System Management over Level 3 (operation/ Automation Software)/ System Sustainability Grows as a Focus

We have seen “system management/ diagnostics/ health” coming for a while, and it is overdue the increasing focus on ISA Level 2 and Level 3 software sustainability and management, this means operational, and automation software. Including MES, OEE, Asset Utilization, historians, supervisory system, alarming systems, HMIs and device integration, out to quality management, and the other home grown systems that make up this un structured space. At the business applications, the business databases, back office applications and also at the PLC and DCS code, we have seen mature system management strategies and systems put in place. In this middle layer where there is no dominating player, and there is a lot of project centric applications, there is little defined strategy, or approach. Now with IT coming down and also the shift for more aligned systems, this area has come under an increasing spot light. Due to the realization that this area of level 2 and level 3 software working in unison, and reliable is key to successful “operational Effectiveness” of a company and plant.

In the last couple of weeks, I have been involved in a number of “HMI upgrades” (this was the term used in the project) discussions, but a closer look at who was driving the project it was not engineering, it was Operations. They are looking for changing their Operational empowerment and effectiveness through a cultural change (will talk this again next blog) but also through an alignment in operational actions, and decisions across teams, sites, and production runs. With less buffer in production, there is less room for delayed decisions or unplanned downtime or unnecessary down time. So these projects are not about upgrading HMI to the latest technology, they about evolution to a new operational approach, and with that to a platform that will enable:

·         Operational decisions faster

·         Operational decisions more consistently

·         Operational evolution and agility, through being able to add new functionality and evolve in a managed methodology, with standards, and governance

·         Operational continuity based upon system risk awareness and fast corrective actions

The discussions in all cases lead to the word of Governance on the implementation of application configuration, standards, and how this can be managed with versions, etc.

The second discussion was around running system and system management, understand the risk on software and hardware it is running now, and predicting risk so actions can be avoided.

At recent customer council in Europe with key customers both of these were raised as significant focuses for them, and that both must align with It practices while still enable uniqueness of the operational environment. Many are building or planning to build their own management systems.

This lines up with Invensys Soft ware’s focus on System Management with such initiatives:

• Proactiv: the remote monitoring of site software and feeding back issues to Invensys experts who will pro actively engage with partners and the site to take corrective action early.
• Software Asset Manager: which looks out over all the known systems on the site and identifies the Invensys software versions, patches state.
• License management: Again this is the central licensing management across actual PCs and virtual systems.

Also, we evolving the holistic approach to system diagnostics, and to enable ease of site monitoring and awareness, also aligning this with Microsoft System Central for larger sites.

It is key that all running software supply it’s state and instrumentation as a service in a consistent way, so it can be management and work no matter the vendor if customers are to build a sustainable system.