by Gary Mintchell | Feb 23, 2021 | Automation, Security
Bayshore Networks is a provider of active industrial cybersecurity protection solutions specifically designed for OT environments, automation engineers, and plant operators. It has had a partnership with GE Digital. At this month’s 2021 ARC Industry Forum, spokespeople talked to us about this news of acquiring Op Shield from GE Digital as well as furthering their partnership.
The combination of Bayshore’s In-depth Policy Learning, Enforcement and Deep Content Inspection Engines combined with the Op Shield Advanced Management Console with Advanced Protocol Technology addresses the fact that while companies may have Threat Analytics’ and/or Detection Solutions, they need as part of a Cyber Security Triad, Advanced Prevention capabilities that are designed for the real-world OT Cyber skillsets that are realistically available on most plant floors today.
The overall combined solutions that emerge from this acquisition will be democratized to address most if not all major PLC brands giving Bayshore the most robust number of devices and protocols supported in the OT/ICS industry. The integrated solutions should be available in late Q3 of this year under the brand, Op Shield Next Generation.
Bayshore today continues to offer our Active IPS OT fuse for most Industrial PLC protection applications, our Unidirectional Gateway NetWall, our Industrial Secure Remote Access product OT Access, as well as our dedicated OT fuse Cimplicity and iFIX devices for GE installations as well as a Proficy Historian Connector for GE NetWall installations as well as many other Historian Connectors.
As more information becomes available we will keep all of our partners up to date. I want to thank all of you, our End Customers, our Channel and Alliance Partners, and our Investors for believing in our mission of Advanced Active Protection for OT/ICS Networks.
Bayshore Networks and GE Digital announced an expansion to their partnership to integrate their solutions to address the growing need to secure industrial and critical infrastructure networks. GE Digital’s OpShield technology will be integrated into Bayshore Networks’ advanced solutions providing sophisticated industrial cybersecurity and active prevention/protection for industrial equipment, including programmable logic controllers (PLCs), human machine interface (HMIs), and engineering workstations.
“We’re pleased to announce another way we will support organizations who need to protect operational technology (OT) environments, industrial processes, and plant operations,” said Steve Pavlosky, Director, Digital Product Management at GE Digital. “Being at the heart of an operation’s data visualization, control, and reporting, it is critically important to ensure companies are taking steps to protect this key element to their operations. The combination of Bayshore’s In-depth Policy Engine with GE Digital’s OpShield Management Console and Advanced Protocol technology addresses the fact that while companies may have threat analytics or detection solutions as part of a Cyber Security triad, they must have advanced prevention capabilities.”
GE Digital began working with Bayshore in 2019 to bring cybersecurity support to GE Proficy installations. With this extended partnership, Bayshore and GE Digital look forward to providing customers in all industries with software that includes Bayshore Networks’ advanced cybersecurity technology with GE Digital’s OpShield capabilities.
“Bayshore is tremendously excited to see the relationship with GE Digital expand to combine our joint technologies with the goal of launching OpShield NextGeneration as the premier detection/active prevention solution for the entire industrial marketplace as we jointly work to secure the world’s industrial and critical infrastructure networks,” said Kevin Senator, CEO of Bayshore Networks. “Together, we will support existing GE Digital customers as well as new customers with technology to protect their OT endpoints and networks from ever-changing and increasing cyber threats as well as advancing this combined technology to a broad range of control products from a variety of vendors. Bayshore’s advanced technology brings a whole new level of safety and resilience within the reach and control of plant operations everywhere regardless of PLC brand in use.”
This partnership combines GE Digital’s OpShield security technology with Bayshore’s Deep Content Inspection and Advanced Policy Learning and Enforcement, enabling Bayshore to create an integrated product line, to be called OpShield NextGeneration.
Bayshore will be the exclusive provider of this combined technology to customers worldwide through GE Digital, Bayshore, and other sales channels. OpShield NextGeneration can protect most HMI and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems from unauthorized and potentially high-risk or dangerous network activity such as unscheduled configuration changes, unscheduled maintenance events, indicators of reconnaissance and surveillance, Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, network spoofing and piggybacking.
“Industrial companies will now usually agree that they have hosts and applications which are no longer separated, or “air-gapped” off for safe, isolated operations from the rest of the company or from outsiders and the internet.“ said Sid Snitkin, Vice President Cybersecurity Advisory Services, ARC Advisory, “These types of systems are susceptible to certain OT network attacks. And with the influence of the pandemic, the industrial attack surface and the resulting cyber risk just continues to increase.”
“Bayshore understands industrial protocols and can easily retrofit into existing network deployments without having to change existing infrastructure, security practices, or even configuration changes to the equipment,” said Kevin Senator.
Bayshore Networks will begin offering the current OpShield product line to customers in late Q1 with an intended launched of OpShield NextGeneration in 2021 that covers most major PLC vendors with leading edge active protection.
by Gary Mintchell | Feb 23, 2021 | Data Management, News, Process Control, Security, Sensors
New capability ensures configuration data integrity and signal tracing to improve process safety, reduce cyber risk and support digital transformation
PAS (now PAS Global, part of Hexagon) has long provided some valuable and interesting solutions for process automation. Its Integrity series of configuration management tools now integrated with its cyber security work offers many benefits. This announcement was highlighted at our meetings (virtual, of course) at the 2021 ARC Industry Forum.
PAS Global announced Sensor Data Integrity, a new Automation Integrity module, which enables industrial organizations to ensure configuration data integrity for smart and traditional sensors with signal tracing and validation. This addition to Automation Integrity helps reduce both process safety and cyber risk in support of digital transformation and Industrie 4.0 initiatives.
As industrial organizations expand their deployment of smart sensors, it is becoming increasingly more complex to manage configuration consistency across field device management, distributed control systems (DCS), programmable logic controllers (PLC), safety instrumented systems (SIS), historians and other operational technology (OT). Managing the complex configuration of millions of multi-vendor sensors consistently has become a major challenge for industrial companies. The lack of effective sensor management also puts digital transformation initiatives at risk of falling short of their intended benefits, potentially wasting multimillion-dollar investments.
The new Sensor Data Integrity module provides multi-vendor:
- Discovery of smart, industrial IoT, and traditional analog sensors
- Visibility to the complete inventory and potential cyber vulnerability for sensors
- Creation of templates to define approved configuration for each sensor type
- Automated detection of configuration errors
- Automated identification of devices that don’t match assigned templates
- Cross-checking of parameters (ranges, units, etc.)
- Support for large-scale, multi-site sensor deployments
- Sensor signal tracing, validation and visualization
The information provided by Sensor Data Integrity can also be leveraged by sensor asset management systems (AMS) to support instrument calibration and can feed PAS Cyber Integrity to support cybersecurity vulnerability assessments.
“PAS has a strong history of customer-led innovation and the development of Sensor Data Integrity builds on that tradition,” said Eddie Habibi, PAS Founder. “The expansion of smart sensors is making it increasingly difficult for operations teams to monitor for configuration drift and inconsistencies. This means teams are spending more time trying to find issues instead of correcting them, which increases the risk of poor plant performance and cyber vulnerabilities. PAS, now part of Hexagon, is the first technology provider addressing this challenge with a multi-vendor solution that works across OT systems.”
With Sensor Data Integrity, industrial organizations will:
- Reduce manual effort in reconciling sensor and field device configurations
- Improve plant performance and reduce safety risk (e.g., fewer unit trips due to bad configurations)
- Reduce sensor configuration drift and errors by more than 40%
- Enhance decision-making with higher-quality sensor diagnostics
- Leverage sensor data for vulnerability assessment and obsolescence planning
- Reduce sensor-related cost overruns before startup (e.g., accelerated loop check out)
“Multi-vendor sensor configuration management is a long-standing challenge in the industrial sector and the problem is only getting worse with the proliferation of smart sensors,” said Larry O’Brien, Research VP ARC Advisory Group. “In a 2017 study, ARC estimated the process industries lose as much as $1 trillion per year due to unplanned downtime. Misconfigured or inconsistent sensor configurations are key contributors to these events. We are pleased to see PAS, with support from key customers, has introduced sensor data integrity to address this pervasive and growing problem.”
by Gary Mintchell | Feb 22, 2021 | Automation, Data Management, Process Control
Here is the Yokogawa announcement from this year’s ARC Industry Forum. This Collaborative Information Server fits firmly in the trend of providing plant data for better decision-making at both the operations and management level.
Yokogawa Electric Corporation has developed Collaborative Information Server (CI Server) as part of the OpreX Control and Safety System family. The solution will integrate the handling of all kinds of data from plant facilities and systems to enable the optimized management of production activities across an entire enterprise, and provide the environment needed to remotely monitor and control operations from any location. By reducing the need for travel, this also helps to lessen the risk of infection with COVID-19.
As supply chains stretch across the globe and customer needs grow ever more diverse, many companies today are having to deal with increasing complexity in the supply of raw materials and in their operations. At the same time, they are experiencing labor shortages as their most experienced operators age and retire. Under these circumstances, companies must pursue efficiency in their operations and make decisions quickly in response to market changes if they are to remain profitable. And to streamline operations and ensure the safety of their workforce, there is a rapidly growing need for remote solutions that will enable personnel to work together without actually having to be on site.
To meet these needs, Yokogawa has developed CI Server, a solution that automatically aggregates the data that has been acquired from plant facilities and systems so that personnel in any location can monitor and operate them and have access to all the information needed to make swift and effective decisions.
Features
1. The streamlining of operations and assurance of safety through an operating environment that can be accessed anywhere
A plant operates most effectively when there is full collaboration between plant operators, experts in areas such as maintenance and quality management, and decision makers at headquarters, as well as with other plants. CI Server provides a remote operation environment that supports wide-area communications and allows plant operations to be monitored and controlled from remote locations such as integrated operations centers. CI Server can be used from any PC or mobile device with a web browser to monitor and control a plant’s operations. Efficient operation from any location is facilitated by creating a suitable dashboard for an organization and granting the necessary access permissions.
As well as helping to facilitate smooth collaboration among decision makers and other experts who are not at plant sites, CI Server also aids in the efficient operation and management of power plants that are often spread out over a wide area and situated in harsh environments, offshore installations, and other facilities. Furthermore, by eliminating the need for travel to plant sites, CI Server reduces the need for interpersonal contact and thereby leads to a lower risk of COVID-19 transmission for individuals, companies, and the community.
2. Smooth data integration and centralized management of the information needed for swift decision making
Facilities and systems often differ in the data formats and the communications protocols that they employ, and this complicates the aggregation of information and the management of data in a unified format. CI Server supports a range of communications protocols, and can not only acquire process data from control systems, but also aggregate data such as the operational status of facilities and equipment, raw material and finished product inventory, and energy consumption. Data on equipment maintenance, product quality, and other items are all gathered automatically in real time, converted to a unified format, and linked and associated. Data from a wide variety of systems and devices made by different vendors can also be gathered and integrated, both on an individual and multiple plant basis.
The collection and organization of the required data using a unified format previously had to be done manually. The automation of these tasks by CI Server saves time and ensures that the right information is delivered in real time to the right persons, for swift and effective decision making. CI Server enables a quick response to market changes and aids in the optimization of costs and enhancement of operational efficiency not only at individual plants but across an entire company’s manufacturing operations.
3. Use of data in operational improvement activities and in applications
Not only is CI Server’s integration of data useful in managing plants, it also helps to improve production efficiency and quality. CI Server enables the linkage of data in a unified format so that it can be used across the board in information systems, quality improvement systems, data analysis applications, and other such systems, and the data collected over long time periods can be automatically incorporated into and utilized by such systems and applications.
For example, in process industries where the quality of raw materials and the soundness of production equipment is closely linked to the quality of finished products, the analysis of data with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) software can identify new correlations and important key performance indicators that can help to reduce failures and improve overall operations. Furthermore, by constructing a digital twin for a plant using data that has been integrated by CI Server, it is possible to verify new solutions, new parameter settings, and other such operational improvements in advance.
Shigeyoshi Uehara, a Yokogawa vice president and head of the IA Systems and Service Business Headquarters, says, “The new Collaborative Information Server solution provides the requisite data management infrastructure for customers to carry out their digital transformation (DX). Yokogawa calls the future of the manufacturing industry IA2IA, industrial automation to industrial autonomy, and we will help industries with this migration from being automated to being autonomous. Yokogawa possesses solutions to improve operational efficiency, energy efficiency, quality, and other aspects through data utilization, and with CI Server will provide support to customers for improved production activities and for sustainable business growth.”
by Gary Mintchell | Feb 19, 2021 | News, Organizations
Technologies that enable remote service and support were already a trend before the travel restrictions of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic hit. These have improved exponentially since the first demo I experienced in 2000. I was recently introduced to ADTANCE, German company in that space, which I guess is their English translation of German into “fieldstreaming”. Anyway, without being able to test it or play with it, this new solution looks powerful.
ADTANCE, an international After-Sales Service technology platform provider for manufacturers, industrial companies, and mechanical engineering organizations, announced a new Support Module and Fieldstreaming solution that is fully integrated into the ADTANCE Smart Services Platform 4.0. The Fieldstreaming solution is the first live remote support software capable of connecting every type of camera to the system, including cameras within smartphones, tablets, computers, security cameras, drones and underwater Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs). Users can live stream views of machines from various angles simultaneously– significantly improving live support, remote training and long-distance collaboration in the field.
“We’ve seen customer demand for live remote support, training and collaboration skyrocket – in part because of the current COVID-19 challenges, but also due to increasingly complex machines and a shortage of highly skilled technicians,” said Nils Arnold, Co-founder and CEO of ADTANCE. “Our new ADTANCE Support and Fieldstreaming solution is uniquely suited to address the growing set of remote service use cases. Companies want service technicians to be able to view machines from a variety of angles in real-time, conduct live remote user training from multiple perspectives, and collaborate remotely using multiple cameras. Our new Support Module and Fieldstreaming Solution makes all these use cases possible and simple.”
“ADTANCE’s Fieldstreaming Solution is a game-changer for us,” said Michael Ntagas, Director of After Sales Service at Reifenhäuser Group. “Now we are able to build an entire machine – sixteen meters high – and get the technical assistance we need 100% remotely. After the machine is built, we can remotely educate and train machine operators; effectively collaborate long distance with our customers to test new mixtures of raw materials running in the machine; and upgrade machines without traveling to the customer site. ADTANCE Support and Fieldstreaming Solution reduces the significant costs and current risks of traveling to customer sites, while increasing the number of customers our highly technical experts can service.”
The ADTANCE Support Module also includes the following new capabilities that improve communication and collaboration between service technicians and customers.
Users can now start an ADTANCE Support session by sending a message, document, or video recording in addition to initiating a session through a video call. Users do not need to download an app, as ADTANCE Support now runs on all browsers and mobile devices. Invitations to sessions can be shared by simply sending a link without the need to set up a user account. At any time during a session, users can send messages, documents, recordings, open a live video chat or collaborate using a digital whiteboard.
Snapshots can be taken at any time during the ADTANCE Support live video stream and users can mark up the video with circles, arrows or pertinent notes. Several people can work on a snapshot within the support session at the same time. A service technician simply sends a request to the field worker and once it is accepted, the system automatically executes a snapshot. Alternatively, users have the option to immediately accept all snapshots for a session prior to starting the video call. This allows the service expert to take snapshots at any time during the live video stream.
ADTANCE Support now allows closed sessions to be reactivated and viewed again at any time. The documentation remains in place and participants can be invited back into the session. This saves time and significantly improves customer service, especially when there is a complex or recurring problem with the same customer.
“The new capabilities in ADTANCE Support are very impressive,” said Stephan Czwick, Product Manager at Schuler Group. “The ability to rejoin closed sessions is particularly valuable. A technician can view or restart a session days later and still have all the important information of the case intact, which allows the service expert to immediately pick up where they left off with the customer. This can save our technicians a tremendous amount of time and improve customer satisfaction.”
ADTANCE Support now includes translation for 147 different languages. Users simply select a language, speak, then click a button and the system translates their speech into the selected language. This unparalleled language support enables companies to leverage their highly technical experts on a global basis.
ADTANCE Smart Service Platform 4.0
The ADTANCE Smart Service Platform 4.0 is the only centralized platform for digitizing the entire After-Sales Service lifecycle and encompasses the following modules:
· ADTANCE Support – Enables live remote support, inspection and maintenance for customers, utilizing devices such as smart glasses and multi-camera fieldstreaming.
· ADTANCE Workflow – Digitizes, analyzes and optimizes all workflows, including everyday processes, such as maintenance instructions.
· ADTANCE Process Visualization and Monitoring (PVM) – Monitors the performance of individual machines as well as entire industrial plants.
· ADTANCE Predictive Maintenance (PM) – Analyzes and evaluates operational data in real time through the continuous monitoring of machines or the entire production plant using built-in sensors. Machine learning-based analysis offer predictions about potential downtime as well as warnings if a piece of equipment will require maintenance.
· ADTANCE Ticketing – Standardizes entire customer service channels by bundling different channels into one system, including e-mail, telephone, SMS and social media. Creates order and clarity by providing different escalation levels with the respective reaction and resolution times.
· ADTANCE Document Management (DM) – Stores all customer service documents centrally, as well as control the access rights for security and privacy purposes.
· ADTANCE Parts – A central catalogue system to ensure that all spare part information remains centrally located and easily discoverable.
by Gary Mintchell | Feb 18, 2021 | Business, News, Organizations, Robots
I have noticed over the past several years that the share of sales of automation vendors from the automotive sector has been declining. If nothing else points to that trend, it would be sales of that automotive technology mainstay—robots. Welding robots populating automotive assembly lines were synonyms for automation. If you looked at sales by industry and application, those have led the list for a long time.
Things have changed. For the first time, yearly orders of robots from non-automotive sectors surpassed automotive robot orders, as sales of robotic units in North America increased 3.5% in 2020 from 2019. This growth was driven by a strong Q4 that was the second-best quarter ever for North American robotic sales with a 63.6% increase over Q4 2019.
So say Industry statistics – released recently by the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), part of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) – show that North American companies ordered 31,044 robotic units, valued at $1.572 billion in 2020. In Q4, companies ordered 9,972 units valued at $479 million.
“The surge in robot orders that we’re seeing, despite the pandemic, demonstrates the growing interest in robotic and automation solutions,” said Jeff Burnstein, A3 President. “It’s promising to see the growth of robotics in new applications and reaching a wider group of users than ever before.”
Year-over-year orders in life sciences increased by 69%, food and consumer goods grew by 56%, and plastics and rubber saw a 51% increase. Automotive orders increased 39% in 2020.
“In 2020, we saw two trends in particular that propelled growth in non-automotive orders for robotics technology,” said John Bubnikovich, Chief Regional Officer – North America, KUKA Robotics. “First, the automation competence level in general industry has grown, and that matured into greater demand for the technology. Second, consumer behavior shifted significantly and the expectations created by this shift were tough to satisfy without automation.”
At the same time, Bubnikovich said, supply chain disruptions and instability in the workforce made industries accelerate automation strategies.
The same trends are being noticed by other major robot manufacturers.
“With the changes in people’s personal buying behavior caused by COVID, robots have been utilized in record numbers to allow for the fulfillment of orders in the e-commerce space while allowing for correct social distancing practices,” said Dean Elkins, Segment Leader – Handling, Yaskawa Motoman. “In addition, robots largely aided in the production of personal protection and testing equipment and the medical devices needed to keep our society healthy and safe.”
“We have seen a substantial increase in activity in non-automotive sectors, as customers focus on making their production lines more flexible and better able to efficiently achieve high mix, lower volume production in response to constantly evolving customer demands,” says Mark Joppru, Vice President – Consumer Segment & Service Robotics, US ABB Robotics and Machine Automation. “In food applications, for example, where robots were traditionally used to automate simpler processes like case loading, they are increasingly being commissioned for higher value processes, like directly preparing food, resulting in improvements to food safety and hygiene. While these trends have existed for several years, COVID has changed perceptions and priorities for customers, accelerating the adoption of robotic automation.”
In August of 2020, A3 reported on the strain to supply chains and economic uncertainty due to COVID-19. Alex Shikany, A3 Vice President, Membership & Business Intelligence, noted that despite a drop in orders, industry leaders showed optimism about the remainder of 2020, and accurately predicted the strong finish to 2020.
“The pandemic has created a sense of urgency for manufacturing companies to invest in automation like never before,” said Mike Cicco, President and CEO of FANUC America. “Traditionally, companies have implemented automation to reduce cost, increase output, and improve quality. However, the pandemic has added an additional factor that is driving manufacturers to re-examine their supply chain to increase flexibility, minimize disruptions, and move it closer to their customers. With this mindset, there are more opportunities for scaling robotic applications across multiple facilities, especially for larger companies. The untapped potential for automation is a promising sign for our industry; the opportunities for automation today are truly limitless.”
To help educate users and potential users about how to successfully apply robotics and automation, A3 will hold Automate Forward, the premier virtual automation trade show and conference. Register free and join industry peers March 22-26 to hear from more than 80 speakers and see the latest technologies from more than 160 leading automation suppliers.
About Association for Advancing Automation (A3)
In the spring of 2021, the Robotic Industries Association (RIA) will become the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), the global advocate for the benefits of automating. A3 promotes automation technologies and ideas that transform the way business is done. RIA is one of four allied associations, including AIA – Advancing Vision + Imaging, Motion Control & Motor Association (MCMA), and A3 Mexico, that will transform into A3. Combined, these associations represent over 1,100 automation manufacturers, component suppliers, system integrators, end users, research groups and consulting firms from throughout the world that drive automation forward.
