Page 185 - CW E-Magazine (27-8-2024)

Special Report Special Report

How software defi ned automation will transform the industrial end users, OEMs, and aca-
demics can share a common automa-
chemical operations industry tion software layer across their automa-
tion technology — regardless of brand.
he world is in a state of fl ux. In could build a chemical plant and ex- CHRISTOPHE DE MAISTRE Driving the development of a vendor-
2024, a record number of voters pect it to run unchanged for a handful Energies and Chemicals Segment agnostic ecosystem of portable and
Tin at least 64 nations – plus the of decades. But in today’s increasingly President at Schneider Electric interoperable “plug and produce” soft-
European Union – are heading to the evolving, digitizing society, it can be ware companies including BASF are
polls to elect new heads of state. Some hard to predict whether processes will SDA is a key strategy that aims to trans- being attracted to an automation option
countries are surging to the right wing, remain the same in the space of even form operational technology by decoup- that can run with almost any hardware.
while others fl ock to the left, as econo- a year. ling hardware and software, allowing
mies worldwide grapple with the fall- devices and equipment to be freely con- What’s next for the industry?
out. We’re also seeing pockets of geo- Digitization is changing almost nected across architecture layers, re- The future industrial workforce is
political tension erupt, with confl icts every industry worldwide. For gardless of manufacturer. Under SDA, evolving from manual intensive tasks to
disrupting the lives of millions. Urgent chemicals in particular, digitization industrial companies can choose the more creative or value-adding responsi-
amidst this volatility is the constant promises to transform the traditional automation technology they want and bilities. Industry needs a new kind
need to fi ght climate change and de- ‘design,’ ‘optimize’, and ‘operate’ can mix and match the applications into of worker who doesn’t just operate in
carbonize, but persistently high interest industrial cycle. Merging digital one seamless system. one space; someone who knows how to
rates are making these decisions harder data with the operation of physical More specifi cally, successful SDA ing good data and interpreting it well adjust to the situation that’s happening
to invest in. processes and machinery can create If adopted widely, SDA will have adoption requires the adoption of open can support with better decision making. around them, reviewing data, assessing
a convergence between informa- a huge impact on accelerating innova- automation industry standards. This With SDA operators can harness data advice from AI co-pilots, and then
This turmoil is not just economic tion technology (IT) and operational tion and improving operations across can be a complex shift, especially from all their processes and connect it making operational business decisions.
or political, it touches every industry – technology (OT) domains. It results the globe. It will enable us to realize the when leaving behind trusty closed or all up in a way that gives them new visi-
including chemicals. The push for re- in an incredibly valuable sharing of full potential of industrial applications. proprietary processes (especially a cer- bility of their value stream. The more SDA will also support workforce
duced carbon footprints and increased cultures, expectations, and engineer- However, such a transformation cannot tain “Programmable Logic Controller automated workfl ows become, the more transformation with a key objective to
recycling rates is driving innovation, ing techniques such as virtualization, be realized by one company alone, (PLC) culture”, existing since 1969 and actionable insights can be created to en- develop and support a more empowe-
which while essential add yet more object-based programming, and the and many are still hesitant to join the deeply rooted into our automation engi- able the chemical industry to be more red, highly skilled, and engaged work-
change to the world around us. ability to select a hardware platform revolution. neers’ brains). It harkens back to when adaptable and fl exible to changing mar- force. Increasing automation alongside
based solely on application perfor- Microsoft applications like Excel and ket conditions. For greenfi eld sites and digitization can also help to address the
So, how can we make sense of the mance requirements. What is holding people back? Word were only available on Windows emerging subsegments it is a no brainer. workplace skills challenge with SDA
chaos? Is it better to battle the changes Simply, people fear change. While software; now, they can operate inde- bringing these new roles – that are more
we can’t control, or welcome the ways This process is commonly known as daunting, change however can be pendently of the PC vendor or smart- When it comes to brownfi eld assets, digital, data and analytics-fi rst in their
in which they may bring new, untold Software-Defi ned Automation (SDA). gradual. phone. We need a similar accessibility implementation should be assessed thinking.
benefi ts? For the chemicals industry, shift in chemical industrial automation. based on the investment costs versus
this new change-positive mindset will That way, when people or processes the remaining lifecycle of the plant. We’re in an era of signifi cant exter-
involve the embracing of industrial change, the system is open and can be The transition involves signifi cant in- nal change, but we also know the indus-
digitization – this can streamline opera- understood, maintained and evolved by vestment because there already exists try is moving at quite a pace too. For
tions, minimize environmental impact someone else. an entire automation infrastructure example, building a plastic recycling
and create more resilient supply chains. based around hardware and proprietary system might involve changing feed-
Embracing industrial digitization isn’t Historically the chemical industry has systems. That doesn’t mean it should be stock every six months – making agility
a strategy for survival, it’s the direc- been slow to embark on change and has ruled out. Legacy automation activities a key differentiator for many markets.
tion of travel. A SNS Insider report lagged in its digital transformation. How- can be kept and connected to new ap- With new technologies and innova-
estimates the Chemicals Digitalization ever, it is also an industry that understands proaches so there is time to learn, and tions coming, integrating them requires
Market size at $14.50-bn in 2023 and its challenges (such as energy costs, trace- risks are mitigated during the journey. companies to be software-centric rather
is expected to reach $89.16-bn by 2032 ability, and workforce limitations) and is than hardware-centric. It all becomes
and grow at a CAGR of 22.36% over willing to try to overcome them. Globally, this is being driven by part of a more digitized way of work-
the forecast period 2024-2032. UniversalAutomation.org (UAO), an ing. You could be more agile, more
Undoubtedly SDA is a big change independent, not-for-profi t association environmentally responsible, and more
A new era of software-defi ned from how major industrial operators managing the reference implementa- profi table, but to really achieve success
automation have approached the idea of automa- tion of a shared source runtime. For the you need to connect everything up into
In the not-too-distant past, you tion for decades. We already know us- fi rst time, IT and OT software vendors, a wider digital landscape.

184 Chemical Weekly August 27, 2024 Chemical Weekly August 27, 2024 185

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