DECEMBER 2022

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF AUTOMATION www.isa.org/intech

IIOT-ENABLED
INSTRUMENTATION
How Smart Gauging
Systems Improve
Tank Farm Efficiency

Digitalization’s Influence on
Maintenance Strategies

Remote-Access Cybersecurity

MES and Knowledge

Management Software

Safety and Security

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DECEMBER 2022 | VOL 69, ISSUE 6

FEATURES DEPARTMENTS
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
6 Talk to Me
10 Smart Gauging Systems Improve Digital Transformation: Publication

Tank Farm Efficiency

Style
By Renee Bassett
By Cesar Martinez
Reduce failures and downtime using smart tank gauging systems. 8 Executive Corner
Digital Transformation: Evolution
CYBERSECURITY
or Revolution?
14 Defending Remote-Friendly By Jack Smith

Environments from Cyberattacks 29 Automation Basics

By Damon Purvis Creating a LOPA Project Report
Use layered defenses to provide cybersecurity for remote OT assets. By Narasimha Himakuntala

FACTORY AUTOMATION 32 Association News

20 Standardized Foundation, Faster 2022 Award Recognition
Recipients, ISA18 Committee
Development Pipeline Looks to the Future While
By Kristel Biehler Honoring the Memory of a Lost
Life sciences manufacturers are looking to other methods to shorten time Leader, New CAPs and CCSTs
to market.
34 Index of Advertisers
PROCESS AUTOMATION
35 The Final Say
24 Digitalization’s Influence on Industry 4.0: Focus on Results, Not

Maintenance Strategies Industry Spin and Buzzwords

By Bill Lydon
By Allison Buenemann
Building better models provides operations personnel with vast plant insights.

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INTECH DECEMBER 2022 4 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 TALK TO ME | PERSPECTIVES FROM THE EDITOR

Digital Transformation:
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF AUTOMATION

Publication Style EDITORIAL

By Renee Bassett, InTech Chief Editor CHIEF EDITOR
Renee Bassett, [email protected]
According to our most recent reader sur- leveraging emerg-
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
vey, if you’re holding a tablet or phone, ing digital technol-
Bill Lydon, [email protected]
or using your desktop computer to read ogies to achieve overarching objectives.”
this article, you’re a member of a digital Charley Robinson, [email protected]
Starting in 2023, this flagship pub- Jack Smith, [email protected]
majority. Sixty-seven percent of you
lication of ISA—International Society
report reading InTech magazine’s digital
of Automation will be published only STAFF WRITERS
edition, which has been coming to your
in PDF format, six times per year. The Melissa Landon, Lynn DeRocco
inboxes for more than six years. Thirty-
InTech FOCUS ebook, which for the
eight percent of you visit www.ISA.org/
past couple of years has supplemented ART & PRODUCTION
InTech to read there. In fact, 46 percent
InTech magazine with a focus on funda- Lynne Franke, Production Editor
of readers never pick up a paper issue to
mentals, will be folded into the InTech Bonnie Walker, Art Director
skim through the ads and articles.
magazine ebook. Jamie McLendon, Graphic Designer
When we asked the question a dif-
ISA members and other subject mat- Colleen Casper, Digital Designer
ferent way, survey respondents told us
ter experts will continue to contribute
the most important media formats for
articles that inform and educate. Article ADVERTISING & SPONSORSHIP
finding and reading professional mate-
topics will continue to cover the range of PUBLISHER
rial were websites (71 percent), ebooks
ISA content categories, as well as provide Rick Zabel, [email protected]
(58 percent), and newsletters (52
news about ISA standards, certifica-
percent), followed by print magazines
tions, trainings, and events. Starting ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
(43 percent). We’ve seen the writing on
with the February issue, a new all-digital Richard T. Simpson, [email protected]
the wall for a couple years now: Fewer
format will be delivered instantly to Chris Nelson, [email protected]
of you every year hold paper copies of
thousands around the world—no postal
InTech to read them. At the same time, Gina DiFrancesco, [email protected]
delays or damaged copies. More links to
costs for paper, printing, and postage
additional resources will be included, and MEDIA KIT
keep climbing, and calls for a more sus-
each issue will remain easily sharable. https://tinyurl.com/InTechAcom2022mediakit
tainable approach keep coming in.
Also coming in 2023, making the
ISA MEMBER LEADERS
It is with a bit of sadness most of having no printed-page space
constraints, is a new digital publication ISA PRESIDENT
but much gratitude for stream: InTech Whitepapers. Longer Carlos Mandolesi

the benefits of digital than magazine articles and shorter

than books, InTech Whitepapers are PUBLICATIONS VICE PRESIDENT
publications that I say single-topic, in-depth reports with cita- Joao Miguel Bassa

this is the last issue of tions. These will be distributed via exist-
ing ISA.org and Automation.com digital PUBLICATIONS VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT
InTech in print. channels and will be online alongside Nicholas Sands
InTech magazine ebooks.
INTECH EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
So, it is with a bit of sadness but much
I’d love for you to join us in our digi- Joseph Alford, Joao Bassa, George Buckbee,
gratitude for the benefits of digital pub-
tal transformation. Sign up to receive Eric Cosman, Acacio Costa, Vitor Finkel,
lications that I say this is the last issue of
your issues via email at https://www. Dean Ford, Narasimha Himakuntala,
InTech in print. After years of pilot projects
isa.org/intech-home/subscribe. Share Russ Rhinehart, Nick Sands, David Spitzer,
and deliberations, the digital transforma-
the QR code on the cover with new Sandeep Vysyaraju, Steven Valdez
tion of InTech magazine is a reality.
coworkers so they can sign up too.
As an industry consultant states in Submit your articles and whitepaper
this issue’s Executive Corner column, reports to [email protected]. And
“Digital transformation is the process of share your thoughts on what’s in store
intentionally bringing about comprehen- for you in 2023. Is there digital trans-
sive changes, after due deliberation, by formation in your future? 

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 6 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

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 EXECUTIVE CORNER | TIPS AND STRATEGIES FOR MANAGERS

Digital Transformation: Evolution or Revolution?

The manufacturing industry continues to be inun- to achieve overarching objectives, which, in the
dated with buzzwords. Automation, in particular, business context, often includes improving a
has its share of technical lingo. In the mid-2000s, company’s business, production, and operational
the phrase shop-floor-to-top-floor was prevalent, processes.”
as was enterprise connectivity and communica-
Arcot also says that digital transformation is
tion. What do analysts and marketers gravitate
driven by the collection and use of data. Digital
toward now? Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT),
technologies like IIoT, edge and cloud computing,
Industry 4.0, edge, cloud, and digital transforma-
data analytics, and artificial intelligence are excel-
tion are now fully part of automation vocabulary.
By Jack Smith lent tools for creating, collecting, and analyzing
While much of the underlying technology is this data. He also says that data digitization and
Smith (jsmith@
remarkably similar to that from 10 and 15 years process digitalization are foundational to digital
automation.com) is
a contributing editor ago, there are differences that must be acknowl- transformation.
for Automation.com edged and understood. For example, the concept
“Digitization is the process of converting image,
and ISA’s InTech of connectivity is not new, but the potential for
sound, document, etc., information into a digital
magazine. He has wisely using data obtained through the right con-
format that can be processed by a computer. An
been a trade jour- nectivity is the objective to be pursued today.
example is the conversion of input signals from
nalist for 22 years.
Consider “digital transformation.” Skeptics say transmitters to a DCS [distributed control system]
the process is more like an evolution than a trans- from analog signals to digital signals by using
formation. It is a journey and should be treated communication protocols such as Fieldbus,” Arcot
like one, because once you get “this” done, there explains. “Digitalization refers to enabling or
is more to do. More innovations happen, more improving processes by leveraging digital tech-
technologies that can solve problems are intro- nologies and digitized data.”
duced, and there’s always more to do.
What will they call it next?
So, is “digital transformation” an evolution or is
Digital transformation means different things to
it truly transformative? It’s actually both. Digital
different people and different companies. One
technologies had to evolve to get from where they
company may be just starting its journey, while
were to where they are now. On the other hand,
another is reaping major benefits because it is far-
when appropriately applied, those same technolo-
ther along the digital transformation path. Those
gies are transforming companies for the better. A
who are successful approach it as a process of
smooth digital transformation journey relies on
continuous improvement and refinement. “Con-
data in digital form, processes that are digitally
tinuous improvement,” by the way, is more than
managed, and the right data at the right time.
just a buzzword borrowed from Lean manufactur-
ing concepts. From a technological perspective,
automation has always been a driving force for
The concept of connectivity is not new. continuous improvement.

But the potential for wisely using data Arcot says a company that wants to launch
a digital transformation program must ensure
obtained through the right connectivity is that the right data is in a digital format and that
the objective to be pursued. processes are digitally managed. If a manufacturer
wants to achieve digital transformation, then it
must have operational technology systems such as
a DCS, programmable logic controllers, and/or a
It’s a journey
manufacturing execution system already in place.
In his article “Digital Transformation Strategy,”
“Digitized data and digitally managed processes
https://www.automation.com/en-US/Articles/
are prerequisites to move forward with any digital
July-2021/Digital-Transformation-Strategy, consul-
transformation program,” he says.
tant Rajabahadur V. Arcot says, “Digital transfor-
mation is the process of intentionally bringing Call it what you will—digital transformation or
about comprehensive changes, after due delibera- digital evolution—it needs to be done. What are
tion, by leveraging emerging digital technologies you waiting for? 

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 8 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

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DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Smartt
Gauging g
Systemss
Improve e
Tank Farmm
Efficiencyy
By Cesar Martinez The second law of thermodynamics states the control is to methodically manipulate inputs
total entropy—or natural disorder—of any system from an environment containing varying levels
increases or remains the same in a spontane- of disorder into specific outputs that bring about
ous process. This is a foundational facet, one desirable outcomes. These points warrant the
requirement of maintenance in every plant,

IIoT-ready instrumentation
because equipment naturally degrades over time.
Mechanical components wear, electrical connec-

can quickly enable data-

tions corrode, and even static objects degrade
due to atmospheric contact, or exposure to

driven reductions in failures chemicals and other hazardous conditions.

Putting a spotlight on tank farms, maintenance

and downtime. is necessary to ensure measurement accuracy
and plant safety. Maintenance activities have
evolved over the years, with new technology
of the building blocks of thermal physics at the built into modern smart instruments, providing
molecular level, and regardless of debate among more methods to diagnose issues, share data,
physicists, it almost always applies to visually and verify measurement integrity.
tangible macrosystems as well.
Historically, these activities had to be
This principle is arguably the strongest driver conducted manually, requiring technicians to
for control systems, given the whole point of perform tasks in the field, often in hazardous

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 10 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

conditions. But data-rich sensors and intuitive software maintenance devices. These systems can be easily connected
solutions are making it much easier to identify and address to the cloud for enhanced monitoring and analysis solutions
problems, so plant personnel can improve their productivity that generate insights, alerting maintenance teams of the
while reducing downtime and incidents. ideal times to service instrumentation and equipment.

Using the software dashboard of these systems, opera-

Inevitable breakdown tors can monitor field status at a glance, with anomaly and
Degrading measurements in a plant can be thought of analo- issue detection delivered via notification. When issues are
gously as degrading fuel economy in an automobile. As a car detected, they are easier to troubleshoot because the system
racks up more miles, its engine and other mechanical com- has predefined lists of error codes and descriptions, including
ponents slowly wear down, requiring more fuel to drive the cause and remedy. This can reduce the time spent trouble-
same distance, thereby decreasing fuel efficiency. This drop shooting and addressing issues in the field from hours to
may be miniscule at first, but it can become more significant minutes.
over time.
Increasingly, these modern solutions are equipped with
In the same way, measurement errors as instruments augmented reality (AR) capabilities. Field technicians put
degrade in a plant environment may be small at first—often on a set of connected AR goggles, remotely projecting what
unnoticeably so—but as wear compounds, measurement drift they see to a support engineer. This engineer can refer-
increases. Additionally, as instruments age, there is a higher ence diagrams and instructions on a computer in an office,
chance of complete failure. and not only tell, but show, the technician which parts to
adjust by using a virtual pencil tool to highlight the desired
In the past, maintenance teams performed service at rou-
component, easing maintenance procedures significantly
tine intervals to reduce the effects of measurement drift, as
(figure 1).
well as the chances of total failure. But this sort of calendar-
based maintenance strategy is inefficient, because some But improved tools for addressing issues are not enough,
instruments may not need service at their appointed time, as they need to be supplemented with diagnostics. In many
while others may fail before the maintenance interval. When cases, field devices sit untouched, without much idea of instru-
the latter occurs, maintenance must be performed reactively ment health, until a process is disturbed, leading to unplanned,
and expensively, and downtime often ensues. reactive maintenance activities. Using advanced tank gauging
systems, personnel can access a history of events, current
For tank gauging applications, reactive approaches fre-
device status and health, and recommended remedies without
quently begin when a mass balance issue is realized. Trouble-
spending any time at or on the tank (figure 2).
shooting these types of issues with traditional instrumenta-
tion can take inordinate amounts of time. Operators must visit By connecting this local process, diagnostic, and event
each tank, making individual manual measurements to deter- data to the cloud, advanced computing becomes possible,
mine the source of the measurement errors. Once the issue is providing a health status asset dashboard and proactive
identified, often hours or even a day later, maintenance teams maintenance insights. Using cloud connections and analysis
are called out to repair the problematic
instruments.

Online diagnostics increase

reliability and uptime
Today’s smart instruments have a pleth-
ora of diagnostic data—one area of
notable improvement over instruments
of yesterday—and when combined with
holistic tank gauging system solutions,
operators can maintain their systems
with much greater reliability. Instru-
ment diagnostics and other functions
make it easier to detect problems, with
quicker troubleshooting and servicing
when issues arise.

Centrally managed tank gauging

systems provide a single repository for Figure 1. Using an augmented reality application, support engineers can see everything the
maintaining all components, including technician sees in the field, and then guide troubleshooting or maintenance efforts using a
instruments, equipment, software, and virtual pencil to highlight target components for the technician.

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 11 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

engines, centralized software can observe patterns, create Although asset information is often stored manually today,
connections between historical input conditions and output advanced tank gauging systems give users access to a cloud-
results, and use these patterns to generate insights (figure 3). based library for asset information by scanning a QR code
on each device. The resources include the right user manuals
(figure 5), associated product certificates, and instrument
Hardware, instrumentation, and communication calibration information, with data uploaded at the time of
configuration automatic calibration procedures.
A complete tank gauging system consists of instrumenta-
tion for measuring level and temperature and a scanner
Outdated tank farm at a refinery
device in an electrical room to transmit data to a local or
A refinery with a tank farm previously used traditional level
cloud-based information repository. Instruments must com-
sensors installed on top of the tanks. On multiple occasions,
municate via digital field protocols, such as HART, to send
an allocation manager noticed a significant error during a
numerous diagnostic and process data points to the scanner
product mass balance reconciliation. This required notifying
device. A typical scanner can connect directly to a local
operations staff and investigating further.
database, or to an edge device, for uploading data to the
cloud (figure 4).
Operations personnel then verified levels in the storage
tanks by performing manual dipping procedures, identify-
ing differences in readings between the manual dips and the
level sensor readings for each tank. Once this was done, they
manually created a report of their findings, and sent this to
the maintenance department.

Using this report, maintenance personnel created a work order

in a disparate work management system, then sent specially
trained staff to remediate the identified instrument issues. This
frequently required multiple trips back and forth between the
tank and the shop to exchange tools and consult user manuals.

Retrofit with a modern tank gauging solution

To reduce the effort required to identify, validate, and address
these frequent problems, and to improve personnel safety
and productivity, the refinery retrofitted its existing equip-
ment using smart instruments and a liquid tank gauging solu-
tion. This provided a path to proactively address these sorts
of issues with state-of-the-art Industrial Internet of Things
(IIoT) technology.
Figure 2. Dashboards and popups in an advanced tank gauging
system provide an at-a-glance view of device health, event history, The new level instrumentation came fitted with round-the-
and other information.
clock self-diagnostic capabilities with a connection to the liquid
tank gauging solution health app. This app constantly monitors
level sensor health, reporting the information to the dashboard
and issuing alarms when anomalies are detected.

The refinery has had significantly fewer issues since the

upgrade, but when anomalies or problems do arise, the system
proactively identifies the issue without human intervention,
automatically logging it and opening a work order in the con-
nected computerized maintenance management system. It
defines and categorizes the issue by device according to the
NAMUR NE107 standard, and reports it immediately in the
liquid tank gauging solution health app.

An alarm is sent to the maintenance department, and a

technician logs in to the app to confirm the alarm and read the
diagnostic information, including root cause, suggested remedy,
Figure 3. When connected to the cloud, users receive plant insights and a link to the user manual. Alarm details are also provided,
in the advanced tank gauging application. identifying the time the anomaly or problem was detected.

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 12 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Fully informed of the context, the technician is empowered price cannot be overlooked, operational costs are typically
to grab the right tools the first time before venturing to the much more consequential over the life of these systems.
tank. And in the event specialized technical support is re-
TCO can be reduced by:
quired, AR goggles provide a means for additional guidance
„ standardizing with a tank gauging system
from a remote technical expert with intimate knowledge of
„ enabling cloud connectivity for enhanced monitoring and
the system. This third-party support alleviates the need for the
insights
refinery to hire and retain highly technical talent.
„ implementing process and safety improvements
„ reducing time spent on top of the tank
„ eliminating obsolete equipment to reduce excess mainte-
Examining total cost of ownership
nance
Frustration with the old instrumentation was not the only
„ engaging third-party support to reduce in-house technical
motivator for the previously mentioned refinery’s system
expertise requirements.
upgrade. It also studied total cost of ownership (TCO), a
critical performance indicator for evaluating the benefit of
tank gauging systems. Typically, about 20 percent of this cost From thermodynamics to business continuity
is attributed to initial purchase and startup costs, and 80 The second law of thermodynamics is not exclusive to physics
percent is attributed to operational costs. Although purchase classrooms and textbooks. Left unmitigated, efficiency in any
electrical, mechanical, chemical, or other
industrial system inevitably decreases
over time. The old world of tank gaug-
ing systems required extensive manual
intervention to address issues and main-
tain measurement accuracy, but the next
frontier automates most of these tasks.

Equipped with smart instrument

features in a central repository—such
as self-diagnostics, automatic calibra-
tion verification, and record keeping—
along with the computing and alerting
capabilities of the cloud, modern tank
gauging systems are empowering plant
personnel to move away from reactive
firefighting to proactive and predic-
tive maintenance methods. This helps
maintain measurement accuracy, im-
proves personnel safety, and increases
Figure 4. Example architecture for an advanced tank gauging system system uptime, leading to fewer delays
in transfer and distribution, and greater
business continuity and reliability. „
All figures courtesy of Endress+Hauser

ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Cesar Martinez
is an electronics
engineer with more
than 15 years of ex-
perience in the au-
tomation industry.
He is passionate
about automation, technology, digitaliza-
tion, and energy transition topics. In his
current role at Endress+Hauser, Martinez is
the industry manager for natural gas, LNG,
Figure 5. All relevant instrument documentation—including user manuals and calibration records—
carbon capture, and blue hydrogen.
is automatically stored in an intuitive location in an advanced tank gauging application.

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 13 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

CYBERSECURITY

Defending
Remote-Friendly
Environments
from Cyberattacks

An oxymoron is a figure of speech combining stealing their data or disrupting operations.

two contradictory terms. When bidding a proj- There are many complex technical steps and
ect, have you ever tried to create an “accurate cumbersome procedural requirements these
estimate,” or did your time off ever turn into a organizations can enact to secure their systems,
“working vacation”? In the context of secure re- but if these steps make gaining remote ac-
mote access for industrial automation systems, cess impractical, then it will be impossible to
some oxymorons like “friendly defense” or realize value. Another issue arises for smaller
By Damon Purvis “open security” may come to mind. organizations, especially those solely focused
on their core competencies, that do not have
enough resources for researching and applying

Industrial remote access cybersecurity measures.

security is never achieved

In search of an answer, many companies hear
and like the term “defense-in-depth,” defined

with a single plug-in

by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology as an “information security strategy

appliance; instead it relies on

integrating people, technology, and operations
capabilities to establish variable barriers across

layers of hardware, software,

multiple layers and missions of the organiza-
tion.” But what does this mean for original

and procedural defenses. equipment manufacturers, systems integra-

tors, and end users looking for workable ways
to implement secure remote access to their
industrial systems?

Manufacturers and operating companies

would like convenient access to their digital Remote access, from a want to a need
systems and production data, but they must Remote access for industrial automation
take steps to mitigate the risk of cyberattackers systems generally involves connecting on-site

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 14 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 CYBERSECURITY

operations technology (OT) assets like programmable logic remote connectivity to fully engage their production, engi-
controllers (PLCs) and human-machine interfaces (HMIs) to neering, and maintenance teams, regardless of where they
enterprise and information technology (IT) computing sys- are located. Of course, an increasing prevalence of con-
tems that are on site or in the cloud. This remote access can nected systems means that digitally controlled production
take on one or more forms: environments become vulnerable to new risks, many of them
directly associated with human error, negligence, or retalia-
„ performing basic data transmission to a database or
tion. There is no choice but to overcome both technical and
historian
security challenges to provide the remote accesses needed,
„ enabling remote and mobile visualization, which can
but in a practical manner.
include accessing a local HMI or populating data for a
web-based dashboard, viewable on a PC or mobile device
„ allowing operators to make set point and alarm limit Layered defense
changes Defense-in-depth refers to a layered cybersecurity approach
„ supporting the upload/download of PLC programs, HMI meant to defend against vulnerabilities that are inherent to
configurations, and other network maintenance digital and physical assets and the people who use them.
„ transmitting alarms and notifications, usually via text or Typical IT departments already have systems and policies in
email, and providing an acknowledgement method place incorporating these requirements. OT departments,
„ connecting with manufacturing execution systems and/or on the other hand, are less likely to follow this approach,
enterprise resource planning applications. because OT products have typically offered few cyberse-
curity features, and cybersecurity was not a key focus for
For many years, users wanted these features mostly for
industrial systems until the rise of connectivity options in
their convenience in the operation, optimization, and main-
recent years.
tenance of their automated systems. Unfortunately, many
types of automated equipment, especially smaller standalone With this in mind, what topics should be considered as
systems, were “air-gapped” and not connected to any type an organization develops a defense-in-depth strategy for
of networking, so implementing remote access required a lot remote access of industrial automation assets? Following are
of custom engineering effort. Even when a system could be key concepts for properly applying security measures that
networked, many users simply did not have the expertise to will satisfy both OT and IT.
establish remote connectivity, or if they did, they were right-
OT/IT convergence. As industrial automation hardware
fully concerned about cybersecurity.
and software have been adapting commercial networking
However, the reality today—especially considering the technologies to a greater extent, instead of using dedicated
COVID-19 pandemic—is that all types of users now require or proprietary methods, the OT and IT domains have been
converging. OT houses the source
assets requiring connectivity, but IT
is almost always required to establish
connectivity to on-site networking and
the Internet. Even if a cellular or satel-
lite technology is used, the IT group
typically will be called upon to apply its
security policies.

Many IT groups warily view the

OT arena as the “Wild West,” where
keeping things up and running is para-
mount, regardless of policies and pro-
cedures. Conversely, OT groups have
found that IT personnel can be overly
restrictive and even paranoid in their
pursuit of comprehensive security.
Therefore, it is essential for success that
both OT and IT groups work together
consistently, and not just to tie up
loose ends at the conclusion of a
project (figure 1). Cybersecurity must
instead be designed and built in from
Figure 1. Establishing reliable and secure remote and mobile access
for industrial automation systems requires OT and IT groups to work cradle to production, with shortcuts
together, from project inception through production. or bypasses strictly avoided.

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 15 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

CYBERSECURITY

Figure 3. Trustworthy remote and mobile access providers will

Figure 2. A comprehensive VPN and remote connectivity solution be prepared to work with industrial OT and IT groups to define
includes methods for OT assets to integrate with IT infrastructure the location and characteristics of all hardware, software, and
for user management, authentication, and access control. networking architectures.

Technology selection. Working cooperatively, OT personnel significant security features, and in any case the industrial
should consider the remote access technologies that IT recom- user was typically most concerned with availability, at the
mends, supports, and recognizes as secure. The number one expense of confidentiality and integrity.
answer is typically a virtual private network (VPN) solution.
Modern OT products are now more likely to incorporate
VPNs extend a protected network connection between
authentication provisions compatible with and acceptable to
two or more endpoints over open or public networks. VPNs
the IT infrastructure. Single sign-on (SSO) is an example of a
encrypt all traffic and obfuscate device
IP addresses, making it difficult for third
parties to access or interfere with the
data. Defense-in-depth refers to a layered cybersecurity
Most IT departments will accept approach meant to defend against vulnerabilities
VPN technology, but more rigor-
ous organizations may require the
that are inherent to digital and physical assets and
OT group and/or a VPN provider to the people who use them.
complete a checklist before imple-
mentation. Reputable VPN hardware,
software, and services providers will
help with this process. Users are advised to avoid providers technology that seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Azure
that fail to supply clear responses, or those lacking verifi- Active Directory and Google’s OAuth 2.0 application program-
able documentation and certifications. ming interfaces (APIs). The IT group may take additional
steps, such as enabling multifactor authentication—which
User management and authentication. Most IT groups
requires additional user input such as a PIN code, possession
employ user authentication controls to manage user access.
of a security USB stick, or use of an authenticator app—for
Authentication confirms that users who log in—whether locally
an additional layer of protection.
or via a public network—are who they say they are, and
authentication in turn provides a way of granting appropriate Architecture. A trustworthy VPN and cybersecurity service
access (figure 2). Traditional OT systems most often provided provider, whether it is OT- or IT-centric, should be able to
open access, because older technologies did not include provide documentation about the architecture, so all parties

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 16 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

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CYBERSECURITY

can make informed decisions about the implementation. data, and the IT tools required to ensure cybersecurity
There are usually on-premise, cloud, and hybrid options and and compliance?
aspects for architectures (figure 3). Servers, firewalls, and  How much customization is required for a working
other devices are needed, so all parties need to understand solution? Does the customization comprise the overall
where these will be physically located, and who will manage security of the solution?
and maintain them.
Once these questions have been answered, it is time to
Some solutions rely on external resources delivered as proceed to the next step.
infrastructure-, platform-, and/or software as a service (IaaS,
PaaS, SaaS), and each of these resources needs to be vetted.
Implementing a complete and secure remote access
Any solution using the cloud will likely be associated with
system
one or more cloud providers, each of which must be exam-
The preceding sections might seem to raise more questions
ined for digital and even physical security.
than answers, which is understandable because implement-
As part of this vetting process, these and other questions ing a complete and secure remote access system is not as
must be answered satisfactorily: simple as buying an appliance and plugging it in. Some OT
and IT groups may be able to create such a system from
 Are data centers local or international, and are they
scratch, or using various products, but creating a compre-
located strategically to provide minimum latency and
hensive, demonstrably secure, and maintainable solution is a
maximum uptime?
complex challenge.
 Does the provider offer a service level agreement, so that
end users can be assured of the quality and availability of A better approach is to build on an established commercial
the connection? off-the-shelf solution backed by an experienced industry
 What OT and IT assets, such as firewalls, will need to be supplier. A dependable provider will have educational and
configured to integrate within the architecture? How do specification assets in the form of white papers, network
you securely configure these to be as strict as possible? architecture drawings, videos, and other online support
 Is the provider familiar with the OT assets providing the resources. The provider will include free phone support,
along with assistance for addressing all OT and IT security
concerns.

VPN solutions will integrate OT assets with IT infrastruc-

ture, using SSO and other technologies. Cloud resources
PROComSol
Process Communications Solutions
will consist of dozens of servers distributed worldwide—for
segmentation and stability reasons—with endpoints close
Convert your mobile device into a to user locations and 24/7 security monitoring. Last but not
full featured HART or FF communicator. least, users should look for solutions certified according to
A modern replacement for expensive hand-helds ISO 27001, which addresses information security manage-
ment, to verify the highest standards are upheld.
DEVICE
CONFIGURATIONS Suppliers offering these types of services will provide
the assistance required for organizations to implement and
support secure remote access. In most cases, the cost of
engaging competent suppliers is less than hiring and retain-
ing sufficient internal staff, creating a mutually beneficial
relationship that makes financial and technical sense. 
All figures courtesy of AutomationDirect

Cloud features!

ProComSol, Ltd is a leader in the design and manufacture ABOUT THE AUTHOR
of advanced, cost-effective, and reliable HART and Damon Purvis is the PLC product manager
FF communication products for the Process Control marketplace. at AutomationDirect.com. He has more than
+1 216 221 1550 [email protected] 22 years of industrial automation experience.
His previous roles include designing and
procomsol.com deploying automated solutions in a variety of
industries and managing product develop-
ment of manufacturing data management
Hazardous area options available for Windows and Android!
and business intelligence applications.

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 18 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 GLOBAL
CYBERSECURITY
ALLIANCE
THE TIME IS NOW

Industrial Cybersecurity
is a Global Imperative
It’s time to join forces. We are stronger together.
Get Engaged!
• Follow our blog: www.isa.org/isagcablog
• Download our white papers and guides: www.isa.org/isagcashare
• Join the End User Council: www.isa.org/endusercouncil

MEMBERS:

TM

STAY PRODUCTIVE, STAY SECURE

www.isa.org/isagca International Society of Automation

Setting the Standard for Automation™
FACTORY AUTOMATION

Standardized Foundation,
Faster Development Pipeline
By Kristel Biehler The life sciences industry is changing quickly, was a unique situation. Not every treatment is
and in the past five years, the pressure to bring going to receive the attention and investment
new treatments rapidly and safely to market has necessary to shorten the production pipeline so
increased dramatically. In 2021 alone, life sciences dramatically. Ultimately, life sciences organiza-
manufacturers initiated more than 25,000 new tions need to look to other methods to shorten
clinical trials. But to take those clinical trials to time to market, and one of the most important
successful production can take many years—a technologies for doing this is the manufacturing
timeline that is no longer sustainable. A perfect execution system (MES).
example of this shift is the development of the
But driving speed in the manufacturing stage of
COVID-19 vaccine.
treatment development is not enough, because
life sciences organizations need to accelerate
Life sciences manufacturers the entire development pipeline. By using mod-
ern software solutions to hasten technology
speed time to market transfer, and then leveraging the advantages of
a robust MES, teams can fully capture the com-
with MES and knowledge petitive advantage of speed to market.

management software. Seeing the development pipeline

holistically
Life sciences manufacturers were able Today, technology transfer often moves slowly
to reduce the schedule for COVID vaccine due to barriers created by silos across the drug
development through emergency authoriza- development pipeline. In the worst case, criti-
tions and by committing billions of dollars cal data stored on paper and in spreadsheets
and thousands of people to the development is difficult to move from stage to stage, and it
process. However, COVID vaccine development is subject to loss and error. Records, recipes,

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 20 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 FACTORY AUTOMATION

and other critical data must be reorganized at each stage—a require a custom architecture that is complex to create and
time-consuming and frustrating task, and one prone to error. difficult to maintain. If the person who created that custom
But even in the best case, different groups along the pro- solution leaves the organization, the knowledge for main-
duction pipeline typically use different software packages, taining that system goes with him or her, and the process
different databases, and even different production scale and must begin again, further delaying progress.
language, which slows the transmission of data from one
stage of development to the next.
A new tool for the digital age
Overcoming these hurdles means rethinking the tradi- To circumvent these barriers to rapid technology transfer,
tional ways teams approach technology transfer. The best forward-thinking teams are using software technologies to
MES technologies offer simpler integration to help manu- break down the silos between groups in the development
facturing teams more easily use the data they receive from pipeline. These teams use process and knowledge manage-
research and development, but this is only one element ment (PKM) software to standardize information transfer
of treatment design and manufacture. Benefitting from across the entire development process.
speed to market also requires quickly moving treatments
PKM software creates an electronic repository to cap-
through the development pipeline by improving technol-
ture every decision made across product development,
ogy transfer at every stage, a problem that can only be
speeding the whole pipeline—from research to commercial
solved by standardizing the way each group interacts
production—and potentially reducing the technology transfer
within the development chain.
timeline from years to weeks. All personnel have access to
the information they need using a standardized set of web-
Much like the move from paper based tools with an intuitive drag-and-drop user interface.
The simplified interface standardizes the creation of prod-
records to digital, the MES has ucts and processes. Teams can more easily conform to ISA
digitalized the manufacturing portion standards, for example the ISA88 series of standards, and
can more easily locate, share, and comprehend information
of the treatment development at any stage in the cycle.
pipeline. The most advanced PKM systems also natively integrate
with other critical systems, such as enterprise resource
Digitized data is a start planning, electronic lab notebooks, laboratory information
Some development pipeline standardization has already management systems, the distributed control system (DCS),
occurred. Few modern life sciences manufacturers are still and the MES to offer far greater visibility, scalability, and
maintaining handwritten documentation. Most instead collaboration among cross-functional teams. With standard-
opt for electronic records, which has inherently reduced ization via built-in templates, teams can more easily use
much of the variability between groups. Digitized records common definitions and keep them up to date over time,
are a must, not only to speed the processes of research, even pushing changes to multiple recipes simultaneously to
development, and manufacturing, but also to streamline save hours of manual data entry. In addition, with automated
release and compliance. But in many cases, the digitiza- change tracking, teams no longer need to worry that changes
tion of records means teams have begun using electronic in products and processes will create compliance issues.
spreadsheets to record data, or they are using proprietary Built-in auditing tools make it easy to track, monitor, and
applications for their specific area of treatment design and confirm changes.
manufacture.
PKM software also provides a structured, configuration-
Although the move to digital spreadsheets from paper driven approach to help cross-functional teams manage process
records improves the technology transfer process, it still parameters and calculations, without an external electronic
frequently leaves different teams inadvertently creating silos spreadsheet application, because all activities can be performed
of data that are difficult to move along the pipeline. Scien- directly within the software. PKM software also can conduct
tists in preliminary research often use different tools from facility-fit scenarios using predictive algorithms to easily iden-
those in clinical trials, who, in turn, use different tools than tify production gaps through exception reporting.
the manufacturing personnel. Activities performed, insights
gained, and aberrations remedied are difficult for teams
More effective manufacturing execution
further down the pipeline to access and assess.
PKM software also helps close the gap between research and
This difficulty arises because moving data often means development and the MES, a critical tool for speeding com-
transferring it from one application to another. Such a mercial production. Much like the move from paper records to
transfer may require rebuilding or reformatting a database. digital, the MES has digitalized the manufacturing portion of
In other instances, connecting two systems together may the treatment development pipeline. MES software increases

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 21 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

FACTORY AUTOMATION

Figure 1. Built-in
workflows in MES
software help
ensure every task in
the manufacturing
process is
performed
correctly.

visibility of life sciences manufacturing operations to eliminate Standardizing across the gap
the inefficient use of resources, and to streamline communica- Development and manufacturing typically use different systems
tion and collaboration in full-scale production. and equipment, at entirely different scales. Making the move
from development to production means transferring all the data
Standardized batch records, efficient exception manage-
necessary to the MES and scaling processes up from bench-
ment, improved consistency, and facility-wide equipment
to production-scale equipment. Fortunately, PKM software
management built into the MES help manufacturing teams
seamlessly interfaces with high-performing MES software.
build an automated workflow to better manage procedures,
equipment, materials, and quality. In addition, integrated These fit-for-purpose PKM solutions make it easier to
workflows help ensure that production is reliable and repeat- transfer master recipes. The recipe repository is directly
able (figure 1). linked to the MES, eliminating the need for conversion or
for custom—and fragile—connectivity between the two
Modern MES software also eliminates the need for custom- systems. The PKM system can seamlessly push parameters
ized integration to the DCS. Instead, high-performing MES and sequence of operation to the MES, helping teams bet-
software natively integrates with the DCS, removing common ter manage inventory, while providing improved visibility
challenges with data integrity and system performance. of manufacturing guidelines. Experts estimate this type of
These MES benefits significantly streamline production, connectivity can help reduce time to market from 10 years to
helping to speed return on investment and shorten time to fewer than three (figure 2).
market. To capture the most benefit from these advantages, Also, PKM software gives manufacturing teams visibility
however, teams must close the most difficult technology into the design process to help remedy any problems that may
transfer gap: the handoff from development to the MES. arise after a treatment is released to the market. Teams have

Figure 2. PKM software seamlessly

integrates with the DCS to help shorten
the most complex and time-consuming
technology transfer stage—from R&D to
manufacturing.

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 22 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 FACTORY AUTOMATION

immediate access to data across the lifecycle of the product,

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
providing both decision support and the required compre- Kristel Biehler is vice president of life
hensive data and audit trails to back up those decisions. sciences for Emerson’s process systems
and solutions business, where she leads the
day-to-day business activities in sales,
A robust MES supported by operations, and technology that serve the
life science industries. In her previous role
PKM software across the entire at Emerson, she was the automation solu-
tions vice president of sales for the western
development pipeline can shave years U.S., where she led teams that helped customers identify, architect,
off treatment development. and implement automation and digital strategies. Biehler started her
career with Emerson in 1998, and she has a BS in mechanical engi-
neering from the University of Utah. Before Emerson, she worked
Meeting today’s challenges with today’s technology for Sorex Medical as an automation engineer.
There are more new life sciences products in development
daily, making it harder to develop a treatment that will market more quickly and effectively.
stand out among the crowd. In addition, the first product to
The technologies needed to eliminate inefficiency are
market in each class typically becomes the market leader,
already on the market. A robust MES supported by PKM
increasing pressure on development teams that are already
software across the entire development pipeline can shave
stretched thin.
years off treatment development, while eliminating costly
Although throwing money and excess staff at the problem mistakes. The life science leaders of tomorrow are already
can increase speed, most organizations cannot do so, because embracing these technologies, and the investment is
the pressure on therapy pricing continues to increase. A bet- returned faster than many of them imagined. 
ter solution is focusing on eliminating operational inefficien-
cies and improving technology transfer to bring products to All images courtesy of Emerson

Innovate today
for a new tomorrow
Realize your vision with Festo‘s approach
to smart automation. Partner with Festo today.

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www.festo.us

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 23 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

PROCESS AUTOMATION

Digitalization’s
Influence ono
Maintenance Strategies
Historically, process manufacturers lacked suf- Today, a significant increase in digitaliza-
By Allison
ficient data to predict critical equipment failures tion and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
Buenemann
and instead relied on reactive maintenance to implementations is expanding manufacturers’
get plants back online quickly following failure. access to equipment data, shifting the challenge
Prolonged periods of downtime piled up costs, from data availability to insight availability, and
exacerbated by extensive manual troubleshoot- conversion of these insights into actionability.
ing and root cause analysis. Process manufacturing companies are using

Leveraging algorithms and past performance,

IIoT and analytics help determine schedules and
increase uptime.

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 24 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 PROCESS AUTOMATION

advanced analytics solutions to gain insights from their data A typical process plant stores time-series data from sen-
to predict equipment issues and inform optimized mainte- sors measuring temperature, pressure, level, flow, vibration,
nance activities, leading to proactive maintenance programs, and much more. A single refinery, for example, can possess
higher equipment reliability, and reduced maintenance and hundreds of thousands of sensors with samples—timestamp
lost production costs. and value pairs—recorded on intervals of hours, minutes, sec-
onds, or even fractions of seconds. When dealing with large
multinational companies, the number of sensors enterprise-
Data-driven maintenance
wide can quickly approach a ten-digit figure. Performing ana-
Maintenance strategies have evolved as more data is mea-
lytics efficiently among these vast volumes of data quickly
sured, stored, and made available than ever before. This
becomes paramount to unlocking the value hidden within.
wealth of accessible data lets maintenance teams predict
failures, calculate trigger points for condition-based main- But using advanced analytics applications to create
tenance, and share these insights with the personnel on the meaningful insights from oceans of data has prerequisites.
frontlines who are scheduling and executing the activities. Big data is inherently complex, and it must be thoroughly
understood and cleansed before it can be used in modeling
As data-driven strategies increasingly replace time-based
and multivariate calculations. And of course, the adage “gar-
maintenance, manufacturers are cutting operational expen-
bage in, garbage out” also applies, so process manufacturers
ditures previously dedicated to maintaining equipment on
must ensure the integrity of their data collection and storage
an arbitrary preventive maintenance (PM) schedule. This
systems before venturing anywhere near advanced analytics.
approach is coming merely decades after time-based PM
replaced historic run-to-failure approaches, which forced Once process manufacturers begin shopping around, they
companies to shoulder many costly unplanned outages. will notice nearly every software product, platform, and cloud
service on the market claims to perform some sort of data
With digitalization and IIoT implementations, manufacturers
analytics, with the type of analytics performed differing based
now have access to the data necessary for optimal equipment
on each tool’s intended functionality. The qualifier “advanced”
maintenance and reliability improvements, but the challenge
typically refers to the use of statistics and machine learn-
has shifted to creating the right environment for analyt-
ing innovations in analytics to assess and improve insights.
ics where contextual data can be viewed alongside process
“Augmented” analytics tap into the same innovation themes,
sensor data, and where time-series-specific calculations can
while putting the analytics in the context of user business
be easily applied by process subject matter experts (SMEs).
intelligence applications and other frequently used tools.
Advanced analytics software applications address this and
other issues, empowering maintenance and reliability teams to
uncover insights from many sources of information, informing Decoding time-based analytics
actions based on predictive and prescriptive analytics. Under the umbrella of advanced analytics, there exists a
hierarchy, beginning with retrospective functions—including
“descriptive” summary statistics and “diagnostic” root cause
Data analytics in context
investigations—and building up to futuristic flavors like
“Analytics” is a broad-brush term used to describe any process
“predictive,” which tells users when to act and “prescriptive,”
that uses math to turn data into actionable information. It
which instructs them what to do (figure 1). These various
provides insights into consumer behaviors, marketing effec-
types of increasingly complex—and useful—analytics work
tiveness, supply chain agility, financial performance, and other
together, with the former two informing the latter two.
business functions. “Big data” analytics are necessary to deal
with data in large volumes, velocities, and varieties, and there For example, retrospective analytics focus on historical
is no data of larger volume, greater velocity, or higher variance degradation rates, the impacts of running different products
than those collected by sensors in process manufacturing. or operating states, and the measurement of known failure

Figure 1. As analytic approaches progress

from descriptive (retrospective) to
prescriptive (proactive), they build on each
other to increase in complexity and utility.

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 25 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

PROCESS AUTOMATION

modes. By contrast, futuristic—or proactive—analytics spot- constraints, like a maximum allowable temperature or pressure,
light the likelihood of failures, prioritization of maintenance, or a minimum flow requirement. Rather, the challenge was in
and other mitigating measures to reduce risk. Embedding determining which limit would be exceeded, and when.
these four types of analytics into daily operation leads to
CBM is much more valuable when combined with model
greater organizational analytics sophistication, and this act
construction, marrying monitoring and forecasting tech-
typically delivers quick return on investment by optimizing
niques that together make up predictive analytics. For
maintenance schedules and minimizing unplanned outages.
example, using near-real-time vibration data to do CBM on a
Many process manufacturers already possess a strong fleet of pumps requires setting conservative triggers to effec-
foundation in descriptive and diagnostic analytics, which are tively avoid running to failure in the time it takes to schedule
key building blocks for aspirational predictive and prescrip- and perform maintenance activities following detection. The
tive analytics. By leveraging these fundamentals, engineers downside of a conservative trigger is the inevitable presence
and data scientists equip themselves for the deep dive into of occasional false positives.
high-value predictive and prescriptive analytics.
By contrast, when past and current vibration data is lever-
When it comes to maintenance planning and scheduling, aged using a model, the model can construct a vibration
combinations of retrospective and forward-facing analytics forecast and compare it with historical runs in relation to
are needed to reach an optimal state. Knowing when compo- other process signals. This better-informed prediction can
nents failed in the past, how and why they failed, and what approximate not only when a trigger will be hit, but when
was happening in the time periods surrounding these failures the failure is likely to occur, providing the greatest possible
are all critical pieces of information required to predict future lead time for maintenance. In addition, these predictions can
failures and prescribe effective mitigating actions. actively adjust over time, informing and updating the urgency
of service based on how operation continues.

Informing condition-based maintenance

Condition-based maintenance (CBM) was the idyllic mainte- Digitalization-enhanced predictive analytics examples
nance strategy of the Lean Six Sigma age. The premise of CBM is Many manufacturers in the chemical and other process
that an event, trigger, or exceedance drives maintenance, rath- industries have transformed their operations by developing
er than a schedule. The challenge with CBM was never in defin- maintenance strategies built on the foundation of predictive
ing the condition that prompted a maintenance activity, because analytics. As a result, these companies are minimizing down-
these conditions are often predefined by ancillary equipment time, unnecessary maintenance, and operational uncertainty,

Figure 2. Data from multiple filtration membrane sensors was dimensionally reduced to establish a membrane resistance soft sensor in the
advanced analytics application. The soft sensor was regressed and projected into the future to determine the appropriate maintenance date.

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 26 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 PROCESS AUTOMATION

saving millions of dollars every year. The most successful maintenance forecast and warning schedule, and mainte-
predictive analytics applications often combine first prin- nance activities are now proactively planned, maximizing the
ciples models with statistical techniques to develop forecasts lifespan of filters and streamlining operations.
based on theory and behavior.
Catalyst end-of-run prediction
Filtration membrane predictive maintenance Degradation also occurs in the fixed bed catalysts used in
When producing certain biopharmaceutical compounds, the hydrodesulfurization (HDS) units over time, requiring mainte-
desired molecules are separated from other species using nance to avoid product quality issues that constrain allowable
membrane filtration systems. During each batch, particles production rates. Engineers often use the weighted average
build up on the membrane, and a clean-in-place (CIP) proce- bed temperature (WABT) as a key metric to determine cata-
dure must remove the accumulation between batches. Over lyst bed health. However, other process variables—especially
time, these filtration membranes can degrade, causing CIP variable composition and flow rate—make it challenging to
procedures to become less effective. develop an accurate model of the WABT. For this reason,
data scientists must cleanse and normalize calculated WABT
Engineers at a major bioprocessor suspected this was
values to create an acceptable data set for a regression
the case with one of their operations. Fearing unplanned
model algorithm prior to plotting (figure 3).
downtime, they sought a way to identify long-term particle
buildup on the permeate filter to predict when maintenance To determine whether the degradation of the catalyst bed on
was required. an HDS unit had accelerated, engineers at a large downstream
petrochemical company calculated and extrapolated multiple
Using an advanced analytics application, the manufacturer
regression models to predict the required maintenance date.
calculated the filter membrane resistance based on pres-
It became clear, after analysis, that the degradation rate had
sure and flow sensor data, and on known values of surface
become more aggressive in recent months, and the HDS unit
and fluid viscosity, by applying Darcy’s Law. This reduced
required an early catalyst change. Catching this issue early
the variables of interest, providing clear visual indicators of
eliminated months of constrained-rate operation, saving the
degrading membrane performance, confirming the engineers’
company more than $5 million in productivity losses.
suspicions (figure 2).

The team applied a linear regression algorithm to the data, Product run-length optimization
effectively modeling the filtration degradation rate. This Fouling, catalyst degradation, and other process effects often
model was extrapolated into the future to build a predictive constrain production rates throughout the course of a product

Figure 3. Using the advanced analytics application, SMEs compared WABT predictions from a full data set to a recent sample to determine
maintenance requirements in the coming months.

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 27 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 There is Value in PROCESS AUTOMATION

Membership run. This is frequently the case for model and performing analysis in the
polymer production processes where advanced analytics application environ-
produced materials begin to coat the ment, SMEs compared actual perfor-
insides of vessels and pipes, restricting mance against the forecast to pinpoint
flow, building up pressure, and dimin- the ideal times for executing defoul
ishing heat transfer. To remove such procedures. Implementing this model-
contaminants, manufacturers are forced based defouling strategy enabled a sold-
ISA is a member-focused to shut down and perform equipment out production unit to meet customer
association, centered on offering maintenance, or execute online proce- orders an average of 11 percent sooner
you the community and tools dures, applying heat to coated equip- over the course of the following year,
needed to shape the future of ment to melt off foulant layers. empowering the company to grow mar-
automation. We focus on values ket and profit share in its core markets.
like excellence, integrity, diversity, A large polyethylene producer was
collaboration, and professionalism. experiencing production rate degrada-
ISA is not just an association, tion due to the buildup of polymer Scaled predictive analytics
we are a community, built for skins on the walls of a tubular reactor, enhance production
professionals like you. which restricted flow and increased the Just like in the academic lab, accurate
pressure delta, causing the process to predictions for process manufacturing
approach the design limits of upstream operations depend on in-depth knowl-
ISA Connect equipment. The company sought a de- edge of past equipment behavior and
Engage in technical fouling strategy to increase production, outcomes. By using advanced analytics
discussions - both online prevent damage, and fulfill customer applications combining retrospective
and live - with automation
orders more quickly. with proactive analytics, process ex-
professionals like yourself all
around the world. perts and data analysts can easily build
Using the advanced analytics applica-
robust models capable of predicting
tion, a team of SMEs created a regres-
Career Center plant maintenance needs and risk-miti-
sion model of the degrading production
Search job boards, build your gating procedures.
rate to forecast when the production
resume, or get help career
planning – all the tools you
target would be met if no action were With collaboration among process,
need to advance your career taken. They then compared this date maintenance, and reliability experts,
in automation. to an alternative model incorporating and with the right tools in their digitali-
multiple defouling procedures over the zation toolbox, process manufacturers
ISA/IEC Standards run. The team performed calculations can build better models and provide
to determine the optimal number of operations personnel with vast plant
62443

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that reflect the expertise of defoul cycles, minimizing the total time insights. Empowered with self-service
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the world!
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with members in your
the optimal number
local community or in your
technical specialty. of future cycles ABOUT THE AUTHOR
between defouling Allison Buenemann is an industry principal
procedures. This at Seeq Corporation. She has a process
Education and Training
Receive discounts on training golden profile was engineering background with a BS in chemi-
courses, event registrations, formed from data cal engineering from Purdue University
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an optimal perfor-
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is used to continu-
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and translating them into product requirements for Seeq.
Visit ISA.org/membership to learn more! By deploying this

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 28 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 AUTOMATION BASICS

Creating a LOPA
Project Report

By Narasimha Himakuntala
LOPA reviews are intended to
Layer of protection analysis (LOPA) is determine if there are adequate
a method of analyzing the likelihood
(frequency) of an event with a harmful protective devices or features in the
outcome based on the initiating event
frequency and the probability of failure process to provide tolerable risk.
of a series of independent protection
layers, which could prevent the harmful LOPA methodologies 12. Assign the SILs to safety instru-
outcome. mented functions (SIFs), if
There are qualitative and quantitative
applicable.
LOPA is one of the most used risk LOPA methodologies. The qualita-
13. Repeat steps 2 through 12.
assessment techniques, and, in its sim- tive LOPA methodology is performed
14. Increase the SIL of the SIFs used
plified form, is only a semiquantitative one scenario at a time. The benefit of
more than once, if appropriate.
technique. As with most risk assess- qualitative LOPA is it consumes less
15. Ensure the risk reduction provided
ment techniques, the primary focus of a time and fewer resources than more
by the IPLs will be maintained and
LOPA review is to determine if there are quantitative risk analysis techniques. It
validated.
adequate protective devices or features also provides a consistent and defen-
16. Complete and approve the LOPA
in the process to provide tolerable risk. sible methodology for a company’s risk
documentation.
and safety integrity level (SIL) target
Protection layers are the most critical
selection decisions. The steps are: A quantitative LOPA methodology
and fundamental aspect in any LOPA
is performed based on the multiple
review. Most of the analysis is spent 1. Identify all scenarios to be analyzed.
initiating event scenarios. The benefit
determining if the safeguards proposed 2. Select a scenario to analyze.
of quantitative LOPA is it determines
by a hazard identification team can be 3. Estimate initiating event frequency.
a more precise numerical estimate of
independent protective layers (IPLs). 4. Estimate consequence severity.
a SIF’s required performance and a
In the hazard identification review, all 5. Determine the fully unmitigated
required risk reduction factor (RRF) and
safeguards are listed, and no estimations risks.
SIL for SIFs protecting against multiple
are made regarding their effective- 6. Determine if the fully unmitigated
events. The steps are:
ness in preventing the hazard or their risk is tolerable.
dependence on one another. In the 7. Identify the IPLs. 1. Verify the effectiveness of each IPL
field, some teams assume certain safe- 8. Identify the enabling conditions and for each initiating event.
guards can provide significantly more conditional modifiers. 2. Estimate initiating event frequencies
risk reduction than their true capability. 9. Determine the intermediate event and IPL failure probabilities.
LOPA resolves this problem by requir- frequency. 3. Determine the SIL target for high-
ing the safeguards to meet predefined 10. Determine if the risk is tolerable. demand safety instrumented functions.
criteria before they are assumed to 11. Determine how to provide the ad- 4. Determine the SIL target for continu-
provide risk reduction. ditional risk reduction, if needed. ous demand SIFs.

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 29 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 AUTOMATION BASICS

LOPA worksheets this testing is documented. This pump power supply is independent.
Consider an example from some LOPA means the PSV meets the auditability If the spare pump and autostart safe-
2012 problem studies. A hazard and requirement for an IPL. guard met all the other IPL criteria, it
operability study (HAZOP) reviewed an „ The column pressure will increase from would be an IPL.
amine stripping column. An excerpt of its normal operating pressure of 30 psig „ The operators keep the column tem-
the documentation is shown in figure to 220 psig in approximately 15 min- perature control in manual approxi-
1. Quantification of risk categories and utes. This means no safeguards involving mately 25 percent of the time due
frequency is shown in figure 2. operator field actions can be IPLs. to “controllability issues.” This means
„ The column design feed rate is ap- the temperature controller cannot
Consider the resulting developed
proximately 1,450 liters per minute be used as an IPL, because it is not
worksheet shown in figure 3 and note
(LPM), but recent debottlenecking at least 90 percent dependable. If a
this additional information about the
has increased the feed rate to approxi- quantitative LOPA was performed, a
completed LOPA worksheet:
mately 2,175 LPM. The review team is probability of failure on demand of
„ The column is out of service three not aware of the PSV being resized for 0.33 = (1 – 0.9 × 0.75) may be used
months of every year. Because this this increased feed rate. This means if the temperature controller met the
tower is in service more than 10 the PSV cannot be an IPL, because the remaining IPL criteria.
percent of the time, this means no review team does not know if the PSV „ The column high-pressure alarm,
use factor may be used. If a quanti- is adequate for the increased feed high-temperature alarm, temperature
tative LOPA was performed, a use rate. This should be noted as an action control, and pressure control are per-
factor of 25 percent could be used. to confirm whether or not the sizing is formed in the unit’s BPCS. The BPCS
„ Operation and maintenance person- correct for the new case. contains redundant control proces-
nel are in the vicinity of the amine „ The spare reflux pump and low- sors and is powered using a redun-
stripping column approximately pressure autostart are not periodically dant power supply. Because all these
15 percent of each day. Because tested. Because the spare pump and functions reside in the same BPCS
personnel are present more than 10 autostart are not periodically tested, and the BPCS has not been designed
percent of the time, this means no this safeguard fails the auditability to meet IEC 61508 or documented
occupational factor may be used. If requirement for IPLs and cannot be to meet the “proven in use” criteria of
a quantitative LOPA was performed, considered an IPL. IEC 61511, only one IPL involving the
an occupational factor of 15 percent „ The low-pressure autostart is per- BPCS may be allowed.
could be used. formed in a local controller in the „ The operators have a detailed
„ The pressure safety valve (PSV) set- field that is separate from the basic procedure to respond to the reflux
ting is 220 psig, and it releases to process control system (BPCS). This pump tripping, which requires the
atmosphere. This means there should means the spare pump and auto- field operator to restart the pump.
be another reviewed LOPA scenario start could meet the independent If the pump cannot be restarted,
with the initiating event of the PSV IPL requirement based on periodical the control room operator must
lifting and the consequence of po- testing, even if the pressure or tem- trip the steam to the reboiler. If the
tential personnel exposure to H2S. perature controller was used as an operating procedure was rewritten
„ The column maximum allowable work- IPL, since its logic is not performed to have the control room operator
ing pressure is 300 psig. This means in the BPCS. immediately trip the reboiler steam
the PSV lift setting is adequate to „ The main reflux pump is turbine after the reflux pump trips, and the
protect the column from overpressure. driven, and the spare reflux pump is review team believes each control
„ The PSV is bench tested yearly, and electrically driven. This means the operator would perform this action

� Item – 1:1 � Parameter – Pressure � Deviation – High � Cause – The reflux pump trips.
CONSEQUENCE SAFEGUARDS S L R CAT RECOMMENDATIONS
The column temperature Reflux pump low-pressure alarm. 5 1 3 Safety Analyze in LOPA review
and pressure increase are
Spare reflux pump with low-pressure autostart.
causing a potential loss of
containment and potential Column temperature control and high-temperature alarm.
fatality due to operator Column pressure control and high-pressure alarm.
exposure to H2S.
Pressure relief valve.
Local H2S monitors.
S=Severity; L=Likelihood; R=Risk matrix ranking
Figure 1. Results of amine stripping column HAZOP review

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 30 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 AUTOMATION BASICS

1 2 3 4 5
RANKS CATEGORIES
First aid injury Recordable injury Lost time injury Permanent injury or death Multiple deaths
1 1 per 10 years 1 2 3 4 4
2 1 per 100 years Tolerable 1 2 3 4
3 1 per 1,000 years Tolerable Tolerable 1 2 3
4 1 per 10,000 years Tolerable Tolerable Tolerable 1 2
5 1 per 100,000 years Tolerable Tolerable Tolerable Tolerable 1
Figure 2. Quantifying risk categories and frequency

without hesitation, this could qualify operator to have at least 30 minutes and document the expected effective-
as an IPL. to intervene for an operator interven- ness of protective layers. When using
„ The company LOPA procedure re- tion safeguard to qualify as an IPL, a tool that performs analysis on single
quires the operator be given at least this safeguard is not an IPL. cause/consequence pairs, it is neces-
30 minutes to respond to an alarm for sary to perform an additional step
the alarm and operator intervention Final thoughts to determine the combined demand
to be considered a safeguard. Assum- LOPA is a valuable tool to analyze the frequency and RRF requirement for
ing the company requires the field risk associated with an event scenario the SIF. Failure to do so will result in an
underestimation of both the initiating
The amine stripping column reflux pump trips, causing event frequency and the RRF target.
the column temperature and pressure to increase, When a LOPA is used to determine
SCENARIO DESCRIPTION
which could lead to a loss of containment and a the design basis for a SIF, it is critical
potential fatality due to exposure to H2S. that the cumulative effects of multiple
DATE 01-15-12 DESCRIPTION initiating events be considered together
INITIATING EVENT Pump trip LIKELIHOOD 1 when assessing IPL effectiveness and
CONSEQUENCE Potential fatality SEVERITY 4 determining the SIF demand frequency
UNMITIGATED RISK—TARGET SIL 4 and the SIL target. IPLs should be ap-
plied only against the initiating events
ENABLING CONDITION(S) RRF
where they are effective, thus reducing
None
the residual risk for that scenario. Some
None IPLs, such as operator response to an
CONDITIONAL MODIFIER(S) RRF alarm, may be considered to reduce the
None demand rate on a SIF when well man-
None aged and monitored by a process such as
IPL(S) RRF the ISA-18.2 lifecycle. IPLs should only
PIC-101 Column pressure controller 10 be considered to reduce SIF demand fre-
None quency when they are well managed and
monitored to ensure effectiveness. „
None
None
INTERMEDIATE EVENT FREQUENCY 2
RESIDUAL RISK—TARGET SIL 3 ABOUT THE
1. Consider making the spare pump and autostart AUTHOR
a safeguard by periodically function testing the Narasimha Himakuntala
pump and autostart. This testing will need to be is controls engineer –
documented. This will provide an RRF of 10. Protection Systems
RAD for the Spallation
2. Consider evaluating the capacity of the PSV to Neutron Source (SNS)
RECOMMENDATIONS ensure it can provide overpressure protection at Oak Ridge National
for this scenario at the new elevated feed rate of Laboratory (https://
2,175 LPM. If this PSV is found to be adequate, it www.linkedin.com/in/simha-himakuntala-bs-
will provide an RRF of 100. mba-cie-spec-67092518/). He has delivered
process safety instrumentation and control
3. Consider adding a LOPA scenario that will analyze systems engineering services for more than 17
the impact of the PSV lifting to the atmosphere. years for manufacturing facilities, oil and gas,
Figure 3. The resulting developed worksheet petrochemicals, refineries, and process plants.

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 31 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 ASSOCIATION NEWS
HIGHLIGHTS & UPDATES

2022 Award
Recognition
Recipients
ISA’s 2022 Honors & Awards Com-
mittee is “Celebrating Excellence” by
recognizing the following individuals
and groups this year.

Excellence in Technical Innovation Excellence in Society Service

Uday Sheorey from Nagpur, Maharashtra, India, is recognized Jose Salinas of Mexico City, Mexico, was honored for his
for the design and development of a high-resolution micro distinguished and dedicated volunteer service to the Society.
tool for retinal surgery procedures. This award, endowed by
Honeywell UOP, recognizes an individual who has played a Division Excellence
critical role in the conception, design, and/or implementation Members of the Water and Wastewater Industries Division
of an innovative product, process, and/or service. were recognized for the development and/or execution of pro-
grams and/or services to advance the mission of the Society.
Excellence in Corporate Technical
Innovation Division Leader Excellence
Recognizing a company whose contributions and innovations Simon Lucchini of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, was recognized
have enhanced social value, the award goes to BBA Canada for his outstanding efforts and contributions as a division
in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, for the development of a new director for the Safety and Security Industries Division.
technology that automatically converts an existing camera feed
into a sensor using computer vision and artificial intelligence. Section Excellence
The Spain Section has been recognized for the development
Excellence in Technical Presentation and/or execution of programs and/or services to advance the
This award recognizes the author(s) of the most outstanding mission of the Society.
paper, article, presentation, or document published and/or
presented on behalf of ISA that introduces a new technology Section Leader Excellence
or explains an existing automation process. Brad Carlberg of Hanumant Pansare, Pune Section President based in Pune,
Hoodsport, Wash., U.S., wins for an outstanding InTech article Maharashtra, India, is recognized for outstanding efforts to
titled “Digital Twins Enable the Autonomous Paper Mill.” increase the membership for the Pune section and for win-
ning the 2021 President’s Membership Challenge.
Excellence in Education
This award goes to an individual who has developed and/or Standards Excellence
enhanced established educational programs to advance the This award recognizes an ISA standards committee member
automation profession in educational institutions. Cesar de for exceptional efforts in organization, development, and/
Prada Moraga of Universidad De Valladolid in Valladolid, Spain, or administration to further the development of ISA stan-
wins for the development of CAD software, for teaching pur- dards and for services to advance the mission of the Society.
poses, that has been used in various universities in Spain. Angela Summers in Houston, Texas, U.S., is honored for
dedication in the development of ISA standards and technical
Mentoring Excellence reports related to safety instrumented systems.
Richard Tunstall of Lee College in Baytown, Texas, U.S., is
recognized for his excellence in mentoring students and Volunteer Leader of the Year
young professionals. This award recognizes the volunteer
who, in the previous year, provided
Excellence in Enduring Service the most outstanding service to
This award, which can go to up to five honorees, recognizes ded- advance the mission of the Society,
icated volunteer service to the Society at the grassroots level. unmatched by other leaders. This
Mary Cannon of Houston, Texas, U.S., is recognized for years of year’s honoree is Bradley Churchman
dedicated service and leadership to the ISA Houston Section. of Katy, Texas, U.S., recognized for
Philip Evans of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is recognized for years outstanding service and leadership to
of dedicated service and leadership to the ISA Calgary Section. the Houston section. 

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 32 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 ASSOCIATION NEWS
STANDARDS

Groundbreaking ISA18 Committee Looks to the Future While

Honoring the Memory of a Lost Leader
With the first edition in 2009, ANSI/ success as the world’s primary alarm provides guidance on the types and
ISA-18.2, Management of Alarm Systems management consensus standards attributes of basic alarms.
for the Process Industries, changed the body. Among the changes:
A recently updated technical report,
world with the introduction of activities
z Long-time ISA18 co-chair Nicholas ISA-TR18.2.5-2022, Alarm System Moni-
grouped into the alarm management
Sands of DuPont will now become toring, Assessment, and Auditing, pro-
lifecycle. The standard has found wide
co-managing director, to be joined vides guidance, rationale, and examples
use in improving the development,
by Graham Nasby of CN. of alarm monitoring, assessment, and
design, installation, and management
z Long-time co-chair Donald Dunn of audit, which are essential to achiev-
of alarm systems across the process
WS Nelson will be joined in that role by ing and maintaining the performance
industries and other sectors.
Kevin Brown of mCloud Technologies. objectives of an alarm system. These
ISA18 has since updated the stan- z Cristobal Ruiz of NextDecade LLC activities can identify improvement
dard (in 2016), shepherded its adoption will continue to lead working group opportunities in the other lifecycle
as an International Electrotechnical 1, a role he shared with Fitzpatrick stages, such as philosophy, rationaliza-
Commission (IEC) standard, and is now before her passing, in a revision of tion, detailed design, implementation,
beginning work on a third revision. ISA-18.1, Annunciator Sequences and operation, maintenance, and manage-
At the same time, the committee has Specifications. Donald Dunn will co- ment of change. The update effort was
worked to develop a comprehensive chair this working group. led by Donald Dunn and Bill Hollifield
series of ISA technical reports to help of Hexagon.
New projects and technical reports
users better understand and implement
The first virtual meeting of a new ISA18 In 2023, ISA18 will begin work on the
the standard.
working group, Digitalization of Alarm next version of ISA-18.2. This effort and
A major contributor to this work over Management, was held in early October. those of the ISA18 working groups are
many years was Bridget Fitzpatrick, who The purpose was to create a technical open to all ISA members and the public.
was highly regarded for her knowledge, report on the digital transfer of data be- If you have an interest in alarm manage-
wit, and assistance. Thus, the members tween the systems and groups perform- ment, please contact [email protected]
of ISA18, and indeed all who worked ing alarm management lifecycle activi- or visit www.isa.org/ISA18.
with and knew her, were stunned and ties to improve efficiency, data integrity,
saddened by her tragic death earlier and compatibility with other project Recognition
this year while on a business trip for and operation activities. The scope is
her employer, Wood of Houston, Texas. defined primarily by the alarm manage-
ment lifecycle activities described in the
ISA18 has been diligent in spreading
ISA-18.2 standard. The working group
the leadership of its various technical
is led by Idar Pe Ingebrigtsen of Equinor
reports, helping prepare committee
ASA, Norway.
members for increasingly responsible
leader roles. Fitzpatrick herself served A technical report being developed
as a working group chair and lead edi- by another working group, led by Dale
tor, and in recent years had accepted Reed of Rockwell Automation and At the ISA Standards & Practices
an invitation to join the governing body Lieven Dubois of AlarmManagement4U, Board meeting on 9 November, three
for ISA standards, the ISA Standards is focused on alerts, events, prompts, Standards Department Awards were
& Practices Board. In that role, she and other notifications. The intent is to announced that honor these ISA18
served as the managing director of help users manage the notifications be- leaders:
ISA18, representing the interests of tween the control system and operator
z Nicholas Sands: in appreciation of
the committee on the Board while also that are not alarms, and other notifica-
his 19 years of excellence as ISA18
representing the Board in monitoring tions not intended for the operator.
co-chair
the activities of the committee. The technical report is expected to be
z Donald Dunn and Bill Hollifield: in
completed in mid-2023.
ISA18 has now drawn on that reser- recognition of their leadership and
voir of experience to help fill the lead- Work is also underway on an update expertise as working group co-chairs
ership void from the loss of Fitzpatrick of ISA-TR18.2.3, Basic Alarm Design, led in the update of ISA-TR18.2.5-2022,
with new appointments and changing by Todd Stauffer of Virtual Facility and Alarm System Monitoring, Assessment,
responsibilities to ensure its continuing Bonnie Ramey of DuPont. This document and Auditing. 

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 33 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

ASSOCIATION NEWS
HIGHLIGHTS & UPDATES AD INDEX

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INTECH DECEMBER 2022 34 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

 FINAL SAY | VIEWS FROM AUTOMATION LEADERS AND

Industry 4.0: Focus on Results,

Not Industry Spin and Buzzwords
Automation professionals add value by focusing on of Things]. Therefore, I don’t like using the term
what’s important for their employers and guiding Industry 5.0, because it suggests the next indus-
them, rather than mindlessly following the latest trial revolution is at the front door already.
digital manufacturing buzzwords that suppliers,
“Coming back to my introductory comment
with their own agendas, put out to sell products.
on the buzzword, I guess we have to change the
Buzzwords are a form of spin, which in the context
viewpoint. As Industry 4.0 was already a market-
of public relations and marketing is the selec-
ing phrase, so too is Industry 5.0. And I am pretty
tive use of nuance and facts in communication to
sure we will see Industry 6+.0 popping up. As the
change how people perceive the message. By Bill Lydon
pioneer of what was called Industry 4.0, I can live
It has become fashionable for marketing and with this marketing-driven view. As a scientist, Lydon (blydon@
public relations people to spin industry buzzwords not! I don’t like Industry X.x at all. We should isa.org) is an InTech
to influence the purchase of a supplier’s products. not guide our publications by buzzwords, but by contributing editor
A notable example is the term Industry 4.0 and its remarkable scientific content.” with more than 25
variations, including Industry 5.0 and Industry X.0. years of industry
I certainly agree with my friend Zuehlke, and experience. He
Suppliers, consultants, and industry organizations
I have learned much from him over the years. regularly provides
are offering various definitions of this increas-
There are valuable and useful nonvendor architec- news reports,
ingly common buzzword, creating confusion. So, it observations, and
might help to go back to the source. tural models and standards, including the RAMI
insights here and on
4.0, Reference Architecture Model Industrie 4.0
My friend, Detlef Zuehlke, who many consider Automation.com.
(Industry 4.0), developed by the German Electrical
the father of Industry 4.0, is an industry consul- and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (ZVEI) to
tant, retired professor of industrial automation, support Industry 4.0 initiatives.
and the founder of SmartFactory-KL (https://
smartfactory.de). He recently commented: It is understandable that suppliers are enthu-
siastic about their new products, but marketing
“I must point out clearly that Industry 4.0 was people are not technical engineering people. Clearly,
more randomly invented during a German press industry is shifting toward industrial digitalization
interview in 2011. So, this buzzword was never and other concepts embodied in Industry 4.0, and
exactly defined, or even more, copyright pro- automation professionals are serving their organi-
tected. Therefore, anyone can use it in their own zations as important change agents. Before invest-
sense. Nevertheless, Industry 4.0 was created as ing in new software, hard-
a more impressive word for the upcoming fourth ware, and systems, they need
industrial revolution. If we follow this path, we
have to understand the general meaning of an
to determine—specifically for Industrial revolutions are
their organizations—impor-
industrial revolution. tant factors, including goals, changing our lives over
“The first revolution was the era of mechani- core ideas, concepts, and the decades, and they are not
zation, and it took about 100 years before we logic of the manufacturing
[could name] the second industrial revolution. shift, to be competitive and just covering technologies
This occurred over about 60 years and was char- profitable. Then, regardless but also advances in
acterized by deep changes in electrical energy of buzzwords and spin, engi-
and communication technologies. Industrial neers must perform engineer- new businesses and
revolution number three was fueled by advances ing analysis to determine the applications.
in electronics and then computer technology, and best products and systems to
it lasted for about 40 years. So, industrial revolu- achieve the goals.
tions are changing our lives over decades.
Automation professionals must focus on how to
“Furthermore, [these revolutions] are not just improve factors like process performance, reject
covering technologies but also advances in new rates, inefficiencies, downtime, and bottlenecks for
businesses and applications. Following this track, better performance, efficiency, profitability, and
we may expect perhaps 30 years for the fourth in- industry competitiveness. By focusing on these re-
dustrial revolution characterized by the IoT [Internet sults, technical professionals can sidestep the spin. 

INTECH DECEMBER 2022 35 WWW.ISA.ORG/INTECH

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