MAY 2018

Inside:
 Data cleansing, visualization,
and contextualization p3
 Humans analyze, interpret,
present, and evaluate p7
 Drive results with operational
information p10
 On the front lines of cloud-
based disruption p12

Cover graphic: courtesy Seeq Corp.

Supplement to Periodicals Publication

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MAY 2018 IIoT technologies can be seen
as an alternative to the tradi-
tional automation triangle
comprising control,
execution and enterprise
levels.

EDITORIAL

2 A man who knows where he is

The most sophisticated autonomous machines
are developed for extreme environments

FEATURES

3 Spreadsheets limit data

analytics use four different ways
Tools needed for data cleansing, visualization,
search, contextualization, and modeling

7 How IIoT impacts tool and

sensor functionality 3
On the front lines of the cloud’s maintenance Cover illustration: courtesy Seeq Corp.
disruption

10 How to improve critical thinking

Key steps include analyze, interpret, present,
and evaluate

12 Where to start with

industrial analytics
What to do to create useful operations
information and drive real results 7

12
www.controleng.com/IIoT IIoT For Engineers MAY 2018 | 1
PRODUCTIVITY & BEST PRACTICES: EDITOR’S COLUMN
Kevin Parker
Senior Contributing Editor

A man who knows where he is

The most sophisticated autonomous machines are developed for extreme environments

D
avid Mindell is CEO and co-founder of Humat-
ics, a company changing the ways people and
machines locate, navigate, and collaborate. His
company is among those enabling greater use of robots
in industrial environments.
Mindell is also an MIT professor of aeronautics and
astronautics, and of the history of engineering and
manufacturing. He’s author of five books, including
Our Robots, Ourselves: Robotics and the Myths of
Autonomy. Besides being an electri-
cal engineer, he has a Yale literature
“The headlamps need robustness, for dealing with things
like snow or fog. The streetlight gives you a location fix.”
More generally, as Mindell explains in a video available
on YouTube, the highest level of automation doesn’t
strive for autonomy. It seeks something more complex
and difficult, but that delivers greater financial and
social benefits. It might be thought of, Mindell said, as a
wrapper of human intentionality.
The question, then, isn’t really whether some robot
will take it upon itself to run amok.
Rather, what were the intentions and

‘
degree, which no doubt contributes desires of those who infused what
to the excellent quality of his prose. Microlocation is a intentions and desires into the robot?
It must also be mentioned that he’s
been involved in more than 25 oceano- substrate for greater Myth list

’
graphic expeditions. In any case, a lot of engineering
“The myths of autonomy” alludes
collaboration. systems are launched with the idea of
to the fact that, whether for a human full autonomy in mind, Mindell noted,
or machine, autonomy is never fully but somewhere in the movement from
achieved. We are all always interacting with an environ- lab to field a mix is come upon.
ment. Therefore, in industrial environments and in all “Automation transforms human interaction but
of life really, “microlocation is the substrate for greater doesn’t eliminate it,” Mindell said. “It’s possible to trace
collaboration,” said Mindell. For, as all of us have discov- any network, or see any computer programming task, as
ered at one time or another, we’re not as sure of where the placing of human intention, human design, and hu-
everything is as we often assume. man viewpoints for storage and later execution.”
The most sophisticated autonomous machines are de-
Microlocations in millimeters veloped for extreme environments, and in his book, Min-
For a robot coming up to a workstation, millimeter dell examines their use in deep ocean, high atmosphere,
precision as to location may be needed, with point- and outer space, to see what they can tell us about how
to-point measuring capability using radio-frequency we’ll interact with cars and in daily life in the future.
technology. That ability is part of Humatics’ intellectual
property. One scale up is centimeter precision, and the Bring rigor to thought
one above that is equivalent to that of a GPS, where six- Another author graces this edition of IIoT for Engineers.
meter precision is possible at best. Jeff Kavanaugh is a senior partner at Infosys. He is also an
“Software brings the levels together,” Mindell said. adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Dallas. His
“so that the machine jumps from one level to another, book Consulting Essentials was published in April.
going to the source of the best scale at the time, which It’s important that human thought, even in an era of com-
always involves multiple sensors and an algorithm that puterization, have sufficient rigor. To improve critical thinking,
makes the judgement.” anyone can follow the same four-step process Kavanaugh
Mindell suggested the location task is like driving a car said the world’s top consultant’s use to manage their proj-
under different road and weather conditions. ects. To learn more, read his article found on page 10. IIoT

2 | MAY 2018 IIoT For Engineers www.controleng.com/IIoT

THE AGE OF ANALYTICS
Spreadsheets limit data analytics
use four different ways
Tools needed for data cleansing, visualization, search, contextualization, and modeling
By Michael Risse
P
rocess industry firms have
collected manufacturing
data for decades. With each
step-change advance in hardware and
software, organizations generate and
collect more data, characterizing pro-
cess conditions, supply-chain metrics,
and other production aspects.
Nevertheless, companies struggle
to convert data volumes into useful
information and insights. They do
so to improve reliability, safety, and
profitability of process units, plants,
and businesses. But as data volumes
grow, the challenges intensify.
An industrial revolution, driven by
the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT),
is unfolding based on advanced com-
puterization, sensor proliferation, and
wireless technologies—dramatically
expanding data types and volumes to
store and analyze.
Historically, process manufacturers
use spreadsheets to organize data
Figure 1: Time is a key element when evaluating process data, signal readings must often be reformatted to align information signal
readings for use in spreadsheets. All graphics courtesy Seeq Corp.
www.controleng.com/IIoT
collected in tabular form. Originally
meant for accounting and finance,
spreadsheets were never a great
match for large volumes of time-
series data. They did, however, allow
software-enabled formula building,
as well as calculations across mul-
tiple sheets.
Therefore, engineers adopted
spreadsheets for data analytics
projects, resulting in labor- and
time-intensive processes. In addition,
using spreadsheets, results sharing
and collaboration with others was
difficult. As companies amassed
more data, they struggled to find
efficient ways to share data-driven
insights within the organization.
Volumes of data
Advanced analytics software is the
means to overcome these challenges
and barriers. To understand these
advances, let’s look at four spread-
sheet limitations, and how each is
addressed by analytics solutions.
Process manufacturing and moni-
toring systems produce massive data
amounts that collectively characterize
process conditions, operation/product
flows, and equipment condition. Data
related to control systems are gener-
ated in varying forms. The general ap-
proach is to assemble all data related
to an investigation into a spreadsheet,
and then do the analysis. The sheer
volume of collected data from mul-
tiple sources quickly erodes capabili-
ties to conduct effective analyses.
Before doing analytics, data
must be sorted and cleansed, and
the number of data points in the
spreadsheet reduced. Instrumenta-
tion signals are reformatted to fit the
spreadsheet column/rows paradigm,
as illustrated in Figure 1. The stated
limit for Microsoft Excel spreadsheet
is about one million rows. A com-
mon process-system sensor sampling
frequency is once per minute, which
equates to a half million rows in Excel
per year. If the sampling frequency is
IIoT For Engineers MAY 2018 | 3
THE AGE OF ANALYTICS
Figure 2: Identifying and sharing data-driven insights derived from spreadsheet analysis is a labor- and time-intensive process.
once every 30 seconds, or if the user
wants to review two years of data,
then it is impossible to look at all the
data in proper resolution.
In addition, files that stretch the
limits of spreadsheet capacity will
experience performance issues.
Layering in multiple sets of data and
calculations, having numerous large
files open at once, and linking to
other applications and macros hinder
spreadsheet usability. All these capa-
bilities are commonly required by an
engineer’s or scientist’s process data
workflow. With spreadsheets, users
must make concessions on the type
and sampling of data segments.
Data isolation
While related to volume limits,
data isolation is a separate issue. For
example, each time a team mem-
ber accesses process data, they first
download it into a separate and
duplicative file. This is a one-time
snapshot extraction. If the data
changes or updates, then the query
must be redone. This can have rami-
fications for subsequent calculations,
cleansing, and insights. Large files are
difficult to share across an organiza-
tion and keep in sync, especially if
multiple users are viewing the same
data sets and sources.
Given IIoT and cloud, creation of
more and larger databases is a con-
tinuing trend. In addition, not all the
data, databases, and users are in one
4 | MAY 2018 IIoT For Engineers
location. Remote databases and users
further complicate the task of getting
the proper data to users.
Once the relevant data is assembled
in a spreadsheet, how do users find
data-driven insights? Engineers are
most interested in how data behaves
over time and in relation to other sys-
tem elements. For example, tempera-
ture, pressure, feedstock quality, and
conversion rate all traverse time and
have processing relationships.
As in any analysis, the user must
first identify the process points of high
interest, such as optimum steady-state
conditions, critical-equipment vibra-
tion trends, shutdowns, emissions
events, and other parameters. Time is
a factor for each. Engineers analyze
data aggregated across shifts, weeks,
months, or years to identify trends
and root causes.
To do this in a spreadsheet, users
sort columns and rows to identify data
points to consider. This sorting/cleans-
ing is done systematically with spread-
sheet functions, but 70% of the top
10 most-used functions Microsoft lists
for Excel are for data-wrangling and
not data analytics, which is where
value is delivered.
Data manipulation comprises
from 50% to 90% of the time spent
developing spreadsheet applications,
as illustrated in Figure 2. Spreadsheet
algorithms can sort and slice data,
but data manipulations/calculations
approaches are not transparent, and
they can be difficult to remember and
share with colleagues.
For instance, in a monthly unit
report or a quarterly emissions assess-
ment, the data must be re-queried,
and any manual elements must be re-
produced or automated with macros.
If the analysis is done infrequently, or
by a different person, then it can take
significant time to learn or re-learn the
spreadsheet data machinations. Some
teams have separate documentation
to describe workflows, but the lack
of transparency in developing macros
hinders reproduction of any analysis.
Limited collaboration, reporting
Once large data sets are sorted and
sifted, how are data-driven insights
shared and distributed? Limited capa-
bilities for extracting information from
a spreadsheet analysis and sharing it
are available, but calculation opac-
ity makes collaboration and results
reproduction difficult. Also, for size
and simplicity reasons, typically what
is shared is a picture of the analysis,
rather than the spreadsheet itself.
Further, due to data isolation and
dense manipulation limitations, work
done using spreadsheets must be
centrally accessible and rigorously
maintained. This becomes difficult
once results are transferred into
another form for distribution. Report-
ing and sharing often consists of copy
and paste efforts, or an insertion/link/
query/re-query (file crash) workflow.
www.controleng.com/IIoT
 Advanced analytics software
addresses these four spreadsheet
limitations, and others, to deliver
quicker insights, as shown in the fol-
lowing example.

Energy for cereal processing

The energy management team
at a cereal manufacturing facility
was tasked with finding energy-
reduction drivers. The batch-cook
step in the cereal process consumed
significant volumes of super-heated
hot water.
This project required collaboration
between the process operations Figure 3: The energy management team and process operations group spent most of their
engineer, Matt, and the energy time wrangling data instead of analyzing it, and only one person could understand and
management project leader, Lauren. work with the spreadsheet to create a report.
Process operations and the energy
management team were challenged
to find energy-saving measures.
The batch-cook kettles consumed
significant volumes of hot water
to maintain proper temperatures.
To optimize energy consumption,
a new hot water addition manifold
with software to control freshwa-
ter additions was proposed. With
tighter temperature control strate-
gies, fluid drained from the previous
batch could be reduced, minimizing
hot-water additions while maintain-
ing required cook temperatures. The
procedure would conserve energy by
reducing the volume of new super-
heated water additions. Figure 4: Replacing spreadsheet-based analysis with advanced analytics software allowed
To develop a data-driven solu- the energy management team to quickly derive and share insights.
tion to the above problem, Matt
exported the batch-cook data from mismatches from the historian and results were mixed. The new
the process historian and execution execution system were a problem. spreadsheets were still too large
system into individual spreadsheets. Due to these differences, manual to share easily with the energy
A new control system had been time synchronization of the data be- management team. Due to size
installed so Matt abandoned the tween the two systems was neces- and complexity, the spreadsheets
old system’s data and started over sary. Using a brute-force effort, Matt periodically crashed after inclusion
with a new analysis. The volume created a condensed, low-resolution of calculations and charts. Matt and
of data limited export capabilities data view from a few batches, and Lauren invested significant time to
and required narrowing the analy- extrapolated the results for a year. sift and sort the data manipulations
sis from a year to the most recent Despite efforts by Matt to mine to find practical results, as illustrat-
quarter. In addition, time-series data available batch-cook data, the ed in Figure 3.

www.controleng.com/IIoT IIoT For Engineers MAY 2018 | 5

THE AGE OF ANALYTICS

A quick review showed that Matt
used most his time to clean up, sort,
sift, copy, and paste data of interest
into spreadsheets. He spent relatively
little time on the actual analysis of
the proposed operational changes,
although this task was still quite
| PC11-48USA |
onerous. During the project, Matt
was promoted to a new position,
and a new engineer took over this
task. Differences in data preparation
methods between the two process
engineers introduced result discrep-
ancies.
The case history illustrates chal-
lenges faced when analyzing process
data using spreadsheets. Despite all
their efforts, the process operations
group and energy management team
were continuously redoing the same
steps to wrangle data. The problem
was not lack of data, and it usually
isn’t in any industrial facility. Rather,

it was data not time-synchronized

and found in various locations and

Meet the smallest Industrial PC formats. Using spreadsheets to

share data with different groups also
from Beckhoff. proved difficult, and effective visu-
alization and reporting efforts were
The ultra-compact C6015 IPC for automation and IoT. nearly impossible.

40 mm Applying advanced analytics

Advanced data analytics soft-
ware accesses data where it resides.
Copying and pasting isn’t required
because the software combines high-
resolution data from multiple sources
(Figure 4). Simple query commands
facilitate data targeting and support
streamlined sorting, cleansing, and
82 mm

assembly of only that data needed

from historians and other sources.
Advanced analytics software also
supports basic calculus and other
math functions engineers use to con-
vert data into visual summations of
trends and other relevant data sorts.
Data of interest is easily assembled
www.beckhoff.us/C6015 and contextualized for future model-
With the ultra-compact C6015 Industrial PC, Beckhoff has again expanded the ing. Required training for new users
application possibilities of PC-based control. Wherever space or cost limita- is minimal.
tions previously prevented the use of a PC-based control solution, this new IPC Advanced analytics software tools
generation offers an excellent price-to-performance ratio in an extremely compact accelerate the process of data cleans-
housing. With up to 4 CPU cores, low weight and unprecedented installation ing, visualization, search, contextu-
flexibility, the C6015 is universally applicable in automation, visualization and alization, and modeling. Using such
communication tasks. It is also ideal for use as an IoT gateway. tools, engineers focus on knowledge
Processor: Intel® Atom™, 1, 2 or 4 cores
capture, collaboration, and problem-
Interfaces: 2 Ethernet, 1 DisplayPort, 2 USB
solving—instead of data wrangling
Main memory: up to 4 GB DDR3L RAM
Housing: Die-cast aluminum-zinc alloy
grunt work. IIoT
Dimensions (W x H x D): 82 x 82 x 40 mm
Michael Risse is vice president and
chief marketing officer at Seeq Corp.

6 | MAY 2017 IIoT For Engineers

MAINTENANCE AND MOBILITY

How IIoT impacts tool and

sensor functionality
On the front lines of the cloud’s maintenance disruption

By Alex Desselle based software allows data acquired Maintenance professionals want
from handheld tools or wireless sen- this Facebook for equipment so as

M
ost often, for change to sors to be aggregated automatically to execute predictive maintenance
occur, disruption precedes in one place. The data is used for strategies based on measurements
it. This is certainly true comparison and analysis. This simple taken related to asset health. The
of the Industrial Internet of Thing’s step revolutionizes how plants and asset management function can
(IIoT) impact on the maintenance other facilities perform maintenance. then anticipate when to perform
function. This is a direct result of increasing maintenance. Generally, technicians
Until recently, this ongoing indus- IIoT usage and popularity. expect to see measurements from
trial revolution primarily impacted What end users want is a kind of supervisory control and data acquisi-
operations personnel. However, as “Facebook” for their assets, and an tion (SCADA), stand-alone tools, and
cloud-based technologies become application that displays and orga- semi-fixed or fixed sensors.
more cost-effective, maintenance nizes by asset. Instead of tracking Launching this kind of functionality
teams are turning to the cloud to friends, personnel see an organized or capability can lead to earthquake-
help them work smarter, includ- display of assets and audit trails like disruptive change. One way this
ing when it comes to implementing for them. At end of day, what’s type of earthquake occurs is based on
predictive strategies. revealed is all that has transpired in rising tensions between alternative
The days of taking measurements regard to an asset during its time in views of the future. Instead of two tec-
with a handheld meter, recording the the facility. tonic plates rubbing against each other,
data on a clipboard, and, at the end
of the day, entering the results into a
database are almost over.
Users are long familiar with accu-
rate, durable handheld devices. For
the foreseeable future, maintenance
teams will need these tools to per-
form route-based testing and root-
cause analysis on assets. However,
with IIoT advances, these virtually
indispensable tools, as well as other
emergent technologies, will be used
in smarter ways.

Functional transition
In 2014, Fluke launched Fluke
Connect (FC) and entered the realm
of software-as-a-service (SaaS). Using The Accelix suite of solutions meets maintenance professionals where they are in their
a Wi-Fi or cellular connection, cloud- maintenance journeys. All images courtesy: Fluke Digital Systems

www.controleng.com/IIoT IIoT For Engineers MAY 2018 | 7

MAINTENANCE AND MOBILITY
two different conceptions of the future
grate, one against the other.
At Fluke, two views were relevant
to future product development. One
view was that the company should
focus on its core hardware strength.
The competing view was that the
company should, while making best
use of its hardware expertise and
capabilities, envision a software op-
tion. Tension existed between these
two viewpoints, and questions arose
over which strategy was best.
Today, tools wirelessly connect
to the cloud, so technicians never
need to write anything down. Other
functionality organizes and displays
measurements for the maintenance
team by asset. Maintenance and
plant managers can see which as-
sets are operating within specifica-
tions and which are not.
Moreover, the entire maintenance
team needs to know the health of
the assets it’s responsible for. With
a mobile application and hand tool,
this is eminently doable. Data also
can be periodically uploaded to a
conveniently located PC. The result
Figure 2. Vibration.jpg Cloud-connected handheld tools and semi-fixed and fixed sensors
can simplify data collection.
8 | MAY 2018 IIoT For Engineers
is accurate data, filed away based
on each asset, as required for good
decision support.
Software centricity
To be a software-centric company,
more was needed. The resulting
solutions were aimed at supporting
maintenance personnel, not replac-
ing them, by allowing them to work
smarter, quicker, and more effec-
tively. The goal was and continues to
be making preventive and predictive
maintenance easier.
Many handheld device users also
have computerized maintenance
management systems (CMMS) in
their facilities. Companies engaged
in maintaining motors, pumps, or
other widely utilized assets often
have a CMMS or work-order man-
agement system. In transitioning to
an IIoT-enabled world, maintenance
managers or planners comfortable
with their current applications envi-
ronment may object to a changing
paradigm and want to continue to
use the existing work-order manage-
ment system to store data.
Because of this, Fluke purchased
eMaint, a CMMS provider, and later
SCHAD, which integrates data to
enterprise asset management (EAM)
and CMMS systems, as well as
providing a mobile interface. Fluke
also entered the realm of fixed and
semi-fixed sensor manufacturing
with solutions that feed data into an
integrated system. This new software
and sensor business unit became the
Accelix ecosystem.
The solution suite stores and clas-
sifies data based on assets, and inte-
grates data from sensors and hand-
held tools into any existing CMMS
or EAM system. However, what if
a maintenance manager has differ-
ent software for different tools and
systems already: perhaps a thermal
imager or power quality sensor? Each
application involves different soft-
ware applications. There are many
brands of CMMS or EAM. How can a
manager or scheduler access all the
data they need all in one place?
The ecosystem already is compat-
ible with all the tools and sensors.
It is compatible with thermal imag-
ers, vibration sensors, and insula-
tion testers. It is compatible with a
CMMS from Accelix or with SCHAD
integration. In fact, the system can
be compatible with any EAM or
CMMS; with third-party tools and
sensors; with assets with built-in sen-
sors; and with control/management
systems, such as SCADA, building
management, and other control and
operations systems. All this data can
be accessed from a PC or with a con-
nected smart device.
Simplifying maintenance
planning
The addition of a sensor- and
software-focused suite of solutions
allows maintenance professionals
www.controleng.com/IIoT
to assess where they are in their
maintenance journey. When facili-
ties move from reactive to proac-
tive strategies, they typically are
not staffed, and the budget may
not exist, to include every asset in
a preventive or predictive pro-
gram. They cannot add the sensors
needed to monitor an entire plant
and may not have the technicians
to perform preventive routes on all
assets.
Instead, plants and other facilities
execute strategies that combine the
preventive, predictive, and reac-
tive, especially where criticality and
costs lean toward this last method.
The benefits of a CMMS integrated
with tools, sensors (including third-
party sensors), assets, and operating
systems are clear. Thus equipped,
a plant uses condition monitoring
data to plan maintenance tasks—
preventive, predictive, prescriptive,
and even reactive, in emergency
scenarios.
Of course, having insight into the
immediate future is beneficial, but
good planning is more important
than anything. If facilities and plants
can predict a potential problem, but
don’t have the capacity and orga-
nization to schedule upkeep and
maintenance, problem prediction
isn’t much help. A CMMS with asset
health data integrated and visible
helps facilities plan maintenance
tasks, wherever they are in the
maintenance journey, from reactive
to proactive.
The ideal result of the journey is
having technologies that predict
bad outcomes ahead of time and
that can diagnose what mainte-
nance personnel need to do to
prevent asset failure. The future will
take things one step further, when
diagnostics and analyses will help
end users along on their continuing
journey to prescriptive strategies and
activities. IIoT
Alex Desselle is a product appli-
cation specialist with Fluke Digital
Systems and Accelix. With more than
30 years of experience, Desselle has
been a lead field engineer, project
manager, and subject matter expert
in the oil and gas, chemical, and
manufacturing industries. For more
information about Fluke Accelix, visit
accelix.com.

Better Collaboration
Means Better
Asset Management

www.emerson.com/CollaborationSoftware
THE TECHNOLOGY MANAGER
How to improve critical thinking
Key steps include analyze, interpret, present, and evaluate
By Jeff Kavanaugh
A
s an engineer, your techni-
cal skills are likely already
finely honed. Yet, it may be
that colleagues with weaker technical
skills are getting ahead faster.
What’s going on? The truth is,
even in the world of engineering,
technical skills are only part of the
answer. As important are profes-
sional skills: the ability to identify
and overcome business challenges
with the same acumen used to solve
technical ones.
In other words, to increase your
impact and grow your career,
develop critical thinking skills. We
all have heard about critical think-
ing, vaguely remember covering it
in college, and often downplay it
as simply common sense. However,
there is much more to it.
What is critical thinking?
The world is awash in data. There’s
too much to analyze, too little time
to accomplish goals, and too many
pressing problems that need immedi-
ate attention.
Critical thinking is a process by
which anyone can consistently and
accurately solve problems by seeing
the world more clearly than others
and envisioning solutions others do
not. Of course, critical thinking isn’t
limited to technical problems.
The most successful profession-
als tend to be the people with the
best critical thinking skills. They look
beyond the rote facts and figures of
10 | MAY 2018 IIoT For Engineers
their discipline. In a world where infi-
nite data is instantly available, critical
thinking and the ability to learn
quickly are the long-term competitive
differentiators.
How to improve critical thinking
To improve critical thinking, follow
the same four-step process many of
the world’s top consultants follow:
analyze the most relevant data,
interpret that data to create action-
able solutions, present the find-
ings in a compelling manner, and
thoughtfully evaluate the success of
the solutions involved.
1. Analysis: When faced with an
actual problem to solve, too many
professionals fall victim to analysis
paralysis. With all the data available
today, information gathering can go
on forever, extending to cranking
through formulas and formatting
reports and dashboards. How many
times have you heard, “we haven’t
analyzed all the data yet…”?
Instead, as a professional, the ini-
tial task is to identify and frame the
real problem. Scan available data,
develop an initial hypothesis, then
use that to guide a narrower, deeper
collection of relevant data. Prioritize
what’s needed through the lens of
that initial hypothesis and test it for
validity. If it holds, double down on
that path of reasoning. If not, revec-
tor and try again.
2. Interpretation: Once the rel-
evant data is identified and collected,
the goal is to make connections
between ideas and convert them to
actionable insights.
Frameworks and mental models
are great tools to evaluate abstract
ideas and translate them to the real
world. Since most business problems
are complicated and too complex to
be comprehended in their entirety, a
model contains only those features
that are of primary importance to the
purpose at hand. Think of frame-
works as mental scaffolding to guide
thinking while allowing flexibility to
solve problems based on actual data,
not a rote formula that may not ap-
ply to the situation at hand.
3. Presentation: Once the data
is analyzed and interpreted, it’s time
to present the findings. But the work
of critical thinking isn’t done yet.
Time is the most precious com-
modity for executives, so present
the results so that they anticipate
and answer the reader’s most likely
questions, in a sequence that sup-
ports a natural storyline. This means
straddling the world of summary
and detail, giving readers the answer
up-front and then supporting with
the detail needed. Remember, think
deductively (in sequence), but com-
municate inductively (answer first,
then support with details).
A great approach to structuring
an individual output is the Pyramid
Principle. It starts with situational
context, describes complicating fac-
tors, and then formulates overarch-
ing questions and sub-questions to
www.controleng.com/IIoT
Critical thinking is a process by which anyone can consistently and accurately solve prob-
lems, by seeing the world more clearly than others and envisioning solutions others do not.
Image courtesy: Lioncrest Publishing
set up the analysis. Those questions
are then addressed as a mutually
exclusive, collectively exhaustive set
of answers, with supporting detail.
4. Evaluation: Critical thinking
culminates in measuring the results.
Determine the correct metrics, ac-
curately measure what worked and
what did not. See the results with
intellectual integrity, as they really
are, not as hoped or feared. Identify
personal bias and then filter for it.
The closer the individual is to the
problem, and the more expert, the
greater the danger. Strive to see with
a beginner’s mindset.
Critical thinking is not a linear, one-
time activity. The beauty of critical
thinking and a well-crafted message
is that even if initially wrong, recom-
mendations can be explained and
then refined.
Every industry is being disrupted,
and the very nature of work is
www.controleng.com/IIoT
changing. Research indicates that
up to 40% of human work will be
automated within 10 years. If a pro-
cess and policy can be documented,
it can be automated. This is true for
engineering as well.
Yet, there is at least one kind of
work that isn’t going anywhere
soon: the distinctly human ability
to solve problems through critical
thinking. By developing the skills
that can’t be automated, a career is
future proofed, no matter what the
robots have in store. Invest time to
develop this foundational skill. IIoT
Jeff Kavanaugh is a senior partner
at Infosys, the consulting and tech-
nology firm. He is also an adjunct
professor at the University of Texas
at Dallas. His book Consulting Es-
sentials was published in April. It is
available in Kindle, paperback, and
hardcover formats.
IIoT For Engineers MAY 2018 | 11
THE INVESTIGATION OF ANOMALIES

Where to start with

industrial analytics
What to do to create useful operations information and drive real results

By David Stonehouse your operations? Where are you if analytics technologies work almost as
the goal is to deploy analytics, but no a data-scientist-in-a-box to structure

T
he value of industrial ana-
lytics is in the results they
deliver. For a brewery, ana-
lytics use delivered a 60% throughput
boost. For a pet food producer, it
resulted in more than $800,000 in
annual energy-cost savings. For a cos-
metics plant, it meant a 90% reduc-
tion in line stoppages.
Without a doubt, the ability to col-
lect raw data and turn it into useful
information for workers is essential to
staying competitive. But what if you’re
unsure of how to bring analytics to
defined strategy is in place?
Fortunately, implementing analytics
doesn’t have to be a mysterious or over-
whelming task. Those that have already
made the journey can provide key les-
sons for how and where to begin.
What you need
Industrial analytics is built around
four core elements:
People: Data scientists are vital to
deploying analytics. Everyday use of
analytics, however, should not hinge
on these specialized workers. Today,
data at the start. Non-data specialists
can access, manipulate, and analyze
the data. This “self-service” analytics
approach allows almost any worker to
use data to solve various issues.
Data: Identify the data wanted and
where it will come from. Some of it
may come from sources not directly
accessible to you. But most of it will
come from the set of connected
technologies known as the Indus-
trial Internet of Things (IIoT). These
technologies can include device-level
components can sensors, gateways,

Analytics software can and should do much more than contextualize data. All graphics courtesy: Rockwell Automation

12 | MAY 2018 IIoT For Engineers www.controleng.com/IIoT

actuators, and drives; machine- or
line-level components like controllers;
and enterprise-level components like
software systems.
Connectivity: Analytics requires
seamless connectivity across a plant
floor. This means unifying any dis-
parate systems that create “islands”
of information. It also means hav-
ing bandwidth for both current and
future traffic needs.
Standardizing a plant-floor net-
work on a technology like EtherNet/IP
helps achievement of real-time con-
trol and information. Pre-engineered
network products and services, like
industrial data centers or infrastruc-
ture-as-a-service (IaaS) offerings,
can also reduce network design and
configuration time.
Software: Look for analytics soft-
ware that delivers best value to the or-
ganization. The software’s most basic
job is to add context to data. Context
allows combining and comparing dif-
ferent data to get deeper operational
understanding. Instead of simply get-
ting an oven temperature reading, for
Analytics from industrial connected technologies can include device-level components like sensors, actuators, and drives; machine- or
line-level components like controllers; and enterprise-level components like software systems.
www.controleng.com/IIoT
instance, data contextualization deliv-
ers that reading at a certain time, for
a specific recipe, and during a given
labor shift. That allows tracking key
performance indicators (KPIs) and the
factors that contribute to them.
Analytics software does more than
contextualize data. For example,
it should allow users to drill down
into specific analytics to investigate
anomalies or troubleshoot issues. By
means of machine learning it can even
monitor operations and trigger auto-
matic control adjustments, if a process
falls outside allowable parameters.
Build a strategy for investment
around a specific need, such as
improving overall equipment effective-
ness (OEE). Then determine the OEE
boost required to meet your return on
investment (ROI) goal. Those gains can
fund subsequent analytics initiatives.
Security isn’t something added to an
analytics strategy or network upgrade.
It should be holistic, extending from
edge devices to the enterprise. Start
with a security assessment to identify
risks and potential threats. Then deploy
a defense-in-depth security approach
to guard against threats on multiple
fronts. Work only with trusted suppliers
that support security goals.
Existing industry partners play an
important role in an analytics strategy.
On-machine analytics from an original
equipment manufacturer (OEM), for ex-
ample, help maximize the performance
and durability of production assets.
With just a gateway device installed on
a machine, the OEM can deliver analyt-
ics via cloud-based applications.
Now get started
It has never been easier to deploy
analytics. One thing is clear though.
The foundation needed is a well-estab-
lished fact. These technologies put the
power of data into the hands of those
who need it. Therefore, deploying
industrial analytics shouldn’t be a ques-
tion of: Where do I begin? It should be:
When can I get started? IIoT
David Stonehouse is global con-
sulting leader, connected enterprise
services, Rockwell Automation.
IIoT For Engineers MAY 2018 | 13
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