Representative End User Clients
Representative Automation Clients
Representative Software Clients
Siemens held its Automation Summit Users Conference in Boca Raton, FL June 26-29th 2017. The event was very well attended, with over 800 end users, OEMs, system integrators, distributors and media in attendance. Themes of digitalization, digital twin, digital enterprise, and disruptive technology were heard throughout the event, with MindSphere, Siemens' cloud-based, open operating system for IIoT as the common thread. Attendees had their choice of about 75 sessions given by Siemens' customers, system integrators, and employees; with many sessions being real-world case studies categorized by productivity and efficiency, maintenance and operations, safety and industrial security, best practices and novel approaches, digitalization, and future roadmap. In addition, there were about 16 hands-on training sessions, as well as a technology café that acted as a product and solutions showcase for Siemens and its partners.
The event was kicked off by Raj Batra, President, Siemens USA, Digital Factory Division. Mr. Batra explained the investments that the company has made in the digital enterprise, such as $10 billion in software and automation acquisitions since 2007, $5 billion in annual R&D expenditures, 32,000 R&D employees, and 17,500 software engineers. Major acquisitions have included UGS, which established Siemens as a leader in the PLM space, LMS for 3D simulation, and the recent acquisition of Mentor Graphics, bringing technologies, such as EDA software and embedded devices, to the company's broad solutions portfolio. Siemens digital enterprise leverages Industry 4.0 for IIoT, along with industrial solutions for software, automation, communication, security, and services for the full range of discrete and process industries. It also fully embraces Siemens’ Teamcenter, which is a suite of PLM computer software applications, helping to create digital twins of the entire value chain, including product design, production planning, engineering, and execution, as well as a full range of services.
Examples of case studies that were part of the keynote presentation included an innovation partnership with Adidas on “Speed Factories” for customized production based on specific customer’s requests, as well as the ability to simulate the full value chain before any products are manufactured, shortening time to market and increasing quality, efficiency and flexibility. Also, Janssen Pharmaceuticals showed the first FDA approved shift from batch to continuous manufacturing for its Prezista drug, using Siemens SIPAT Process Analytics Technology. In addition, System Integrator Intec Automation Controls helped to automate Boeing 777 fuselage automated upright build (FAUB) assembly using Simatic S7 1500 PLCs. Finally, Shaw Industries carpet manufacturing required integrated automation and drives solution with safety PLCs, which was done by system integrator Logical Systems, Inc.
The Automation Summit provided ample opportunities for attendees to learn about MindSphere, which is a scalable cloud platform as a service (PaaS) where apps and digital services can be developed and deployed, with data analytics and connectivity capabilities, tools for developers, and a range of applications and services. MindSphere is designed to help manufacturers improve the efficiency of plants by recording and analyzing large volumes of production data, and providing a foundation for applications and data-based services from Siemens and third-party providers in the areas of, for example, predictive maintenance, energy data management, and resource optimization. MindSphere also offers customers a development environment in which they can integrate with their own applications and services. Siemens demonstrated to attendees how to connect, configure and run the MindSphere services, and cited the growing ecosystem of partners and developers, such as PWC, Accenture, Tata, SAP, and Atos. Much was also written about MindSphere from Siemens recent Innovation Day.
You can’t, however, discuss IIoT or the digital enterprise without incorporating cybersecurity, often the biggest obstacle companies face when considering IIoT, remote services, data analytics, etc. Cloud-based technologies requires protection of the plant and cybersecurity expertise in standards such as ISA/ISO, NIST and NERC-CIP. In response, Siemens used the automation summit to address cybersecurity head-on, and discuss how the company has aligned itself with NIST and IEC Standards 62443, devising cybersecurity solutions for its portfolio to take countermeasures against, for example, kill-chains, and from threats, such as WannaCry.
Product roadmaps sessions were also featured at the automation summit. One that received a lot of attention was Siemens’ simulation platform SIMIT, which is tightly integrated to SIMATIC PLCs, PCS 7 DCS control systems, safety systems, and its TIA Portal for project simulation, testing and operator training. Scalable offerings based on the SIMIT simulation products range from engineering, factory acceptance testing and virtual commissioning to high-fidelity process simulations used for operator process training. SIMIT was featured in a case study presentation by SBM Offshore, a provider of floating production units, who utilized SIMIT for system testing and management of their integrated control and safety system consisting of PCS 7 and PCS 7 failsafe technologies, as well as an ISA 18.2-based alarm management system.
Breakout sessions were held to demonstrate Siemens partners applying its solutions along with their own. DMC, a Siemens solutions partner demonstrated WinCC OA's open library containing many common industrial objects for fast HMI/SCADA development, using modular, reusable, and object-oriented code. Secure-NOK, also a partner, demonstrated how it fights cyberattacks in PLCs by injecting worms to monitor and fight back, using TIA portal. Secure-NOK developed and tested a cyber-attack detection solution for PLCs, which addresses both brownfield and greenfield deployments, and where the brownfield deployment doesn’t require any changes to the PLCs. Another partner, Bluvision, demonstrated how it implemented condition monitoring at a major soft drink producer, using vibration data from Bluvision beacons and MindSphere to perform condition-based maintenance on over 200 small motors in their bottling line.
Some of the key MindSphere partners also presented solutions. Bentley Systems’ partnership integrates its Openplant 3D modeling software with Siemens COMOS 2D process and system engineering software for modeling digitize brownfields. A new proof of concept demonstrating the MindSphere IoT Platform with Bentley’s digital engineering and analytics tools to deliver solutions for operations and maintenance in a brownfield was presented. Another key partner, Atos, presented some of its applications based on MindSphere, such as for industrial digital services, including chemical as a service, digital twin, PLM, and Industry 4.0. Also, DMC held another session where they demonstrated moving S7-1200 PLC data to the cloud via standard MQTT protocol as a quick, less expensive path to connect machines to IIoT and Industry 4.0.
A number of Siemens customers presented case studies. Allnex, a specialty chemical company, had system integrator AESolutions deploy Siemens Virtualization as a Service, or SiVaaS, and a hypervisor as part of upgrading its 10 year old PCS7 DCS along with Batch software, enabling Allnex to take advantage of all the benefits of virtualization, such as fewer servers to maintain. Another industry example was DuPont, who along with system integrator RoviSys, did a PCS7 DCS migration and FEED project for DuPont’s Tedlar industrial film manufacturing plant, replacing legacy DCS, PLCs, and I/O without interrupting production. The FEED study identified a migration concept and created a cost estimation that was key in obtaining funding. Migration projects were also highlighted by another chemical company, USALCO. Another case study was Tenaris, a pipe manufacturer, deployed the worlds largest Siemens TIA Portal installation at its first greenfield project in the US, a $1.8 billion seamless pipe manufacturing facility. Tenaris collaborated with Siemens through the entire project lifecycle, including design, purchasing, implementation, commissioning, and operations. Key solutions delivered with the project included integrated safety, mobile safety, and the S7-1500 PLC.
In summary, Siemens Automation Summit Users Conference clearly demonstrated to all attendees how Siemens is evolving its product and solutions portfolio towards a digital enterprise and IIoT, all based on its MindSphere platform. ARC sees the ecosystem for MindSphere growing rapidly, with added partners and developers creating apps that will leverage MindSphere and increase its implementation. As more companies adopt a digitalization strategy, even more real-world case studies of the digital enterprise will be documented and presented, which will rapidly lead to even greater implementation across all industries and geographies. Long term, it will be impossible for manufacturing companies to compete if they do not implement and become a digital enterprise.
The event was kicked off by Raj Batra, President, Siemens USA, Digital Factory Division. Mr. Batra explained the investments that the company has made in the digital enterprise, such as $10 billion in software and automation acquisitions since 2007, $5 billion in annual R&D expenditures, 32,000 R&D employees, and 17,500 software engineers. Major acquisitions have included UGS, which established Siemens as a leader in the PLM space, LMS for 3D simulation, and the recent acquisition of Mentor Graphics, bringing technologies, such as EDA software and embedded devices, to the company's broad solutions portfolio. Siemens digital enterprise leverages Industry 4.0 for IIoT, along with industrial solutions for software, automation, communication, security, and services for the full range of discrete and process industries. It also fully embraces Siemens’ Teamcenter, which is a suite of PLM computer software applications, helping to create digital twins of the entire value chain, including product design, production planning, engineering, and execution, as well as a full range of services.
Examples of case studies that were part of the keynote presentation included an innovation partnership with Adidas on “Speed Factories” for customized production based on specific customer’s requests, as well as the ability to simulate the full value chain before any products are manufactured, shortening time to market and increasing quality, efficiency and flexibility. Also, Janssen Pharmaceuticals showed the first FDA approved shift from batch to continuous manufacturing for its Prezista drug, using Siemens SIPAT Process Analytics Technology. In addition, System Integrator Intec Automation Controls helped to automate Boeing 777 fuselage automated upright build (FAUB) assembly using Simatic S7 1500 PLCs. Finally, Shaw Industries carpet manufacturing required integrated automation and drives solution with safety PLCs, which was done by system integrator Logical Systems, Inc.
The Automation Summit provided ample opportunities for attendees to learn about MindSphere, which is a scalable cloud platform as a service (PaaS) where apps and digital services can be developed and deployed, with data analytics and connectivity capabilities, tools for developers, and a range of applications and services. MindSphere is designed to help manufacturers improve the efficiency of plants by recording and analyzing large volumes of production data, and providing a foundation for applications and data-based services from Siemens and third-party providers in the areas of, for example, predictive maintenance, energy data management, and resource optimization. MindSphere also offers customers a development environment in which they can integrate with their own applications and services. Siemens demonstrated to attendees how to connect, configure and run the MindSphere services, and cited the growing ecosystem of partners and developers, such as PWC, Accenture, Tata, SAP, and Atos. Much was also written about MindSphere from Siemens recent Innovation Day.
You can’t, however, discuss IIoT or the digital enterprise without incorporating cybersecurity, often the biggest obstacle companies face when considering IIoT, remote services, data analytics, etc. Cloud-based technologies requires protection of the plant and cybersecurity expertise in standards such as ISA/ISO, NIST and NERC-CIP. In response, Siemens used the automation summit to address cybersecurity head-on, and discuss how the company has aligned itself with NIST and IEC Standards 62443, devising cybersecurity solutions for its portfolio to take countermeasures against, for example, kill-chains, and from threats, such as WannaCry.
Product roadmaps sessions were also featured at the automation summit. One that received a lot of attention was Siemens’ simulation platform SIMIT, which is tightly integrated to SIMATIC PLCs, PCS 7 DCS control systems, safety systems, and its TIA Portal for project simulation, testing and operator training. Scalable offerings based on the SIMIT simulation products range from engineering, factory acceptance testing and virtual commissioning to high-fidelity process simulations used for operator process training. SIMIT was featured in a case study presentation by SBM Offshore, a provider of floating production units, who utilized SIMIT for system testing and management of their integrated control and safety system consisting of PCS 7 and PCS 7 failsafe technologies, as well as an ISA 18.2-based alarm management system.
Breakout sessions were held to demonstrate Siemens partners applying its solutions along with their own. DMC, a Siemens solutions partner demonstrated WinCC OA's open library containing many common industrial objects for fast HMI/SCADA development, using modular, reusable, and object-oriented code. Secure-NOK, also a partner, demonstrated how it fights cyberattacks in PLCs by injecting worms to monitor and fight back, using TIA portal. Secure-NOK developed and tested a cyber-attack detection solution for PLCs, which addresses both brownfield and greenfield deployments, and where the brownfield deployment doesn’t require any changes to the PLCs. Another partner, Bluvision, demonstrated how it implemented condition monitoring at a major soft drink producer, using vibration data from Bluvision beacons and MindSphere to perform condition-based maintenance on over 200 small motors in their bottling line.
Some of the key MindSphere partners also presented solutions. Bentley Systems’ partnership integrates its Openplant 3D modeling software with Siemens COMOS 2D process and system engineering software for modeling digitize brownfields. A new proof of concept demonstrating the MindSphere IoT Platform with Bentley’s digital engineering and analytics tools to deliver solutions for operations and maintenance in a brownfield was presented. Another key partner, Atos, presented some of its applications based on MindSphere, such as for industrial digital services, including chemical as a service, digital twin, PLM, and Industry 4.0. Also, DMC held another session where they demonstrated moving S7-1200 PLC data to the cloud via standard MQTT protocol as a quick, less expensive path to connect machines to IIoT and Industry 4.0.
A number of Siemens customers presented case studies. Allnex, a specialty chemical company, had system integrator AESolutions deploy Siemens Virtualization as a Service, or SiVaaS, and a hypervisor as part of upgrading its 10 year old PCS7 DCS along with Batch software, enabling Allnex to take advantage of all the benefits of virtualization, such as fewer servers to maintain. Another industry example was DuPont, who along with system integrator RoviSys, did a PCS7 DCS migration and FEED project for DuPont’s Tedlar industrial film manufacturing plant, replacing legacy DCS, PLCs, and I/O without interrupting production. The FEED study identified a migration concept and created a cost estimation that was key in obtaining funding. Migration projects were also highlighted by another chemical company, USALCO. Another case study was Tenaris, a pipe manufacturer, deployed the worlds largest Siemens TIA Portal installation at its first greenfield project in the US, a $1.8 billion seamless pipe manufacturing facility. Tenaris collaborated with Siemens through the entire project lifecycle, including design, purchasing, implementation, commissioning, and operations. Key solutions delivered with the project included integrated safety, mobile safety, and the S7-1500 PLC.
In summary, Siemens Automation Summit Users Conference clearly demonstrated to all attendees how Siemens is evolving its product and solutions portfolio towards a digital enterprise and IIoT, all based on its MindSphere platform. ARC sees the ecosystem for MindSphere growing rapidly, with added partners and developers creating apps that will leverage MindSphere and increase its implementation. As more companies adopt a digitalization strategy, even more real-world case studies of the digital enterprise will be documented and presented, which will rapidly lead to even greater implementation across all industries and geographies. Long term, it will be impossible for manufacturing companies to compete if they do not implement and become a digital enterprise.