Technology is changing and fast.  Labor availability and skillset requirements are changing as well.  Process control personnel makeup and skill-sets have evolved over decades of iterations.  The process industries are challenged to continue to operate efficiently in an increasingly competitive environment.  At the 2017 ARC Industry Forum in Orlando, ARC Advisory Group hosted a roundtable discussion that enabled end users to exchange ideas on the changing responsibilities and skillsets in the operational technology space and discuss strategies

End user organizations continue to face a shortfall of qualified personnel, especially when it comes to supporting highly specialized instrumentation, such as electrochemical process analyzers.  In many cases, they have brought this situation upon themselves through multiple rounds of layoffs; early retirements; and continued efforts to reduce the size of their engineering, operations, and maintenance staffs.

Water utilities are being challenged to operate more efficiently, lower operating costs, and enhance customer satisfaction.  Water scarcity has become a universal issue and reducing nonrevenue water has reached critical mass at utilities worldwide.  This is particularly true in arid regions that rely on costly desalinated water as their primary source of potable water.  The utilities are turning to SCADA to increase operator efficiency, engineering efficiency, and process optimization, while also being more responsive to the needs of their customers

Adherence to global emission standards is necessary to control and reduce pollution levels, which directly and indirectly impacts the well-being of people and the environment.  Statistics reveal that India has the most polluted cities in the world.  Thirty cities in India figure in the Top 100 Most Polluted Global Cities (in terms of particulate matter PM10) as per data published by the World Health Organization in May 2016.  India’s atmospheric air quality has been adversely impacted by industrial and vehicular emissions.

Earlier this week, ABB announced the impending acquisition of B&R, a supplier of factory automation solutions for machinery.  With this acquisition, ABB closes a long-standing gap in its industrial solutions portfolio, which should increase its competitiveness with arch rival Siemens.  The purchase price was not revealed, and the acquisition is expected to close during the summer 2017.