Cisco, Panduit and Rockwell Automation, in cooperation with ODVA, are sponsoring a new online community that extends the Industrial IP Advantage website. The community helps IT, engineering, maintenance and operations professionals transform industries by taking advantage of the future-proof interoperability delivered by Internet Protocol (IP).
The Industrial IP Advantage discusses emerging-technology trends in industrial plants and IT networking – like the Internet of Things, convergence, big data and EtherNet/IP. The website offers guides, case studies, technical white papers, and online discussions on how these technologies can be applied to automation, industrial compute, remote assets and services, video, energy management, mobility, and security and compliance.
Many manufacturers use multiple networks with proprietary protocols to manage devices, which create breakdowns in communication within an organisation, increase threats to network security, and complicate IT management. This approach does not scale and creates inefficiency across manufacturing and business operations. To stay competitive, companies are looking to integrate the entire manufacturing value chain and leverage IP to seamlessly connect devices, processes, systems and people.
“A common IP network seamlessly manages communication between digital devices, such as video cameras, RFID readers, controllers, instruments and digital tablets, with processes, systems and people from the plant floor to the corner office. IP extends innovative networking and management services for optimum levels of security, performance and ease of integration,” said Chet Namboodri, Director of global manufacturing solutions, Cisco.
“IP integration is a critical factor for the evolution of industrial networks to assist in maximising plant uptime and ensuring long-time reliability,” said Steve Timian, Director of Industrial Automation Solutions, Panduit Corp.
“This new online resource provides valuable education and knowledge-based experiences to assist in the implementation of sophisticated network architectures that provide connectivity from plant to enterprise,” Timian said.
“The overwhelming majority of digital things will naturally depend on IP because of its overarching interoperability,” said Kevin Zaba, Vice President, Rockwell Automation.
“Instead of overriding the power of IP, solutions such as EtherNet/IP put the software protocol to work, allowing industrial producers to easily extend collaboration to the plant along with other higher-level services that IP supports.”
EP News Bureau – Mumbai
