These days, we hear about Industry 4.0, IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things), Smart Factory, digital transformation in industry, and IT-OT convergence, among other things. What is the common foundation of these concepts?

Several years ago, manufacturers of electronic security equipment (cameras, video recorders, and video surveillance equipment) announced that their devices were becoming IP-based. This meant that their interconnection would be via a LAN network. This marked the transition from analog to digital.

“What’s happening today with the industry is the same. Production equipment manufacturers now say that these devices are interconnected via LAN, based on the IP protocol. In other words, the IP world has arrived on the production floor,” explains Jaime Andrés Muñoz Arias, Territory Account Manager for Panduit in Colombia.

Companies selling electronic security solutions had to learn about networks, especially the physical component of a LAN, which is structured cabling. This is because their solutions are now implemented on this type of network and, therefore, installed over structured cabling.

“The same thing is happening right now in the industrial sector. Manufacturers of equipment and solutions for production—sensors, motors, drives, pumps, and scales, among others—have entered the IP world. Today, production lines are not interconnected through special or proprietary cables, but rather through a LAN network that requires structured cabling,” adds Jaime Andrés Muñoz.

Years ago, security managers in companies had to integrate with IT managers because they were the ones who knew about LAN networks. Following this analogy, today, production managers must interact with the IT department. The reason? They need a LAN network to make their current production lines more efficient or to set up new ones.

However, there is a very important caveat. The environmental conditions within a production area are very different from those of a corporate network. In a production area, there is heat, acid, water, vibration, dirt, dust, and many other environmental variables inherent to the products being manufactured: food, ceramics, bricks, automobiles, or lubricants. In contrast, the entire environment of a corporate LAN is controlled.

This means that, although we are talking about structured cabling, conceptually the same as that implemented in the corporate network, it must be built with materials and elements capable of withstanding the industrial environment.

This applies to everything from cables, patch cords, jacks, faceplates, connectors, and fiber optics, to the cabinets. All components must be specially constructed to withstand the harsh environment of the production plant.

“Structured cabling in an industrial plant, designed and implemented correctly and with the appropriate components, allows the interconnection of production line equipment in an IP-based LAN network. This is what opens the industrial world to the digital world,” says Jaime Andrés Muñoz.

In their view, when we talk about the IP world, all possibilities emerge. Now devices can be managed intelligently. To return to the analogy: when electronic security entered the IP world, concepts like video analytics, predictive behavior, and facial recognition were born. Today, the IP world in industry is causing the same revolution.

The devices that make up the production line generate useful data that can be stored and processed. With this data, the devices can be managed intelligently, and consequently, the production line and the manufacturing plant can be optimized as well. This is the path to becoming a Smart Factory.

The industrial network will be able to interconnect with the corporate network. They will exchange information, thus achieving efficiency and productivity. Metrics such as OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) evolve precisely because of the ability to collect and process data, making it predictive and self-managing.

Connecting the corporate network with the industrial network is what allows us to talk about IT-OT convergence. The diversity of devices that make up a production plant, connected to an IP-based industrial network, is what allows us to talk about IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things).

The Ethernet protocol for industry, industrial IP, the ANSI/TIA 1005A standard for Industrial Networks, the equipment, the hardware, the switches, the software—it all already exists. It's readily available from well-known brands specializing in industrial solutions. The key to everything, just as with corporate networks, is the physical infrastructure (structured cabling). This is the most important component of the entire technology platform and represents only 7% of the investment in a digitization project.

Proper planning, adequate design, adherence to standards, and the application of best practices ensure that the industrial network enters the IP world, concludes Jaime Andrés Muñoz, Territory Account Manager for Panduit in Colombia.