Practical industry insight for IT and operations leaders
Expert insight, use case examples, and global survey findings illustrate opportunities for leaders to deploy Edge Computing for process optimization and equipment reliability.
Edge Computing is transforming operations across industries from food & beverage to oil & gas, and even commercial building management. This emergent technology harnesses real-time data from critical equipment and processes to dramatically improve operational efficiency and enable new insights through advanced analytics.
These capabilities act as a foundation for smart cities, smart infrastructure, and Industry 4.0 manufacturing. By leveraging connectivity, collaboration, and insight, smart resources create business value, increase competitive advantage, and enhance quality of life.
Given the impact that Edge Computing is having, it’s only natural for the next question to be, “What does Edge Computing mean in practical terms for control engineers, IT infrastructure and operations leads, building managers, and other leaders?” This practical guide to Edge Computing provides use cases, perspectives from industry experts, and current trend data to answer fundamental questions that leaders have about Edge Computing. Most importantly, it discusses Edge Computing in the practical terms meaningful for those actively engaged in defining automation solutions.
What is Edge Computing?
A pragmatic definition
Edge Computing offers opportunities to improve business and production processes. Decision making is made more efficient and more resilient through real-time visibility into operations. Simply put, Edge Computing accomplishes this step change in operational performance by bringing computing resources into close proximity with the critical equipment where operational data is generated and applied.
Edge locations, aka the operational edge, might include points of sale, manufacturing floors, material handling equipment, access control and monitoring points, and most dramatically, assets installed at remote geographic locations. Placing these computing resources at the Edge minimizes both data latency and security risk, allowing analysis and processing in situ – at the process itself.
Recent years have seen the rise and maturation of nearly ubiquitous web services driven by cloud computing. However, use of servers installed in centrally located data centers — even if offering vast data storage, sharing, processing, and analysis — is inappropriate for real-time data collection at edge locations. Bandwidth constraints result in data latency, making the success of a pure cloud strategy doubtful. Edge Computing complements centrally hosted cloud services and is ideal for mission-critical workloads at the operational edge.
Infrastructure & applications
Modern Edge Computing platforms offer highly automated, low-touch computing capability with built-in virtualization, redundancy, automated data protection, and application recovery. Along with the decreasing cost of IoT sensors, Edge Computing provides teams with a new approach to network architecture and data collection, one that was previously cost prohibitive.
This discussion of the practical aspects of Edge Computing includes the results of a recent global survey of business and technology professionals conducted by CFE Media & Technology. Survey results shed light on opportunities, challenges, and attitudes pertaining to Edge Computing. Combined with expert insight and use case examples, IT and operations professionals can gain perspective needed to plan their Edge Computing strategy.
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Edge Computing complements centrally hosted cloud services and is ideal for mission-critical workloads at the operational edge.
Food & beverage Expert input
Case study
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Small Food & Beverage Makers Take to the Edge
The food & beverage industry includes processing, packaging, and distribution of raw food materials. The industry seeks efficient operations for its many commodity products subject to intense price competition. Other sectors feature flexible operations that respond to consumer demand for innovative products.
Small food & beverage makers take to the Edge
“In the food & beverage industry you’re dealing with many different sized plants,” said Scott Jack, a consulting systems engineer with Stratus.
Small, multi-generational companies may have adapted slowly, Jack said, but today automation is something they embrace. “They don’t necessarily have IT or operations technology expertise in-house to support advanced automation and compute resources. That’s why they need a solution. They will work with a systems integrator or have on hand one or two savvy individuals to set up a platform, but they rely on remote support and monitoring of the unit. Remote troubleshooting is invaluable to them,” Jack said.
Among food & beverage makers, large organizations are accustomed to swapping out hardware. They can target a small set of operating systems to support. Smaller organizations are more budget constrained. Their automation investment must perform for a longer period. They’re not accustomed to switching out compute equipment every three to five years, which is traditional with the larger vendors of off-the-shelf, rack-mounted servers and different types of process control systems. The Stratus ztCTM Edge Computing platform, for example, is appropriate for the compute capability needed by small to mid-size operations, Jack said. ztC Edge has integrated virtualization functionality to host virtual machines or an operation’s full compute environment.
“OT organizations spend their time troubleshooting issues that can range from failed components in the field, to running out of disc space on a drive because a log fills unexpectedly, to training a new operator, to interfacing with management, to addressing imperatives to increase production yields,”
Jack said.
With ztC Edge, multiple applications can run on a single platform. Management, administration and support of ztC Edge is easier because there is no need to worry about the hardware. If a failure occurs, a replacement is automatically shipped to be plugged right into the network.
“We see Edge Computing being installed in small factories,” Jack said. “It’s a supportable solution that will last for 10-plus years. ztC Edge is a platform that can be used by anybody that’s doing industrial automation. ztC Edge easily accommodates workloads of 5,000 I/O points and three to four operator workstations.
One ztC Edge can run a small operation, or in combination, an entire large factory.”
“With ztC Edge, multiple applications can run on a single platform.
EXPERT INPUT
When it comes to producing and distributing shelf life-constrained beverages, unexpected downtime has major impact. This rings true for many food & beverage suppliers.
It was true for Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE, a craft brewer producing more than 260,000 barrels of beer per year.
Not long ago, with critical processes and systems nearing obsolescence and lacking technical support, Dogfish Head decided to address growing risk of substantial downtime or even facility shutdown.
“If we’d go down for a significant amount of time while brewing, we can lose entire batches of beer,” said Liz Stairs, process improvement specialist, Dogfish Head.
Possibilities for greater use of IT-based automation and machine-to-machine connectivity were also of interest. Finally, managers were concerned with growing cybersecurity risk.
Any solution had to be tailored to Dogfish Head’s operations, while allowing room for continuous process and facility improvement as the business grew.
After reviewing other brewers’ best practices, Dogfish Head chose process control applications, including manufacturing execution system (MES) functionality, from ProLeiT, a Chicago based supplier of process-control solutions for breweries and other food & beverage categories. ProLeiT today is part of Schneider Electric.
Dogfish Head also chose solutions from Stratus Technologies for failure prevention. Ensuring continuous availability of critical operations
was key to a long-term solution for Dogfish Head.
The solution reduced the control system hardware footprint from six servers to a single virtualized platform. Full redundancy, along with 24/7/365 monitoring and automated e-mail alerts, gives brewery management its sought-for peace of mind.
“With the solution that ProLeiT and Stratus provided, we’re not limited by our automation system. We’re able to grow,” Stairs concluded.
CASE STUDY
Smart buildings and building automation
Expert input
Case study
SMART BUILDINGS AND BUILDING MANAGEMENT
Smart buildings deliver services that make occupants content, productive, and secure. These services include illumination, thermal comfort, air quality, physical security, and sanitation, all meant for delivery at low cost and environmental impact over the building lifecycle. Smart buildings use information technology to connect subsystems that typically operate independently. Systems share information to optimize total building performance. Smart buildings interact with operators and occupants for new levels of visibility and actionable information.
Building automation and the new normal
In the face of the current COVID-19 pandemic, buildings and building technology solutions will need to evolve and adapt to this new world to keep us safe and secure. In the following interview with Duncan Cooke, senior business development manager of UK & Europe for Stratus, Cooke explains why these new technologies will need to be deployed at the edge.
Q. How do building automation professionals envision the new normal, i.e., life post-Covid?
Cooke: They are looking to significant growth in the kinds of data that building management systems will handle. Some foresee that implementation of new policies around safe working, social distancing, contact tracing, and temperature checks will result in more technology being deployed at the Edge, and more data being collected with fewer specialist resources to manage and process it.
Q. What role will building automation play?
Cooke: Building automation systems (BAS), including traditional access control (ACS) and video management (VMS) software are the frontline systems. BAS enables the data collection and sharing required to manage applications supporting health screening and response coordination. But traditional IT-led solutions are expensive and difficult to deploy, often requiring specialist resources. The ability to upgrade or enhance a building’s compute infrastructure in a simple, secure manner is fundamental.
Q. What role does Edge Computing play in these on-going changes?
Cooke: Edge-based infrastructure and associated compute solutions are an effective way to deploy and manage these environments. Adapting centralized, data-center centric solutions to accommodate Edge devices can be expensive
and resource intense. Zero-touch Edge-based compute solutions are a more effective way to quickly support needed infrastructure changes.
Q. How will Edge provide benefit in the return to work?
Cooke: Many buildings have an infrastructure already in place and the capability to support devices and applications. What’s different with Edge solutions is that they are flexible, accommodating change without system redesigns or additional cost. They are easy to deploy, without the need for specialist resources; they should be self-supporting yet capable of remote connectivity, reporting, and management as operations demand.
Many parallels exist between the way Edge Computing is used in industry and how it’s used in smart buildings. Building management and security systems provide access control using video monitoring, card readers and cameras.
At the end of the day it’s much like other, more industrial forms of monitoring and control with a certain amount of processing at the controller level.
Zero-touch Edge-based compute solutions are a more effective way to quickly support needed infrastructure changes.
EXPERT INPUT
STL
ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORTTM
Unified operations center powers St. Louis Lambert International Airport’s digital transformation
At St. Louis Lambert International Airport, siloed information technology and operations systems left managers in the dark, hampering collaboration and decision making.
St. Louis Lambert is the largest and busiest airport in Missouri, with as many as 250 peak daily departures to 74 nonstop domestic and international locations. Its four active runways, two terminals and five concourses have expedited more than 190,000 aircraft operations, assisted 15.6 million passengers and shipped more than 74,000 tons of cargo per year.
Over the past 30 years, improvements and modernization projects were done in one part of the airport or the other. As a result, nine separate and dated controls interfaces were used in managing different parts of the airport.
Following an operations review, executives sought a single system for operating the entire facility. The unified operations center (UOC) would integrate all the systems already installed. Scalability would allow incorporating solutions, devices, or systems added in the future.
Quantum Solutions, Warrenville, IL, installed a common, unified solution, based on the AVEVA System Platform and solutions from Stratus. The solution integrated the islands of automation into a centrally connected facilities and building management system. Remote clients allow interface with all operations within the airport. The UOC enables greater visibility into the facility infrastructure, using the open and scalable software architecture from AVEVA, backed up by the redundancy of Stratus computing platforms.
Stratus prevents critical business application failure and ensures continuous availability, even if underlying hardware components fail. It also allows end users to build, test, deploy, maintain, and scale applications through a standards-based application development environment. Today, the St. Louis Lambert International Airport has a fully redundant, easy-to-use, and fully integrated UOC solution.
“ Stratus prevents critical business application failure and ensures continuous availability.
CASE STUDY :
Midstream oil & gas
Expert input
Case study
MIDSTREAM OIL & GAS
The midstream sector processes, stores, and transports — primarily through pipelines — oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids from petroleum producing areas to the downstream sector of oil refineries and petrochemical plants.
The midstream oil & gas industry is unique in the sprawling and remote nature, geographically speaking, of its operations along oil & gas pipelines.
Rotating equipment, remote areas and the midstream oil & gas sector
The collapse in oil prices triggered by the COVID crisis is causing distress across the oil & gas industry, said Corie Allemand, global leader for oil & gas industry with Stratus.
“It’s a very cyclical industry. We’ve experienced downturns before, but every time we come out of a downturn, technology is the lever that helps us find the new normal. It’s the key factor in doing more with less,” Allemand said.
The upstream sector — exploration and production — felt the COVID impact quickly and severely. The midstream is more transportation oriented. The midstream may be moving fewer barrels than before, but those assets remain running. Global midstream infrastructure continues to expand.
“Midstream operators must deploy new computing architectures that eliminate the scale and capacity constraints that currently exist at the operational Edge due to legacy infrastructure and standard computing resources,” Allemand said.
Maintaining all species of rotating equipment is a big part of the mission in midstream oil and gas. These midstream assets — compressor and pump stations, for example — are in remote areas. The need for support in these remote areas can make use of advanced applications and analytics challenging.
“That’s why it’s important that Stratus solutions are simple, protected and autonomous,” said Allemand. “It’s a sophisticated solution but you don’t need an IT service technician in the middle of nowhere to set the thing up. It’s efficient to install, bring online and commission.”
Edge deployment supports midstream operations in at least three areas:
• Product movement visibility to track and account for gas and liquids assets
• Asset management and predictive maintenance through analysis and condition-based monitoring of critical assets
• At compressor and pump stations, to support process monitoring and control, involving SCADA, time-series historians, or other industrial system control elements.
Use of Edge Computing to process the data where it is generated and only transmit anomalies or required data elements from those applications limits congestion on the communications infrastructure.
Further, Edge Computing allows multiple application deployments on a single compute platform. With virtualization, operators and integrators do more with less infrastructure, and less support is required for that infrastructure.
“Edge Computing complements centrally hosted cloud services and is ideal for mission-critical workloads at the operational edge.
EXPERT INPUT
Continuous, dependable gas transmission and compression station operations achieved
Columbia Pipeline Group operates 15,000 miles of pipeline extending from New York to the Gulf of Mexico and one of the largest underground natural gas storage systems in North America. Today it is part of TransCanada.
When Columbia Pipeline Group decided to upgrade its systems, compliance with Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and Control Room Management (CRM) regulations were a priority.
Critical to the upgrade plan was implementation of fully redundant compressor stations, including compressor pumps and turbines, valves, and safety and control systems, as mandated by the CRM regulations.
Compressor stations, located at intervals of 50 to 100 miles, require fully redundant computing platforms to operate supervisory control
and data acquisition (SCADA), time-series data historians, human-machine interfaces (HMI) and industrial control system applications.
The chosen application solution uses advanced analytics, including machine learning techniques, to detect and address problems before unplanned outages or catastrophic failures can occur.
A Stratus virtualization solution decreased the number of servers required, as well as the associated service burdens, eliminating risks associated with a multiple server approach.
The always-on platform provides an operationally simple system for operational visibility. Virtualized applications run remotely.
Real-time analytics are conducted without data loss or the need for on-site IT expertise.
“Now that the Stratus system is up and running, and in place, we never think about it. Performance has been exactly what we expected,” said Steve Adams, lead automation electrical engineer, Columbia Pipeline Group.
CASE STUDY
Columbia Pipeline Group
OEM machine builder
Expert input
Case study
MACHINE BUILDERS
Machine builders equip their solutions with additional sensors and computing devices to enable predictive quality and maintenance, as well as process optimization efforts. Machine builders want to offer ease of start-up and virtual commissioning capabilities. Devices can use vibration monitoring, condition monitoring, and torque signatures to identify issues before they become problems.
Machine builders are integral to digital transformation efforts
The machine and equipment manufacturer (OEM) space is highly competitive. Each generation of equipment maker offers price and performance improvements over previous generations. Design, engineering, and product management departments evaluate tradeoffs related to technology investment and associated equipment price increases as they bring new designs to market.
Machine and equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can leverage Edge Computing to meet unique requirements.
“If an OEM is producing high volume, if there’s a high cost of downtime, if there are reporting or regulatory requirements, Edge platforms are cost-effective. Even incremental improvements in these environments deliver measurable benefits and return on investment in overall equipment effectiveness or less downtime,” said Aric Prost, senior director, OEM at Stratus.
In the same way that PLCs and HMIs revolutionized equipment design a generation ago, Edge Computing can advance digital transformation efforts, further leveraging data collected by control systems and sensors. This approach enables real-time analytics for operators. Data is collected and analyzed locally. Data can also be sent to the Cloud for deeper analysis in a variety of applications.
Machines and OEM equipment are fundamental elements of production. Digital transformation can only be achieved by smart machines purpose-built by the OEM in collaboration with the end user for its specific needs and environment.
“In practice, machines and equipment today are equipped with PLCs, and some have gateway
Edge devices. Industrial and panel PCs used by machines or equipment can fall into this gateway category. Yet they lack the performance that users need. Modern Edge Computer platforms, on the other hand, deliver virtualization and built-in redundancy which simplify usability and increase reliability, and are still purpose-built for harsh environments,” said Prost.
In these cases, purpose-built Edge compute platforms are required to meet customer needs. Edge Computing delivers the characteristics and capabilities necessary for machine and equipment manufacturers to enhance their current designs and transition to the delivery of smarter equipment.
“Enterprises should absolutely look for virtualization, redundancy, and high availability in Edge Computing platforms. Solutions that are scalable and appropriate to their applications are paramount for digital transformation success,” Prost said.
Embracing digital transformation enables machine and equipment builders to enhance design and supports the development of new services around equipment performance and maintenance.
“Modern Edge Computer platforms, on the other hand, deliver virtualization and built-in redundancy which simplify usability and increase reliability, and are still purpose-built for harsh environments.
EXPERT INPUT
Stone processor OEM delivers flexibility, functionality with edge computing solution
Not far from the birthplace of the European Renaissance, north Italian machine builders are taking advantage of opportunities available amidst a modern-day industrial renaissance, aka the digital transformation of manufacturing.
Breton S.p.A., Castello di Godego, Italy, has since 1963 manufactured equipment, machines, and plants that produce and process engineered stone, natural stone and metals.
Not long ago, Breton realized it needed to equip its machines with a purpose-built solution for Industry 4.0 environments.
For one, Breton needed a better redundancy option for stone processing machines used in mission-critical applications. More generally, the team wanted a solution focused on operations environment useability. This would enable operations to deploy, integrate, and maintain equipment in legacy environments, without undue reliance on IT departments.
Wonderware Italia shared with Breton an OT solution that combined AVEVA System Platform software with Stratus ztC Edge, constituting a simple, protected, and autonomous Edge Computing solution.
Stratus ztC Edge platform:
• Included the redundancy capability for automation fault recovery without downtime or data loss
• Used virtualization to run multiple applications on a single computing platform
• Installed in an electrical cabinet part of the machine itself
Wonderware Italia partnered with Breton’s controls & development department to validate the solution. A key step was solution validation by the Breton IT department.
In due time, Breton embedded the solution in machines built in Italy for sale to an Indian company. Test, deploy and commission took eight hours less time than comparable previous projects. Reduced set-up time was required to configure the redundancy option. It took only 20 minutes to copy virtual machine images and upgrade the system.
Virtualization-enabled applications installed on the Stratus platform included a remote desktop server for access and availability, an object server for the platform engine, and an HMI and historian.
“Stratus is a visionary in meeting the needs of machine builders looking to develop new offerings for Industry 4.0 environments. Stratus’ unique box of available technology – virtualization, redundancy, protection, security, customizable availability, and industrial interoperability – is a leap forward over traditional IPCs and server configuration,” said Michele Vario, OEM and business development director, Wonderware Italia.
CASE STUDY
Research insights
Implementing Edge Edge & IT adoptions Applications & data analysis at the Edge Barriers to Edge deployments & top use cases
CFE Media & Technology’s global Edge Computing survey found business, industry, and technology subject-matter experts moving forward with Edge Computing initiatives. Nearly 70% said they were so engaged. Meanwhile, roughly one-third still need a plan.
Those surveyed understood that Edge Computing addresses challenges related to cloud computing and were looking to a hybrid Cloud-Edge Computing model to address them.
What capabilities should be implemented on the Edge versus the Cloud, to properly address bandwidth, latency, network availability and security issues?
Respondents look forward to computing environments that blend traditional or cloud computing with application hosting on virtual servers and Edge devices, equipped for analytics, that are simple to deploy and easy to manage.
67% Responders engaged with Edge Computing Initiatives.
Does your company have a plan to implement Edge Computing?
What best describes your organization’s stance toward adoption of Edge Computing?
More than half of those surveyed are leaning forward, indicating we may be nearing the tipping point for adoption.
What technologies are your company incorporating, along with Edge Computing, to make your engineering, manufacturing, and operations systems more productive?
Connectivity, cost-effective acquisition of additional data sets, and continuing growth of computational power culminate in possibilities for unified systems that increase real-time visibility and increasing analytics use.
Which describes your organization’s stance on the adoption of Edge technology
EDGE & IT ADOPTIONS
What applications have you implemented, or plan to implement, on Edge computers?
Most of those surveyed are looking to implement applications that require autonomy, need significant bandwidth or apps that can’t tolerate latency.
What
What types of data analysis should your company be undertaking at the Edge?
Data analytics applied in industrial computing environments most often support predictive maintenance and predictive quality applications or are aimed at process automation. Machine learning and analytics apply computerized statistical methods to production environments.
APPLICATIONS & DATA ANALYSIS AT THE EDGE
What are the barriers to Edge Computing deployments in your organization?
Survey respondents say lack of education on if, when, and how to use the technology and applications is the foremost barrier to Edge Computing deployment in their organizations. Respondents’ lack of know-how and security concerns are slowing the achievement of the full benefits of Edge Computing.
What Edge Computing use cases do you see as most valuable?
Top use cases today – equipment uptime and reliability, advanced process control, and asset performance management – will evolve as organizations gain more experience at the Edge.
What are the barriers to Edge deployments in your organization?
BARRIERS TO EDGE DEPLOYMENTS & TOP USE CASES
Edge Computing offers IT and operations departments benefits that improve performance through operations visibility and reliability for mission-critical applications.
Forward-looking leaders and organizations should make it a priority to explore the possibilities of Edge Computing and then begin with initial implementations so as
to learn and scale. As this discussion of practical aspects of Edge Computing makes evident — through survey results from peers, insights from industry experts, and case studies — leaders in a range of industries have identified high-value opportunities around process control, asset performance management, and reliability by harvesting data from the edge.
In sum, 67% of the global survey respondents say they are moving forward with an Edge Computing strategy.
Yet there is still time to jump start your Edge Computing initiative, explore the possibilities, and avoid getting left behind.
For more information about use cases and how to deploy Edge Computing:
Based in Massachusetts, Stratus develops Edge Computing platforms that allow teams to capture critical data from edge locations and deploy multiple software applications in a single, purpose-built compute device with redundancy for reliability.
For leaders digitally transforming their operations to drive predictable, peak performance with minimal risk, Stratus ensures the continuous availability of business-critical applications by delivering zero-touch Edge Computing platforms that are simple to deploy and maintain, protected from interruptions and threats, and autonomous.
For 40 years, we have provided reliable and redundant zero-touch computing, enabling global Fortune 500 companies and small-to-medium sized businesses to securely and remotely turn data into actionable intelligence at the Edge, cloud, and data center – driving uptime and efficiency. of
