New-Tech Europe | June 2017
Industry in Transition: Enabling the Trusted Digital Enterprise
Kevin Carlin, Analog Devices
The manufacturing industry is on the cusp of a 4th wave of transformation that holds the promise of a step change in productivity. Industrial IoT business models are being defined with increased flexibility, cooperative human-machine interaction and the use of data analytics to discern trends and dynamic system relationships previously hidden or inaccessible. Advances in Industrial Automation technology realizes the ambition of Industrial IoT and promises great opportunities for manufacturers to compete in the global economy through increased productivity, safety, and reliability while reducing emissions. In fact, the manufacturing sector represents the most significant and largest Industrial IoT opportunity today. It is estimated that over the next 10 years IoT & the Digital Transformation is
currently estimated at ~$20 Trillion of which Manufacturing represents the largest at ~$6.5T. Unsurprisingly, Automation equipment makers are trying to capture more value with additional IIoT related software and services. While the opportunity is attractive, there are significant headwinds. For example, adoption of new technology in this traditionally conservative moving industry can be slow. Automation plants today are often a mix of newer and legacy systems with the associated complexity in inter- system communications. Capturing and communicating data securely from the edge of the network remains largely out of reach with the existing infrastructure. In short, factories and process plants will not transform overnight and a transition is required. To enable and accelerate this
transition, Automation vendors are turning to technology partners and suppliers like Analog Devices to provide more system domain expertise and solutions. The transition required for the Connected Enterprise and in particular, Ethernet and Security Industrial Ethernet is already widely used in control applications and continues to expand as the preferred communication medium as industries transition towards greater connectivity and the realization of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Many Industrial protocols solve the problem of determinism over Ethernet using proprietary layer 2 solutions which can cause significant interoperability issues when
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