Remote - Special SCADA issue 2012 - (Page 4)

FEATURE Re-Inventing SCADA for the Next-Generation Enterprise Karthik Sundaram, Senior Research Analyst, Industrial Automation & Process Control - Europe Frost & Sullivan informed process decisions, efficiently and effectively. The emergence of mobile technology in industries is set to grow exponentially in the coming years. Digital tablets using mobile technology will replace conventional operator consoles and provide factory personnel with a virtual production floor that can be used for critical analysis and decision making. A slew of mobile applications, exclusively designed for specific process operations, are likely to be employed in future factories. Industrial automation is a critical part of industrial enterprises today, and SCADA systems play a crucial role in providing full process automation and information for a series of industrial applications to facilitate maximum efficiency. SCADA is an acronym for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. A SCADA system allows equipment across multiple locations to be monitored and controlled from a central location. The equipment may be located within a building, a factory, throughout a city, country or even across an entire region. The global SCADA market is a well-defined and well-established market space that has been showing promising growth trends in recent years. With increasing end-user investments in the field of monitoring, visualization and control equipment, the global SCADA market is expected to experience healthy growth and transform into an indispensable part of industrial automation. In order to understand and anticipate the future of SCADA systems, it is essential to perceive the design of the next-generation enterprise. In essence, the fortunes of the global SCADA market are closely intertwined with the formulation of future factories. Frost & Sullivan has arrived at a strategic perspective on the factory of the future based on five mega trends. These mega trends will shape the design and application of all automation and control solutions in the next-generation enterprise, including the scope and application of SCADA systems. SCADA and Industrial Automation Chart 1. Mega Trends and Factory of the Future The factories of future will involve consolidation of existing solutions based on a holistic integration of best-of-breed products, assimilating collective functionality and minor trade-offs. The future of enterprise software will see an amalgamation of enterprise resource planning (ERP), product life cycle management (PLM) and manufacturing execution systems (MES). Seamless exchange of business intelligence between ERP and PLM will enhance efficiency by optimization of resource planning. Integration of PLM and MES will be a productive circle of data exchange that will aid product innovation and improve manufacturing process planning. A bi-directional exchange of recommendations between PLM and MES will enable continuous improvement throughout the production cycle. A complete integration of enterprise software of ERP-PLM-MES will result in an enterprise ecosystem where planning, innovation and execution become a synchronized business strategy that serves the need of end-users, efficiently and effectively. Sustainability has evolved from a mere corporate social responsibility into a regulatory necessity. Between 2001 and 2025, CO2 emissions in developing nations are expected to grow at 2.7 percent annually, which will surpass emissions by developed nations (G7) in 2018. Thus, carbon-design is expected to become an integral part of all manufacturing process and design methodologies in the factories of future. Carbon capture mechanisms will form the crux of core business strategies aimed at promoting productivity and product innovation. A number of new regulations in the lines of Kyoto protocol and renewable portfolio standards (RPS) are expected to emerge in the coming years, driving the need for sustainability across different operating units in factories. In future factories, sustainability is likely to become an indispensable corporate commitment on both the grounds of legality and ethics. Wireless intelligence is poised to be the cornerstone in the evolution of future factories. RFID, Wi-Fi and WiMax are expected to gain greater adoption and pervade the IT infrastructure and service landscape by nearly 80 percent in 2020. Real-time video surveillance, wireless data networking and virtual monitoring will be used to tap and utilize factory intelligence to make well4 www.RemoteMagazine.com Evolution of Future Factories: A Convergence of High-End technology and Growing Market Needs The advent of cloud computing in factories will change the face of data storage and influence business decisions considerably. The dawn of SMART clouds with enhanced security will be a technical standard for adopting cloud computing in factories. This will have significant cost benefits for factories and promote an integrated IT infrastructure that can support and improve decision making significantly. Smart Clouds will play a key role in the confluence of production-related ICT systems within a single factory, and act as an interface for connecting the factory with the rest of the supply chain. Factories in the future are likely to adopt a hybrid cloud strategy of public and private clouds for the benefit of security from cyber threats. The high-end factory of the future will employ principles of robotics and deploy robots for performing complex manufacturing processes. Robotics reduces energy consumption in manufacturing processes and improves energy efficiency considerably. It will also be instrumental in reducing material consumption and improving product quality. Efficient use of materials and waste-less production are a few major advantages of a robotized factory environment. Factories in the future will have full-scale wireless networks supporting a robotised production process and safety control mechanisms. Operating personnel in future factories will not be confined to work stations inside control rooms. The advent of tablets and mobile platforms will enable them track production line, perform maintenance operation and monitor process issues from their tablets, on the move. The emergence and adoption of cloud computing will enable factories access relevant strategic data from the Internet to execute real-time decisions and enhance operational efficiency. It will gradually become the major means of data storage, information access and intelligence building and reduce overall capital expenditure. In essence, future factories will have wireless networks supporting a highly automated production process, seamlessly interlinked with enterprise software working through the clouds. A high-end factory will also involve collaborative manufacturing mechanism promoting operational excellence and aiding sustainability. Please see Frost continued on page 6 http://www.RemoteMagazine.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Remote - Special SCADA issue 2012

Remote - Special SCADA issue 2012
Re-Inventing SCADA for the Next Generation Enterprise
Securing Automation within Critical Infrastructures for SCADA Security
As the Brain, So the Body: The PLC Market and Automation
Reducing Labor Costs and Increasing Investor Confidence With Real-Time Monitoring of Photovoltaic Energy Network
Advantages of the DNP3 Communications Protocol in Water & Wastewater Telemetry Systems
Hardwire vs. Wireless Failsafe Control Systems
Advantech Introduces IEC 61850-3/IEEE 1613 Compliant Substation Automation Platform
CalAmp Launches Fusion-LTE 4G Broadband Router Platform for Smart Grid Applications
El Paso Water Utilities Implements Trimble Fieldport Mobile Software to Streamline Customer Field Service

Remote - Special SCADA issue 2012