Having got the technology hurdle out of the way, it is time to consider the human aspect of enterprise integration in respect of business IT and shop floor IT.
In Part 2, we saw the different information needs of business and production processes and how they could be reconciled through existing application framework `filters' and the use of standards such as ISA-95.
Traditionally, IT managers have paid as much attention to the realtime complexities of the shopfloor as the rest of us paid to root canal. As the shopfloor got itself better organised and historians became the repositories of vast quantities of mission-critical information, CEOs started to wonder why they were running two information departments. And the instrumentation engineer started to wonder why he was beginning to understand what his IT colleague was talking about.
In the 1960s and '70s, we had data processing managers running data processing departments. Those were names given to a breed of individuals who understood computers while everyone else stood around in awe - Stonehenge, high priests, peasants - same sort of thing. Data processing personnel were not only required to look after the roomfuls of hardware but were also responsible for developing business software that would allow the company to run its business processes more effectively. But today, almost everyone understands computers and how to beat them into submission and we have more commercially available software solutions than we can handle. No more mystery there, so a limited future for the high priests. Instead, they became information technology experts but often with the focus on technology rather than information. In other words, nothing much had changed.
The instrumentation engineer's job changed the very instant someone else wanted to know what he did within the grander scheme of things. He suddenly realised that optimising P&IDs had no meaning if they did not help the company achieve its business objectives. In order to contribute to this, he saw that he needed to change his role from instrumentation engineer to information provider. For the sake of efficiency, profitability and competitiveness, it became necessary to take a more formal approach towards the gathering and compilation of realtime information and to reconcile it with that of traditional business systems. Only in this way could manufacturing execution systems (MES) become a reality.
Today, we have a situation where realtime data repositories can eclipse those of business IT systems in sheer magnitude, scope and criticality. The shopfloor now has disaster recovery and change management solutions to automatically back up and diagnose releases of HMI, PLC and robotic software. By definition, the instrumentation engineer has become a high priest of data processing because he knows things other people do not. This has angered the 'traditional' high priests of data processing because they are no longer in complete control of the company's total information needs. Yet, these same high priests are not comfortable working in the realtime environment where masses of data are needed on a millisecond time scale. Invoicing, after all, is based on a calendar rather than a stopwatch.
So, today, we have companies with what amounts to two IT departments - one in charge of making the money (production) and the other in charge of managing it (traditional business IT). The information pipeline that connects the two can be as thick or as thin as needed and the filters at either end of this pipeline are defined by international standards like ISA-95.
Two IT departments means another kid on the block and that means that the first kid is not going to like it. Unifying a company's information requirements into a seamless asset is going to affect at least four groups of people:
The instrumentation engineer
Being an information supplier in charge of, often, more than half of the company's total information assets, rarely formed part of his/her job description. While mucking about with computers can be fun (?) diagnosing processes and improving them is often a lot more rewarding. So, mister instrument engineer, you should be allowed to exercise your process skills while you should consider getting some help from your traditional IT department which is well versed in the management of information and its infrastructure.
The IT manager
While millisecond response times and realtime diagnostic procedures may not be what you are used to, they are not your problem. Let the people who know about these things handle them. Instead, you bring a wealth of knowledge to the management of information and you should lend your instrumentation colleague a hand.
The scada solution vendor
Scada solution suppliers have been caught with their alarms blaring because many still think that scada somehow operates outside the ambit of business information provision. Pipelines to scada data are next to useless. Pipelines to scada information are far more useful. But data is transformed into information by applications and, since there is more than one application vendor on the planet, they are going to have to conform to information exchange standards such as ISA-95.
The CEO
Because of their vastly different functions, two information repositories are probably inevitable because they each have quite different operating specifications. This is not a duplication of assets but rather a step closer to having a unification of information assets geared to providing factual information, cause and effect scenarios and performance measurement facilities that will keep your finger on the pulse of your organisation.
One solution that has been tried and seems to work well for reconciling the differences between the two IT departments, is to create the position of chief information officer (or similar) to whom both the business IT manager and the control and instrumentation engineer report. As to scada solution vendors, they see the future lie with moving further 'North' into the manufacturing execution systems arena as they change to meet customer needs for compatible information solutions.
With this unified information structure, chief executives and management should also start getting used to the idea of change because this new approach will revolutionise accounting and enterprise-wide costing, performance management and personnel recognition.
In Part 4, we see the vital role that manufacturing execution systems play at the core of the enterprise's information network.
For more information contact Justin Tweedie, Futuristix, 0861 WONDER (0861 966 337), justint@futuristix.co.za, www.futuristix.co.za
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