by Gary Mintchell | Feb 4, 2026 | Generative AI, News, Process Control, Security, Software
This news came last week. Just as I was contemplating the business model of cybersecurity firms following another acquisition, this news of a new company launch with a unique take on security. This company will be interesting to watch. The news comes from Amsterdam concerning the launch of a company called Indurex. Naturally they have AI in their product offering and manage to work in an older term—cyber-physical systems.
The quick take: An AI-powered, human-in-the-loop platform that brings together process safety and cybersecurity, turning complex signals into trusted decisions for resilient critical infrastructure.
Indurex, a pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) and cyber-physical systems (CPS) security company, announced on January 27 its official launch to help protect critical infrastructure, smart manufacturing, and connected industrial operations. The company’s mission is to deliver robust, adaptive security solutions that safeguard both the physical and digital worlds as they increasingly converge.
Founded by a team of seasoned experts in operational technology (OT), cybersecurity, and process safety systems, Indurex enters the market at a decisive time. Operators across energy, utilities, and manufacturing sectors face mounting challenges from IT-OT convergence, cyber sabotage, and cascading system failures — putting both process safety and cybersecurity integrity under increasing pressure and exposing essential assets to unprecedented risk. Traditional tools, designed for isolated IT networks or legacy control systems, can no longer assure the level of operational, safety, and cyber integrity required in today’s highly connected industrial environments.
Industrial organisations continue to face a critical gap between process safety and cybersecurity, which are managed in disconnected silos. Existing tools generate high volumes of alerts without sufficient industrial or engineering context, leading to alert fatigue and a limited ability to assess real operational and safety impact. At the same time, a new class of AI-enabled and cyber-physical threats is emerging — capable of exploiting process behaviour, safety dependencies, and human workflows. Detecting and stopping these threats requires AI-native technologies designed for industrial systems, combined with human-in-the-loop intelligence to ensure explainability, trust, and effective decision-making.
Indurex bridges this gap with an AI-native, interoperable platform that unifies engineering context and cybersecurity intelligence — an approach the company defines as Engineering Cyber Intelligence.
This delivers measurable returns across three dimensions:
- Operational Excellence & Safety Integrity: Fewer trips and faster recovery through unified situational awareness and continuous assurance of Safety Integrity Functions (SIF)
- Cyber Resilience: Contextualized detection and response across digital and physical domains, aligned with operational and safety impact
- Cost & Compliance: Automated reporting and defensible evidence of risk, control maturity, and safety integrity across critical systems
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by Gary Mintchell | Nov 20, 2025 | Generative AI, Operator Interface, Process Control
Every day brings more press releases about AI in something. Every one consistently uses the term AI completely undefined. I asked Honeywell if they could explain anything further about their AI. I waited a week. No reply.
Suffice it to say that some sort of AI “transforms” the experience for operators. So, forgetting the AI part, I continue to applaud refining ways to communicate the status of operations to operators (and others).
Honeywell announced a collaboration with TotalEnergies for the ongoing pilot of its AI-assisted Experion Operations Assistant at TotalEnergies’ Port Arthur Refinery in Texas. The initiative aims to support and empower operators to make timely and informed decisions while also providing the opportunity to enhance operational autonomy.
Built on Honeywell’s flagship distributed control system, Experion Operations Assistant is an advanced AI-powered solution designed to transform the way operators monitor plant operations from the control room. By merging operational analytics with real real-time predictive insights, the solution facilitates a more efficient workflow within critical refinery operations. With the integration of this new solution, operators in the control room can forecast potential maintenance events before they happen and minimize risks associated with unsafe operations and production losses.
TotalEnergies has already implemented an initial pilot of Experion Operations Assistant at the Port Arthur site’s Delayed Coking Unit (DCU). Preliminary results show the AI-assisted solution has successfully forecasted five potential events, helping to minimize downtime and reduce emissions from flaring. The predictions were made an average of 12 minutes in advance of an alarm incident, enabling operators to quickly implement corrective actions before an event.
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by Gary Mintchell | Jul 8, 2025 | Asset Performance Management, Process Control
Process automation companies like sending press releases when they get a new project. This news in interesting on two fronts. One, it details the use of drones and robots for monitoring and maintenance. Two, this details Yokogawa and Shell working together on the project.
Yokogawa Electric Corp. announced that it has formalized a long-term agreement with Shell Global Solutions International B.V. (“Shell”) to integrate and further develop technologies for utilizing robots and drones in plant monitoring and maintenance. Under the agreement, Yokogawa will add an advanced machine vision tool called Operator Round by Exception (ORE), developed by Shell, into its own OpreX Robot Management Core. The enhanced software service will be made available by Yokogawa to customers in the energy, chemicals, and other industries.
ORE is a digital solution that uses machine vision and AI analytics to enable robots to autonomously perform a number of tasks in the operator round process, such as reading gauges and checking for leaks and machinery issues. It is the result of a two-year collaborative effort within Shell, which combined machine vision strategy with deep capabilities in the field of integrity management, remote site inspection, and corrosion management.
OpreX Robot Management Core is a key product in Yokogawa’s robot solutions. The software helps customers maintain their facilities in a safer and more efficient manner by integrating the management of various types of robots that perform plant maintenance tasks conventionally carried out by humans. When connected to a plant’s control and safety systems, the data acquired can be used to issue instructions to robots, thus enabling the first step to be taken toward autonomous plant operations. The addition of Shell’s ORE technology will significantly increase the number of use cases available to customers through OpreX Robot Management Core.
Moving forward, Yokogawa robotics operations will deploy at two Shell facilities as a pilot into how robotics and drones can deliver value through efficiencies in plant monitoring and maintenance.
This collaboration is the first key milestone for Yokogawa working alongside Shell in the collaboration space at the Energy Transition Campus Amsterdam, which was created by Shell in 2022 to provide a platform for collaboration between companies, societal organizations, governments, and universities to work on tomorrow’s energy solutions. Shell and Yokogawa have also agreed to collaborate on an aligned R&D roadmap to further develop and enhance the machine vision technology, ensuring continuous innovation and improvement. This collaboration underscores both companies’ commitment to providing cutting-edge solutions to the energy and industrial sectors.
by Gary Mintchell | Jun 11, 2025 | Process Control
Just as I was wondering about anything new in process control, this release about Yokogawa releasing its next-generation CENTUM VP Integrated Production Control System came my way.
They say that this celebrates the 50th anniversary of the announcement of the world’s first distributed control system and 10 generations of the current iteration.
Yokogawa Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6841) announces the unveiling of the next-generation Release 7 concept and the launch of Release 7.01 of the CENTUM VP integrated production control system, a core product in the OpreX Control and Safety System lineup. This is the 10th generation of the CENTUM series, and its release coincides with the 50th anniversary of the announcement of CENTUM as the world’s first*1 distributed control system (DCS), on June 19, 1975.
Yokogawa has based its development of CENTUM VP Release 7 on the concept of enabling autonomous operations. With CENTUM, Yokogawa is helping its customers attain sustainability by improving energy efficiency, accelerating decarbonization, and providing a safe and secure working environment. While maintaining the reliability, stability, continuity, robust security, and comprehensive engineering and service network that have been hallmarks of the CENTUM series since its inception, Yokogawa adds the following three areas:
1. Expanded scope of control and monitoring—By securely aggregating a wide range of data scattered throughout the plant, the status of the entire plant can be monitored, and the scope of automated operation can be expanded, enabling safer and more secure operations.
2. Predictive monitoring through process condition monitoring—By extracting and identifying process-specific events related to operations and predicting deviations from expected values, operators can anticipate changes and take action, helping to achieve more stable operations and improve energy efficiency.
3. Reduction of operator workload—By presenting future scenarios that leverage operator knowledge and know-how, it supports the operator in making accurate decisions. In addition, autonomous control AI*3 can take over from operators to achieve long-term stable operation. This reduces operator workload and mental stress.
Main Features of Release 7.01
1. Enhanced security—This release adopts industry security benchmarks to strengthen the cybersecurity of the components that make up control systems and enhance the overall security level of the system.
2. Expansion of control and monitoring scope with CENTUM—By integrating OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) connectivity, the range of plant equipment and devices that can be controlled and monitored by CENTUM is expanded. In this update, OPC UA client functionality has been added to CENTUM.
3. Enhanced engineering capabilities for large-scale projects—To promote operational optimization by integrating various systems within the plant, a feature has been added that allows the merging and testing of multiple engineering databases related to CENTUM. This enhancement will enable high-quality and efficient engineering, contributing to the rapid startup of new plants and restart of upgraded plants.
by Gary Mintchell | Apr 21, 2025 | Process Control, Standards
The Open Group Open Process Automation Forum (OPAF) provides annual updates at a forum in Orlando in February. I missed that meeting, however recently receiving an update from Aneil Ali, The Open Group OPAF Director.
OPAF members have worked diligently for years developing a standard of standards in order to break the proprietary grip of specific process automation suppliers—hence the word “Open” in the name. Owner/operators facing needed technology upgrades balked at the price of rip-and-replace automation.
I have seen these efforts a few times in the past. The results have provided benefits, but usually far from the vision of the founders.
This organization continues to move forward. They have released version 2.1 of the standard, launched a product certification program, and have witnessed some products making it through the system.
The headline news is ExxonMobil’s Lighthouse project. They have operationalized the OPAF system at a resin finishing plant in Baton Rouge at tail end of 2024. Engineers beat deadlines for startup. They have published some good lessons learned from the project. It’s the first deployment of a commercial OPAF system making money for the owner/operator.
One complaint levied over the years concerned the proliferation of standards, many of which are not interoperable. OPAF has addressed standards harmonization hosting for the fourth year standards harmonizing meetings in Eastern Hemisphere. Recently one was in Germany with FieldComm, OPC UA, Namur, OPAF, PI. They typically meet for three days looking for where there is a risk for divergence and potential problems for endusers.
Ali noted the OPAF have started a regular cadence of user meetings as an effort to get them together to air wishes/desires. These thoughts can be distilled to assignments for working groups.
Ali concluded, “The Forum always open to receiving guidance and feedback from end users not in the ecosystem—we’re not a closed club.”
by Gary Mintchell | Mar 31, 2025 | Networking, News, Organizations, Process Control
The first news from Hannover this morning concerns additions to EtherNet/IP device profiles. Delegates discussed continued updates for process devices at the annual meeting a couple of weeks ago.
ODVA announced that level sensors are the latest option for process device profiles to be added to The EtherNet/IP Specification. Process device profiles help users to reduce complexity and to more quickly install new devices in the event of an unplanned replacement. Standardized semantics and scaling for process variables and diagnostics that are made possible by process device profiles for EtherNet/IP significantly improve vendor interoperability and prepare process data for use with edge and cloud analytics. Device profiles are now available for level measurement along with Coriolis flow, electromagnetic flow, vortex flow, standard pressure, scaled pressure, Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD) and thermocouple temperature sensors. Standardized data including process variables, diagnostics, and totals enable easier access to critical data to help optimize operations. The addition of level sensors to the suite of process device profiles further increases the value of the EtherNet/IP ecosystem.
The goal of process device profiles is to enable a device replacement experience that is as seamless as possible. Plug and play type capabilities for process field devices reduce the need for maintenance workers to be electronic device or Ethernet experts, and they make it possible to increase the efficiency of planned turnarounds while lowering the amount of unplanned downtime. The EtherNet/IP process device profile for level transmitters can be applied to devices that rely on free wave, guided wave, capacitive, magnetostrictive, radiometry, and buoyancy measuring technologies. Additionally, NAMUR NE 107 diagnostics are available for level transmitters that use free wave, guided wave, and radiometry sensor technology approaches. The introduction of level measurement process device profiles, in addition to temperature, flow and pressure, supports end users in being able to integrate EtherNet/IP capable devices in critical environments, to replace sensors regardless of vendor, and to support a harmonized data structure.
“The addition of level sensor support to the suite of EtherNet/IP process device profiles further promotes device interchangeability between vendors and supports easier integration with additional device types,” said Dr. Al Beydoun, President and Executive Director of ODVA. “New level measurement process device profiles for EtherNet/IP network-capable level sensors support NE 107 diagnostics and are aligned with the Process Automation – Device Information Model (PA-DIM). Process device profiles for EtherNet/IP reduce the commissioning and maintenance burden of adopting Ethernet-capable devices and provide a standardized information model foundation to enable usage of advanced edge and cloud analytics approaches, including AI.”
Standardized access to process variables with semantics and scaling that align with PA-DIM and critical diagnostics such as NAMUR NE 107 status signals are the foundation to the future of advanced analytics and optimization within process automation. Process device profiles for EtherNet/IP provide valuable standardization and a growing ecosystem of supported sensors to allow for quicker device installation and replacement, improved asset status, and easier integration into higher level data management systems. ODVA continues to invest in adapting EtherNet/IP to the full requirements of the process industries through support of technologies including Ethernet-APL, PA-DIM, NAMUR, FDI, and process device profiles.
Obtain the latest version of The EtherNet/IP Specification including level measurement process devices profiles for EtherNet/IP.
