Two senior ARC Advisory Group analysts with more than 50 years of combined industry experience will be presenting on three key automation-related topics at the third ISA Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) Conference at the St. Regis Hotel in Abu Dhabi on May 26 and 27, 2015.  These topics address: justifying investments in automation security, managing automation system obsolescence, and strategies for effectively deploying wireless technology in the process industries.

Securing Automation

Director of Consulting, Peter Reynolds, will speak on best practices for securing automation systems in industrial plants, a key, “top of mind” topic in many industrial plants and facilities today.  Since appropriate counter-measures often require considerable effort and capital investment, Mr. Reynolds’ presentation also addresses approaches for justifying both the effort and expense required to effectively secure automation hardware and software.

“While the threat of security breaches to industrial control systems is increasing due in large part to today’s widespread use of Internet and other commercial technologies in modern automation, ARC has found that many organizations are still reluctant to take action.  This is partly because cyber security efforts have been difficult to justify and programs and projects difficult to fund.  But to be able to take advantage of new approaches, such as the Industrial Internet of Things, to unlock previously stranded data to create value, reduce costs, and improve both safety and availability; appropriate security mechanisms must first be put in place,” Mr. Reynolds commented.

Peter Reynolds has more than 24 years of professional experience in process control, advanced automation applications, and information technology in the downstream oil refining industry.  Prior to joining ARC, he served as Strategic Planning Manager for Automation and IT at Irving Oil, which operates Canada’s largest refinery.

Managing Automation System Obsolescence

Recent ARC Industry Forums have included both day-long workshops on automation obsolescence and presentations in which end users have shared their experiences managing the lifecycle of their older process control and safety systems.   Presenter Harry Forbes and other senior ARC analysts also regularly consult with end users from major automation users on this important topic.  In this ISA presentation, Mr. Forbes will discuss ARC’s takeaways from these activities and discuss system obsolescence issues in the context of ARC’s Collaborative Process Automation System (CPAS) vision, including how new user requirements and emerging technologies will impact future process automation systems and applications.  According to Mr. Forbes, “There’s no single ‘silver bullet’ for managing system obsolescence, but our ongoing research has uncovered a number of different approaches that appear to work quite well.”  

Wireless Technology in the Process Industries
As anyone who has recently stepped into an industrial plant knows, industrial wireless technology and applications are proliferating at a rapid pace.  ARC Advisory Group recently conducted a survey of over 300 professionals engaged with wireless technology in the process industries.  Associated research also included a series of in-depth interviews with domain experts from a cross-section of process industries, both upstream and downstream, plus a comprehensive market outlook study for technology suppliers.

Based on these data, Harry Forbes, a noted expert on industrial networking, will present ARC’s current view on the industrial wireless technology market and several recommended strategies for end users to realize value from wireless technology in both new and existing plants.

Harry Forbes, Research Director at ARC, has 30 years of experience in automation, power generation, energy management, modeling and simulation, advanced control and optimization, and industrial networking.  Prior to ARC, Mr. Forbes served in a variety of marketing and engineering roles at Invensys, SimSci-Esscor, Foxboro, and Detroit Edison Company.

​ARC Advisory Group’s new Transportation Management System (TMS) Evaluation and Selection Guide is designed to help organizations make informed choices when selecting a TMS supplier offering a Planning & Execution solution.  A planning and execution solution is owned by shippers or 3PLs that do not own transportation assets and instead rely on a diverse set of carriers to move goods to their destinations. 

According to Steve Banker, Service Director for Supply Chain Management at ARC Advisory Group and the primary author of this study, “We also are including a survey of the return on investment (ROI) companies can expect to get from a TMS.  This survey not only shows the overall ROI, but the ROI and risks associated with different buckets of functionality.  A TMS is a solution where a phased implementation makes a lot of sense.  This data helps companies understand how to better implement functionality that has a higher payback with a lower risk profile before implementing other less promising functionality.”   

Dr. Banker has spent over 15 years covering transportation management systems.

ARC’s “Transportation Management System Evaluation and Selection Guide” contains general guidance, over 100 specific selection criteria, ROI data, market data, and supplier profiles to help an organizations team members make more informed, fact-based decisions.  The guide can help a technology selection team find common ground, with lower risk and in far less time.

For more information on this selection guide, please visit our Technology Evaluation and Selection section. 

​Keywords:  3D Plant Design, Infrastructure, Capital Projects, Asset Management

Engineering design tools (EDT) for plant and infrastructure provide specific functionalities for both design/construct applications for EPCs and asset management solutions for owner-operators. Today’s engineering design tool solutions address specific design and operations requirements throughout the entire asset lifecycle, from design and build during the CapEx phase, through the much longer operate and maintain OpEx phase.  The new ARC Advisory Group report “Engineering Design Tools for Plants and Infrastructure Technology Evaluation and Selection Guide” addresses this dynamic and can help operators select the appropriate EDT solution for their unique requirements.

Large Complex Capital Projects Require the Right EDT
Today’s capital projects have become very large, complex, lengthy, and expensive.    Currently, capital spending overall has steadied as companies and the governments that fund these projects consider the complexities and cost of new mega-projects in light of future global markets and business drivers; and risk aversion continues to be a significant element of project planning.

Often executing these massive projects requires forming joint ventures or partnerships between engineering, construction, and owner organizations.  This interdependence requires the use of the latest generation of 3D engineering design tools for efficient project execution and operating and maintaining assets.  While EPCs have long understood the value of engineering design tools, owner-operators are now seeing the additional value that related asset management tools can yield in the operations phase.  Next-generation 3D design applications play an integral part in the optimal design and construction of assets and now play an increasingly important role throughout the entire lifecycle of plant and infrastructure assets. 

EDT Suppliers Provide Latest Design/Build/Operate/Maintain Solutions
Today’s EDT suppliers offer plant and infrastructure design applications that represent the very latest cutting edge technologies.  This includes 3D design and visualization; laser scanning and point cloud modeling; concurrent design/construct methods; project management; asset management; and a wide range of specialized engineering for structural, civil, test simulation, and others.

ARC’s “Engineering Design Tools for Plants and Infrastructure Technology Evaluation and Selection Guide” covers all these areas and includes a matrix of selection criteria to help asset owners make the best technology selection decisions for their unique requirement based on their planned or installed asset base and the resources available to them.  The selection guide also provides an overview of technology suppliers with relevant insights into their particular strengths and weaknesses as they apply to this market space.

For more information on this report, please visit our Technology Evaluation and Selection section.

​ARC Advisory Group’s new Warehousing Services Evaluation and Selection Guide is designed to help organizations make informed choices when selecting a Warehousing Services (Contract Logistics) supplier.  Extracted from ARC’s recent worldwide Warehousing Services market study, and drawing on a survey of over 150 warehouse executives on what programs have most improved their warehouse performance over the past five years, this guide is designed to reduce RFP development time and provide a sound foundation for expediting the supplier selection process.

According to Steve Banker, Service Director for Supply Chain Management at the ARC Advisory Group and the primary author of this study, “The survey we did of warehousing professionals was quite helpful in developing the supplier selection criteria.  When we asked ‘What most improved warehouse performance at your company over the past five years?’  The most common answer among Logistics Service Providers (LSPs) was continuous improvement programs.  Because of this we conducted a number of industry interviews to determine what a robust LSP continuous improvement program would look like.  This in turn helped us write these particular criteria.”  The survey results are included in the report. 

Dr. Banker has spent over 15 years covering solutions devoted to improving warehousing outcomes including detailed studies of warehouse management systems, voice recognition, and labor management systems.

ARC’s Warehousing Services Evaluation and Selection Guide also contains market share data and supplier profiles.  This data can help companies winnow down to a list of qualified candidates more quickly.

For more information, please visit our Technology Evaluation and Selection section.

Forum Presentations Will Focus on Applying New Disruptive Technologies in Industrial Applications

ARC Advisory Group has announced the keynote presenters for its 19th Annual Industry Forum in Orlando, Florida, February 9-12, 2015. These include: Peter Holicki, Corp. Vice President, Manufacturing & Engineering and Environment, Health & Safety at Dow Chemical; Gregory Touhill, Deputy Asst. Secretary, Cyber Security Operations & Programs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; and Stephan Biller, Chief Manufacturing Scientist at General Electric.

These keynote presenters and a large number of other distinguished engineering, IT, and operations executives will share concepts, approaches, and success stories that address the forum theme: Industry in Transition: The Information Driven Enterprise for the Connected World. The event will address top-of-mind concerns about the impact of new business models and disruptive, IT-based technologies on energy companies, manufacturers, and other industrial organizations.

In addition to in-depth workshops on cyber security, developing the future workforce, sustainable reliability, and the Industrial Internet of Things; individual forum sessions will address timely topics, such as:

• Reducing the cost and duration of capital projects
• Creating and sustaining a proactive maintenance culture
• Gaining value from predictive analytics
• Approaches for integrated control and electrification
• Enterprise recipe management
• Asset performance management (APM)
• Building a secure-by-design Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
• Future directions for process automation systems
• Latest trends in operator training simulators
• Information continuum for plant design and operations
• Complex event processing
• Network best practices for connected assets
• Best practices for selecting technology and partners for greenfield and brownfield projects
• Workforce improvement through targeted training
• Enterprise manufacturing intelligence (EMI)
• Remote monitoring and diagnostics
• Machines as a service enabler
• Leveraging smart field systems

Forum attendees will learn about field-proven processes and techniques that are helping improve quality, performance, and agility at leading manufacturers and other industrial organizations around the world. As always, there will also be ample opportunities for attendees to network and socialize with their peers over the course of the four-day event. For more information or to register, please visit our Events Section.