Representative End User Clients
Representative Automation Clients
Representative Software Clients
The one-to-one executive interviews at the ARC Industry Forum 2021 provided insights into how industry is coping in the dramatically altered global business environment. John Kirkman, Managing Director of Enterprise Transformation Partners (ETP), from Perth, Western Australia, and Harry Forbes Research Director, ARC Advisory Group, discussed their views on Industry 4.0, Open Process Automation (OPA), standards, and interoperability in the context of the ERDi TestLab.
The ERDi TestLab is a state-of-the-art facility for energy and resource companies to test and develop robust solutions for the use of Industry 4.0 hardware and software technologies central to the next generation of industrial process control and operations management technology. The lab is in two locations in Perth, which is close to its vendors and the company’s customers in the mining and oil & gas industries; one location is at the UWA (University of Western Australia) Perth campus. This blog post captures the highlights of the interview which can be viewed in full here or at this link.
ERDi Lab Tour in Perth
Speaking from the multi-purpose area of the lab in Perth, John said that it is used for presentations and demonstrations to showcase the work done and success stories, and to host workshops for customers and vendors and familiarize them with proof-of-concepts and projects. Responding to the query about who the lab sponsors are, John said that in 2016 the Australian government recognized the importance of Industry 4.0 in the manufacturing, mining, and oil & gas industries and wanted to ensure that these sectors kept pace with the advancements in technology and evolving operating models. Later, an agreement was signed with Germany’s government to collaborate on Industry 4.0 initiatives; and under the aegis of the department of Innovation Science, Energy, and Resources, grants were given to sponsor the establishment of Industry 4.0 test labs in Australian universities. Other sponsors include mining and energy resource companies. All the sponsors, the UWA, and ETP contributed to make the ERDi TestLabs operational.
Collaborations to Develop Standards
“Besides the Open Group for open process automation, what other organizations are you collaborating with for standards development?” asked Harry.
Prior to getting involved with the Open Group, ET Partners worked with the ISA on ISA 95 operations management and interoperability and bodies like the Standards Council Industry 4.0/Standards Australia. This will ensure global market visibility and entry in a formal and acceptable manner.
Overall Objectives of the Lab
The main objective of the lab is to be a catalyst and facilitate the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and operating models in the energy and resources sector in Australia, explained John. Standards that are evolving in terms of process control and operations management are more about physical goods value chains where one standard supports multiple industries. So, a lot of the standards related work that ETP does can be adopted by Australia’s manufacturing sector. The focus is on interoperability and unlocking value for the end users. The vision is to explain to, and educate, the end users, technology teams, and the internal solution architects about the interoperability paradigm and how to work closely with their vendors to enhance their software or ensure compliance. This will soon translate to improvements in operational performance, he said.
Types of Applications
Applications in the mining sector are huge. But more than the functional models, John highlighted the interoperability aspect – of how the processes and software are linked to the manufacturing operations management band that controls resource management, materials tracking, etc. Then this operations management layer goes through the OPAS in the process control layer to deliver business continuity. “Industry 4.0 enables modular, best-of-breed technologies to support those processes in real-time, automate information exchange, and improve operational responsiveness,” said John.
Teams
The teams are a blend of IT application architecture and enterprise architecture personnel, process control engineers, industry experts, and professors and researchers from UWA that support various initiatives.
Next Step
Next, ETP plans to publish case studies based on recently completed projects in the energy sector, operational digital twins, rollouts of the latest version of ISA 95 etc. This will help to share knowledge and foster industrial growth.