5 essential security features for control, edge, and … · 2019-08-19 · 5 essential security...

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5 ESSENTIAL SECURITY FEATURES FOR CONTROL, EDGE, AND IIOT SYSTEMS

2Industrial Internet of Things

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5 Essential Security Features for Control, Edge, and IIoT Systems

Achieving Energy Efficiency Through Industry 4.0

How Industrial IoT Can Build Next-Gen Automation Systems

Why OPC UA Over TSN Will Prove Critical to Manufacturing IIoT

Why Start Your Digital Transformation Now (Part One)?


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Massive data breaches seem to be constantly in the news. But PwC’s 2018 Global State of Information Security Survey noted,

“Many organizations worldwide still struggle to comprehend and manage emerging cyber risks.”

Just 40 percent of PwC’s survey respondents from organizations that use robotics or automation recognized that cyber attacks on automation systems could disrupt operations.

Yet the danger is real. Companies increasingly want to connect sensors and control systems to networks for reasons like:

Regardless of the connected automation device you’re looking to install, key security features to look for include network interfaces, firewalls, data communication options, encryption and certificate management, and user accounts.

5 Essential Security Features for Control, Edge, and IIoT SystemsBY BENSON HOUGLANDVice president of marketing and product strategy, Opto 22


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• Moving production data to enterprise systems and databases.• Storing process or environmental data for regulatory compliance.• Sending machine data to the cloud for artificial intelligence (AI)

analysis.

Experienced automation engineers see the potential benefits of connecting automation systems to networks and the cloud. But they also see the security risks. The question is how to minimize those risks.

Good cybersecurity planning addresses physical, network, and human vulnerabilities. For this column, let’s focus on network security. Network security means protecting devices on your network, and making sure data transmitted is not intercepted or changed by unauthorized people or software.

Fortunately, some automation manufacturers are offering products with network security features built in. These products—for example, Opto 22’s groov EPIC edge programmable industrial controller—can help you design and maintain more secure systems.

When assessing new control products, here are five security features to look for:

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Network interfaces: For decades, control systems used proprietary networks and protocols. Now, however, many use standard Ethernet and standard protocols designed to make sharing data easier.

But you can still separate networks if your controller has two independent Ethernet network interfaces (read more about this at http://awgo.to/dualnetwork). Independent, in this context, means that data is not routed between interfaces. You can plug one Ethernet interface into a trusted network, where you know and trust all the devices on the network, and plug the other into an untrusted network, like one with Internet access.

When trusted and untrusted networks are kept separate, a rogue actor attempting a hack on the untrusted network cannot access data on the trusted network.

Firewalls: Most of us know about network firewalls (read more at http://awgo.to/firewall), for example the firewall that helps protect your company’s network from external access. Individual devices can also have firewalls (for example, Microsoft Windows computers use a device firewall to protect your PC).

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A controller for your Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) project should have a device firewall as well. The dual-interface controllers mentioned earlier should have firewalls on both network interfaces, and you should be able to configure them independently. When you do, make sure to close all network ports you’re not using, on all network interfaces.

Data communication options: Consider a different way of communicating data. For example, look for a controller that offers device-originated communications (read more at http://awgo.to/whymqtt). A protocol such as MQTT uses a publish-subscribe, or pub-sub, method that optimizes network traffic, reduces IT involvement, and improves security.

In pub-sub communications, a controller originates a connection to a broker—either on premises or in the cloud—and then publishes data and/or subscribes to data from the broker. Because the connection originated behind the firewall, no firewall rules for open ports are necessary, and data can travel securely both ways.

Encryption and certificate management: Your control system is as important as your bank and requires the same level of data security. Data transmitted on any untrusted network should be encrypted

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(read more at http://awgo.to/encryption). A controller that provides data encryption and ways to manage security certificates (which verify that a device is actually what it says it is) helps you build a more secure network.

User accounts: Can anyone access your controller, or does it require a username and password? User authentication (read more at http://awgo.to/useraccounts) is a basic network security feature, yet one that’s missing in most automation products. Look for a controller that does not ship with default user credentials, so you’re forced to choose a unique username and password when you first configure it.

Also look for the ability to set up users (people and software) with complex passwords and account levels that offer different permissions depending on the user’s needs. Limit users to the specific data and controls each requires. For example, an operator might need to control a process, while a manager just needs production data, and a cloud service requires a small subset of data from a few machines.

And remember—you can use all these security features, but if your passwords aren’t strong, your system can’t be secure. Use long, complex passphrases and a password manager if available.

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The bottom lineCybersecurity for automation and IIoT applications—as for any digital network—is a complex issue with different implications depending on your organization and your system. Security requirements constantly change as your system evolves; but starting with some built-in security tools can help you design and maintain a more secure automation system.

For more on these security features, read our series of blog posts on security at https://blog.opto22.com/optoblog/topic/epic-security.

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https://blog.opto22.com/optoblog/topic/epic-security.

https://blog.opto22.com/optoblog/topic/epic-security


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Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0 are buzzwords with far-reaching benefits understood by most at a high level. But what

relevant and practical data and understanding can Industry 4.0 bring your company in everyday operations, such as monitoring compressed air consumption, process optimization, enabling energy efficiencies, and providing preventive diagnostics?

Let’s start by looking at compressed air, a necessary component of automation in a modern pharmaceutical facility that end users need to carefully manage. It is considered a clean, safe, and readily

Examining the installation of IoT technology in a pharmaceutical production environment can help illustrate how IoT can aid energy conservation efforts, provide predictive analytics for machine and manufacturing processes, and help pharma companies reach ISO 50001 targets.

Achieving Energy Efficiency Through Industry 4.0BY CRAIG CORREIADirector of LifeTech & Process Industries, Festo


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available source of energy for automation and is commonly used in pharmaceutical, biological, and cosmetic production. From an environmental standpoint, electricity is required to generate compressed air and therefore contributes to the environmental footprint. Responsibly using compressed air only as necessary, when necessary, is a best practice for green operations.

From a revenue standpoint, compressed air generation does have an impact on utility costs. Therefore, benchmarking use ensures control of future utility requirements over a facility’s lifetime. Further savings can be found in ensuring there are no compressed air leaks in your systems, which lead to wasted air, equipment maintenance and downtime, and drops in productivity.

The standard convention for monitoring compressed air has been with pressure sensors on the air preparation units. When the compressed air pressure drops below levels required, the unit sends an alert to the controller (programmable logic controller [PLC] or distributed control system [DCS]), letting the end user know a problem exists. From there, the system reacts and often shuts down; engineering or maintenance departments examine the equipment, diagnose the problem, and perform corrective actions.

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E2M module However, measuring air pressure only addresses part of the equation. Air flow rates and volumetric consumption have been widely ignored within the industry. A new component, the E2M module from Festo, brings air flow monitoring and measuring capabilities to process manufacturers, furthering current proficiencies and delivering new opportunities for efficiency, as well as enhanced energy and revenue savings.

The E2M seamlessly integrates with any existing or new manufacturing equipment requiring compressed air to operate. The unit serves as both a pressure sensor and flow sensor for compressed air, measuring the real-time flow rate and the volumetric consumption over a defined period. Over time, this data can be used to enhance machine efficiency and reduce compressed air consumption.

To understand how the E2M works, consider a manufacturing setting in which the E2M shows a system using 27 liters of compressed air at standard atmospheric pressure for a specific, repeatable process as a baseline. But down the road, the E2M shows the same process using 33 liters of compressed air per minute. Though the system hasn’t failed, it’s easy to deduce that the compressed air circuit has been compromised and that the system is leaking air. This is also an

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excellent indicator for predictive maintenance. The E2M provides the data required for predictive diagnostics regarding air flow and consumption, stopping manufacturing inefficiencies from growing into catastrophes.

The E2M is also capable of performing leak checks downstream between cycles. The unit will pressurize the pneumatic circuit and measure pressure degradation to determine if air is leaking, as well as the rate of the leak. Further, while the system is idle or shut down, the E2M acts as a master on/off valve, preventing air loss through trickling.

CPX IoT GatewayData from the E2M module is brought onto a standardized, cloud-based dashboard for easy monitoring and benchmarking with Festo’s IoT Gateway, which is integrated into the Festo CPX electrical terminal. This allows users to analyze trends, issue early warnings, and establish incident notifications.

The dashboards can be securely accessed in a web browser from any device with Internet access. Simple traffic light indications, as well as graphic depictions of energy use, performance figures, and historical data, are available on standard predesigned dashboards.

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The gateway will automatically discover the E2M on the Ethernet network. Safeguards for security are taken, such as a manual switch to control data flow to using secure protocols. It will aggregate the data and send it to the Festo cloud using the industry standard AMQP protocol. The dashboard is available by subscription from the Festo cloud and can be shared to other dashboards.

It should be noted that the Festo E2M module can also directly interface with other third-party clouds, such as Siemens MindSphere and Rockwell Automation’s FactoryTalk/Shelby platform.

The result is a true Industry 4.0 solution that can bring immediate benefits to a pharmaceutical, biological, or cosmetic facility.

Installation conceptsAn important attribute of the IoT Gateway for pharmaceutical installations is that it does not receive inputs from the cloud. It is pushing data only, so there is no risk to a validated process or skid. Based on this, there are two installation options: 1) standalone or 2) fully integrated.

In a standalone installation, outside the existing PLC/DCS, the IoT Gateway gathers and pushes information to the cloud. This

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is ideal for realizing energy efficiency and preventive diagnostic benefits with no impact to an existing validated process. Here, the E2M is installed in front of the process, skid, or plant, usually directly before the air preparation unit responsible for the pressure regulation and filtration of the compressed air. It can be powered directly and is connected to the IoT Gateway via Modbus TCP, which will automatically recognize the E2M and configure the data to be pushed to the cloud. The IoT Gateway is installed in a standalone CPX terminal operating in an autonomous mode.

In this scenario, because it is not connected to the PLC or DCS, some benefits of the E2M are not fully realized. For example, the air leakage function that measures the air loss between processes cannot be triggered and the automatic air shutoff when the equipment is idle will not be realized.

The benefits, however, are in the simplicity of the installation, which does not impact the validated processes and equipment, and provides an organization with a risk-free way to evaluate data collection on operational efficiencies. Also, there are no programming or commissioning changes required at the PLC/DCS.


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In the fully integrated installation, the IoT Gateway is connected to the PLC/DCS, bringing additional functionality to the E2M. Plus, data is available at the PLC/DCS for local processing and analysis.

Ideal for new designs, this fully integrated installation can be set up with an autonomous CPX electrical terminal or with a full-featured CPX terminal that includes operational modules for things like electrical I/O, IO-Link, or pneumatic valves. In the latter case, it is connected to the PLC/DCS using standard industrial Ethernet protocols like EtherNet/IP, Profinet, and EtherCAT. Function blocks and add-on instructions (AOIs) are also available to quickly access E2M data and capabilities in the control software.

For plants with a decentralized automation concept, having these electrical terminals close to the process is very common. Therefore, the integration of the IoT Gateway in a new design is not very complicated.

The benefits of the fully integrated installation are the same as with the autonomous installation, with a few additions such as the measurement of pressure changes and automatic shutdown when the system is not in production or process. These are configurable parameters, accessible from the function blocks or AOI, that allow


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customization for process requirements. The human-machine interface (HMI) can also have access to all the energy and diagnostic data for local dashboards and fault handling.

Industry trends Monitoring and measuring compressed air is a relevant and practical avenue for using IoT/I4.0 in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Many large pharma companies’ production initiatives—generating and using data for GMP (good manufacturing practices), energy consumption and conservation improvements, operational productivity and efficiency, and improving revenues and margins—directly correlate to compressed air use.

ISO 50001 is a recent standard that defines requirements, with guidance, for an energy management system. The standard is based on establishing, maintaining, and improving energy usage. This is being adopted and integrated into most major pharmaceutical companies. The ability to measure, detect, and report air consumption trends and losses is a critical part of achieving this standard and improving the energy performance of a company.

The ease of installation associated with the E2M and the IoT Gateway helps companies achieve this standard. The E2M fits


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directly into existing air preps and filtration units of both new and existing process manufacturing equipment. The IoT Gateway module fits directly into valve terminals, the Festo I/O module, or a combination of both. Both products work over fieldbus, HMI, local networks, Festo cloud, and third-party clouds. They also work in unison to address manufacturing inefficiencies while providing useful and meaningful data.

Easy and real-time access to compressed air consumption data paves a smooth path to improving environmental footprints, lowering energy costs, improving efficiency through predictive maintenance, and, ultimately, bolstering bottom lines. Another long-term benefit is that this is a simple I4.0 application for data collection to understand operations holistically. It will help organizations identify and quantify real value and allow further digitalization strategies and investments to be effectively defined.

For more information, visit Festo at www.festo.com.

http://www.festo.com


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The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) shows promise for the generation and use of Big Data in automation, but it is delivering

little, as of yet. This is partly because deployment costs are high and the benefits are not clear-cut. It’s also because the concept is not well defined. More importantly, the unique demands of automation are not easily solved with commercial IoT solutions.

So just what are these demands that are not easily address with commercial IoT? They can be summarized as:• The need for real-time communications.• Strict compliance to cybersecurity standards and practices.

A look at how IoT technologies are addressing automation system demands, including the need for real-time communications; cybersecurity compliance; and use of Time-Sensitive Networking, OPC UA, and MQTT.

How Industrial IoT Can Build Next-Gen Automation SystemsBY PHIL MARSHALL CEO, Hilscher North America


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• The ability to leverage new and evolving standards, such as Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN), Open Platform Communications (OPC) Unified Architecture (UA), and MQTT.

• A path for device-to-cloud connections.• Adoption of cloud-based automation and IoT solutions.

In this issue’s column, we’ll take a closer look at the first three demands listed above. In the November issue, we will discuss the fourth and fifth requirements: leveraging the cloud for next-gen automation systems.

The need for real-time networks Data communications are the foundation of modern automation. The digital age first welcomed fieldbus and then Ethernet, bringing device-to-controller and controller-to-controller connectivity. Deterministic—that is, predictable—performance is essential and real-time requires additions to the Ethernet specification. Note the word “additions.” If the nirvana of plant-floor to top-floor communications is to be successfully reached, a real-time solution has to be compatible with raw Ethernet.

Several ways of achieving that have been developed and industrial Ethernet has become one of the driving forces behind modern


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automation systems. However, there are several versions of industrial Ethernet, none of which are compatible; and that has led to the same diversification of solutions as with fieldbus.

Users often find themselves captured inside a particular communications universe as a result. This is not intrinsically bad since all vendors support product ranges—from field devices to programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and distributed control systems (DCSs)—that deliver excellent results. However, two difficulties result: third parties have to support all universes and end users do not have an open field to deal with.

Hilscher realized that the market needed to support all universes equally, so a flexible adapter solution was developed. The company launched its own family of netX chips that enable a product to be configured for any popular protocol via a simple configuration change. Gateways and adapters, like the netTAP and cifX PC card families, offer single-solution interfaces capable of serving all protocol universes, whether built into a device by the OEM or implemented in the field by the system integrator or end user.


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Bullet-proof cybersecurity The openness and transparency of cloud-based systems brings big security risks. But several approaches exist that can be used to protect against malicious attacks. IEC 62443 defines a set of criteria to which systems can be designed. Hilscher’s netX 90 and netX 4000 chips support IEC 62443 strategies by providing a range of mechanisms for protecting data integrity. For instance, the chip architecture is divided between the network-facing parts and the slave-facing segments. These are logically isolated, separating the communications functions from the application tasks. Should a cyber intrusion occur, this isolation limits the effect of a malicious attack.

Cryptography based on FIPS 140-2 is used to support authentication and verification. Hardware-accelerated cryptography is employed in the netX chip to significantly improve I/O cycle times by reducing CPU load and memory footprint. Software upgrades cannot match the performance of this hardware-accelerated solution.

Supporting standards: TSN, OPC, and MQTTSince it’s unlikely that the various communication universes will ever merge into a single protocol solution, perhaps a way of synchronizing data transfers might help. That’s the underlying premise of TSN.


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TSN is vendor-neutral. It’s a set of IEEE 802 Ethernet sub-standards intended for real-time Ethernet architectures. TSN achieves determinism by using time synchronization and a schedule that is shared among network components. By defining queues based on time, TSN guarantees strict latency (i.e., delay) through switched networks. The promise for TSN users is a common physical layer, with the various fieldbus protocols becoming application layer issues. The full TSN specification is still emerging. Hilscher’s latest netX chips are already compliant with the most recent TSN releases and are ready to adopt the full specification once it is finalized.

Two standards that have been around for a couple of decades are becoming important for IIoT: OPC UA and MQTT. OPC UA, with its clever information model concept (and now with TSN included via OPC UA TSN), promises network transparency literally from plant floor to cloud. And not just for raw data but also for information (i.e., data that carries meaning). MQTT is a light messaging protocol that will also be important in this context, though probably linked with middleware products that can add the semantics needed by higher-level systems. Hilscher netX chips support both OPC UA and MQTT.


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The future of automation will be profoundly different, but the changes will be evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

See you again in the November issue of Automation World’s Industrial Internet of Things supplement when I look at cloud-based technologies and their ability to deliver Big Data benefits to industrial automation.

For more information, visit Hilscher North America at www.na.hilscher.com.

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The combination of Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) and OPC UA will prove vital to manufacturers implementing Industrial

Internet of Things (IIoT). And it’s on its way, with OPC UA over TSN automation products entering the marketplace as early as this fall.

The reasons this new standard is so important can be summed up in three words: interoperability, performance, and security.

Industrial system interoperability is on the way through a combination of the determinism supplied by Time-Sensitive Networking and OPC UA’s machine-to-machine communications to better synchronize machinery on the plant floor and the device-level communication inside those machines, regardless of supplier.

Why OPC UA Over TSN Will Prove Critical to Manufacturing IIoTBY JOHN KOWAL Marketing director, B&R Industrial Automation


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Time synchronization is critical for industrial automation capabilities such as device-level control, motion control, machine vision, and machine-to-machine control. The various fieldbuses each have their own mechanisms to achieve deterministic behavior on the network. TSN extends the IEEE 802.1 Ethernet standard for real-time communication, providing a single standard meeting industrial automation requirements.

TSN also enables the possibility of converged networks, for deterministic operational technology (OT) communications such as machine control and safety, and non-deterministic information technology (IT) traffic across the same network.

The technology is capable of addressing 10,000 network nodes, scalable from 10 Mb to 10 Gb. B&R conducted a test achieving cycle times below 50 µs with a jitter of ±100 ns in a network of 200 remote I/O modules. This is consistent with claims that OPC UA over TSN is 18 times faster than today’s fastest solution.

But TSN is only half the story. OPC UA provides interoperability and has built-in security. Its companion specifications allow a machine to describe itself in the same way, with standardized semantics. OPC UA is widely supported and new developments continue to be supported;


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it is also a recognized international standard for communication from sensor to cloud. The new OPC UA publish/subscribe initiative also supports faster communications than client/server.

As automation users, machine builders, and automation device suppliers are painfully aware, today’s fieldbuses, even if they run on Ethernet wires, are not interoperable. For decades, the automation industry has had to support multiple fieldbuses and work around the lack of connectivity between them.

Interoperability is necessary to reach the next level of automation, the exchange of information, the digitalization of manufacturing, and the rise of the smart factory. Just as IIoT requires higher levels of data acquisition, analysis, and optimization, it also requires interoperability across platforms.

Together with TSN’s determinism, OPC UA allows machine-to-machine communications to better synchronize machinery on the plant floor, regardless of supplier. The same holds true for device-level communication inside the machines.

The design of effective production processes, time, and cost reduction in commissioning and maintenance, and the mass customization of


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products are the aspirations of IIoT. This requires changes to current production lines to become flexible and provide ongoing insight into the production processes to perform process optimization and predictive maintenance without disturbing machine operations.

IIoT is going to call for a converged, interoperable OT/IT network, from sensor to cloud, and OPC UA over TSN is going to enable that. Cloud platforms today support an OPC UA connector, simplifying communication.

OPC UA over TSN is intended to replace the various fieldbus protocols with one standardized, deterministic industrial Ethernet, interoperable across the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model.

Most major automation technology providers are supporting the OPC Foundation’s OPC UA over TSN for field-level communication initiative. Twenty-three companies that share the same vision participate in an OPC Foundation steering committee dedicated to


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extending OPC UA for field-level communication over TSN for seamless communication from sensor to cloud.

A detailed white paper on the topic of OPC UA over TSN implementation can be downloaded at http://awgo.to/opcua.

ARC Advisory Group has also published an informative brief on the subject, which can be downloaded at http://awgo.to/arcreport.

“The future of industrial networking just got a lot brighter,” the ARC report concludes. “In a significant move, the OPC Foundation announced in late 2018 that it will now actively promote its Publish-Subscribe model for communication with devices at the field level. In addition, time-sensitive networking (TSN), a mechanism for time synchronization and determinism, is quickly gaining acceptance among industry players. The combination of these two technologies is paving the way for the emergence of a single, universal solution for Ethernet in industrial applications that may one day replace today’s industrial Ethernet solutions.”

For more information, visit B&R at www.br-automation.com.

http://www.br-automation.com


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As a manufacturing leader, you’ve likely heard a lot about the efficiencies and productivity gains realized from having a single

digital thread that connects your factories to your back-office financial functions, streamlining and linking work processes and production data from engineering and product design, through manufacturing, and to delivery and field service.

An emerging trend is to extend that thread to include your selling processes. Whether you sell business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C), it’s becoming increasingly urgent to better coordinate data from every sales channel to all aspects of e-commerce, such as websites, online marketplaces, mobile apps, and social media.


By Epicor Software

Because end-to-end business integration is fast becoming table stakes in the race for competitive advantage.


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The reason manufacturers must not delay digitizing their sales processes is that most of the world already has, creating customer expectations that you provide the same levels of sales and service offered elsewhere. As more buyers expect—and more manufacturers meet—these expectations, the risk grows that you’ll fall behind your competitors or allow a new, digital-savvy entrant to capture market share.

In this first part of a two-part series (part two will appear in Automation World’s November IIoT supplement), we’ll look at how to digitize your sales processes to better address customer demands. In part two, we’ll look at how digitization can help you attract and retain the workers you need.

What customers want Though they’ve always been demanding, your customers’ experience with other digital-savvy businesses has amped up their expectations. They want their customized, short-run order delivered as quickly as if it were made to inventory—or faster—and at the same price. They know it’s complicated, but also that every other company they buy from seems to have the latest technology figured out.

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They also want a seamless, easy-to-understand buying process that allows them to engage via the channel of their choice—and, increasingly, that means interacting through more than one channel during their workday or as the purchase process proceeds.

For midsize manufacturers, this 24/7 demand requires not only the need to offer multiple channels, but the need to offer a robust e-commerce website that’s connected with their enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. This allows B2B customers to begin their purchasing process at work, from a desktop or laptop web browser, and continue it in the evening on an iPad from home or a smartphone just before going to bed. In the always-on world marketplace, checking and confirming product specs, availability, price, and shipping schedules long ago stopped being done during traditional work hours.

This basic setup, a website connected to the ERP, offers convenience to your customers while eliminating the hand-offs—and the potential for error they introduce—in your order fulfillment process.

Achieving digital omni-commerce When we talk about transforming a manufacturer’s business—not just its production—we’re talking about extending e-commerce to

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each of its proliferating channels to achieve digital omni-commerce. This next-gen version of online operations isn’t about offering e-commerce as a single channel like electronic data interchange (EDI), but rather offering it in all sales channels. We’re also talking about extending it through to the factory floor.

For manufacturers and distributors, the center of digital omni-commerce is a cross-platform ERP solution. This solution drives offline commerce, including kiosks, store locations, EDI, direct sales, and customer sales representatives, as well as various online channels, including dealer network portals, online storefronts and markets, mobile, and social. All activity and information are managed from a single source of truth, the ERP system. This includes product, process, customer orders, and stock.

By digitizing commerce, manufacturers can more easily stay apprised of their customers’ changing needs. What and how are they buying? How are they consuming information and gathering research? Keeping the engagement channel open through digital omni-commerce helps manufacturers receive such feedback, so they know who their buyers are, how they are buying, what they are doing with the product, what challenges they face—and

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that feedback continuously loops back and forth between the customer and the factory floor.

This allows manufacturers’ extended value chains to be responsive to their customers’ changing needs, so they can make products that are uniquely targeted to specific customers, distinguishing them from competitors’ products.

With digital omni-commerce, manufacturers and distributors also can ensure that no matter where a customer decides to shop, they will have a consistent brand experience. Think about shopping for clothes. Apparel manufacturers don’t only sell through Macy’s or Nordstrom, but also direct via their website and through other online marketplaces. Yet their brand expressions are consistent throughout.

Automating to-order and in-person salesFor manufacturers that make-to-order (MTO), engineer-to-order (ETO), and configure to order (CTO), automated selling is as critical as it is easy to see the benefits. As SKUs and custom configurations proliferate, automated systems are crucial to ensuring order accuracy and speeding order delivery.

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Still, digital e-commerce is critical even if your unique selling proposition involves a sales team personally interacting with your customers, human-to-human. Companies that thrive on personal selling must focus on digitizing every other aspect of their sales fulfillment process, just as to-order manufacturers must. This includes automated order configuration, pricing, and delivery confirmation.

For manufacturers that sell or service their products through dealers, for example, automated systems streamline order quoting, sales management, inventory tracking, and warranty processing. With direct access into the ERP system—the single source of truth for all orders—such systems provide dealers with self-service access to their sales histories and allow them to personalize offers, offer convenient delivery options, and maintain transparency throughout the buying process.

Or consider the comparison between two sales representatives competing for the same customer. One shows up with a paper catalog and a bunch of paper order forms that they manually complete, and which must be personally delivered or faxed to the office, with confirmations made via email or fax.

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The other has an iPad that allows the sales person to help the customer electronically configure the order, as well as offer a digital representation of it along with confirmation of pricing and delivery dates. Once closed, the order immediately electronically flows all the way to the manufacturing floor, cutting days out of the lead time, eliminating order errors, and freeing the representative of paperwork hassles.

For more information, visit Epicor Software at www.epicor.com.

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http://www.epicor.com


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Experience#higherproductivity

Industry 4.0 is the smart idea whose time has come. Digitalizing production offers many levels of opportunity to make business more productive: Smart components, smart automation solutions, smart uses of big data, smart value chains and more.

Having Festo show you the way forward, with products, solutions and staff training and education can make your business more competitive and thus more profitable.

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State of the Digital Manufacturing Business

The good news is that if you move quickly, you can still stake out first-mover advantage in your industry. A KPMG Manufacturing CIO survey reports that manufacturing companies say their digital strategies are not very effective. When asked the question, “How effective has your organization been in using digital technologies to advance business strategy,” only 8 percent described them as “very effective,” vs. 18 percent for all industries.

The bad news, especially if you’re not ready to map your digital strategy, is that manufacturers are on the move. The KPMG survey, using investment in cloud services as a proxy for digital investment, found that though manufacturing survey respondents trailed other industries in current-year cloud services spending, they expect to increase their investment more than other industries in the next one to three years. This was true across all deployment models: infrastructure as a service (IaaS), up 20 percent; platform as a service (PaaS), up 23 percent; and software as a service (SaaS), up 33 percent.


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It’s no secret that manufacturers are facing a retirement exodus. Reports indicate that an estimated 2.7 million manufacturing jobs will likely need to be filled as a result of retirements of the existing workforce. Others calculate the median age of a manufacturing worker today as closing in on 45, which means half are older. Replacing these workers with new technology (which improves the workforce’s productivity, so fewer employees are needed) and the Millennial workforce is vital to any manufacturer’s continued success.

Meanwhile, modern technology figures prominently in research about what organizations must do to recruit Millennials. The 2018 Deloitte Millennial Survey notes that more than half of respondents expect Industry 4.0 (the consultancy’s shorthand for the latest technology) to free them from routine and mundane work, allowing them to focus on more creative, human, and value-adding work.

That’s significant, because another report from Gallup found that Millennials “choose careers for more than a paycheck... Their ultimate goal is to find a good job that fuels their sense


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of purpose and enables them to lead a life well-lived.” The report also notes that Millennials have “instant and constant access to technology, allowing them to become consumers of everything, including the workplace. They can seek and find information on jobs and companies with greater ease than any generation before them.”

Millennials recognize that they have options and they don’t feel the need to stay with a job that isn’t the best fit for them.

Look for more details on how digitization can help address such worker issues in Automation World’s November IIoT supplement.


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www.op22.co/thisisEPIC

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