It has been over 3.5 months that I have been confined to my office due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We at Provincial Controls are ceaselessly toiling from our homes and office, maintaining social distance, wearing masks, sanitizing and washing hands frequently, for our customers. But now I am getting cabin fever, seriously. It’s time to get out and do some real work. I hope this pandemic is over soon and I can again go out and meet some customers!
In the future, when we look back on 2020, I am sure we will consider it one of the more interesting periods of our lives. In the meantime, let’s focus on staying safe and well, and talk about something that touches our daily work life as automation professionals: Digital Transformation and Big Data.
What is digital transformation?
Digital transformation is the use of digital technology to solve problems. It is about turning processes that were non-digital or manual into digital processes. A mobile phone with a few sensors, combined with smart applications, has turned our lives around. The development of smart sensors, open communication protocols, open-source programming languages, the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and many such advances has brought the 4th Industrial Revolution, known as “Industry 4.0”.
Industry 4.0 is an information-driven revolution, and Big Data is at the core of it. For an automation professional, process and data automation is nothing new. Industrial control and safety systems have been used for decades to monitor, control and report on the operation of processes. Operating these processes produced data, but in the absence of communication standards and software tools, that data was used only to a limited extent for monitoring and control and then discarded, making process-optimization efforts relatively useless.
From limited systems to a single pane of glass
Traditional control and safety systems were limited in the brands of sensors, PLCs and higher-level systems (for example MES and ERP) they could communicate with. Collecting Big Data for true digitization of the plant floor requires interoperable systems that bring data to a “single pane of glass” for visibility and further use. Once you have captured Big Data, you can use off-the-shelf tools to dissect, slice and analyze it to predict equipment failures, learn plant safety performance, forecast production and profit or loss, and much more.
Choosing the right tools
Although there are tools readily available to help plants and factories with digital transformation, care must be taken in selecting tools, systems and field sensors for your processes. End users should select products from manufacturers that are designing smart, secure and interoperable solutions from the ground up. You can buy devices and systems with the required software already installed and configured, which are much easier to deploy and can save time and money. Consideration should also be given to the cyber security challenges that a “connected plant floor” will bring. The digitization age demands quick reaction to change with greater flexibility, so consider modular systems that are scalable and can be extended or adapted to changing requirements (for example, statutory requirements).
With careful planning and the right vendors and technologies, digitization of the plant floor can be more efficient and faster than ever. There will always be challenges, but with modern tools and technologies we are better prepared than ever to meet them.
Konnect with me and let me know your feedback. Happy digitization, everyone!!
Kalpen Vachharajani