OT goes IT

Author: Adam                            Updated: 24/05/2019

Recenetly, digitalization change everything, from speed and flexibility, to quality, efficiency, and security. Adidas and Siemens set to collaborate in the digital production of sporting goods called Speedfactory.

"By digitalizing the value chain, we will be able to implement new technological innovations more quickly, make more efficient and transparent use of the resources available and so respond more flexibly to the individual needs of our consumers – to give them what they want when they want it."
—— Gerd Manz, Vice President, Technology Innovation at Adidas

Digitalization is the key innovation fields in the digital age that lead to massive changes of how we work, do business, and interact. Could you ever imagine how will manufacturing looks like in the next future?

Thinking about the sensors of the smart phone again. Six necessary sensors are enough for a smart phone but a complex industrial applications could contain 20,000 data points. B2B is slightly different to B2C. But with the industrial expertise and new business models, the operation will be made to success.

The sensors for industry are IOT smart motors combined with technology of open source and bandwidth. There is a real collaboration between IT (Information Tecnology) & OT (Operational Tecnology)?

A single networking infrastructure with PROFINET and OPC UA is to use cloud as the ethernet, and then use the OPC UA in management level, operator level and control level. Finally, to use PROFINET in the field level.

The industry security is also serious. Risk of cyber attacks is increasing exponentially. So manufactures need to change its single barrier to defense in depth. The traditional single barrier is a single protection level of "Apparently" impenetrable wall which could only defonse a single point of attack. The defense in depth way is to protect in multiple levels and each level protects the other levels. An attacker must spend time and effort on each transition.

But there is no one-size-fits-all solution in digitalization. Every industry, every company is different and requires solutions it can integrate into existing processes and the production structure step by step while not restricting operations due to downtime.

Engineering is a crucial point of cost split. The cost structure of a control technology project counts 50% in engineering and commissioning. But Siemens offered a unique and integrated HW / SW platform for the development of the machines.

Simulation to identify errors already in the initial phases of the product life cycle is called Six Sigma/Quality Rule Rule of tens, which is "The rule of tens says that error-related costs for an unidentified error increase by a factor of 10 from one valueadded level to the next. The earlier a error is identified and corrected, the cheaper this is for the organization." Therefore, The quality of the engineering of a project must be maximized as soon as possible during the life cycle of the product. Virtual Commissioning makes simultaneity possible and therefore reduces time-to-market.

Prepare for the future of automation

5G

Edge computing

Artifical Intelligence