There can be little doubt that the automation industry has seen significant innovation over the last four decades, from dedicated equipment, to off the shelf components, to electronic marshalling, to virtualization. In fact, those massive innovations only scratch the surface of how automation has grown.
However, in his recent article in Hydrocarbon Processing, Emerson’s Claudio Fayad posits that those changes will pale in comparison to the innovations just over the horizon. Powered by AI and machine learning and residing on a cloud infrastructure fed by new edge technologies, automation engineers will continue to innovate in ways we can only imagine. But to avoid increasing complexity, those experts will need to rely on their pragmatism as well as their innovation skills.
The need for integration
Perhaps the greatest risk to future innovation is data silos. As a wide range of innovators develop a broad array of new technology solutions, they run the risk of creating new silos of data, making it difficult to move contextualized data across the enterprise for use by cross functional teams. To be truly effective, modern OT teams need solutions that drive data mobility, enabling them to get the data they need into the enterprise systems that can help them make the most of it. Claudio explains,
“Forward-thinking automation suppliers are beginning to move away from isolated solutions to an integrated automation platform to break down data silos and democratize data. As more layers of automation become seamlessly integrated through a unifying data fabric, data becomes easily accessible anytime and anywhere, not just within the plant, but across the enterprise.”
This integration is at the heart of Emerson’s Boundless Automation vision. When systems are seamlessly integrated, contextualized data can move freely from the intelligent field to the edge, and into the cloud, where it can be consumed as fuel for the ideas that will promote operational excellence. Claudio shares one key example of how that works,
“If data is free to move among automation domains in a standard format without losing context, teams across the enterprise can use it to track and trend performance, and to make the operational and business decisions necessary to improve sustainability without impacting performance and vice versa.”
Working together for a brighter future
Innovation, Claudio explains, cannot happen effectively in a vacuum. To drive the truly dramatic automation changes that will shape the way companies do business in coming decades, more of the key players will need to work together. Fortunately, he explains, automation solution providers are becoming more willing to do their part,
“The most experienced automation solution providers are moving away from a contentious outlook towards innovators and are instead embracing strategic partnerships with successful startups. These partnerships combine the cutting-edge technology innovation of small, nimble software companies with the longstanding expertise and wide industry knowledge of established automation providers. The result for process manufacturers is quicker access to the technologies they need without the increased complexity of trying to integrate many disparate, proprietary solutions.”
Even industry rivals are beginning to work together more frequently, as they define the open standards that will enable new technology in coming years. With so much innovation happening at every level, it truly is the most exciting moment in history to be involved in automation.
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