Yokogawa's Perspective on the Sustainable Connected Industrial Enterprise

By ARC Advisory Group

Keywords

Information Technology (IT), Operational Technology (OT), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), People and Things, Smart Devices, Cloud, Operational Excellence, Digital Craftmanship, Asset Monitoring, Sushi Sensor, Co-innovation

Summary

ARC Advisory Group has been closely following the trend toward more open, standards-based automation systems for more than 25 years. This disruptive trend started when automation suppliers and end users began integrating information technology (IT) into their proprietary industrial automation systems. Today, with the emergence of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), the trend has taken an interesting twist; one with significant potential to help further improve both plant operations and overall business performance.

Now, in addition to incrementally integrating IT into their control systems and networks; automation suppliers are looking into how they can enable their mission-critical, real-time industrial automation systems and applications to securely collaborate with IIoT-connected smart devices, equipment, systems, and applications.

IIoT connects previously stranded data from smart sensors, equipment, and other industrial assets with predictive analytics and other advanced applications running both in-plant on edge computing devices and remotely “in the cloud.” Despite initial concerns, many companies now realize that, when properly implemented, internet-based technologies can provide appropriate security and availability. This further increases collaboration on the plant floor, throughout an industrial enterprise, and across a global value chain.

ARC has observed that an increasing number of manufacturers and other industrial end user organizations have been looking at the technologies to evaluate how IIoT-enabled solutions could be used to help solve specific problems in their own production operations, improve asset management, enhance their service delivery capabilities, and/or fine tune their supply chains. ARC consultants have been working closely with a number of leading technology end user companies across a variety of industrial sectors to do just this.

At the same time, most leading automation suppliers are actively identifying architectures, standards, and business models for deploying IIoT solutions that build on their own strengths in mission-critical, real-time operations. They are also identifying appropriate partners from the IT world and making strategic acquisitions to help them define, develop, and deploy those solutions. Yokogawa is one of those automation suppliers.

This second white paper builds on that report; providing an overview of how Yokogawa believes its customers can best prepare for and position themselves to benefit from IIoT-enabled technology and solutions and digitization in general to emerge as the successful connected industrial enterprises of the future.

As ARC learned in a recent series of briefings, Yokogawa believes that its unique strength in IIoT extends beyond its well-proven industrial automation technology and solutions to the company’s Japanese tradition of Takumi, or artisanal craftsmanship. This places it in an ideal position to help users move beyond conventional “analog craftsmanship” to develop and exploit their own “digital craftsmanship” through IIoT-enabled collaboration, analytics, and decision support.

This Yokogawa white paper presents an overview of what industrial organizations need to know to put themselves in the best possible position to leverage emerging IIoT technology, solutions, and approaches in conjunction with their current operational technology (OT) and information technology infrastructures. According to the company, connected industrial enterprises leverage IIoT to enable them to:

• Autonomously resolve issues and achieve business objectives at both the plant and enterprise levels
• Sustainably integrate people and things to enable value creation
• Facilitate infrastructure and define co-innovation processes to successfully transition from conventional analog craftsmanship to digital craftsmanship