Top Trends for 2007 - Part 2

Recently, I referenced the Top Five Trends report from the ARC Advisory Group – click here to read that posting.

The trend first listed by ARC as the one to watch in 2007 was Automation Change Management… 

Some of you have asked about ARC means by Automation Change Management, so I am pasting a portion of their Insight Report #2007-06M in this blog posting. In that report, ARC writes:

Automation systems have evolved to include many disparate technologies from sensors and field devices to Programmable Automation Controllers, PLCs, Distributed Control Systems (DCS), historians, advanced controls, and planning and scheduling.

The heterogeneous nature of automation technologies delivers best-of-breed functionality, but it also creates a complicated web of connectivity between disparate automation assets that requires considerable maintenance and upkeep by domain experts.

Rapidly changing market demands along with continuous improvement programs force companies to make frequent changes and upgrades to their automation assets to improve operations.

Making, controlling, and keeping track of all these changes is a difficult task, but one that is crucially important for maintaining the reliability and performance of production systems.

For those of you wanting to learn more - click here to access the entire ARC report.

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