November/December 2019

n NEWS 8 November/December 2019 www.drivesncontrols.com A NEW STUDY from the Capgemini Research Institute has found that smart factories could add $1.5–2.2 trillion to the global economy by 2023 through productivity gains, improvements in quality and market share, and customer services. However, two-thirds of this value has yet to be realised. According to the report – based on a survey of more than 1,000 industrial company executives in 13 countries – China, Germany and Japan are leading the world in the adoption of smart factory technologies, followed by South Korea, the US and France. The UK is in 12th position, with only Finland being lower. The report, called Smart Factories @Scale , says that just 14% of organisations that have already embarked on smart factory initiatives regard them as having been successful, with nearly 60% saying that they are struggling to scale their operations. It identifies the two main challenges: IT-OT convergence; and the range of skills needed to drive the transformation. But the report also highlights how the technology-led disruption leading to “intelligent industry”will present new opportunities for manufacturers that are looking for new ways to create value, optimise their operations and innovate for a sustainable future. It says that about 10% of the companies that it interviewed have already digitalised their industrial systems successfully, and invested in areas such as digital platforms, data readiness, cyber- security, talent and governance. Other organisations need to learn from these “front runners”, the report suggests. Since Capgemini last surveyed the smart factory scene two years ago, it finds that organisations are showing “an increasing appetite and aptitude” for digitalisation. More companies are progressing with smart factory initiatives and one-third of factories have already been transformed with some degree of smart facilities, according to the study. In the coming five years, the organisations quizzed plan to create 40% more smart factories and to increase their annual investments in this area by 1.7 times, compared to what they have been spending in the past three years. The report predicts that 5G will become a key enabler of smart factory initiatives because it will provide manufacturers with the opportunity to introduce or enhance a variety of reliable, real-time applications. “To unlock the promise of the smart factory, organisations need to design and implement a strong governance program and develop a culture of data-driven operations,” suggests Jean-Pierre Petit, Capgemini’s director of digital manufacturing. “The move to an intelligent industry is a strategic opportunity for global manufacturers to leverage the convergence of IT and OT to change the way their industries will operate and be future-ready.” http://b.link/process61 A NEWGLOBAL cyber-security alliance has been established to help companies address OT (operational technology) security risks that could threaten their operations and businesses. The 12 founder members of the Operational Technology Cyber Security Alliance (OTCSA) include ABB, Microsoft, SCADAFence andWärtsilä. Until now, they say, there has been no industry group focused on reducing cyber-risks by providing guidelines to OT operators, and allowing them to navigate necessary changes, upgrades and integrations to industry standards and regulations. The new groupwill offer OT cyber-security guidelines that will cover the entire lifecycle – procurement, development, deployment, installation, operation, maintenance and decommissioning – and address aspects related to people, processes and technology. “OTCSA aims to bridge dangerous gaps in security for critical and OT infrastructure and ICS to support and improve the daily lives of citizens andworkers in an evolving world,”says Satish Gannu, ABB’s chief security officer, and senior vice-president of its Architecture and Analytics, and ABB Ability, activities.“Industry collaboration to establish guidelines is required to quickly advance the posture of OT, which is already a decade behind IT when it comes to security.” OTCSAwill promote collaboration among IT and OT companies, cyber-security experts, vendors and OT operators. Membership is open to any company that operates critical infrastructure or general OT systems, and to those supplying IT and OT systems. In a survey published earlier this year, 90%of the industrial companies quizzed revealed that there had been at least one security compromise to their infrastructures in the past two years, resulting in the loss of confidential information or disruption to their operations. In another survey, 77%of companies using industrial control systems said they expected to become the target of a cyber- attack involving these systems. OTCSA has published aWhite Paper outlining the background to its creation, and its aims. www.otcsalliance.org ABB and Microsoft help to found global cyber-security alliance The percentage of factories that have been transformed into“smart”operations in the past two years, and future expansion plans (indicated by the adoption index), by country. An index value above one shows that the country has more aggressive expansion plans than average. Source: Capgemini Smart factories could boost global economy by $2.2 trillion by 2023