LNS Research has long followed the major automation vendors. All are either current LNS Research members or have been in the last few years. Recent developments have prompted us to take a closer look at their strategies, what’s happening, and why. We refer to mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, and entering new markets or strengthening positions in certain industry verticals as recent developments. These "giants" are waking up to new challenges as they seek to grow their businesses.
Read MoreCategories: Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM), Industrial Automation, Information Technology, Manufacturing Execution System (MES), Industrial Transformation / Digital Transformation, IT/OT, Operational Architecture, Internet of Things (IoT), cybersecurity
In our last blog on Operational Excellence, we defined OE 4.0 as “sustainable value creation through a holistic approach, supported by an enabling execution platform.” We said that with OE 4.0, we shift away from safety, compliance, and Continuous Improvement (CI) to comprehensive risk management, moving beyond mere EHS & PSM compliance to a proactive, integrated operations system. Of course, we don’t leave CI behind as incremental progress is always welcome, but OE 4.0 seeks a permanent and continuing step-change in performance.
Read MoreCategories: Operational Excellence, Culture, Industrial Transformation / Digital Transformation, Environment, Health and Safety (EHS)
In my last blog on Data Contextualization, we talked about data contextualization at various levels in the OT Ecosystem architecture, particularly in the Operational Data Lake. LNS Research is increasingly hearing the term “Data Hub” used to describe the processing, conditioning, contextualization, persistence, and access functionality so key to data management and one’s ability to scale the New OT Ecosystem. Questions we frequently hear are:
Read MoreCategories: Cloud, Big Data, Industrial Transformation / Digital Transformation, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML), IT/OT, Operational Architecture, Edge, Autonomous Operations, IX Platform, Data Analytics
It’s that time again…each year, LNS Research puts forth predictions around the key trends in the Industrial Transformation (IX) topics where we focus our research. In the case of Asset Performance Management (APM 4.0), our 2021 forecast focused on multiple definitions of Digital Twins, the shift of APM 4.0 to a broader view in terms of Operational Excellence (OE 4.0) and Operation Risk Management (ORM), the Connected Worker (CW), now called the Connected Frontline Workforce (CFW), and the Open Process Automation (OPA) pilots and related progress. Two additional trends are that the path to autonomy flows through Operational Excellence, a concept that requires redefinition and reimagining compared to past approaches; and second, the scale and depth of what it will take to be autonomous is not yet well understood.
Read MoreCategories: Operational Excellence, Risk Management, Industrial Transformation / Digital Transformation, Asset Performance Management (APM), Environment, Health and Safety (EHS), Digital Twin, Autonomous Operations, Data Analytics
Some of the most frequently asked questions LNS Research receives when clients are planning to scale in Industrial Transformation (IX) are concerned with DataOps and data contextualization.
Read MoreCategories: Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM), Big Data, Manufacturing Execution System (MES), Industrial Transformation / Digital Transformation, IT/OT, Industrial Analytics, Data Analytics
In my recent The M&A Rumble in the Jungle blog, I highlighted my 2021 number two prediction that "the focus on APM 4.0 will shift to a broader view in terms of Operational Excellence (OE 4.0) and Operational Risk Management (ORM). This will lead to increasing friction, and at the same time opportunity, between APM and EHS, and quality too...competitors will begin to react in 2021, and we'll see more partnerships and M&A ramping up." We said that the trend has been for both EHS and APM vendors to expand into each other’s territory, in most cases bypassing EAM, since APM solutions can drive whatever EAM is in place. While EAM vendors have a solid business, they risk being squeezed out of the running in the battle over Operational Risk Management (ORM), a key objective of what LNS Research calls Operational Excellence 4.0 (OpEx 4.0). Here, LNS Research refers to the fight between EHS and APM where ORM software straddles the divide between APM vendors' asset reliability, integrity, inspection, and maintenance focus, and the process safety management, incident management, and worker risk assessment functionality of EHS vendors.
Read MoreCategories: Operational Excellence, Risk Management, Continuous Improvement, Asset Performance Management (APM), Environment, Health and Safety (EHS), qualitymanagement
Last April, we wrote about the market twists and turns in the dynamic cybersecurity software market and the challenges and barriers to progress. More recently, we published an M&A update that noted the acquisition of PAS Global by Hexagon AB. Recent conversations with end-users, cyber-software, and automation vendors have highlighted the importance of not just the software but of the associated set of services so vital to implementing and maintaining cyber protection. This raised the question of the best way for most end-users to approach this, get the right help, and bridge the cyber gap between IT and OT. The answer is less a technical discussion than it is about strategy, standards, policies and procedures, and partnering services.
Read MoreCategories: Risk Management, Information Technology, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Industrial Transformation / Digital Transformation, IT/OT, cybersecurity
Four recent M&A announcements have prompted us to catch up on our view of where the industry is heading and follow up on our earlier predictions for 2021. They are:
Read MoreCategories: Operational Excellence, Risk Management, Enterprise Asset Management (EAM), Industrial Transformation / Digital Transformation, Industry 4.0 / Smart Manufacturing, Asset Performance Management (APM), Environment, Health and Safety (EHS), Internet of Things (IoT), cybersecurity
In our December 2020 blog on AWS℠ Industrial, we noted that AWS and the other hyperscalers have always had the ambition to move up the value proposition and delivery stack. The hyperscaler’s objective is simple: to maximize the volume of dollars and services running through their platform. And, they incent their partners and their own salespeople to do so. They aim to win no matter which route one takes, directly through them or via their partners. We said that all roads lead to Rome.
Read MoreCategories: Solution Vendor / Software Vendor, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Industrial Transformation / Digital Transformation, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML), Internet of Things (IoT), Data Analytics
LNS Research has long followed the open and interoperable systems movement, first in IT components and systems and now in automation systems through the initiatives of the International User Association of Automation Technology in Process Industries (NAMUR) and the Open Process Automation Forum (OPAF), of which LNS Research is an Open Group member. Both organizations have proposed standards that leverage existing standards to speed and ease adoption. The purpose of this blog is not to argue the pros and cons of the initiatives whose two groups, by the way, cooperate. Rather, we posit that:
Read MoreCategories: Industrial Transformation / Digital Transformation, IT/OT, Operational Architecture, Autonomous Operations
