Wonderware Contributes to the Digital Transformation for Industry 4.0 (Part 1)
The industrial and infrastructure sectors are increasingly immersed in what the literature calls digital transformation. This phenomenon cannot be considered as a state or an isolated project that org...
The industrial and infrastructure sectors are increasingly immersed in what the literature calls digital transformation. This phenomenon cannot be considered as a state or an isolated project that organizations belonging to these sectors carry out. It is an evolutionary process, a philosophy, the new continuous improvement. It is also a disruptive process, the innovation that generates new business models. Whatever the approach, in both cases technology is used massively so that organizations obtain competitive advantages. Considering this definition, it can be agreed that the digital transformation of the industrial sector is closely related to what is called Industry 4.0, while in the digital transformation of the infrastructure sector the paradigm known as Internet of Things (IoT) assumes a relevant role.
Digital transformation is an evolutionary process, a philosophy, the new continuous improvement hand in hand with technology.
In parallel, the emergence of new players in the automation and control market (new technological platforms, suppliers of transactional systems that adopt the discourse of “real-time management”, etc.) is known to all, which are causing projects related to this discipline to have to be approached differently: abandoning the comfort zone in which traditional suppliers have been in recent years and taking into account the complexity and broad scope of most of the programs linked to Industry 4.0 and IoT.
Finally, it is necessary to consider the different types of risks that appear before and during the deployment of solutions that help convert industrial and infrastructure environments into intelligent operating spaces. These include:
- The partial absence of methodological and technological standards, although some evolutions are anticipated.
- The lack of key indicators that help measure the return on investment of these initiatives.
- The lack of interoperability between specific platforms and technologies.
- The partial non-existence of mature technologies.
- The insufficiency of mechanisms that increase the security of deployed systems and the lack of awareness among managers and users.
- The resistance to change of people and organizations in the face of such a complex and dynamic change.
Under this context, we are starting the publication of up to three articles that aim to answer the following questions:
- How does Wonderware differ from other technology providers to advance this digital transformation?
- How does Wonderware Spain help industrial and infrastructure organizations address their digital transformation process?
- Which Wonderware product lines make up the solution for Industry 4.0?
How does Wonderware differ from other technology providers to advance this digital transformation?
In this first article we address the first question, and for this it is necessary to remember that, for 30 years, Wonderware has led the market for real-time supervision, control and operations management software for the industry. To date, more than 1,000,000 active licenses have been deployed and thousands of projects have been addressed with more than 200,000 users from different sectors.
In addition, Wonderware, as a Software Factory, approaches the market by providing a technology, not linked to any specific type of hardware and based on standards and “de facto” standards to help reduce the costs of ownership and risks associated with digital transformation programs. In fact, only during 2016, almost 10 million euros were invested in R&D&I with the aim of continuing to provide developers and end users with innovative software that is open, flexible, scalable, integrated and modular.
A key characteristic that must be taken into account to address projects as complex as those associated with digital transformation is that the technology on which they are based comprehensively ensures the variations associated with the project’s own life cycle. That is, it is necessary to have standard software that does not contemplate technological leaps (allowing users to carry out standardization strategies and helping to protect their investments); that provides backward compatibility (users can continue to acquire old versions without having to update, thus extending the life cycle of the project) and guarantees future projection (as a Software Factory, the client benefits from the constant improvements made from the R&D&I area).
Another important feature is that Wonderware enables universal communication, facilitating integration with field devices, with transactional systems and with other IoT platforms.
Finally, and as is already known, Wonderware has a broad ecosystem formed in Spain by more than 150 integrators, engineering companies and consultants, who adapt the software to the specific needs of each sector.
