The opportunity of Industry 4.0
One of the major concerns of industries worldwide is the integration and continued growth and innovation of existing factory environments with modern industrial practices. The control of real-world devices and systems (OT) are often closed-loop systems designed to manage and control operational efficiency and safety. Integration of these environments with enterprise IT systems and networks can be challenging. Integration points must be identified, defined, and standardized to ensure effective connectivity and minimal impact on these often long-running production systems.
Sensors, motors, gauges, and other intelligent electronic devices, such as Remote Terminal Units (RTUs) and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), as well as Human-Machine Interface (HMI) control system assets, are examples of OT assets. Modern PLCs and controllers have IT integration built in using a variety of protocols; however, this is not always the case, or the devices may not...
