The internet, one of the most transformational technologies shaping the 21st century, demonstrates the value of common, open networking standards

Any internet-connected device can use standard protocols for finding and sharing files, which means that consumers can use any PC or smartphone without having to worry about whether it can access websites or play a YouTube video.

The same principle applies in industrial and building automation. In the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), sensors, controllers, actuators, software and data systems are connected through a range of networking technologies and open standards, giving operators flexibility to integrate equipment from different manufacturers.

The industry bodies which maintain fieldbus standards, such as PROFINET or EtherCAT, also provide open specifications for their connectivity technologies. These specifications allow different manufacturers of connected equipment to ensure that their products are interoperable.

Incremental gains from interoperable systems

The interoperability across building and industrial networks is giving rise to a new approach to the implementation of automation technology. The traditional approach has been ‘death or glory’, to use a military metaphor: committing to an all-new installation in a large, monolithic system planned and provided by a single equipment manufacturer. The rationale is that everything – network, devices, controllers – comes from a single source, so the supplier guarantees that all the components work together.

But the costs associated with this single-supplier assurance are steep:

  • Financial cost – the approach requires them to make a substantial upfront capital investment
  • Operational cost – the all-or-nothing switch causes disruption to staff and processes as legacy equipment is decommissioned
  • Configuration cost – limited to a single supplier’s product portfolio, users are denied the freedom to choose other devices which might fit their application’s requirements better

In other words, in exchange for the promise of a fully integrated, all-in-one system, users bear the risk of becoming locked into the products and services of a single supplier.

The interoperability provided by the IIoT and open connectivity standards frees automation system users from this trap. Now it has become possible to make continual, incremental gains in operational efficiency, the ethos which has worked so well for sports teams such as British Cycling, without the disruption caused by an all-new installation.

This approach enables operators to maintain their legacy systems, while performing staged upgrades either of individual items of equipment or of sections of an automation system. In this approach, operators can prioritise those elements which will provide the biggest operational improvement or return on investment, while keeping the rest of a proven system in place.

Open standards can also improve resilience by widening the pool of potentially compatible components and suppliers from which replacement parts may be sourced, provided always that the parts are evaluated for their ability to meet the application’s functional, safety, certification and configuration requirements.

This is why small and medium-sized industrial and commercial organisations are taking a fresh look at automation modernisation. A gradual approach allows them to prioritise the investments that offer the strongest operational benefit or return, while reducing disruption and implementation risk. By upgrading in stages, organisations can test, review and refine each element before proceeding further. For users who value flexibility, resilience and efficiency, incremental modernisation provides a practical and lower-risk path forward.

By John Mackey, Head of Automation Sales, WAGO UK & Ireland