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The original version of this article originally appeared on ControlEngineering.com. In the Control Engineering webcast, “Edge series: Edge Computing Applications,” Jeffrey Allen, applications engineering manager at E Tech Group, and Nate Kay, control systems engineer at MartinCSI, explained how edge computing applications can be used for mission-critical, high-reliability automation and control applications. The webcast is archived for a year from the July 19, 2023, broadcast date. Edge Computing Insights: Edge computing can help enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) applications. Edge computing, as applied in a chemical plant, is providing benefits that can be replicated in other industrial edge computing applications. Challenges and some other considerations related to edge computing were covered in a July 19, 2023, Control Engineering webcast, archived for a year. Edge Computing Can Be a Valuable Asset Edge computing is increasingly proving itself to be a powerful asset in enabling mission-critical, high-reliability automation and control applications. By allowing data to be processed as close as possible to where it is generated, edge computing enables faster processing, empowering operators to respond to changing production conditions in real-time. Moreover, it allows sensitive data to remain onsite, rather than being sent to the cloud for further analysis, thus increasing security while saving on wide area network (WAN) costs. These topics and others were discussed in a July 19 Control Engineering webcast, “Edge series: Edge computing applications.” The webcast featured Jeffrey Allen, applications engineering manager at E Tech Group, and Nate Kay, control systems engineer at MartinCSI, as speakers. A preview of some of the information covered is provided below. Edge computing: ERP to SCADA Applications A common scenario in industrial facilities is for plant level operators to be required to input data from a business level Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) into a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system that is … Continued
Applications Engineering Manager, Jeff Allen recently co-presented a webcast for Control Engineering covering how edge computing can be used for mission-critical, high-reliability automation and control applications. Applications demonstrate how edge computing can be used for mission-critical, high-reliability automation and control applications. See how system integrators have applied edge computing and see how it integrates in automation and control applications. Challenges and benefits will be discussed. Learning objectives: Understand how edge computing is being applied to automation and controls. Explore how edge computing enables certain applications. Learn how edge computing integrates with cloud resources. Review application benefits, return on investment considerations, and other benefits for automation and controls. Presented By:Jeffrey Allen, Applications Engineering Manager, E Tech GroupNate Kay, P.E., Control Systems Engineer, MartinCSI Moderated By:David Miller, Content Manager, CFE Media and Technology Click here to view the webcast.
Rising Insurance Premiums with Less Protection Make IT/OT Assessment a Priority
A metals manufacturer experienced several ransomware attacks and came to E Tech Group for help. We aligned a cross-functional team to strategically perform a risk and vulnerability assessment to create a plan to update their facility’s networks.
The Project: Curb Continued Cyberattacks with Effective Remediation
After being the target of numerous ransomware attacks, a metals manufacturer called on E Tech Group to perform an IT/OT risk assessment and analysis to assess and remediate vulnerabilities.
Due to increasing insurance premiums, decreasing ransomware coverage and their deductible reaching two-million dollars, the board understood they needed to act quickly to mitigate the existing damage and remediate to protect the business as a whole and minimize impact on shareholders.
Understanding the disconnect between corporate, operations, Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT), our team needed to compile and present this information in a way that was scalable and consumable from the top down.
The Challenge: Accomplish Change Swiftly by Aligning Team Cooperation
Lifecycle Status of Control Devices
Along with a number of other challenges, scale came into play when beginning this project. Once these issues reached the executive level, the timeline to mitigate potential negative shareholder impact was limited, so our team had to move quickly with their assessment.
When insurance companies were first writing these policies, it was an unspoken agreement that a facility could be trusted to implement everything that was listed. Because the honor system proved a flawed method for ensuring proper implementation, today sites are periodically audited to ensure procedural integrity.
To get an accurate picture of where to start, E Tech Group needed to align the executives, IT team and OT team. With a large task list of vulnerabilities to address, quickly building trust amongst these client teams became integral in helping us to identify and document the existing assets and systems in the plant.
The Solution: A Multi-Point Assessment Plan Achieves Record Completion Time
Opening the lines of communication to better understand the escalation that occurred from the first ransomware attack, to teetering on the edge of negative shareholder impact, allowed our team to gain the perspective necessary to establish our go forward strategy. Once confirmed, our multi-point plan for an assessment requiring top-down cooperation could be rolled out:
1. Figure out the scope.
Our first step in this plan was bringing everyone together to take part in a consultation workshop to understand and establish their baseline needs. E Tech Group gathered critical details like the size of the plant, the number of devices and how many panels they were located in, and the technologies planned to perform the assessment.
2. Nail down the specs.
Once the plan was laid out, the next step was acquiring all the initial documentation available from the plant. Making sure we were able to examine the existing Visios, subnet lists, drawings and program files would allow our team to get a visual understanding of and build a framework of the existing system.
3. Acquire the digital trail.
Now understanding what we’d be contending with, our team was ready to tackle the digital portion of the assessment. They were granted VPN access, and a VM was created so they could deploy and reach the plant from their Nessus scanning tool, allowing them to assess and take inventory of their digital assets currently living on the network.
4. Get boots on the ground.
Moving from the digital network to the facility floor, our team was now ready to walk the site. The hard work that went into building those initial relationships with the operational team would now come into play, as they knew the site intimately and could best help our team navigate and locate all assets they needed to document and log. Knowing time was of the essence, it was all-hands-on deck between the on-site and E Tech Group team to scan and gather all IP information associated with vulnerabilities and execute walkdowns to capture all the panels in the plant.
5. Assess, analyze and report.
The assessment portion was completed in record time. E Tech Group would now work diligently to compile an aggregate of walkdown and vulnerability information. It was critical that this was done in such a way that the deliverables could be interpreted at every level this would impact. Knowing we had to present consumable material that would cover Visios, vulnerability report, a final report, and an asset database, careful but quick review was necessary to ensure all material exceeded expectations. Once this was confirmed, it was ready to present.
The Result: A Protected Network & Lower Insurance Premiums
Knowing the challenges to overcome and how much hinged on identifying and resolving their vulnerabilities while simultaneously providing a guide for remediation, E Tech Group was able to rise to the occasion.
By developing open channels of communication and building the trust needed from the top down, we were able to align and work with their executive, IT/OT, and on-site operations team to strategically and quickly perform the assessment they so desperately needed while creating a plan to update their facility.
Leadership was overwhelmingly happy with our work knowing the remediation will lead to the lower premiums and increased coverage, which now protects their business from the barrage of ransomware attacks they have been suffering from. Ultimately, this provides a more secure network for their company and security for their shareholders.
Download our Beginner’s Guide to IT/OT Assessments to gain an understanding of what an IT/OT Assessment is, its benefits, and how to get started today.
Delivering a 1.5 Year ROI on a $2M Line Automation Recontrol
A steel service center was experiencing a troubling trend in increasing downtime and scrap losses. E Tech Group proposed modernized controls and programmable drives, implementing an automation solution with a 12-18 month projected ROI.
The Project: Troubleshoot Black Box Automation Equipment
A larger steel service center client was seeing troubling trends in its temper mill cut to length line: increasing downtime, lower-than-desired yields, and higher scrap losses. The client was hampered in its ability to troubleshoot and improve the processes because the OEM equipment and its controls and drives programs were a “black box” solution. This meant only the OEM and its technicians had the source code of the software used to run the equipment.
The Solution: Partnering Rockwell & Siemen’s Automation Products
Enter E Tech Group: a leading North American control system integrator providing top-tier industrial automation services for clients across sectors. With a 30-year Center of Excellence in the Metals Industry, electrical and mechanical engineering expertise, and deep knowledge of coordinated drive systems and automation modernization, E Tech Group consultants studied the client’s entire temper mill line. This included evaluating all of the upstream and downstream processes, the equipment and automation platforms, and the variety of alloys being cut to length.
E Tech Group’s study resulted in the delivery of a fully priced and detailed design/build/deliver solution. Modernized controls and programmable drives were the solution foundation needed to address the core problems of uptime, performance, and open platforms our client would be able to support internally and over the system life cycle.
E Tech Group has held long-term partnerships with key automation manufacturers, having executed thousands upgrades and recontrol projects over the past thirty years. As a Gold System Integrator with Rockwell and Solution Partner with Siemens, E Tech Group confidently proposed utilizing the Rockwell PLC and Siemens Drives – a combination used often throughout many of E Tech Group’s previous projects in order to deliver the “best of breed” for both the PLC and Drives platforms.
In addition, newly replaced levelers, hydraulic stands and piping were coupled with the far more accurate sensor and data reporting from the new PLCs and Drives back to the operators for enhanced and timely notification and decision making.
The Results: Significant Changes that Add Immediate & Future Value
The elegant design of the new control system architecture reaped almost immediate rewards; the results of this recontrol were obvious in just two months:
Uptime is now >95% versus 80% on average
Flatness of rolled steel is better than when the equipment was first installed
Scrap losses are trending significantly lower
Cost of ownership and operation is much lower with an open platform and training from E Tech Group; the client’s onsite maintenance team is already first line of support with E Tech Group automation and IT professionals assisting remotely as needed
Flexibility to manage and innovate has greatly improved with the open code and easy access to trained support resources
Finally completed and fully operational, the total investment for E Tech Group’s turnkey factory automation solution was roughly $2 million. Based on the client feedback noted above – improved uptime, better performance and reduced scrap – ROI for this project will happen in just 12-18 months.
