DAC102021

n TALKING INDUSTRY Digital transformation highlights the need for a data strategy The seventh online discussion in the Talking Industry series explored some of the many issues involved in digitalisation – from where to start the journey, to incorporating legacy systems into digitalised plants. Drives & Controls consultant editor Andy Pye, who chaired the session, summarises some of the points made. 30 October 2021 www.drivesncontrols.com L et's start with a disclaimer and define digitisation and digitalisation. Digitisation just means converting something into a digital format and usually refers to encoding data or documents. Digitalisation means converting business processes to use digital technologies, as opposed to analogue or offline systems. While these terms are – incorrectly – used interchangeably, including by the speakers and myself during the discussion, what we are referring to here is digitalisation of business processes. There, I’ve got that off my chest! The scene was set by Prof Sam Turner, CTO of the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult, a UK-wide network of seven manufacturing innovation centres that employ around 4,000 people and have more than £1bn in assets. “There are factory-like facilities, working in manufacturing innovation, and a network of testbeds where we can bring in technology, test it and demonstrate the risks and benefits,” he explained. “And digitalisation is a huge part of that.” To kick off the session, Turner asked: “At the design stage, how can we use digital tools to optimise the digital thread? This starts a thought process about breaking down barriers between design and manufacturing and in-service performance. So, if we can gather data from manufacturing performance or in-service performance and relate it back to design, we can start to enhance the productivity of the assets we’re designing.” Prof Turner referred to the need to build net-zero supply chains – an area where many manufacturers struggle with where to begin. “There is a huge role for digital tools in capturing ‘single-source-of-truth’ data around, for example, the embodied emissions in materials coming into manufacturing via the supply chain and how to report factory emissions.” While robotics, AI and machine-learning techniques are the means, Turner said, the crucial starting point is how we create clean data and start to derive value from it. Roadmaps One key area is creating a digitalisation roadmap. Bill Killick emphasised that we are not talking digital improvement, but a total digital transformation – perhaps the key concept is not digital at all, but a business transformation using digital building blocks. Because his company, HMS Networks, does protocol-to-protocol conversions and dashboarding data into the cloud, Killick deals mainly with mid-level engineers and process designers. “Although there are countless examples of massive success led by senior management, the point at which a company will adopt digital transformation is when their awareness of the benefits exceeds the pain of going through the process!,” he said. “It is also valuable to benchmark yourself with your competitors and with other industry sectors. “You need to be vendor-independent as far as possible, and to have control of your own data and harness its power,” he continued. “I refer to the Internet of Data, as well as the Internet of Things. I don't know if that's a real thing, but I think it should be! “I don't have top-level strategic discussions with business leaders. In my world, at the mid-level, many have the digital vision, but they can’t affect the total chain,” Killick reported. “Instead, they try to anticipate what the business strategy will be coming down from the top and solve an immediate problem using a digital building block that they know will comply with the business transformation strategy once it happens!" Which is where the digital roadmap comes in. To encourage the adoption of a company- wide digital vision, Sam Thiara from MCS Control Systems advocated the use of a roadmap. “We have identified in our own