Digitalization Driving Manufacturing to New Heights

As we enter the new decade, innovative manufacturing and process companies worldwide are automating and digitizing with the aim to be more competitive. By leveraging disruptive innovations and technological developments, these manufacturers are positioning themselves to become industry leaders—creating new markets and increasing market share—while those who lag behind risk their own competitive positions. I have repeated many times the importance of learning from lessons of the past, since new transformative technology and methods need to be adopted by manufacturers to remain viable, competitive and profitable.  

External Technology Drives Industrial Change

External technology developments, including open software, IoT, consumer electronics, and communications are combining with new architectural thinking. The accelerated rate of adoption and application of this combination have become a significant change agent for industrial automation.   Over the years, industrial automation industry advancements primarily have been driven by the application of new technology developed outside of the industry. That is still true today. Ethernet, PCs, Windows software, server virtualization, WiFi, Wireless Personal Area Network 802.15.4 (ISA100, WirelessHART, ZigBee), and cloud computing have all developed outside the automation industry and yet have had a profound impact in it.   Reliability, quality and availability of technologies need to be proven before they are adopted in mission-critical applications, such as in industrial controls and automation. In 2020-2021, new technology is advancing at a much higher rate and reliability is significantly higher, making many of these new solutions suitable for industrial automation applications. The application of new technology for consumer electronics ( i.e. smartphones; personal fitness trackers), mobile (i.e. truck tracking; driver assist) and medical devices has demanded all of high quality, reliability, availability, and durability and this has been shortening the time that new technology has needed in order to become suitable for industrial control and automation applications. Yet, the influx of new technology continues to create a tension between the status quo and change in the industry. In the past, for example, traditional automation suppliers initially fought against the use of Microsoft Windows and Ethernet networks but eventually adopted these technologies.