Automation World: Product Selection & Applied Technology Handbook 2021

PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

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PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

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Contents 1

Use Remote Upgrades to Prevent Software Obsolescence

2

Determine Your Cybersecurity Readiness

3

Automation and the Supply Chain

4

Simulation Environments: Worth the Investment?

5

Solving Common Quality Management Challenges with Automated Workflows

6

Assessing Cloud Computing’s Value

PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

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PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

9/20/21 11:35 AM

contributors Jason Anson Interstates Brandon Bohle Interstates Matt Ruth Avanceon Heather Johnson Interstates Matt Pyke Nukon Brian Fenn Advanceon

PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

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Use Remote Upgrades to Prevent Software Obsolescence Find out what steps your team should consider when implementing plant software upgrades to avoid increased downtime and lost productivity.

D

id you know that software companies introduce new operating systems every 5-7 years? These new operating systems come with a plethora of new features and added security. But maybe you haven’t had the time or don’t want to make the switch due to financial or safety concerns during a pandemic.

So, do you really have to make the change? Technically, maybe not right away, but when software companies release new software, they typically stop supporting the old systems—they call this end of life.

If you aren’t sure when your plant’s systems will reach their end of life, you’re not just missing out on new functionality. Failing to update will leave you vulnerable when patches and critical security updates are no longer available. The bad news is that putting off updates will leave your plant susceptible to increased downtime and lost productivity. The good news is that these essential updates can be done remotely and for less money if you find the right company to help you. Before deciding on whether or not to move forward with an upgrade, there are a few things you should take into consideration.

DETERMINE YOUR RISK At a certain point, hardware must be updated or replaced alongside software. As operating systems become more sophisticated, they need compatible computers. If the PC that runs your HMI breaks while running an obsolete OS, you cannot purchase a new computer with that same OS. You need to stay up to date with software so that, in the event of computer hardware failure, you can replace it and be up and running again with minimal downtime.

The difference between a two-hour downtime fix and one that takes two days is significant.

Consider these questions: • How much is your product worth?

• How much availability do you have in your production schedule if downtime occurs?

A plant that runs 24/7 making a high-value product can’t afford to be down for very long. Scheduling your downtime is a lot more

PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

Use Remote Upgrades to Prevent Software Obsolescence

cost effective than waiting for something to break. Many plants don’t run at night or on weekends, so it’s easy to schedule obsolescence replacements without disrupting production.

PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING UPGRADES An upgrade requires the plant’s process to be down so any old computer hardware can be replaced with new hardware. The new applications, which have already been tested offsite, will be installed and tested at the plant as production starts up again.

Virtual computer systems, developed in the last 10-15 years, have improved the downtime window and are ideal for testing new systems.

They allow programmers to turn off a virtual image or file that behaves as an actual computer and turn on the newly loaded and prepared image, which then runs on the new OS. It’s important to note that virtual images reduce the risk of upgrades. On a virtual image upgrade, you power it down and power up the new, upgraded image and begin commissioning. In the event of issues, you are able to power down the new image and power back up the original image and then regroup if needed with little effort.

Not every upgrade requires new hardware. With virtualized replacements, servers are used and have a longer life span. Additionally, some server hardware can be replaced while production remains running. Older systems and smaller production facilities running on a computer desktop and not a virtualized system generally require a computer replacement.

PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

Putting off updates will leave your plant susceptible to increased downtime and lost productivity. The good news is that these essential updates can be done remotely and for less money with the right company to help you.

Use Remote Upgrades to Prevent Software Obsolescence

REMOTE UPGRADES The pandemic has forced companies to adapt in many ways, including pivoting to remote work when possible. Programmers can use VPN access to offer remote support for process problems or small updates like remote OS and application upgrades.

If your plant doesn’t allow outside contractors on site or restricts visitors to certain areas, remote upgrades to combat software or hardware obsolescence are a smart choice. Engineers won’t have to travel to your location, which results in saving money and time.

Scheduling is more flexible with remote upgrades, as well. As long as you have “boots on the ground” or someone at your plant to facilitate the upgrades, the remote option is a good one. Make sure you choose a company that has targeted experience and longevity in obsolescence replacements.

The entire point of addressing software obsolescence is risk mitigation. You need to weigh whether you can handle the risk of a piece of hardware going down and not being able to replace it. Don’t underestimate the benefits you’ll gain from the new functionality that comes with up-to-date software, either. Just like consumers upgrade their phones, plants need to upgrade to stay consistent with production and gain new functionality. In a day and age where this can all be done remotely, it’s simply smart business to keep on top of upgrades and avoid downtime.

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Simply easy!

Determine Your Cybersecurity Readiness With COVID-19 increasing the need for remote connections to your network, the need for solid cybersecurity protections becomes ever more important.

A

wareness of the need for dependable cybersecurity protections at manufacturing companies of all sizes has, by now, reached most everyone in industry. Separating the leaders and the laggards are distinctions such as the level of cybersecurity protections in place, the strength of related corporate policies and procedures, and the amount of interaction between IT (information technology) and OT (operations technology) departments.

But, for many companies, the questions they often ask themselves are: Am I secure enough? Should I be doing more? Is it possible to have too much cybersecurity?

To help answer these questions, Automation World connected with Brandon Bohle of Interstates (an industrial system integration company) for a recent episode of the “Automation World Gets Your Questions Answered” podcast series (awgo.to/1096). For this episode, to answer a reader question about how to determine how much cybersecurity protection they really need, we sought Bohle’s insights to learn more about what manufacturing companies are

largely doing right today around cybersecurity and what areas they should be paying more attention to.

As we began our discussion, Bohle noted that a lot has changed on the industrial cybersecurity front since the emergence of COVID-19. “Once COVID-19 hit and organizations decided that they were going to start sending their employees to work from home, they've actually had to move forward and start implementing remote access policies. A lot of organizations had decided or been in the talks of doing something like this, but this forced their hand to do it.”

He said manufacturing companies have been coming to grips with how to securely access and support their production machinery remotely—for themselves and the other companies they work with, such as OEMs and system integrators.

Currently, the most common way of doing this is through the use of VPNs (virtual private networks) to cross the firewall that separates the control system environment from the corporate environment. Another method Bohle often sees is the use of a

PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

Determine Your Cybersecurity Readiness

jump server placed in the DMZ (a “demilitarized zone,” i.e., a subnetwork containing an organization's outward-facing services) that outside parties area allowed to log into and do all of their work in rather than in the protected areas of the network.

THE BASICS AND BEYOND Explaining what he considers the basic cybersecurity protections any industrial company should have in place today, Bohle said, “At a minimum, the first thing that you're going to want to do is create some sort of policy to help define what needs to be happening with cybersecurity. This policy creates your direction for how the whole organization needs to flow as it pertains to cybersecurity.”

Getting into the technical control aspects, Bohle says to be sure to address the basics, like putting in a firewall to separate your manufacturing network from your business network and installing antivirus protections. He also stresses conducting regular patches (updates) for your systems and doing backups. “Doing those really basic cybersecurity practices is really the most important thing that you need to do today,” he said.

But once a company has these basic measures in place, what are the next steps they should take to continually ensure their cyber defenses remains strong?

Bohle admits this question can be tough to answer with specifics, because every organization is going to be different. “But what

you can do is look at what your response times are for detecting an incident, responding to an incident, and recovering from an incident. Then, look at what those timeframes are,” he said. “If you're not happy with any of those times, work on reducing them.”

One way to reduce detection times is to implement an intrusion detection system or anti-malware software, Bohle advised. And if you need to work on your response times, he suggests developing an incident response plan. If you find this difficult to do on your own, numerous companies provide this kind of service. As for reducing your recovery time, Bohle advised reviewing your backup procedures and focusing on targeted improvements to these processes.

RISK ASSESSMENT A good approach to cybersecurity often overlaps with good industrial safety practices. One area where this is particularly true is risk assessments. When doing this, Bohle cautions to start at a “very high level. You don't want to get into the weeds too early, because you can spend a lot of time and effort on areas of a risk assessment that, once you get down into it, you realize they may not matter as much in certain areas. So do a really high-level assessment first to understand what really is most important to your organization and then drill down from there into the vulnerabilities.”

Bohle advises against breaking down the risk assessment into

PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

Determine Your Cybersecurity Readiness

small pieces. “We find that approach doesn't always work as well because, once you get done with a certain area, people tend to lack the drive to go ahead and finish all the other pieces. So make sure that you’re looking at the project as a whole and not as separate, small pieces.”

BUY-IN An important aspect of industrial cybersecurity that is often overlooked is the “people” factor.

Cybersecurity is not just technology.

It’s requires the support and followthrough of people at every level of your organization.

When you’re starting to develop the risk assessment process described above, that’s when you need to be getting buy-in from management, Bohle said. This is important because “management's going to be the one footing the bill

PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

Determine Your Cybersecurity Readiness

for all of the time and resources that are going to be used during the risk assessment; so getting management buy-in is important.

And it’s also going to help when you push the buy-in down the line.

If you get good management buy-in, your employees are going to start buying into it as well.”

Then, as you start identifying specific areas of risk that need to be addressed, get buy-in from the individuals who work in those areas. This way you're not “surprising somebody out on a line or the owner of a system when you tell them that you’re going to be making changes to make the process more secure,” he said.

“Getting their buy-in at this early stage is going to help drive acceptance of the risk assessment.”

As you start implementing changes at the control level, Bohle said you’ll want to do organization-wide cybersecurity training. “Train all of your employees about what you're adding and why you’re adding it. Also make sure they know what they have to do specifically—even down to the smallest details. For example, they’ll need to know that they’ll have to change their

email password or they might not be able to access their email on the workstations out on the line.”

COMMON MISTAKES Given his experience as a system integrator working with a number of different companies, we asked Bohle about the most common cybersecurity bad practices he happens to see. He admitted that he still sees a lot of cybersecurity missteps being made.

The one he sees most often is a lack of good backup processes.

“If you get attacked by ransomware, and you have good backups, in many cases you can just restore systems using the backups and fix the problem to prevent reinfection,” Bohle said.

Another issue Bohle sees often is a lack of good change management processes. “If you have good change management, you can understand what changes are being made and you can stop these changes before they're made if you have the right approval process,” he said. “It’s really all about having a good level of accountability for what's happening within the organization.”

PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

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Automation and the Supply Chain Connecting supply chain and production operations often stops at the ERP system. But given the disruptions caused by politics and pandemics, successful supply chain operations will likely require a closer connection to plant floor automation systems.

S

upply chain and production operations exist in a world where they are inextricably linked yet often function quite separately. And there are few places where this is more evident than in automation technologies. The reason for this is that most supply chain operations focus on transportation logistics and tracking of shipments; but how do the supply chain technologies that support these functions affect production operations? This connection is not so often explored.

To find out more about this, we connected with Matt Ruth, president of Avanceon, for a recent episode of the “Automation World Gets Your Questions Answered” podcast series (awgo. to/1102). Avanceon is a system integration and engineering services company focused on industrial automation systems ranging from manufacturing execution systems and analytics to industrial Internet of Things projects, as well as delivery of automation technologies as a service.

Ruth began by noting that Amazon and Walmart are very publicly

tackling the last mile supply chain delivery issues with drones and different kinds of fleets. In turn, warehouse and inventory levels are reduced as things ship more just in time. “So there's a natural progression upstream into the operational piece as a next step in efficiency,” Ruth said. “And we're seeing planning and operations that need to be functioning in a more predictive manner to anticipate and meet that just-in-time demand, but without having to create too much inventory of finished goods.”

He explained that this means manufacturers have to better understand what the demand is, what the transportation is going to look like, and to be more precise with their planning. They need to be more “accurate and predictive in the cycle times of the specific items they need to make and understand how changeover mixes in and what the likelihood of downtime and failures are. This means a lot more granularity in [manufacturing] detail needs to be added, as well as more flexibility in batching systems and packaging lines to convert from one SKU to another.

PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

Automation and the Supply Chain

We see this happening in minor doses now, but we expect to see this more holistically across the board.”

To address this with automation technologies, Ruth noted that one of the most important things is having bi-directional data flow from the ERP (enterprise resources planning) system to the manufacturing systems. “Oftentimes a supply chain or ERP system pushes information down to the plant, but it doesn't receive a lot of information back. This allows operations to execute against the ERP but doesn't do a lot to improve the status of the information or understanding of people using the system to really know how things are progressing and make better decisions in real time. There's certainly detailed information that doesn't belong in the ERP, like the pressure of a certain vessel at a certain time, but there’s a lot of missed opportunity by not automating the collection back or not having any or very little production information [in the ERP].”

Another key consideration is data integration. Though this may seem obvious amid the current interest in industrial data analytics, Ruth said it's important to make sure that those manufacturing data sets are able to be combined with other business information for analysis. “This means making sure that data structures and definitions

PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

Automation and the Supply Chain

Manufacturers need to be more accurate and predictive in the cycle times of the specific items they need to make and understand how changeover mixes in and what the likelihood of downtime and failures are.

are readily combinable with your existing data sets. So a lot of the key indexes around how to associate things has to be a consideration from an ERP and manufacturing execution standpoint.”

Explaining how this can or should affect decisions around production automation technologies, such as controllers, HMI, and SCADA systems, Ruth said he subscribes to Ashby's Law of Requisite Variety. This law states that “in any given physical system, the part of the system with the greatest flexibility will control the system. That concept should be applied in all supply chains (and associated production systems) to the point that is realistic. But it's not going to be in the normal scope of a capital project approach.

In many cases, it's going to require really looking at your approach to automation at a fundamental level, and measuring that across multiple projects to show improvement in value. The winning manufacturers will boost their adaptability with automation information and data analysis.”

For manufacturers to successfully achieve this on an ongoing basis, Ruth says companies will likely benefit by leveraging the expertise of a partner they can rely on to “examine the options, recommend a path, and work with their technologies. This is important because it's not going to be a one-shot-fits-all kind of integration. It’s going to require a bit of evolving back and forth as things change to manage the change that's coming.”

Ruth cautioned that, even with this approach, it’s not a good idea to apply too much change too quickly. The rate of change has to be something you're comfortable with while maintaining a “deep bench of options” for support. This will be necessary because continuously confronting coming changes means you’ll need to be able to “touch and tweak things often to live in this new normal, because I think we're walking into something we haven't seen before. And we're not completely prepared to abandon the old ways of how we did things. And that change will be a challenge.”

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Simulation Environments: Worth the Investment?

Establishing a simulation environment in a facility can have many benefits when it comes to testing, risk management, downtime, and even troubleshooting.

But deciding if the investment is worth it depends on the facility itself.

U

tilizing simulation environments for control systems in manufacturing facilities can reduce risk and prevent plant downtime. Setting up a simulation environment means using programmable logic controllers (PLCs), human-machine interfaces (HMIs), and other devices to emulate real-life production and equipment situations to train and troubleshoot without risk.

More manufacturers want to set up simulation environments at their facilities for training operations, but how much value it provides depends on your specific production environment.

and preparing them to fix any problems that arise in real life.

Troubleshooting scenarios can differ from facility to facility, but general examples include a low-level signal on a bin or an alarm on a conveyor. Seeing how the system will react to these problems helps operators learn how to fix them. When operators understand how to troubleshoot as a result of using these simulation environments, we see less downtime. Additionally, we receive fewer service calls, and even the maintenance staff is called less often.

BEYOND TESTING

The pros of using simulation environments are two-fold: These environments allow facilities to test a system before it is on the plant floor, and can decrease downtime. If operators can troubleshoot potential problems and train on the control systems before issues ever happen, it will result in less downtime, which means more cost savings. Thorough training on updates and upgrades helps every operator, especially in plants where turnover or multiple shifts isn't uncommon. If you have ten or more people using the system,

Many companies and facilities use simulation environments to test upgrades and new products before installing them on the production floor, but plants can also use them beyond testing.

These test environments are equally useful for training operators on using the system and troubleshooting specific scenarios. The simulation environment looks very similar to the HMI on the plant floor, helping operators get comfortable with the system

PROS AND CONS

PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

Simulation Environments: Worth the Investment?

4. Make sure the right people are involved. Ideally, the people helping set up the simulation environment will have a good, solid knowledge of the system. They will know common issues that occur in the production environment.

5. Choose a vendor with combined services. Find a company that can set up the whole environment—from hardware to controls to databases. You need all these components to work together seamlessly; so, on top of being more cost-effective, choosing a turnkey provider will provide a seamless experience.

a test environment will be more advantageous than for a facility where only one or two people run the show.

There is really one primary con: Simulation environments can be expensive. You must have the computer, the PLC hardware or emulation software, and all the necessary licensing. Whatever control system components you have in your production environment should also be in your simulation.

TIPS FOR BEST OUTCOMES For a significant investment, it’s important to get the most value out of a control systems simulation environment. Consider these five suggestions to maximize your investment: 1. Combine upgrades for a lower overall quote. If you’re planning plant upgrades and want to break them into multiple pieces for cost reasons, it’s cheaper to do it all at once. Testing and debugging can be resolved as a part of one package instead of requiring several different visits, tests, and installations.

2. Address risk as it happens. Mistakes can occur at busy plants when lots of activities are happening. Don’t let problems linger—utilize the training from the simulation environment to troubleshoot the problem as soon as possible.

3. Perform full testing on all equipment. Testing all the equipment in the simulation before it goes live ensures that problems are caught early, before there are any detrimental effects.

Whether you’re debugging before installing an update or training multiple shifts of operators on how best to run your specific control systems, a simulation environment is a low-risk, high-benefit option. Choosing the right vendor to set up your simulation is essential, and the avoided downtime will be proof that the extra training is working for your plant.

PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

Solving Common Quality Management Challenges with Automated Workflows Discover how automated workflows can address common industrial management issues such as documentation, traceability, and process adherence.

I

n recent years, the importance of quality management has intensified. Market demand for product quality, safety, serialization, and total traceability has increased as the risk of lost market value and reputation damage has grown. Quality managers need to be able to quickly access product data and rely on their quality processes to guarantee product specification adherence.

Age-old quality management problems, such as paper-based systems, data recall, and process adherence are challenging to fix.

Digital solutions provide the answer, specifically track-and trace systems and workflow automation.

Let’s look at the way automated workflows solve three common quality management challenges.

PROBLEM 1: DISPARATE, PAPER-BASED INFORMATION SYSTEMS Documentation of data spread across multiple information systems is hard to manage and is a common problem for fastmoving consumer goods manufacturers.

They run production work orders, preventative control plans, and/or raw material workflows by compiling information from a manufacturing information systems (MIS), manufacturing execution system (MES), warehouse management system (WMS), and often other information sources, such as spreadsheets.

Production managers then have to decipher this information, plan work orders, print paperwork from multiple systems, and distribute this to the production line. The operators then execute the orders from this paper. Quality checks are also recorded manually on paper.

This is not an effective approach.

SOLUTION: INTEGRATION OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS Automated execution of the workflow solves this challenge by integrating these data sets and pushing out a workflow to operators electronically. It coordinates different IT and OT systems, people, and machines to run the process.

PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

Solving Common Quality Management Challenges with Automated Workflows

Integration of disparate information improves the process itself and allows managers to analyze the workflow from a centralized dashboard. This helps identify where and when non-conformance events might be occurring more often, improving overall workflow and the process control plan.

PROBLEM 2: TRACEABILITY AND QUALITY DATA INTEGRITY

it. Operators enter quality data via barcode scanning, photos, or entry into a mobile device. This process allows faster collection and consistent entry of data, and can alert the management team whenever an issue occurs.

The workflow’s centralized database keeps quality information safe, orderly, and accessible. Product batches can be quickly found in the event of a product recall.

PROBLEM 3: ADHERENCE TO PROCESS CONTROL PLAN (PCP)

Paper-based quality systems present another challenge—maintaining data integrity. Many companies overlook the storage and management of quality data because once a product has passed inspection, the data is only needed in the event of a product recall or audit.

Examples of data management problems include: Manual data entry into spreadsheets or ERP systems to generate reports is time consuming and can be prone to error. And finding the correct paperwork stored in filing cabinets can be difficult if faced with quality audits or product recalls.

These practices leave the business unable to respond to external demands in a timely, responsible manner.

A big challenge for quality managers is ensuring the PCP is carried out the correct way, the same way, every time.

Operators often use paperwork to understand the work order and product specifications, and which quality checks need to be completed. They only know the business process from training and standard operating procedures, which means the way work is carried out can vary from operator to operator.

This leads to managers often having no way of identifying and understanding how these variances impact the PCP.

SOLUTION: IMPROVED DATA COLLECTION, STORAGE AND ANALYSIS

SOLUTION: ACCURATE EXECUTION OF QUALITY MANAGEMENT PROCESS, EVERY TIME

Automated workflows solve this problem by providing tools to record information and the backend database on which to store

Automated workflows are executed by a workflow engine. The engine does not change its behavior like people do, so quality plans

PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

Solving Common Quality Management Challenges with Automated Workflows

can be tightly managed and executed.

The workflow prescribes set tasks to the operators to ensure there is no variation in the process. Alert notifications are sent to operators when tasks are required to be completed to allow them to act at the right time and then carry on with their usual work.

Workflows improve document control for PCPs, ensuring any identified changes are pushed out to operators quickly without the hassle of manually updating documents.

IS IT TIME TO REVIEW YOUR QUALITY MANAGEMENT APPROACH? Quality management is about much more than fulfilling compliance requirements. Product reputation matters, which is why it is so important for quality managers to be able to preserve and access data that can drive product safety and improvement.

By implementing digital solutions, such as workflow automation, manufacturers improve product traceability while retaining accurate quality data. A commitment to quality and transparency in manufacturing processes is quickly becoming a customer expectation—pushing more manufacturers to take action and implement workflows.

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Assessing Cloud Computing’s Value When it comes to data analytics for operational improvement, cloud technologies have reduced the hurdles associated with the infrastructure, hardware, maintenance, and capital long needed for such efforts. But is it worth it for smaller manufacturers?

F

ew people in industry today haven’t yet been inundated with information about the use of cloud and edge computing for collecting and analyzing the massive amounts of data generated by industrial equipment. And though cloud computing was the main focus for these applications several years ago, over the past few years, edge computing has garnered an increasing share of the discussion. The reason for this stems largely from edge computing’s advantages of keeping data on site and not having to worry about the bandwidth and cost concerns generated by transmitting and storing massive amounts of equipment data in the cloud.

Despite these benefits, cloud computing will still have a big role to play in industry’s future, and not just for the biggest companies. To learn more about this, we connected with Brian Fenn, chief operating officer at Advanceon, a system integration and engineering services company. As captured in an episode of the “Automation World Gets Your Questions Answered” podcast

series (awgo.to/1136), Fenn provided several insights into the benefits of cloud computing for small and mid-sized manufacturers.

Following are some of the key points discussed in the episode.

CLOUD COMPUTING REALITIES When asked about his experience with Avanceon clients’ use of cloud computing, Fenn said that he believes well more than 50% of the company’s clients use cloud computing in some fashion.

“Between cloud computing and virtualization, we’ve seen these [technologies] really take off inside manufacturing IT departments as those technologies become more reliable and part of our everyday life…for smaller manufacturers all the way up to the big guys.”

Fenn explained that most applications of cloud computing among Avanceon’s clients involve using it “as an easy way to gain more visibility into their existing process.”

As an example, Fenn mentioned Avanceon’s work on an Internet

PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

Assessing Cloud Computing’s Value

of Things project for a chemical manufacturer using low-cost, wireless sensors to collect critical safety and environmental data. The aim of this project was to make this data accessible around their campus and send it to the cloud for analysis.

“We then coupled that [capability] with notification software that allowed the manufacturer to reduce physical shift coverage for their rounds at the plant during off hours,” said Fenn. “That system ended up saving them tens of thousands of dollars annually. So, whether it’s visualizing near real-time production information to improve issue identification and response time, or trending and analyzing key process

parameters and equipment effectiveness, the cloud represents a quicker and less capitalintensive path for manufacturers on their operations management journey.”

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REMOTE ACCESS Fenn noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has forced manufacturers to re-evaluate how their employees work and interact with each other. The use of remote meeting technologies for day-today interactions has “helped open the doors and accelerate [industry’s] willingness to use these different [remote connection] technologies,” he said. “We’re seeing a lot more folks [who are now

Cloud computing and virtualization have really taken off inside manufacturing IT departments as these technologies become more reliable and part of our everyday life…for smaller manufacturers all the way up to the big guys.

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Assessing Cloud Computing’s Value

more] comfortable having that kind of connection and being able to work a lot more collaboratively and interactively. And we’ve seen that not only on the support side, but even on our implementation side as well, where [there can be] safety considerations and we need to ensure we know what’s going on in the field with regard to starting and operating different equipment.”

SECURITY In any discussion of remote access technology and/or cloud computing, security remains a major concern for many manufacturers. Fenn mentioned that he does see attitudes beginning to change, in that more users see cloud computing applications for their manufacturing options as being similar to their use of online payment methods.

“As those products matured and became more robust, more and more people began integrating them into their everyday interactions because of the numerous benefits they offered,” Fenn said. “Similarly, suppliers have matured their offerings and approach to security. And more people are familiar with using cloud-based applications for other functions—whether it’s for time and expense systems, customer relationship and project management applications, or even the traditional office software like email, word processing, and spreadsheets. As a result, more manufacturers are utilizing these technologies because of the

benefits they offer over a local system.”

He added that the cloud has also “greatly lowered barriers to entry for these non-critical solutions by eliminating or reducing hurdles relative to infrastructure, hardware, maintenance, and capital. And it’s also lowered switching costs and made it easier to move the solution—and your data as well—from one provider to another. If you’re not satisfied with the results, the obvious attraction in the lack of upfront capital costs has encouraged more folks to give these solutions a try, as it’s lowered the return needed to justify such an expenditure.”

CLOUD OR EDGE? Since there’s no way to really discuss cloud computing without also touching on edge computing, we asked Fenn to explain any reasons why a manufacturer would want to use the cloud versus performing these kinds of applications on site with edge computing technologies.

Fenn said that, while cloud and edge computing technologies do function in different ways, using one doesn’t preclude you from using the other. “In fact, they can actually complement one another quite effectively between real-time data processing and exchange, and historical and feature analysis and perspective,” he said.

The main benefits behind choosing a cloud-based technology are the near infinite storage and computing resources. “But there’s

PRODUCT SELECTION & APPLIED TECHNOLOGY HANDBOOK 2021

Assessing Cloud Computing’s Value

also inherent latency and bandwidth constraints that makes speed an issue [with cloud computing],” said Fenn. “So, while the cloud is well suited for housing, analyzing, and presenting data and information, the edge is in many ways the opposite.”

He explained this means that, while edge computing has limited storage and computing resources, “it’s also able to quickly process commands and interface at the device level. So it’s good for gathering communicating data as well as control,” he said.

Fenn also noted that “some solutions can use both paradigms in concert. For instance, you might have an edge device that’s gathering data and doing some real time calculations around process key performance indicators and sending all that information up to the cloud. That data is then stored and analyzed serving as the basis for different reports and displays. At the same time, you could have manual or algorithm-generated control schemes or parameters pushed down to the edge.

their manufacturing operations and start to unlock efficiency and quality constraints that have remained largely invisible to date [because of] the limited tools and manpower those organizations could commit to those types of initiatives.”

He explains further that, where earlier data analysis models required large upfront investment in hardware and customization, cloud computing makes it easy to quickly set up a proof of concept regarding a specific problem. This allows for a quick return on investment to then justify a piecemeal expansion that “not only continues to provide value, but also introduces these insights and subsequent modifications at a cadence that’s more successful from a change management and human element perspective,” Fenn said.

BOTTOM-LINE BENEFITS When asked to explain the main benefits to cloud computing— specifically for the bulk of manufacturers who are not large global operations—Fenn said: “Cloud computing really excites me because it democratizes these kinds of non-critical applications.

As a result, there are more and more opportunities for small and mid-sized manufacturers to take advantage of better insight into

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