Many of today’s organisations are eager to implement Connected Factory, Industry 4.0 and/or IIoT concepts to realise benefits, such as reduced operational costs and better visibility and control. While it is unrealistic and cost-prohibitive for most to construct green-field facilities or “rip- and-replace” legacy equipment, many solutions utilise existing equipment and allow components to be strategically deployed.
When updating a facility, it is important that expectations be set early. Despite the vision of an IP address for every piece of equipment in a network, the reality is end users will not be able to log into every panel meter, water pump, and drive from mobile devices.
The first step when devising an effective implementation strategy should revolve around the environment and the devices, applications, and processes that make it up.
Before plans are put into action, consider the following five key elements:
1. Legacy Equipment
Take inventory of the devices and equipment across the network. How old are they? Do they need to be replaced or upgraded? Is legacy equipment going to be able to communicate with newer equipment? How much time and money will this take? What cost-effective solutions can address this infrastructure?
2. Protocols
Along with the equipment, what protocols are being used by networked devices? How many are in use? Do they need to be converted in order to get the devices to communicate with others in the same environment? What type of media cabling is being used across locations? Fibre-optic cable? Serial (RS-232/422/485)? USB? Copper?
3. Location/Environment
Where is the facility located? If equipment is in a remote location, can each device be monitored via cellular networks? Are 4G/LTE or 3Gnetworks available to reach the site? If not, are broadband or fibre-based networks available? Also, within the building itself, what is the overall environment? Hot and dusty, or at a controlled temperature? Lots of vibration? Are there flammable gases? Is industrial-grade equipment that is designed with wide environmental ratings and industry certifications being used?
4. Security
According to a recent Business Insider Intelligence survey, 39% of executive respondents indicated that privacy and security are the most significant barriers to IoT investment. Security was the most commonly cited concern among respondents. While this survey applies to all items in IoT, security should be an important concern for IIoT as well. How can sensitive data be protected when it is collected and transferred? What security measures are in place for the systems that collect, monitor, process and store IIoT data? Are there any regulations regarding the protection of data and information?
5. Staff
As more technology-based devices are added to the network, is the right IT staff on hand? Are other employees who are tech savvy available to help with installation and monitoring? Is software or remote monitoring needed to keep tabs on devices in other locations?
Additional steps...
Enable Communication Between Devices
While most automation equipment is designed to last years, they often only communicate via proprietary protocols that commonly use RS-232/422/485 serial cables. Companies looking to connect devices from disparate manufacturers can now choose advanced HMIs, protocol converters and other automation products that natively speak different protocols.
Ensure Operational Efficiencies Across the Infrastructure
Try using data collected from monitoring points along a manufacturing line to minimise waste and downtime. Displaying critical performance data in real-time helps to drive productivity and increase throughput.
Provide a Secure Platform for Device Communication
The threat of security breaches is low if nothing is connected to automation equipment, however, our new reality indicates that security should be addressed through careful network planning. Routers can be deployed within a network to limit network traffic to specific types of traffic or to specific users, minimising the risk of a cyber-attack. Using VPNs or tunnelling appliances also makes factory-to-factory, supply chain-to-factory, or factory-to-distributor communication secure by creating virtual “tunnels” to transmit sensitive data through.
Overall Implementation Benefits
The efficiency of the Connected Factory, Industry 4.0, and/or IIoT model isn’t derived from the sheer volume of connections, but from the competitive edge gained by the sharing of information between devices and humans. Seamless communication with operators, control systems, and software applications, combined with practical networking options and support for native features and protocols, deliver exponential meaning to data extracted from industrial devices. These capabilities can take automation and remote management to new levels, thereby making this vision a reality.