Cloud technology is a platform that unites new technologies and helps the concept of IIoT come to life: Vikas Chadha, Honeywell Process Solutions

How do you see the potential for Industrial IoT solutions in India?

The IIoT could be the most influential and disruptive force to conventional automation systems since the advent of the DCS in the 1970’s. It is expected to be the biggest driver of productivity and growth in the coming years.

Many concepts of the IIoT though already exist in current technologies that are commonly used today, such as smart instrumentation, data historians, mobile devices and wireless networks. Early architectural styles are emerging for IIoT that suggest ubiquitous sensing is coupled to cloud-based data analytics and storage systems, providing the structure for a seamless flow of information that will manage plant operations as efficiently as possible.

Industrial companies will be able to run more reliable operations and continually improve performance by installing smarter field devices, increasing connectivity, and collecting and analyzing data more efficiently. With connectivity the need to gather and analyze the huge amount of data generated every second from the plants becomes even more critical. For example, Intuition Executive by Honeywell collects and analyzes large amounts of data, detecting variations, and translating that data into actionable information. Another example is the Experion Orion Console that brings DCS graphics and other applications together in a seamless visual environment that makes it easier for operators to relate information from different sources.

The IIoT concept will enable transformation of nearly all industries. A connected enterprise significantly enhances decision making, increases security and productivity as well as improves overall collaboration across the enterprise by providing the right information at the right time, to help optimize operations. Cloud technology is a platform that unites new technologies and helps the concept of IIoT come to life. In the near future, mobility, cloud computing, data analytics and smart operations will establish development milestones of the automation world.

What kind of opportunities does Honeywell see in the Industrial IoT space in India?

As devices in the plant become more intelligent and autonomous, and the cloud capabilities continue to advance, the DCS may be seen as less pertinent to the overall plant design and function.

This new architecture will balance the computational and life-cycle benefits of cloud computing with the requisite on-site, appliance-hosted capabilities necessary to provide safe, secure and long-lasting automation for complex manufacturing systems and processes.

While some may envision the future model to consist of only wireless sensors and cloud computing, Honeywell maintains that smart devices in the plant will also play an important role as intelligence moves down to these devices and functionality moves up into the cloud.

Local control in the plant via robust smart devices will be essential, while the cloud will enable enterprise optimization of data access and analytics. This will eliminate the time and costs associated with server implementation and maintenance, while maintaining localized control of the plant.

Operators will become less task-oriented and take on a role of higher-level decision-making, assisted by the IIoT, which will provide guidance on abnormalities and display the right information to the operator at the right time in an intuitive format.

Can you give us some examples of industries that can be transformed using industrial IoT solutions in India?

Manufacturers are increasingly adding software, sensors, and wireless connectivity to their products, providing a foundation for the Internet of Things (IoT), which IDC defines as a network of uniquely identifiable endpoints (or "things") that communicate without human interaction using IP connectivity. IIoT is at the heart of transforming some of the major industrial sector in India. The Industrial Internet of Things has been heralded primarily as a way to improve operational efficiency. But in today’s environment, industries especially like oil and gas, manufacturing, power generation, mining, aviation, transportation, healthcare can also benefit greatly by seeing it as a tool for finding growth in unexpected opportunities.

Some of the advantages that various sectors would benefit using the IIoT are:

Improved productivity; quick response to fluctuations in demand; maximized operational efficiency, safety and reliability, using smart sensors and digital control systems; reduced operating costs and fuel consumption; enhanced agility and flexibility, reduced energy consumption and carbon footprint; improved asset utilization; efficient processes.

Which sectors in your view hold the biggest potential and why?

.Industrial IoT can help organizations utilize their business infrastructure and assets in innovative ways to offer new services and deliver additional revenue. Moreover, deriving meaningful information from the huge volumes of data that IoT produces can improve decision–making and enable proactive, predictive insights. While the scope and potential of IoT is vast, a few industries are best poised to reap the benefits. They are:Manufacturing, Oil and Gas, Aviation, Power, Healthcare.

IIoT introduces innumerable opportunities for innovative services that can be offered using smart devices, machines and products. Organizations can benefit from new revenue streams generated by new business models and services, as well as reduced time to market and increased returns from their R&D investments.

Can you give us some examples of your existing clients in India, who are using your IoT solutions, and the benefits they have obtained due to deployment of such solutions?

Honeywell Process Solutions has a large base of customers from the oil and gas sector and some of the common challenges that our customers come with are:

1) Increasing technical and business complexity

2) Aging workforce

3) “Firefighting” instead of proactive optimization services

4) Need for more integrated & remote operations etc.

Some of the benefits that our customers have received from using the Industrial Internet of Things by Honeywell include:

1) Real-time analytics software detects & prioritizes abnormal events and maps workflow to convert alarms and alerts into fast action

2) Defined equipment/process alerts service linked to standard operation procedures to easily scale up surveillance across multiple assets

3) Managed surveillance via centralized, remote operation center that links key alerts/analytics to team of experts required to analyse them and take immediate action

4)Solution pulls real time data from sensors across multiple sites and assets, and from various equipment types and OEMs

Hence in many ways Honeywell’s IIoT solutions provide a new form of automation system architecture that balance the appliance-hosted capabilities necessary to provide safe, secure and long-lasting automation for complex manufacturing systems and processes.