Rockwell Automation's Dennis Wylie talks about how open standards are starting to shatter automation silos.
Here’s a fun scenario: You’re a plant manager walking across your plant, and you notice that half your equipment is from the 1990s, a quarter is from the early 2000s, and the rest is a hodgepodge of newer systems that somehow need to get along. Ring a bell? If you’ve ever been in manufacturing at the operational level, you’ve seen this system integrator’s nightmare.
For years, factory floors have been closer to digital archipelagos – isolated islands of automation that hardly spoke to each other, let alone cooperated. Each vendor’s system came with a unique language, resulting in a multiple language scenario that can drive plant engineers to despair.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. In the past few years there has been a fundamental shift: the interoperability revolution industry insiders have been talking up since the beginning of Industry 4.0 is finally arriving. And it’s coming quicker than most of us imagined.
The vendor lock-in prison break
Do you remember when you bought your first smartphone? You probably went back and forth between iOS and Android because you knew that when you made your ecosystem choice, you were, in effect, married to it. Your apps, accessories, and information would be tied to that platform. Industrial automation has been similarly so, only with more at risk and an exponentially more expensive divorce.
Legacy automation vendors have based their business models on this lock-in. Now that you’d committed to their platform, it was so painful and costly to switch that you’d be wedded to them for life, even if your choices were better elsewhere. You need a new safety system? Better pray your vendor has one on the shelf or be prepared to issue some very expensive integration checks.
I spoke recently to a plant engineer who said they’d had the same vendor for fifteen years – not because they particularly liked them, mind you, but because switching would have required rebuilding their entire control architecture. That’s not collaboration; that’s hostage to your own infrastructure.
This dynamic is at last collapsing, and it’s all thanks to something that appears mundane but is revolutionary: the maturity of open communications standards. They’re not new concepts – protocols like Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture (OPC UA) have been around for over a decade. But they’ve finally matured from test-lab experiments into production-quality products that can live up to the demanding, no-excuses requirements of modern manufacturing.
What’s different now is that newer controller architectures don’t just support these standards as afterthoughts – they’re built around them from the ground up. Instead of requiring costly add-on modules or expensive gateway devices, these systems speak directly to equipment from different vendors using standardized protocols.
Think of it like this: imagine if every device in your house spoke the same language and could work together seamlessly. That’s what’s happening on the factory floor right now.
Solving the Great Security Paradox
“But Dennis,” I hear you say. “open standards are great, but what if we settle on security? Won’t proprietary systems be safer?” This has been the elephant in the room for years, and it’s the biggest reason that many manufacturers have been reluctant to embrace open standards.
Conventional wisdom held that proprietary, closed systems were inherently more secure because “security through obscurity” provided additional protection. Recent high-profile attacks on supposedly “secure” proprietary industrial systems have thoroughly debunked this notion.
Meanwhile, open standards have gotten incredibly good at security. We’re talking military-grade encryption, zero-trust architectures, and security frameworks battle-tested across every industry imaginable. The latest industrial controllers implement the same zero-trust principles protecting banks and government agencies. Instead of relying on proprietary protocols, they use proven cryptographic methods and authentication systems that have survived real-world attacks.
Here’s the kicker: this approach makes systems more secure. When everything speaks the same security “language,” you can apply enterprise-wide security policies consistently, monitor everything from a single dashboard, and audit security across all systems simultaneously.
As one cybersecurity consultant told me: “I’d rather defend ten systems using the same well-understood security protocols than try to secure ten different proprietary systems, each with unique vulnerabilities.”
Why your CFO will love this
Let’s talk about money. The financial benefits of true interoperability extend far beyond avoiding vendor lock-in premiums.
Research shows compelling figures: consolidated integration technology can reduce operating costs by up to 30% (Gartner), while platform consolidation delivers 25% productivity improvements (Forrester). Integrated systems reduce data errors by up to 40% (IDC), and organizations report average cost savings of 32% through intelligent automation consolidation (Deloitte).
The real savings come from integration complexity. Today, adding new equipment often requires custom programming, protocol converters, extensive testing, and sleepless nights for your automation team. Each integration becomes a bespoke engineering project.
With standardized protocols, connecting new devices can be as straightforward as plugging in a network cable and configuring some settings. What used to take weeks now takes days; what took days now takes hours.
Maintenance costs plummet when you’re not dependent on specialized expertise for each vendor’s unique systems. Training costs decrease, too – instead of multiple vendor-specific programs, technicians learn one set of standards applicable across all equipment.
But the biggest benefit is strategic flexibility. You can genuinely select best-of-breed solutions without integration penalties. Want the best motor drives from Company A and advanced vision systems from Company B? No problem, as long as they support open standards.
Edge computing finally delivers
Industry 4.0, digital transformation, smart manufacturing, IoT, edge computing – these buzzwords have dominated trade shows for years, sounding more like marketing concepts than practical factory solutions. Edge computing seemed like another overhyped IT cliché destined to fizzle out.
But the convergence of open standards and serious edge computing power is creating genuine game changers. Innovation in interoperability standards is finally turning these visions into reality. Advanced controllers now execute analytics and AI applications locally with the deterministic, real-time responsiveness manufacturing demands. It’s not about more computational power – it’s building a new methodology where operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) finally interact productively.
The real-world effects are impressive. Data is processed in microseconds rather than traveling to distant servers. Quality issues get caught and repaired in real time instead of being discovered next shift. Predictive maintenance runs continuously, catching problems before expensive downtime occurs.
The key difference: focus has shifted from revolutionary change to evolutionary improvement. This approach doesn’t require ripping out existing systems – something that was never going to happen at scale. Instead, it allows gradual modernization that preserves investments while adding new capabilities. Edge intelligence layers onto existing processes, adding functionality without disrupting production.
This pragmatic approach accelerates adoption by reducing risk and enabling phased rollouts. Start with a pilot in one plant section, prove value, learn from mistakes, then spread winning tactics across operations.
What this means for you
If you’re a plant manager or automation engineer, the opportunity is significant – greater flexibility, reduced costs, and access to best-of-breed solutions. The challenge is navigating the transition thoughtfully.
When evaluating new equipment, prioritize support for open standards. The long-term benefits far outweigh the initial costs. It’s really investing in future flexibility.
Start developing internal expertise in open standards. Having team members who understand protocols like OPC UA, MQ Telemetry Transport (MQTT), and Representational State Transfer (REST) APIs will pay dividends. Don’t try to transform everything at once – look for natural upgrade cycles where you can implement open standards without disrupting production.
The bottom line: this train is leaving the station
The interoperability revolution isn’t imminent – it’s already upon us. The question isn’t whether open standards will dominate industrial automation; it’s how quickly manufacturers can adapt to take advantage of the possibilities they enable.
The companies that implement interoperability early gain competitive advantages that grow over time. They’ll have more responsive systems, lower integration costs, and access to a more extensive ecosystem of solutions. Those who cling to proprietary systems will become more isolated and rigid in an increasingly dynamic market.
I’ve been around manufacturing long enough to see a lot of technology fads come and go. Some paid out on their promise, but a lot didn’t. This one is different in that it’s not asking you to bet your business on unproven technology – it’s offering you a practical path to step up your systems in increments, reduce risk, and safeguard investments you already made.
The choice is quite clear, and the window of opportunity is extremely wide open. The only question is: are you going to be leading on this change, or are you going to be playing catch-up?
