Industrial Automation Magazine India

Real-time communication is the need of the hour across all enterprise boundaries

Published on : Saturday 20-08-2022

G Ganapathiraman, Vice President & General Manager, ARC Advisory Group, India

Seamless connectivity seems to be a topic arousing much interest. Why would productionentities need to have autonomous communication?
Seamless connectivity is a topic that arouses interest as it offers a continuum of connectivity that can drive the development of new products and services or improve efficiency of operating models. Increasingly, digital transformation through data- and networking-dependent technologies such as cognitive, IoT, blockchain, and advanced analytics are fuelling adoption of connectivity advances. 

However, when the network or system becomes large and complex, production entities need to have autonomous communication networks to decentralise control. All production units should be self-learning, situation-adaptive and comprehensively networked with one another if the process is to proceed autonomously. The scheduling of processes in a network is a core logistic challenge with a multitude of applications across industries. Autonomous systems supported by artificial intelligence, machine learning, and both historical and real-time data, can also help capture the knowledge of today’s highly experienced operators and technicians, helping mitigate (to a certain extent) the impact of impending retirements of the aging workforce on plant operations and business sustainability. In 2022 and beyond, manufacturers will continue to make inroads toward moving operations from automated to autonomous.

Is the need for real-time communication also experienced over the enterprise boundaries? For example, with the vendor subsystems, with delivery subsystems? How about across multiple plants?
Real-time communication is the need of the hour across all enterprise boundaries, industries and geographies. Whether it is to allow employees to share ideas and work together or for remote workers to get immediate assistance from experts to resolve equipment issues – real-time communication has become an integral aspect of businesses today. The benefits of real-time communication and access to information in the value chain are: 
•    Better planning capabilities
•    Strategic workflows
•    Insight into demand updates
•    Better reporting and data analysis, and
•    Improved customer experience.

At workplaces, real-time communication has increased productivity by helping share the right information with the right people in the most efficient manner. This productivity has impacted organisations, helping them remain functional and productive as the new fully remote and hybrid work environments are widely adopted.

Historically major vendors have developed their own communication interfaces and protocols. Each such protocol was embraced by their partners. Equally, since ages there has been a call out for open protocols from the side of major buyers. What actually defines an open protocol? When can a system be said to support an open protocol?
An open protocol could be defined as one that is not owned by any particular company and not limited to a particular company's products. The protocols in the Internet stack are open so that any computing device can follow the protocol to join the global network. Companies that provide open protocol systems disclose the relevant technical data required for manufacturers to produce compatible devices. These companies can work with any number of different manufacturers, providing customers with a range of different suppliers to choose from. Hence, open protocols offer the customer a greater degree of choice and flexibility and no vendor lock-in. 

In the automation industry, which is a competent body to provide accreditation and registration for protocols? Which is the entity who would define an open protocol? What commercial incentive would such an entity hope for? How would upgrades and revisions be handled?
The International Accreditation Forum (IAF) is the world association of Conformity Assessment Accreditation Bodies and other bodies interested in conformity assessment in the fields of management systems, products, services, personnel and other similar programmes of conformity assessment. These bodies certify the compliance of products and services with the international ISO standards requirements through the auditing and certification service. Being certified to ISO standards demonstrates the value of a company's products and services.

The Open Systems Interconnection model (OSI model) is a conceptual model that describes the universal standard of communication functions of a telecommunication system or computing system, without any regard to the system's underlying internal technology and specific protocol suites. Therefore, the objective is the interoperability of all diverse communication systems containing standard communication protocols, through the encapsulation and de-encapsulation of data, for all networked communication. Associations such as the Open Process Automation Forum (OPAF) are comprised of end users, suppliers, standards organisations, system integrators, and consultancies; and its business objective is to reduce capital and lifecycle costs and achieve greater profitability from investments in control systems. Revisions and upgrades are done by paying heed to customer feedback, sharing information/knowledge and best practices. 

How do upcoming technologies propose to deal with this topic? Such technologies include Cloud systems, Big Data Systems and more?
Upcoming technologies will embrace open protocols because of the following benefits: 
•    Accessible and usable by anyone
•    Increased flexibility and lower cost
•    Interoperability, and
•    Options and choices when parts need to be replaced.

Does use of Open communication compromise on cybersecurity aspects?
With open communication protocols the fear of compromised cybersecurity always lurks in the background. As technology continues to advance, companies are worried about potential security risks as they relate to cybercrime and online activity. Even now, despite the best efforts of security companies, many dangerous security breaches are occurring and taking their toll. Companies should be aware of vulnerabilities, etc., and install protective mechanisms and have rigid security protocols in place.   

According to the ARC Advisory Group, sophisticated attacks on manufacturers and critical infrastructure operators have changed security requirements. Yesterday, most industrial facilities could get by with basic OT cybersecurity programs designed to protect operations from general hackers and malware floating around the internet. Today, every facility needs an OT cybersecurity program that can deal with ransomware and targeted attacks by sophisticated adversaries. Digital transformation is another development that requires better OT cybersecurity. Industrial companies can be excused for the fact that initial OT cybersecurity investments did not anticipate these developments or the rapid pace of technological change. But there is no excuse for continuing to operate with weak OT cyber defences. A single incident could jeopardise worker safety, product quality, regulatory compliance, and operational continuity. 

(The views expressed in interviews are personal, not necessarily of the organisations represented)
 
G Ganapathiraman is responsible for managing ARC Advisory Group's operations in India. Raman's range of responsibilities at ARC includes supporting the global offices in preparation of market research reports (worldwide, regional, and India specific), organising ARC Asia forums, and sales/technical promotion in the areas of automation and enterprise.  He handles and nurtures analyst relationships with domestic and global clients. Additionally, he collaborates with industry organisations, such as NASSCOM, CII, ISA, and others, as well as with the media. Prior to joining ARC he superannuated as Executive Director of Electronics Division (EDN) of BHEL.