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The adoption and traction of any emerging technology in the marketplace is directly proportional to the size and strength of the technology’s ecosystem, which ranges from developers to sales channels. That is certainly the case with IIoT and Industrie 4.0. ARC has always been a strong proponent of IIoT and Industrie 4.0, and has been aggressively promoting the continued collaboration between all of its technology provider clients ranging from start-ups to Fortune 10 companies, along with the adoption and use of open standards to help create these ecosystems.
Conversations about IIoT ecosystems are one of the hot topics at this weeks’ Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. GE Digital, for example, announced that it opened its Predix platform, GE's cloud platform for the Industrial Internet, to everyone, and unveiled a new Global Alliance Program to further develop its IIoT ecosystem with Intel, Capgemini, TCS, Deloitte Digital, Infosys, Genpact, Softtek, and Wipro Limited. This new alliance program is designed to connect systems integrators, telecommunications service providers, independent software vendors, technology providers, and resellers with GE's technology and digital industrial intellectual property. ARC feels that GE Digital made the right move by opening its Predix platform to all, and establishing such a wide range ecosystem ranging from industry to business processes. ARC does want GE Digital and other ecosystems to emphasize their commitment to open standards to make it easier for both users and other technology suppliers to be able to participate in these ecosystems.
The OPC Foundation has established its own IIoT and Industrie 4.0 ecosystem by collaborating with other organizations, such as PLCopen for industrial control, BACnet for building automation and control networks, ODVA with its EtherNet/IP industrial Ethernet network running Common Industrial Protocol or "CIP”, MDIS for the oil and gas industry, and is currently expanding its cooperation activities with MES-DACH for MES in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland; and ISA for its ISA95 enterprise-control system integration standard. A new cooperation initiative is with AutomationML with the aim of optimizing interoperability between engineering tools. Another example is working with some of the automation foundations, including the FDT Group, Fieldbus Foundation, HART Communication Foundation, PROFIBUS & PROFINET International, they have developed a single common technology solution for Field Device Integration (FDI). FDI technology manages information from intelligent field devices during their entire lifecycle, from configuration, commissioning and diagnostics to calibration.
Another IIoT and Industrie 4.0 ecosystem is SmartFactory, which offers a manufacturer-independent demonstration and research platform developed jointly with 40 partners that collectively provide manufacturing, infrastructure, and integrated IT solutions that collaborate via IIoT technologies. In the latest SmartFactory demonstrator platform, a simulated production process consists of solutions from partners, such as Belden/Hirschmann, Bosch Rexroth, Cisco, E-Plan, Festo, Harting, IBM, Lapp Kabel, MiniTec, Phoenix Contact, Pilz, proALPHA, TE Connectivity, TÜV SÜD, Softing Industrial Automation, and Weidmüller, leveraging OPC UA, to provide the IIoT connectivity that ties all these partner’s offerings together and provides a collaborative plug & produce solution. Thanks to this collaboration, SmartFactory has developed what is claimed to be the world’s first manufacturer-independent Industrie 4.0 plant.
Another example of an IIoT ecosystem is the Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF), which was covered in a recent Blog by Greg Gorbach of ARC, as well as industry organizations focused on IIoT, such as the Industrial Internet Consortium. ARC will continue to cover the release of these IIoT and Industrie 4.0 ecosystems and strongly encourage the development of additional ecosystems based on a foundation of open standards from technology providers collaborating together to help bring the forecasted number of tens of billions of IIoT connected devices to reality. Without these IIoT and Industrie 4.0 ecosystems, there would be no chance of achieving this level of connectivity.
Conversations about IIoT ecosystems are one of the hot topics at this weeks’ Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. GE Digital, for example, announced that it opened its Predix platform, GE's cloud platform for the Industrial Internet, to everyone, and unveiled a new Global Alliance Program to further develop its IIoT ecosystem with Intel, Capgemini, TCS, Deloitte Digital, Infosys, Genpact, Softtek, and Wipro Limited. This new alliance program is designed to connect systems integrators, telecommunications service providers, independent software vendors, technology providers, and resellers with GE's technology and digital industrial intellectual property. ARC feels that GE Digital made the right move by opening its Predix platform to all, and establishing such a wide range ecosystem ranging from industry to business processes. ARC does want GE Digital and other ecosystems to emphasize their commitment to open standards to make it easier for both users and other technology suppliers to be able to participate in these ecosystems.
The OPC Foundation has established its own IIoT and Industrie 4.0 ecosystem by collaborating with other organizations, such as PLCopen for industrial control, BACnet for building automation and control networks, ODVA with its EtherNet/IP industrial Ethernet network running Common Industrial Protocol or "CIP”, MDIS for the oil and gas industry, and is currently expanding its cooperation activities with MES-DACH for MES in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland; and ISA for its ISA95 enterprise-control system integration standard. A new cooperation initiative is with AutomationML with the aim of optimizing interoperability between engineering tools. Another example is working with some of the automation foundations, including the FDT Group, Fieldbus Foundation, HART Communication Foundation, PROFIBUS & PROFINET International, they have developed a single common technology solution for Field Device Integration (FDI). FDI technology manages information from intelligent field devices during their entire lifecycle, from configuration, commissioning and diagnostics to calibration.
Another IIoT and Industrie 4.0 ecosystem is SmartFactory, which offers a manufacturer-independent demonstration and research platform developed jointly with 40 partners that collectively provide manufacturing, infrastructure, and integrated IT solutions that collaborate via IIoT technologies. In the latest SmartFactory demonstrator platform, a simulated production process consists of solutions from partners, such as Belden/Hirschmann, Bosch Rexroth, Cisco, E-Plan, Festo, Harting, IBM, Lapp Kabel, MiniTec, Phoenix Contact, Pilz, proALPHA, TE Connectivity, TÜV SÜD, Softing Industrial Automation, and Weidmüller, leveraging OPC UA, to provide the IIoT connectivity that ties all these partner’s offerings together and provides a collaborative plug & produce solution. Thanks to this collaboration, SmartFactory has developed what is claimed to be the world’s first manufacturer-independent Industrie 4.0 plant.
Another example of an IIoT ecosystem is the Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF), which was covered in a recent Blog by Greg Gorbach of ARC, as well as industry organizations focused on IIoT, such as the Industrial Internet Consortium. ARC will continue to cover the release of these IIoT and Industrie 4.0 ecosystems and strongly encourage the development of additional ecosystems based on a foundation of open standards from technology providers collaborating together to help bring the forecasted number of tens of billions of IIoT connected devices to reality. Without these IIoT and Industrie 4.0 ecosystems, there would be no chance of achieving this level of connectivity.