consortium initiatives are
currently addressing the question of standardisation.
Cyber security
The advent of the IIoT is accelerating the need for cyber security in
industrial control systems. The complexity of IIoT will mean that cyber
security must be designed into the components that make up the automation
system.
The adoption of industrial security standards with certification will be
essential to the advancement of IIoT because it will ensure the security not
just of individual assets but also of the larger systems and systems of
systems. These certifications will play a role similar to those which occur in
the realm of safety certifications. Adherence to the certification means that
the elements of a system hold the key security building blocks. The elements
are combined in a secure way by security certified teams and are operated as a
secure system by security trained operators.
The key to security certification is consistency and applicability. Worldwide, the IEC62443
series of security standards covers
all elements of security from product development through to
product features, system features, delivery and operation. It is important to note that while today
some independent bodies offer certification
to IEC62443, IEC itself has not yet endorsed any of these bodies for IEC62443 certification.
Complementary to IEC62443 security standards, existing industrial
standards are also evolving to be more secure. DNP3 has evolved to DNPV5 to add
security, OPCUA offers significant security enhancements, Modbus is evolving to
Modbus Secure, EtherNET/IP is becoming EtherNET/IP Secure. In addition many
IIoT systems are adopting security features derived from existing IT standards
such as HTTPS, certificates, and encrypted/authenticated protocols.
Worker competencies
The
skill-sets required to design and operate an IIoT-based system are somewhat
different from those needed to run a classical automation system (see Figure
above). A significant amount of re-training
will be required for existing operators and maintenance
staff to manage such systems. The good news is that the IIoT systems will
use technologies that are familiar in everyday life, and the new generation of
young operators will have no problems adapting to this new approach. The main
challenge for automation suppliers will be to design and supply
diagnostics/debug tools that can rapidly identify the root cause of problems. This
will ensure that a malfunctioning or downed system can be restored quickly.
This blog post authored by John Conway, Schneider Electric’s VP for Strategy & Partnerships and was first published as part of the ”The Industrial Internet of Things: An Evolution to a Smart
Manufacturing Enterprise” white paper.
The next
blog post will focus on the IIoT impact on automation architectures.
Stay tuned.
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