ARC Advisory Group recently attended the Entelec 2015 conference at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. This marks the 87th year that the Entelec (Energy Telecommunications and Electrical Association) conference has provided a forum for industry participants to share information. It has been interesting to follow how the "hot topics" at Entelec have evolved over the years.
The Economic Survey 2014–15, the flagship annual document of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, reviews the developments in India's economy over the previous 12 months, summarizes and assesses the major policy initiatives and programs, and discusses the economic prospects in the short to medium term.
ARC Advisory Group recently attended the 10th Annual MIT Energy Conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts, sponsored in part by Tata Consultancy Services (see related ARC View). The well-attended keynote presentations and panel sessions all featured solid content, and we participated in many lively, thought-provoking discussions on topics ranging from renewable energy and smart grid, to the future of oil, gas, coal, and nuclear generation.
Once again, several sessions at this year's ARC Industry Forum in Orlando, Florida focused on the ongoing automation challenges facing end users across a variety of industrial sectors. Several common challenges emerged during these sessions. These included both the need to manage increasing complexity, and the need to effectively communicate the benefits that automation provides to the business stakeholders; particularly the ones that make the decisions associated with major capital investments.
Even though mandated by functional and process safety standards such as ISA-84 and ISA/IEC 61511, many automation and safety instrumented systems (SIS) vendors do not provide safety lifecycle management software that extends beyond the initial work performed to commission the SIS logic solver.
Device connectivity is not a revolutionary concept in process automation. Bi-directional communication between the process control system and field devices has been the norm for decades. Controllers have their own IP addresses and web servers provide access to manage software updates and data acquisition. So why the elevated interest in connected devices now?
The third-party logistics (3PL) market -- which ARC Advisory Group defines as non-asset-based transportation, warehousing, and integrated supply chain services -- witnessed slow growth in the fourth quarter of 2014 due in part to the declining value of the euro vs. the dollar. The previously healthy growth in the 3PL market was offset by slow performance in 4Q. The contract logistics market segment performed better with a year-on-year (YOY) 1.4 percent rate of growth during the 4Q and 5.6 percent during the year.
Executive Overview
ARC Advisory Group recently conducted a web-based survey in conjunction with Plant Services magazine to gain an external perspective on current and future needs for Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) in industrial facilities.
This PowerPoint report summarizes the survey results and provides recommendations for ARC Advisory Service clients.
Table of Contents:
Executive Overview
Executive Overview
In 2013, the Fraunhofer Institut and the German federal government, with the support of a large number of suppliers, introduced the term "Industrie 4.0" to describe the next industrial revolution. In parallel, a number of industry consortiums were developing the concepts and models that comprise what ARC Advisory Group now refers to as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).