Two business stories
We once had a food factory load the wrong product and fill a truck with the wrong liquid due to incorrect conversion of order data. Because IT and OT don't work well together. Therefore, it has to be withdrawn, resulting in a large loss of time and money. Integrating new business systems into the overall IT environment can reduce the risk of things like this happening.
In another factory, product data was still often processed manually, which resulted in incorrect product data being sent to customers on a weekly basis. This greatly erodes customer trust, causing customers to choose another supplier. So setting up the right applications and systems in the right way is crucial, and it all starts with a good plan.
Examine the gap between IT and OT
If you want to build a bridge, the first thing you need to know is where the gap is, how wide it is, and what kind of transportation crosses it. As an "OT Architect," you also want to know where IT is separated from OT, what data is sent between the two environments, and to whom this data is relevant. Five types of data can be distinguished in OT:
Data from IT to OT: order data or production planning data (what needs to be done and when).
Process or production data: Operators make decisions based on this information.
Asset data: Data about the state of the machine (wear and tear, etc.), especially maintenance-related data.
Performance data: how is your production going? How much does the product cost and how can it be improved? This is data from OT to IT.
Product data: data for quality personnel (especially data for food and pharmaceuticals, because of storage requirements): is the product safe? Are they within specification? Typically, this data is stored in data centers for extended periods of time (>5 years).
In understanding these data flows, it is also important to recognize the value of these data flows. Not only the value within OT, but also the value after the transformation to IT. In fact, within IT, this data is a valuable input to office processes.
making plans
To bridge the gap between IT and OT, first create a plan with the above mentioned as the main input. Three aspects are important here: organizational, technical and operational.
Organizational management
Must be able to set. Do you have the right OT and IT staff, or even a separate OT department? Are all servers and assets properly managed? Typically these are provided in OT by third parties and are therefore not included in the IT database. Or IT staff does provide the service, but a third party does the configuration. Therefore, the exact scope of maintenance and changes is not always clear. Therefore, good management is important.
engineering design
Start with the OT environment: Which systems generate which data flows? Which system does a particular data flow relate to? How does data flow across layers? Due to network security, it is not recommended that data pass directly through all layers. From there, OT data will be buffered or converted to IT and vice versa. System availability also plays an important role: can production continue if there is temporarily no data from ERP or MES? All these issues focus on user specifications, high-level design, and IT architecture design. If this design is unified, it will also be much easier to properly integrate cybersecurity (security by design).
asset Management
After designing and setting up your organization, it's important to manage all your assets in the right way. A good lifecycle management plan, including maintenance procedures and work instructions, can avoid significant investment costs and make keeping systems in optimal condition part of operations. For a good lifecycle management program, having an up-to-date asset inventory is also a must. Asset inventory is a configuration management tool that includes all configurable components in an OT environment.
Create a roadmap
Perhaps from the plan, there will also be systems to be replaced. It might be a bit aggressive to implement this plan all at once. In addition to being costly and disruptive to production, this approach also carries risks. If an OT system is not configured correctly, it can cost you extra money and time, impacting production.
Create a roadmap by breaking the plan into parts and using the lifecycle management plan and asset inventory to plot them over time. The roadmap now forms a path to bridge IT and OT in a manageable and cost-effective way, with acceptable risk.
Find a professional partner if the right expertise and experience is lacking in-house
If the organization is set up to execute the roadmap itself, there is no need to find a partner. However, it is more common for manufacturing companies to focus primarily on producing products.
Remark:
IT: The abbreviation of Information Technology in English, the full name means "information technology" covers a wide range, mainly including: modern computer, network communication and other technologies in the information field. and management technologies, including computers, networks, software, etc.
OT: Operational Technology. OT refers to the technology used to control and monitor actual physical processes and equipment, including sensors, controllers, robots, etc.