Manufacturers and other industrial enterprises strive to gain maximum business value from all their production assets. Here, automation assets and other operational technologies (OT) can play a major role.

Good management of both industrial assets and related information assets is becoming a standard practice in mature organizations around the world due to the proven value-related benefits.

This report introduces the principles of asset lifecycle management and asset information management and discusses the magnitude and sources of losses for owner-operators. These mainly relate to poor handover of asset information from the project to the operations phase.

ICS Equipment Designs Older than the Cyber Threat
Since the Stuxnet malware was publicized in 2010, it has been clear that state agencies could mount highly sophisticated cyber-attacks against industrial control systems (ICS). This realization added urgency to efforts to secure the installed base of ICS, especially those systems managing critical infrastructure.

Most asset-intensive industrial organizations find it increasingly difficult to assure high asset reliability and low unplanned downtime. As the vast installed base of industrial assets continues to age, the need for maintenance increases. At the same time, competitive pressures and commodity business models force executives to control costs. A compounding factor has to do with an aging workforce where the experienced staff is retiring and organizations are finding it difficult to hire replacements with the needed skills and capabilities.

End users in process plants today want more visibility into how their assets are performing. Meanwhile, many of these same end users are searching for new ways to make plant construction and major plant and process upgrades faster, easier, and less costly. This includes taking the cost and complexity out of the automation projects typically associated with constructing new plants or upgrading existing plants and processes.

We've already started to see effective use of emerging technologies, such as Industrial IoT (IIoT)-enabled remote condition monitoring and Big Data analytics for predictive maintenance and similar offline applications; but process engineers are interested in knowing if and how emerging technologies can be used to improve the actual production process and product quality.

MICONEX held its 27th exhibition from September 21 to 24, 2016 in Beijing. As a leading process automation exhibition in China, MICONEX also organized a half-day Smart Manufacturing Conference on September 21. The conference, sponsored by the China Instrument and Control Society (CIS) and SUPCON, drew approximately 150 participants from design institutes, and EPC firms, plus technology end users and owner-operators, such as Sinopec. ARC Advisory Group was also invited to attend the conference. Mr. Wu Youhua, Vice Chairman of CIS and Mr.

The worldwide enterprise software market returned to growth in the second quarter of 2016. This is the first quarter of year-over-year growth since Q3 of 2014. Once again, exchange rates played a role, with the euro strengthening relative to the dollar for the first time since Q3 of 2014. This 2.1 percent exchange rate fluctuation provided slight lift to revenues reported in euros that ARC subsequently translated to US dollars for this report.

ARC Advisory Group recently attended the 45th Turbomachinery & 32nd Pump Symposia in Houston. This year's event drew 5,456 registered attendees from 40 countries, down slightly from 2015. A record 360 companies exhibited all things related to compressors, turbines, pumps, sensors, condition monitoring, remote monitoring solutions, and more.

Numerous reports show that for many retailers, e-commerce revenues are rising at double-digit rates, while in-store sales are increasing at less than the rate of inflation. But e-commerce shipping adds cost and complexity -- particularly when there are omni-channel delivery paths. E-commerce retailers also often experience increased product returns, further increasing both costs and transaction complexity.