Harnessing an extended automation architecture and new data communication technologies can power your digital transformation. With high-level hype quickly becoming real world applications the process industry needs to keep pace with accelerating digitalization trends. That can be difficult considering the special requirements of sprawling process systems. However, it’s important if operators want to bring their systems, plants and entire operations up to date using Industry 4.0 and Internet of Things (IoT) concepts.
While the definitions of these concepts are sometimes in dispute, there’s general consensus on their goals. IoT-equipped applications must collect every byte of key operating data generated in a plant and make it available to various applications. Then engineers can evaluate this data using analytical tools or machine learning models, for example, to detect failures in field devices at an early stage. The data also helps us optimize processes and increase productivity. That said, implementing IoT concepts is particularly challenging in established plants.
The information required from the field devices is not captured in the existing automation architecture. Fortunately, two technologies are streamlining this process: NAMUR Open Architecture (NOA) and Ethernet Advanced Physical Layer (Ethernet-APL). Let’s dive into both, their advantages and their possible use cases.
