OPEN SDA: A WAY TO BREAK FREE FROM PROPRIETARY LOCK-INS? Schneider Electric has been laying out its vision of a form of industrial automation that frees customers from being locked into closed, proprietary architectures from a single vendor. At an recent event in London, it argued that such systems are costing manufacturers dearly as a result of factors such as increased downtime, operating inefficiencies and compliance issues. Research conducted for Schneider last year by Omdia concluded that closed automation systems are costing mid-sized manufacturers around £8m a year, while for larger enterprises the bill could be £33m. The study suggested that these systems add 4.5% of the average turnover of a manufacturing enterprise – with the total cost to industry amounting to around £8.4bn. Smaller companies are bearing the brunt, losing up to 25% of their revenues through a reliance on closed proprietary automation systems, the study estimated. The answer, according to Schneider, is to adopt an open form of softwaredefined automation (SDA). It differentiates this from other forms of SDA, promoted by some vendors, which simply separate control logic from hardware. The open version of SDA is based on open standards and protocols, allowing devices and systems from different manufacturers to integrate and interoperate with each other. Neil Smith, president of Schneider’s global CPG (consumer packaged goods) business, likens the open approach to the way recorded music can now be played on a variety of different platforms, from CDs to streaming services, allowing users to access playlists from anywhere and on different devices. Open SDA, he argues, “allows manufacturers to use the best tools for their specific business challenges, integrate new capabilities quickly, and evolve at ‘software speed’, rather than being bound by legacy systems.” Schneider’s vision of open SDA is being backed by a non-profit association, called universalautomation.org, which was established in 2021 by nine founding members including Schneider, Yokogawa and Intel. It now has more than 100 members including suppliers (such as Phoenix Contact, Honeywell and Omron) and end-users (including Nestlé and Hyundai). So far, universalautomation.org has not attracted any of the other big players in the industrial automation world, which would give added weight to the concept. But Schneider is building up a solid base of users, ranging from an Italian coffee roasting business called Zicaffe (which is using open SDA to give it better control of its processes and materials) to the city of Conroe in Texas, which is using the technology to keep water flowing to its 115,000 residents. It reports that open SDA has delivered a 70% improvement in engineering efficiency, 80% faster recovery times after system faults, and a reduction of time spent on manual data collection of more than 50 hours per week. Schneider may be taking the lead in the campaign for open softwaredefined automation, but if it can demonstrate that businesses that adopt the idea are experiencing the benefits that it claims, it could be onto a winner – and the other major players may have to adopt a similar approach. Tony Sacks, Editor n COMMENT pot en ti a l o f y o Are you inve our workforce? esting in the mproves Comp Creates an Adaptable a ncreases Productivi mproves Safe W Industry recognised co I I a I any Reputation nd Flexible Workforce y and Performance orking Practices ourses from the BFPA W t a p Please call 01608 6479 00 or bfpa.co.u RITISH FLUID POW B email enquiries@bfpa.co.uk k/training WER ASSOCIATION / Drives&Controls Follow us on LinkedIn @Drives & Controls Join us on Facebook Drives & Controls Follow us on X @DrivesnControls For the latest news visit www.drivesncontrols.com Drives& Controls
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